I'm about to start looking for my very first car and hope to get something for around £8000. I really want 5 doors and A/C, but nothing else specifically. I will be driving approx 15 miles to work through quite heavy traffic, but also want something that i feel safe in when driving on the motorway. Off the top of my head I quite like the Colt, Corsa and Picanto- i know the last one's quite small but seems good value for money.
Does anyone have experience of a really good car that i should be looking at in terms of running costs, reliability and safety? Also, when is the best time to get a good deal on a new car?
Thanks for your help!
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I'm pretty sure the best cars to be looking at are big cars for the criteria you want. Should get a big old saloon with A/C and all the usual extras for that sort of money.
Probably not diesel or economical though.
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Sorry I thought that said 800 not 8000
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It def needs to be small- I haven't driven that much recently and don't want to be manoeuvring a beast!!!
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You should have a really good look around. That's a biggish budget from where I'm standing for a daily hack, and you should see what you can get a) new and b) good second hand. My wife's Focus was less than that, but I can't fault it for what it is. You'll be pleasantly surprised at how much Focus you can get for £6k.
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That sort of money should buy you quite a nice car. When you buy a brand new car you won't normally pay what's on the price tag, so you should be able to get a £9000 car for £8000. Does the £8000 include the cost of a years insurance etc., insurance could be over £1000 depending on your age?
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There are just so many small cars!!!! It would be ideal if £8000 could include insurance- i've seen some offers that include insurance which would be ideal as I'm 21. I will be keeping this car for a good few years so I can stretch to £8000 just for the car
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I've no idea I just wanted to say "damn, £8k for your first car!!! "
My first car was £5 and a bottle of Blackthorn.
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I can recommend the old shape but still new Clio. Damn good cars.
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Or new shape new Clio. From £7400.
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I've no idea I just wanted to say "damn, £8k for your first car!!! " My first car was £5 and a bottle of Blackthorn.
I know, i'm very lucky to have some student loan left and also have a (poorly paid!!!) job. Any car for £5 sounds amazing!
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>>Any car for £5 sounds amazing!
It wasn't. It really wasn't. If anything it was overpriced. POS Imp.
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Don't be put off by big cars they're not as hard to drive as you'd imagine. I'm 21 and drive a Volvo S60 2.0T its size never put me off and you get a lot more kit with a saloon than you perhaps would with a small hatchback. Insurance is pretty cheap for me as well.
You could get a low mileage 1.6 Honda Civic Sport (looks like the Type R but has cheap running costs) or if you could afford the insurance/running costs on a Civic Type R you could get one of them! I had a Civic for a year and only had to replace a lightbulb in 20,000 miles of hard driving so I'd recommend one to anyone.
Good luck!
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In my opinion, and I dont mean to be a harbinger of doom.
You will almost certainly hit or be hit by somebody in your first year or so of daily commuting. 90% of time its only relatively minor but any scrape on an £8000 car will really upset you I promise.
I know you wont want to hear this but I strongly suggest buying a car for a lot less (you can still get a good reliable car for £ 2000 area) and get some experience with this. The scrape(s) may still happen but I promise you they wont hurt you as much.
Then buy a better newer dearer car in a couple of years when insurance may not be so expensive for you too !
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"Don't be put off by big cars they're not as hard to drive as you'd imagine"
Seconded. My first car was a Primera and I had no problems. If you're nervous, book a lesson in your new car.
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Bigger cars can be easier / nicer to drive then some of the smaller stuff around.
Id pick a early Mondeo for under £1K bargain basement motoring, cheap to fix, nice to drive & you wont be too hacked off if someone bashes it.
Once you get used to the size after a couple of days they are no problem to drive around.
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I suggest you
- buy a copy of What Car New Car Guide (or the equivalent produced by Top Gear) and decide what size of car you want - then you can see what you can afford (bearing insurance in mind of course)
- visit one of the car supermarkets, e.g. Car Giant (NW London), Trade Sales (Slough), Fords of Winsford (Cheshire) or several others in the Midlands, and you can see lots of different models in the flesh
- from this make a short list and arrange test drives with dealers
- also look on Autotrader to see what price you should be paying.
I'd suggest buying from some form of dealer to get a warranty. A new small car has the advantage of cheaper insurance and a 3-year warranty. There may even be some free insurance deals around.
