First car, need help/advice.

[apeZ]

Try to find a Ghia if you can, if not, there should be plenty of Zetecs about. Avoid the 1.3 like the plague, awfully engine.

Okay. Don't worry, I don't plan on getting a 1.3. I'll keep an eye out for Ghia/Zetecs. What's the difference between them?

You need insurance for test driving private cars - dealers should have insurance that will cover you but its worth checking in case their insurers give them age limits etc.

At this price, personally I'd not be worried about whether its a private sale or a dealer. Its a bit of a gamble buying privately, but a lot of the garages that deal in <£1k cars will often be a nightmare to deal with if something does go wrong so you can't win unfortunately.

Okay, thanks!

 

[apeZ]

How do the 2002 1.4 Fiesta's compare to the 1.25 engine? The cars seem slightly more expensive, but insurance costs are around the same.

Looking at something like this, although the price is a little too steep for my tastes: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2002-02-F...?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item43b445d709&_uhb=1

 

[bJN]

As for the trick with insurance, try adding only an older female driver (mums) to the policy, not the father. Adding just the father will reduce the policy cost, and adding the mother will reduce it further, however I have found for the last three years, simply having myself as the policy holder and my mum as a named driver has yielded the lowest prices.

Those insurance costs seem quite high though, I assume you've only recently passed?

As for cars, like others have said, the Fiesta would be worth the extra over the KA, and Focus then again worth more - provided it's not a complete wreck. Try a whole range of cars for insurance checks though! As much as I wanted a Fiesta when I first passed, I ended up getting a 1.4 306 (1999) which proved to be one of the cheapest things for me to insure! Three and a half years and 20k miles later it has given me it's first problem and it shouldn't cost the world to put right! Car owes me nothing really, and that was only £1200, probably worth £400 or so now!

 

[apeZ]

As for the trick with insurance, try adding only an older female driver (mums) to the policy, not the father. Adding just the father will reduce the policy cost, and adding the mother will reduce it further, however I have found for the last three years, simply having myself as the policy holder and my mum as a named driver has yielded the lowest prices.

I've tried this, but it doesn't seem to make a difference for me. Both my parents have pretty much identical histories (15 years+ no claims), but I appreciate the suggestion. I've got the insurance low enough that I'm happy with, and then when it actually comes to buying it, I'll have one more go at lowering it. Might be able to negotiate over the phone too, I'm not sure.

Those insurance costs seem quite high though, I assume you've only recently passed?

Passed mid-September, so yup.

As for cars, like others have said, the Fiesta would be worth the extra over the KA, and Focus then again worth more - provided it's not a complete wreck. Try a whole range of cars for insurance checks though! As much as I wanted a Fiesta when I first passed, I ended up getting a 1.4 306 (1999) which proved to be one of the cheapest things for me to insure! Three and a half years and 20k miles later it has given me it's first problem and it shouldn't cost the world to put right! Car owes me nothing really, and that was only £1200, probably worth £400 or so now!

Interesting point, maybe I'm getting a little tunnel vision on the Fiesta. It is a nice car though. I'm more than happy to pay a little more insurance wise if it means that I have a car I enjoy driving and some peace of mind.

Naturally I'm open to other suggestions, there's only so many Fiesta's being sold locally and I'm impatient!

 

[apeZ]

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif...ew/postcode/ct27hs/page/1/radius/30?logcode=p

Any thoughts on this Ford Focus? Mileage is a bit high (or is it?) but the full service history and recent cambelt change is reassuring. I don't know how likely these are to go wrong or have issues with that sort of mileage.

 

[JustBen]

My first car was a Vauxhall corsa 1.2 2003, it was around £1k to insure and i was about your age and the car cost about £4k.
The car was really nice to drive and relatively quick, getting to a tonne didnt really take that long

Alternatively the Clio Campus's are quite cheap to ensure but theyre a little basic inside.

 

[apeZ]

Also, how can I get insured to test drive cars? All the places I've looked at online ask for a minimum of 6 months license time, I've only had mine for two!

 

[Hyper]

Take your parents with you if they are insured fully comp, as long as the car you are looking at has insurance they should be insured 3rd party.

 

[-westy-]

Only if they have DOC specified on their insurance.

 

[apeZ]

Any thoughts on:

RENAULT CLIO Dynamique 1.2 16V 2004
RENAULT CLIO Dynamique 1.4 16V 2004
PEUGEOT 307 1.6 Rapier 16v 2002

Saw these three in person earlier and quite like the look of them. Reasonable insurance, low mileage etc, but I don't know an awful lot about the cars themselves.

 

[apeZ]

UPDATE!

So, after a month or two trying to find the right car, I was struggling to find Clios, Corsas, Fiestas or Focuses within my area that I liked and ticked all the boxes (low mileage, FSH, years MOT etc).

Then... we got a call from my aunt who had her 02 plate Fiat Punto 1.2 for sale. She had owned it from new and had all the documentation. At first I wasn't keen because I wanted something with a little more umph BUT... only 26k on the clock, FSH, years MOT with no advisories. Cheap as chips to insure too.







Pretty pleased with it for a first car I learnt to drive in a 1L car, so this already feels a little more powerful (even though it really isn't, relatively). It was probably smarter to get something like this while I ease into driving, can't imagine what the 1.6L Focuses would have been like! Only £950 too!

Off to take it for a longer spin on the motorways.