Hi all,
My 96 Fiesta had a service y;day and will need approx £700 of works in order to even have a chance of passing the MOT due in Feb. Now the car is worth probably £100 so i see little point in keeping it.
In that case I am now looking at purcahsing a new or newish car for cash but obviously want to spend a smallish amount. I am 24 (nrly 25) and require a low insurance, economic car perfect for driving around manchester, liverpool and the northern motorways inbeween.
I was looking at the C1 which new at the moment costs 6k. This would then mean no MOT, little servicing and £20 car tax for 3 years and which point i sell it for approx 62% of its original price (according to a 'best depreciation survey' released last week.) approx 3k.
Does anyone have any other suggestions of cars, strategies etc that will mean i can achieve most of the above and cheaply run a car for the next few years.
Cheers!
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Think you might want to try the Fiat Panda if you're considering new.
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Think you might want to try the Fiat Panda if you're considering new.
eg. £5206 on the road for base 1.1 from www.drivethedeal.com
Edited by Focus {P} on 12/12/2008 at 15:17
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>> Think you might want to try the Fiat Panda if you're considering new. eg. £5206 on the road for base 1.1 from www.drivethedeal.com
Or £4995 at FiatSupaSaver. It's probably best to stretch to the 1.2 Dynamic for another £400 though, as well as a bigger engine I think you get a lot of extras.
I think the Panda is very good value. It's got a MUCH bigger boot than the C1 (the C1's boot is really tiny) and with the rear seats folded down there is loads more space. The C1 looks a bit cheap in places, in particular the boot is just a sheet of glass with a lock glued to it. From the outside the C1 does look nicer than the Panda though.
When I drove an Aygo (same as a C1) I thought it was the worst car I've ever driven, I hated it. I did find the Panda a bit dull, but it was much better than the Aygo. For that kind of money you'll probably struggle to beat the Panda.
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I have heard these are a similar price but think 2 things are swaying me in the direction of the above
- Cheap £20 car tax? - (i think the Panda 1.2 qualifies)
- Depreciation is worse than the above.
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- Cheap £20 car tax? - (i think the Panda 1.2 qualifies)
According to Fiat figures are (1.1 1.2)
CO2: 132 133 (so both £120)
0-62: 15 14
mpg combined: 50.4 50.4
mpg extra urban: 58.9 58.9
mpg urban: 40.4 39.8
max speed: 93 96
Panda 1.2 starts at £5537 from DTD; cheapest C1 is 5dr Vibe at £5895.
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You do have to take the future re-sale price with a large-ish pinch of salt, though I guess it's more likely to be accurate on a smaller car, and even if it's not, the real money difference will not be so great. You should budget for a lower re-sale value than 62%, which I think is very high.
That said, it's probably a good deal, and you can't really get guaranteed motoring for much less, without being pretty lucky buying another cheapy. Worth checking that £700 is really what it would take to get the Fiesta through an MoT, though, unless it's a complete basket case.
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Yes it pretty much correct. (even if it was £500 i dont think that would alter the decision, my partner would prefer to drive a 'safer' car too, my festy has no pwer steering, no abs etc!)
I am budgeting for 50% depreciation at present.
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Will you buying for cash, on a loan, or on finance through the dealer? If loan/finance, what is the monthly cost, and have you checked that it's the best deal around for you in terms of APR etc?
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Cash buyers might not be so popular in some dealers, as they make far more money from the finance deal than from the car sale, but it means you can get the best price from an internet broker, and then see if anyone local can get close to it.
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If you can stretch the budget to just over £7,000 you could be in a new Yaris 1.0 - drivethedeal website. A bit more gets you a 1.3.
C1 will require three services - I don't know if Citroen do a three year servicing pack, Toyota do for about £250 including first MOT. Dealer servicing on the C1 and 107 is much more than on the Aygo.
Edited by daveyjp on 12/12/2008 at 15:58
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Yes they will do me a servicing pack for £250 for 3 services. I really don't want to go above the 6ish mark to be honest.
The Panda is £5100 which is mental, it must be fairly cheap inside.
(Going to look at a C1, Panda, Ka and Aygo this weekend)
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Ha Ha - you got someone else to recommend a Panda also ;-) Oddly enough, I was going to suggest a Yaris also and I have seen someone else recommend one.