If it were me I think I'd be tempted by a new Toyota Aygo or a nearly-new Yaris or Fiesta or Corsa, or perhaps a Skoda Fabia if you want the next size up. Other posters are quite right in saying that a bigger car isn't difficult to drive - but it'll cost you more to insure.
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Does anyone have experience of a really good car that I should be looking at in terms of running costs, reliability and safety?
First I would agree with others about getting scrapes early in your motoring experience.
Bad enought in your first car but in a new car it will seem much worse.
If you are still intent on getting a new car then check out the obvious costs for example on a Yaris.
Try some online insurance quotes and take a deep breath.
Call a main dealer and ask how much year1 / 2 / 3 service costs.
Cost road tax
Cost fuel
Remember the depreciation ( have a look at second hand prices on the Auto trader link on the left)
IMO you will not be looking at new tyres until year 2 /3
I believe most would say a Yaris is reliable, ours is but it is a 1.3 for better motorway driving.
Ensure you are happy with the comfort with regards to the seats.
Check out what HJ says in his car by car guide.
When you find something of interest do take someone with real experience with you so you get a GOOD deal.
What ever you choose do you have a good main dealer near to home /work or is it a day off etc to get the car serviced.
Do enquire here further before you sign up.
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My daughter had similar requirements with her first car and we settled on Seat Ibiza 1.2S.
It's basically a VW Polo but the same spec Polo would have been £2000 more expensive.
I quite liked the Ibiza as it's not *too* small, and it seems a safe car - quite high window line and solid doors - I did pay extra for side airbags. Seat are always having special offers - have a look at their website.
Skoda Fabia is also based on Polo and a face-lifted Fabia is about to come out so there might be good deals on the current one.
If you do buy any VAG (VW / Seat / Skoda) group car then it's worth considering their servicing package - we paid £20/mth for all service / repairs / tyres for 3 yrs / 36K miles. Touch and go whether it's really cost effective, but at least you know where you are with costs for 3 yrs.
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You can still get Mitsubishi Colts new for 6K from our local dealer. They will be very reliable but they have a tiny boot space. I would go with other BR's suggestions and get a cheaper used car - the biggest cost on any car is depreciation. You can always buy an aftermarket warrenty.
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Do check the insurance first.
The son of friends of ours have just bought their student son a 1 yera old Corsa for £8,000 from the Vauxhall dealer. All very nice and proper. This is his first car and insurance is £2,200, and only because he has it registered in cheap Reading (c.f. London!)
Why not get a nice £2,000 1 litre Micro + the insurance. This will also teach you that defensive driving is safer driving. In my first car, a 1961 A40, I never had the power to overtake anything for 3 years!
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Do check the insurance first. The son of friends of ours have just bought their student son a 1 yera old Corsa for £8,000 from the Vauxhall dealer. All very nice and proper. This is his first car and insurance is £2,200, and only because he has it registered in cheap Reading (c.f. London!) Why not get a nice £2,000 1 litre Micro + the insurance. This will also teach you that defensive driving is safer driving. In my first car, a 1961 A40, I never had the power to overtake anything for 3 years!
You mean you never had the power to overtake anything safely. A 1.0l Micra has more than enough power to attempt overtakes. My car has less power than a 1.0l Micra, but it can still safely overtake (occassionally) on some NSL roads. I personally can't see how a smaller, lower-powered, car would teach encourage defensive driving.
I am still young myself, and I think there are two groups of young drivers. Those that fear crashing, and those that don't. Some people have even told me that it would be 'fun' to crash :-o. I have now been driving for about 4 years now without a single crash.
I personnally like small cars, and would never want a larger one unless I really needed it. It may not be much harder to drive, but I'm sure it'll be less fun, especially on the narrow country roads that I quite often driven on. In general, the less space there is, the slower I drive. There are many other reasons too, but I won't go into them in this thread.
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Consider a Honda Jazz - very economical and very unlikely to need anything other than routine servicing / maintenance. Good luck.
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Citroen Xsara HDI. Cheap to run, nice to drive, comfortable, nippy, a doddle to park, and cheap to insure, probably less than 4k now with low milage.
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Thanks everyone for your help. For the record i definitely don't want a big and/or old car- my dad is dead against having an older car due to the running costs and maintenance.
