Hi,
I've been thinking about what my first car should be.I'd prefer it not to be a banger and not as bad as a metro, I've thought about a volvo 240 Estate Torselander or an old black cab. What do you all think?
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If you want something distinctive, then who am I to say not to go for it?
The Volvo is crude and has an extremely floaty ride, and won't take kindly to being driven in a 'press on' way. It's absolutley not suitable for anything boy-racery at all. That said, it's pretty safe for the age of the car, it's simple to work on and they tend to have been looked after. It's also pretty thirsty - I'd be delighted to get 30 mpg out of one.
However insurance could be very expensive and until you have an idea of what a policy for any given car is going to cost in your own name, you can't really decide whether you can consider it seriously.
As for the black cab - it'd be cool in lots of ways, but they generally only get sold on after massive mileages and in fairly poor condition, they're very noisy, don't handle particularly well and have a top speed of about 75 mph. They're very good at the job they do but I couldn't imagine running one as my first (or for that matter my only) car.
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Thanks for replying, I didn't think of the volvo as a quick car ,I just thought it would be ideal to get my drum kit in and I'd be the only young person who could fit four or five people in in comfort, not like a 106. It would also be capable of crusing on the motorway at about 65.
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I think the black cab would be a massively cool car to have. I guess there would be two aspects to worry about;
1) You'd end up driving everywhere since you'd be the only person who could take everybody.
2) unless you spend a lot of money they do tend to be a bit knackered.
But don't let me put you off - as I said, a really cool car to have.
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I thought the cab would good with flames down the side and those polished chrome affect hub caps. I could take out the partition and add a seat and make it like the one Stephen Fry had.
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black cab also has a tiny turning circle -- v useful in town.
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NW? A Hackney Cab? Recommended???
Noisy, smelly, needlessly polluting and I'm pretty sure it's not got a good accident rating!
;-)
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Adam
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NW? A Hackney Cab? Recommended??? Noisy, smelly, needlessly polluting and I'm pretty sure it's not got a good accident rating!
True. But still much less mischief than a Rainge Roughver :)
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I'd prefer to have one of those if I could, Especialy an Overfinch.
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Might be safer then an old Fiat Panda in a crash i think!?
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Its not what you drive, its how you drive it! :-)
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>>I thought the cab would good with flames down the side and those polished chrome affect hub caps
Possibility 1)
You're trolling and need not to be here. And if you don;t go, we will get you in the end.
Possibility 2)
You're new here, and young, in which case you need to slow down a bit and get the feel of this place first. You're very welcome, just take it easy.
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The youth of today. They're too boisterous for their own good.
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Adam
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Schoolboy, give us a hand with this discussion and tell us your approximate budget. If it's the price of a Volvo 240 (minimun about 10 years old) a Range Rover or a black cab would be fairly elderly.
Maybe an old Land Rover Defender - cooler than a Metro in ever sense of the word.
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I'd love one of those. You can pick up cabs for £500-£3000 at London Taxi Export, and don't worry it's not my money, I was just thinking of up to £6,500.
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Well if distinctive is the only criteria, a black cab would mark you out - and in a very cool way, imho.
Drum kit plus room for five - I'd say look at the bigger French estates - 405/406, Xantia/C5, Laguna.
If you've got £6,500 though, you could probably have an early 'prestige' estate - Audi A4, for instance...you'd be down as a classy sod, then...
Someone on here insured repmobile-type cars as his first, and I'm sure he'd give you the names of some appropriate insurers...
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Landie.
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The problem with a black cab would be that if you stopped to pick up your mates on a Friday or Saturday night you'd find that either some drunk would be accusing them of taking his/her cab or that people would just try to get in.
Landie. LWB. If you have to carry people get the sideways fold up seating so you can still carry big stuff in the back. Just remember if it goes wrong there are no crumple zones. You will stop as fast as the fromt of the car which is fine until you hit something bigger than you.
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I had a far more modest budget of around a grand for my first car, and I chose a Citroen Xantia 1.9TD SX. I absolutely loved it. Whilst it was far from slow - performance was good especially when already on the move - it was not quick enough to get me into trouble. It was practical, reliable, spacious and comfortable and was loaded with all the little toys that make driving a little nicer - electric windows front and rear, power steering, remote stereo control, hydraulic self levelling height adjustable suspension, etc ;)
I'd suggest something similar, but with a budget like yours you wouldn't need to settle for an old Xantia.
How about something like a Mk3 Ford Mondeo Ghia/Ghia X, or a Peugeot 406 HDi Executive? Just becuase its your first car doesn't mean you can't have some luxury, and these cars would pack things like leather seats, climate control, full electrics, cruise and onboard computers into the car.
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