I have seen some Yarises going for around 6K in dealers and a good place to look is the used car section of Toyota's own website - be warned though I have seen huge price differences in Toyota dealers just 40 miles apart. At this time of year with the right dealership and you with a bunch of cash in your hand I bet you could get yourself a Yaris for 6Kish.
I have also seen some pre-reg Nissan Micras for 6Kish at Motorpoint so maybe that is worth checking also.
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The Panda is £5100 which is mental it must be fairly cheap inside.
There's a few posters on here who have the Panda and love it - I think a few have bought recently so perhaps do a bit of a search in the past 6 months on here for their posts.
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The other thing to bear in mind that usually come Jan the makers bring out loads of 0% deals and it would surprise me if this Jan was different - think quite a few manufacturers have 0% deals around already.
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"Going to look at a C1, Panda, Ka and Aygo this weekend"
So you rule out a Panda (fairly modern) but consider a Ka which is a model that's been around for over 12 years! A new one obviously is imminent, sharing lots with the new FIAT 500. So based on the Panda chassis ;-)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ford_Ka_2009_Front.jpg
Edited by rtj70 on 12/12/2008 at 16:41
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The Panda is £5100 which is mental it must be fairly cheap inside.
No, the inside is actually pretty good.
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"My 96 Fiesta had a service y;day and will need approx £700 of works in order to even have a chance of passing the MOT due in Feb. Now the car is worth probably £100 so i see little point in keeping it."
Rattle, I've found your next car.
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"Rattle, I've found your next car. "
Well, most of it....
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You are indeed bad Dave.
;-)
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I'd also consider used. The motorway requirement would have me thinking of something a bit bigger - Fiesta sized really. You might want to consider a 2005-6 with the 1.4/6(?) TDCI <120g engine - yes, somel costs will be higher, but purchase price should well offset that. Depreciation aspect - you might get a 'Style' 55-56 plater with 35-40K miles for well under £5K that still keeps a £2K price after 3 years.
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Rattle I've found your next car.
you are an r's BBD. thats the car rattle sold to him.
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well Benbfc, I purchased a C1 nearly a year ago now, Cracking car 100% reliable so far thanks to the toyota influenze , Insurance group 1, & £35 year road tax . 57-65mpg easly achived, I have had 73mpg by very carefull dual carrige way run at 55.
Extremly nippy for a one ltr car.
Ford KA old hat now & heavy depreciation for a small car. I expect you have already found that a s/hand C1 is almost as much as a new one due to its popularity at present.
As you say you can buy better but with this one new you get three years trouble free motoring within your budget.
Hope you manage to make a decsion
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A few posts above mentioned 3 years servicing at a fixed cost.
Is this a contract with the manufacturer or the dealer, cos the increasing frequency of dealers closing might make that a bit of a gamble.
I notice the OP hasn't included the 107, is that a distinct lack of dealers still operating in the NW/ Cheshire or an oversight?
The Pug dealer if there's one still going near might do a better deal than Cit.
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petrol pandas are available in ECO version for about a 100 quid extra new, but ECO ones qualify for 35 quid road tax etc
or panda diesel is available for about 6300 new which is a bit faster and much more economical, and in 35 quid tax bracket, and an all road great car (the missus has one)
much better than a C1 etc which are much smaller cars for little or no financial saving over a panda
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Just out of interest what could possibly cost £700 for an MOT on a Fiesta? Am I thinking over inflated garage prices here? Or am I thinking bald tyres, holes on the floor, no brakes, blue smoke, dodgy suspension etc?
For what it is worth I am tempted by the Panda too, there are also quite simple so should becheap to run if they go wrong.
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or panda diesel is available for about 6300 new which is a bit faster and much more economical and in 35 quid tax bracket and an all road great car (the missus has one)
Didn't Whatcar run an article a few months back comparing like for like petrol and diesel models of small cars and concluded that the petrol versions were much more economic as you would have to do seriously high mileage to recover the difference in purchase price?
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yea but in case of panda diesel is quicker than the petrols, the diesel engine transforms it into a car more than able to do glasgow to london in a day which would be a nightmare in a C1 or similar
also diesel is chain cam and not belt cam and therefore services are basically only oil changes, no risk of cam belt breaking or costing more to replace than the car is worth after a few years
and the 35 quid road tax helps
so diesel panda is worth it for more than just miles per gallon reasons
really wouldnt buy a C1/Aygo/etc unless it really was just for staying in the same city all the time
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Still cheaper to keep the old car and repair it cheaper.