Lakelad, since passing my test (3 1/2 yrs ago) I have been driving a Jazz (mum's) and love it, it does mean that a lot of the superminis feel tiny tho. They are just a little out of my league. I will look into a Yaris and colt tho and if i could get a good deal I like the look of the corsa.
Thanks again
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Thanks everyone for your help. For the record i definitely don't want a big and/or old car- my dad is dead against having an older car due to the running costs and maintenance.
Unless you are extremely unlucky, the running costs and maintenance on an older car pale into insignificance when compared to the depreciation on a new motor - even a supermini. I bought my current car new, but I don't pretend it was a financially wise move :). I'd happily do the same again, but don't buy a new car thinking it is a good way to save money....but if you're happy to blow the money then good luck and enjoy! :)
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When I bought my supermini when it was 2 years old it had already lost over £5K / 50% of its original selling price.
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When I bought my supermini when it was 2 years old it had already lost over £5K / 50% of its original selling price.
Cheers, point nicely proven :). That £5k buys an awful lot of maintenance and running costs!
(NB Suspect my Avensis has shed almost £5k in the four months I have had it! Doh!)
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Parents bought a year old Ford Mondeo last january from the main dealer, the car was in the Ford direct scheme too.
Less then 12K miles on the clock, 12 months old & it had already lost nearly £6.5K of its original new selling price only a year before.
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Parents bought a year old Ford Mondeo last january from the main dealer, the car was in the Ford direct scheme too. Less then 12K miles on the clock, 12 months old & it had already lost nearly £6.5K of its original new selling price only a year before.
Good cars - I had the previous shape Mondeo, bought at £9.5k at 8months old/9k miles, new cost at the time was £16.5k although doubt anyone was paying that. Gave me 5 solid years of service at an average of probably £200/year in servicing and repairs. Bought new this time purely because I fancied it, but there is no way that it is the common sense thing to do!
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They bought a L reg 1.8 Mondeo at 1 year old, had that 11 years & then it needed too much spending to pass the mot.
Got chopped in on this 1 year old Mondeo, Its already caused upset with my parents, previous Mondeo never had to have a bulb changed in those whole 11 years, this one has cost £1 for a stop & tail bulb already ;-)
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Its already caused upset with my parents, previous Mondeo never had to have a bulb changed in those whole 11 years, this one has cost £1 for a stop & tail bulb already ;-)
:-) That was the one thing my Mondeo had an appetite for - I probably replaced the stop and tail bulbs two or three times on each side. Not one indicator bulb or headlight bulb, but a constant stream of brake bulbs!
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I remember finding my Focus intimidating to manoeuvre at first, so I don't think I (personally) recommend a Mondeo (but that's just my opinion of course)!
Of the cars you've listed, the Colt would probably be my choice, because they're a steal and thoroughly reliable I would imagine...I'm sure I also recall them doing a free insurance offer on some of the models. They're safe, zippy, well built, but if you are considering regular motorway work, they may not be the best car for you - Dad rented one before actually going for an Almera, and found it a bit too noisy on the motorway.
For £8000, I'd look at carsupermarkets. I've just had a browse on mh2k.com, which had 1.6 Citroen C4's in both petrol and diesel and presumably have the remainder of their warranties left (they were 05/06 regs, so would have til 08/09 respectively). There's also petrol Astra and Focus' (1.4/1.6) that are 06. All of these are larger than what you were considering initially, but as a result you'd probably feel a bit safer in them on motorways. A diesel C4 would be my choice as it's already had the biggest running cost of a car (depreciation) put in at this point, and would cost peanuts to run day-to-day. If you were interested I think HJ did a roadtest of the model.
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At risk of sounding like a stuck record and whilst it's not ugly IMO it's not loaded with cred, a Kia Rio does everything well, with reasonable discounts available:
www.mkkia.co.uk/rio.aspx
GregSwain's partner has just bought one:
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=47681
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A mate has a 2004 previous shape 1.4 petrol Rio & thats been faultless apart from the fag lighter & 2 x sets of alloy wheels, all fixed / replaced under warranty no questions asked.
Does everything asked of it & shes more then happy with it.
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I hadn't really considered a Rio, but may do now after reading that thread! The reviews of Picanto's that I have seen have been a little mixed which was putting me off them. Thank you again for all of your help, it's very much appreciated. I'll let you know how the test drives go- from an 'i don't know much about cars' perspective!!!!
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