Hi,
I have just finished college and I have got a place on an Engineering Apprenticeship with British European. As I have takeen the bus into college I have not needed a car before. I am looking for a used car, about an Escort size with 1.4 to 1.6 engine, preferably an H reg or above. As I am 18, am I setting my hopes too high in terms of insurance? Are there any things I should look out for when buying the car (I hope to spend about £1500). Do I have to worry about high mileage? Should I go private or go to one of these used car supermarkets? Can I use an Engineer status to get lower insurance? Can andbody recommend a good inurance company?
Any help would be much appreciated
Cheers
Olaf
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Insurance will cost you a lot on any car even a Fiat panda, you might be better off buying a Brand new car with a years free insurance - saxo punto or 106.
otherwise ....
Look for a VW Jetta - H - J reg without Catalyst, These are well built, nice to drive, unlikely to get nicked and will last you for a couple of years until you can afford a newer car. They are usually owned by decent people who look after them.
J - K REG Citroen ZX is also a decent buy, Diesel Engines are bloody great but otherwise they are a bit more fragile.
Best bet is the local paper / autotrader - look for a private sale at this price - expect to see some bills for work recently done on the car, new exhaust, battery, shocks, brakes etc. if they tell you " it's not needed anything" then walk away.
Happy hunting
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Bob,
I agree Jetta 1600 petrol or ZX diesel are both top s/hand choices. Decent Jetta should come for £600 and the ZX a bit more because it should be newer.
But Olaf do take advice after you have seen a particular car, tell us and we'll try and help.
David
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Hate to say it but unfashionable = cheap
my local rag has such goodies as an N reg Lada Estate with 20k for £400 notes and H/J Skodas for same or less.
No one will nick these and by and large they are cheap to insure and cheap enough to throw away if they blow up.
On the upside they tend to be bought by old f*rts who look after them.
Possibly the case you could buy a good un run it for a year and get more or less the same for it.
Only problem is you will need to be vey thick skinned, blind, deaf (to the laughter) etc etc.
Saying that my I bought a Lada Riva for my sister in law who had just passed her test she had it for 2 yrs it was easy and cheap to work on and she sold it for quite a bit more than it cost to an appreciative OAP.
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Buy a J plate Nova 1.2 Saloon. It's cheaper to insure than a fiesta 1.1 and the saloons are less fasionable than the hatchbacks. The only problem will be is finding a good one. Look for a private sale from a middle aged/elderly owner, as they will tend to looked after it. Insurance: Try going direct rather than through a broker. The only problem is that you have to start somewhere, so expect to pay a lot for the first year or two.
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I'd go along with Mark on the Skoda. They are even losing their undeserved "joke" tag now. I believe that was actually started by Jasper Carrot in the late eighties, and caught on amongst the media for some reason.
The biggest joke was the people who laughed at Skodas and then went out and bought a Metro - NEVER be tempted by one of those, no matter how cheap.
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I too would go Skoda, and at least you will get a reputation for being game for a laugh.
When VW were first looking at Skoda they got a Favorit and ripped it apart. They put the engine on a test bed and tried to blow it up, and tried and tried and tried. They had everything wrong to the extent that one of their own engines would have gone up in smoke long before. Eveeeeeeeentually they got the engine to "fail", a small amount chipped off one of the piston skirts, but the engine still ran fine.
Like Victor Kiam, they liked it so much they bought the Company, nuff said.
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For 15 years or more I have make out a very sound caes for buying a Skoda or Lada when the budget is tight. Two contacts even believed me and bought them.
But with all the cars we've owned/used there has never been one on our drive.
Does that say something?