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Guys thanks for your advice.
I am going to have a look tomorrow - I am going to take a C1 on the motorway to see what grunt it actually has. I haven't really considered a 107 or agyo because the dealers at the moment are not going lower that £800-1k more than the C1 is going for. (drivethedeal is also the same)
The panda - i think i will pop to the dealer in bury and have a look as well.
As you say the ford ka is in there due to the lowish cost (4k for an 07 with 7,000 miles) but as stated the new model will likely drive these older models prices down.
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Just another note ( sorry if it was a bit flippant but the BR is against buying new cars ) - if I was gonna buy any of those cars, I would go for the Ford - its gutsy enough, reasonable in most areas and there is stacks of choice nearly new so you can bargin very hard and I wouldnt be suprised if you had to pay more than £3.5k for a very fresh example. Yes they go rusty but this can be avoided if you take precautions.
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I know the Ka has a reputation for rust and I have seen some which look a bit sad. However, my wife bought one new in March 04. I discovered a couple of 1p sized rust patches on the underside of the drivers door about this time last year. You know the bit which you can't see unless you are under the car with the door open and which when the door is closed sits directly above the sill.
After getting some very good advice from this very forum I set to last Spring with some sandpaper, some anti-rust stuff and some touch up paint.
Checked it today funnily enough and its ab fab.
There have been no other instances of rust yet as it approaches its fifth birthday. Given that she paid £5k for it new if it goes for another 5 years without disintegrating it will have been pretty cheap motoring.
It's actually a hoot to drive too. Kept in perspective it is still a clever choice.
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this is the thing about fords my festy was £4800 new in 1996. 120k and 12 years on its the first bill of any real size.
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panda is galvanised you wont be messing around with rust patches
ford ka is rusty from new, stick one day old one brand new on some ramps and youll see the rust underneath
the only reason for buying the ka is not knowing this stuff
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Interestingly I saw the aftermath of a head on crash between an oldish Fiesta and an Aygo today.
Fiesta was very badly crumpled, airbags off etc but the Aygo really didn't look too badly damaged.
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Bobby it depends how the crash happened. My mate crashed his rusty Fiesta MK3 into a fairly new Micra, his car was far better off. There is a lot more to it than that. Also in some ways the more crumped the car is the bettwr as it mees more energy has been asborbed from the humans in the car. I am not saying the Fiesta is afer than the Aygo it just depends on the sort of crash. My dad once had a none fault accident in his MK1 Punto, a VX Frontera went into the back of him at quite high speed the car was still repeairble.
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C1 is actually Ncap 4 rated so hence the reason.
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In your shoes I'd probably spend the £700 on a second hand car that was in the best condition you can find. On a C1 you'd lose £3k in 3 years which is the same as buying and repairing a £700 car each year!
£700 is a lot of work on that fiesta. Take it to another garage and get a second opinion in case the first is pulling your leg.
If you do go the C1 route then I see little point in selling it after 3 years. Keep it much longer then it becomes a more sensible proposition but it would have to be 6 years plus to make the same cost sense as spending £1k on a car each year and selling the old one for scrap.
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Test drove the C1 today, tiny boot, fun to drive, very basic but cheap motoring. Dealer advised me that price was going to go up by a couple of hundered in jan due to the tweaking of the models. Might be worth to wait a bit and either pay the extra or hope that a few older models hang around and can be picked up a bit cheaper. p.s - he can do a 1.0 Vibe for 5895.
Going to look at a panda on tues..
Spending 1k on car is risky tbh not knowing a great deal about cars, i wouldnt want to buy a lemon!!
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What are peoples view on the Getz? not cheap tax but can pick up a 2yr old car (with 3 yrs warrenty left) for the 4k mark. Probably only be worth £1500 in 3 yrs but might be a good option?
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Just an update!
A Fiat dealer near my parents home in somerset has offered me a Panda registered April 08 with 20 miles on the clock (1.1 Active) for £4595.
My 2nd local dealer has told me not to accept any offer as they will guarantee to beat it!
That to me is pretty good for a car with next to 0 miles and I am thinking between them i could haggle down to nearly 4k or certainly get some free servicing or something.
They could do also do me a new 1.2 Dynamic Eco for £5100!
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