Data bank: First cars Article

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Fri 4 Nov 2011 13:27
Data bank: First cars Article - pugswhdi

I liked the look of this article from the heading and quickly clicked on the link to be greated with one of the poorest articles I've ever read on the subject. There are a lot of cars that would do a much better job at bridging the gap between the 'oldest, cheapest banger you can find' and these brand new motors. I'd reckon the fuel, tax and maintenance would struggle to match the depreciation on most of these suggestions. Like so many things trawling a database doesn't give the right answer and Mr Slavin should really have applied some thought to what the database produced at the end.

I'd hoped for more, something helpful even!

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Fri 4 Nov 2011 14:13
Data bank: First cars Article - daveyjp

Did you miss this line in the article?

"but recent used examples of the same vehicles can be bought for less,"

It gives the best value of modern cheap to run cars.

A car which is £7k new may lose £3-4k over the first three years, after this depreciation reduces. So for £3k you can be in a used C1 and still benefit from cheap running costs.

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Fri 4 Nov 2011 16:05
Data bank: First cars Article - pugswhdi

I did notice this and it is about the only useful sentence in the whole article. The only other mention of used car is, I think in the IQ write up.

Still a poor article in my opinion.

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Sat 5 Nov 2011 22:06
Data bank: First cars Article - jamie745

Very poor article i agree. Works on the assumption all young people have £8,000 to blow on a first car at 18 when thats far from the case. For those without trust funds i do have one piece of advice..

Dont rule out big cars. When the family is sat round discussing the youngsters first car the concensus amongst the parents is that the smallest car with the smallest engine will be the cheapest to insure, this is not the case. Insurance groups are based on far more factors than purely engine size, one of those factors is how often they're crashed by young people so small hatchbacks (Fiesta, 206, Saxo, Clio etc) are actually more to insure than some bigger cars. When i was 19 i found a Ford Mondeo was £300 cheaper to insure for me with a 1.8 engine than a 1.25 Ford Fiesta. I dont suppose many youngsters crash a Mondeo. And the Mondy was cheaper to buy.

Small cars are a false economy, yes they post good fuel economy figures and low tax costs but generally they're not cheap to insure and cost more to buy them due to their perceived value.

Edited by jamie745 on 05/11/2011 at 22:07

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