David
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Someone in this thread said unfashionable = cheap, and that might be a good starting point. I've been through abject poverty a few lives ago, and both my boys have been through the post university motoring start-up phase. The following has worked/not worked for us:
1. Metro - DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT IT
2. L spec Astras - no cred but not bad and cheap to fix
3. ZX diesel - very underrated. No style cred whatsoever but very good value and quite relaiable. Insurance group a bit higher than it should be for what it is. Looked after, this car should go to the moon and back - and it has conventional suspension, not hydropneumatic
4. Pug 306 diesel - a bit deaer than the ZX and mechanically much the same. Cheaper on insurance. Make sure it has power steering
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My first car was a 1990 Rover 214SLi which we bought when it was 5 years old. I still drive it much of the time: it eats up 1000 miles a week, week in week out with no problems at all. Only repair in past 6 years has been brake cylinder at £120.
Go for 1.6 auto if you can afford it, but bear in mind that these are becoming expensive to service at main dealers (according to HJ's breakdown database).
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Nicholas,
Plenty about and a tidy one still looks good, lots in near scrapping condition though.
Not trying to catch you out but has your Rover really only ever needed just a brake cylinder?
From the mileage you mention it should have covered a monster total by now. What about timing belt/discs/pads/water pump/servicing etc? Did you mean the cylinder was the only unexpected repair?
David
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It was just a run-around until last September when the mileage went up dramatically. Has only 48k on the clock now. All servicing by the book at Rover dealer with new cambelts every 4 years. OK: looking back over the bills I've also had a trailing arm bush, front wiper motor and repeater indicator bulb replaced; grand total about £100 incl labour and VAT). Other items have just been consumables, i.e. tyres and rear exhaust.
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What about a "classic". No VED, classic insurance, nice Morris 1000, the type that requires some attention - and street cred into the bargain.
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morris 1000? street cred? - on which street??
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Dafydd,
Were you joking? I think the Minor has modern classic street cred nearly everywhere.
From the mint unrestored example to one in metallic blue with Rover V8 and 205 tyres, the "boys" ought to respect them all.
John S....your turn.
David
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David
Suddenly spotted the magic word 'Minor' in between all the Citroen references!
Yes, can't beat a Minor for drawing a crowd, and getting people talking. Everyone seems to have owned one, passed their test in one or had some memory of them, and if I had a pound every times I hear the phrase 'Cor, I wish I had kept my old Minor' I could run it for free.
As you say a true modern classic.
Cheers
John
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Funnily enough I know of a nice, unaltered, B plater - 4 doors, red leatherette interior, needs some attention and TLC..........ooh and an MOT.
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Dai
Buy it - see what it does for your street cred!
Only problem is that lack of MOT.
If someone can't afford £34 for an MOT which will add value it's going to fail isn't it?
Cheers
john
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Yes, new sills (or rocker plates !), brake cylinder corroded to b******y, otherwise it is suprisingly sound. Iwas offered it last week by a firend as a "project". Still trying to figure the Rocker Plate thing. Trunk = boot, hood=bonnet, fender=bumper, but Rocker Plates ????
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Dai
No, I don't understand it either, but my father who worked for Ford on body design always referred to them as body rocker panels, which was the American term.
He always used the American terms for the car. I must have ben the only kid in London who when asked to 'Pull the hood release son' didn't say 'But dad, we don't have a convertible!'
By the way the brake cylinder change on the Minor is fun - don't believe those who say 'just lever the torsion bar out of the way to get the bolts out'.
Cheers
John
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Dai Watchalowski wrote:
>Still trying to
> figure the Rocker Plate thing. Trunk = boot, hood=bonnet,
> fender=bumper, but Rocker Plates ????
I think fender=wing (at least some of the time) actually. Remember Chitty Chitty Bang Bang? Our fine four fendered friend...
Chris
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Chris
Spot on! A fender is a wing, not a bumper, in USA-speak.
cheers
john
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fender = wing
windshield = windscreen
hand brake = emergency brake
dip = dip but beam = highs
bumper = bumper (usually)
side mirror = wing mirror
pavement = road
sidewalk = pavement
(on my California test I suggested that walking on the pavement was fine, but you should never park or drive on it. Confusion reigned.)
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