I've been brought into the task of helping my 21 year old son buy a car. Having been a company car driver for years, I'm out of practice. Son has a budget of £5000 max and is interested in a Mazda 323, Civic or Corolla. Having toured some dealers today, the best bet so far seems to be a 97R Civic (1.5 L VTEC engine) at our local Honda dealer. It's high mileage at 73K, but has been regualarly dealer serviced every 12,000 miles. Apart from some very minor damage at the n/s rear corner, it looks OK. It's priced at about £4,900 and we're planning a test drive tomorrow.
Overall, and bearing in mind it's my son's cash, not mine, any ideas on whether we're looking at a decent deal or a pup?
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Shouldn't be too long before a 'buy a golf or citroen' is posted......... hur hur.
I think the Civic is the best of the 3 you named. Presume you want Jap for reliability.
The Civic is seriously underrated [the same as the new one is/will be] and seems to have an 'old persons car' attached to it.
The car seems reasonable priced, experts will know better, but forget about the millage, civics will do 100,000's. Buy on condition, step back and see if it looks right, try every gadget, and see if anything squeeks or rattles.
O and try to get a bit knocked off for damage, or get dealer too, as it 'will never look right' ;-)
Kev
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biggest bit of advice is to research insurance quote for each purchase well in advance
for a young un the insurance is such a big chunk of the real cost one insurance group either way can make a big difference
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Go for the Honda, if the insurance isn't too crippling. My wife bought a Honda Civic (G Reg.) 43K miles, for £3995 about six years ago, it's never missed a beat and although its got the 1300 engine it's quite nippy. The standard of build under the bonnet is a pleasure to behold - Honda seem to use sheradised nuts and bolts where other manufacturers make do with self-tappers. I do wish that the Honda didn't have the 'only for crumblies' image though,- I'm looking for an Accord 2.0i Aerodeck in the next few months!
Regards,
Peter.
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Funny thing image,which other manufacturers make F1 engines,GP motor cycles,NSX supercars,FireBlades,Super BlackBirds,Type Rs,Vtecs,lawnmowers and generaters?Nobody else comes close,must be cheaper to spend your R&D money on TV ads,Papa,Nicole etc.And another thing why are those funny shiny plasticky Mitsubishi Pajero thingys doing so well in this years Dakar again and Land Rover spend so much money on TV ads?
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Thanks to all of you for your advice. We took said beast for a drive and it was fine, no funny knocks or rattles. The dealer will take care of the paintwork glitches AND replace the windscreen - a couple of 'bullet holes, he said. Who was the last owner, James Bond? Anyway, younger sprog has bought it and, yes, the insurance is expensive. Unfortunately, he is a tall lad and even super minis are too small. Even my wife's old Cavalier (now due to go to other sprog) is pricey to insure.
Tony - you shouldn't have put 'FireBlade' in your message. If I hint once more to the missus that my CBR600 is due for replacement, I swear she'll divorce me.
Derek
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spend the extra £100 on an AA or RAC inspection, as this also includes an HPI check. another good company is ABS inspections.
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Not allo superminis are bad for tall drivers. I am 6'6" and learnt in a Corsa and it was horrible. My mums Punto is fine for me though, plenty of room and comfortable over long journeys.
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