Help spec me a first car £2000

Illuminist · 3 Nov 2019 at 09:58

Hi there,
Looking for a second hand car but could do with some experienced views in what make?
I have never needed a car until now as I have a first child, so just trained and I can walk to work.

Needs 4 doors for baby, I've been looking at honda civics 2007,2008 as I heard they are decent.
What else do I need to consider?
Any help appreciated

tom_nieto · 3 Nov 2019 at 10:10

The only other thing might be a Focus, but you won't go too far wrong with a petrol Civic. What sort of mileage are you doing?

Illuminist · 3 Nov 2019 at 10:16

tom_nieto said:
The only other thing might be a Focus, but you won't go too far wrong with a petrol Civic. What sort of mileage are you doing?

Just usual life driving, I walk to work as its round the corner so everything else, shopping, going nice places once a week. Not sure what that equates to yearly, I put 8000 miles on the insurance checker, kinda need help with that too

Meatball · 3 Nov 2019 at 10:31

I think a MK8 Civic is a good suggestion, I have one myself. The 1.8 petrol is the engine to go for, avoid the 1.4. It’s economical and will keep going providing you look after it accordingly. If you look at an ES trim you also get a good amount of kit. The only thing to mention is the ride is quite harsh, you notice all imperfections in the road!

Our 1.8 2008 Focus Titanium, which has lower profile tyres than the Civic, is more comfortable ride. It’s not got as much kit as the Civic, and is noticeably less economical.

mccarf · 3 Nov 2019 at 11:58

Yeah the civic is a great option at this budget. I bought mine almost 3 years ago for £1500. It got driven 100s of miles a week delivering pizza before I brought it with me when I moved from UK to Finland. It's started first time every time even when the temperature was as low as -23 degrees. I won't pretend I haven't spent money on it / looked after it but it's been a great car even through heavy use, especially for the price. I'm hoping to get it through inspection in the next week or so and use it for one more year before swapping cars.

I went for the ES spec because it had a good amount of features without the bigger wheels (more expensive tyres) of the EX spec.

Meaker · 3 Nov 2019 at 12:41

Have you considered insurance? Have you got some idea of how much that will set you back?

Illuminist · 3 Nov 2019 at 12:46

Thanks all for your advice, much appreciated, going to go see a 1.8 civic i-vtec es 55 plate with a mate in a few hours it's £1900 does that sound like a good car and good deal, it has a year's mot and anything 30% wear was replaced.

Insurance for me is going to be expensive but I knew that. It's about 70 quid a month

mccarf · 3 Nov 2019 at 13:01

Illuminist said:
Thanks all for your advice, much appreciated, going to go see a 1.8 civic i-vtec es 55 plate with a mate in a few hours it's £1900 does that sound like a good car and good deal, it has a year's mot and anything 30% wear was replaced.

Insurance for me is going to be expensive but I knew that. It's about 70 quid a month

Is it very low mileage? If not then that price sounds a bit on the high side to me.

Illuminist · 3 Nov 2019 at 13:06

mccarf said:
Is it very low mileage? If not then that price sounds a bit on the high side to me.

112,000..... Sounds a lot, I should haggle? What's a more reasonable price?

Illuminist · 3 Nov 2019 at 13:15

arfoll said:
It's nice to see someone having rational expectations and budgets civic/focus both pretty solid. I think generally at that age you really need to go for condition. If you have a mechanically minded mate you can convince for a beer to go with you to give a good look at the cars do it.

A civic will look a bit out of place at the masonic lodge though. I suspect a BMW X5 or a Q7 will be much better, I also hear that's minimum size required with kids...

Rolls royce sliver phantom or Bentley was my first choice but had to temper my expectations, they won't mind at the lodge as I will paint black and white checkered squares on it

wedrum · 3 Nov 2019 at 13:18

Knock 900 off that easy.

I paid £1100 for the 2.2 diesel 2008 with sat nav, xenons. 125000 miles

mccarf · 3 Nov 2019 at 13:28

Illuminist said:
112,000..... Sounds a lot, I should haggle? What's a more reasonable price?

Yeah definitely haggle. If you go on Autotrader or Gumtree you can pickup civics with similar mileage, full service history etc but a few years newer for the same money. To put it into perspective I paid £1500 for my 2006 one with 124k miles, almost 3 years ago. The mileage isn't really a problem for these cars (mine is on ~167k now).

Make sure it's got full or at least ample service history because these cars are so plentiful there's no point in getting an abused one, check the gear changes are smooth, quiet and easy to change, the air conditioning works (both my civics have had failed air conditioning) and that the mirrors operate (common fault, again happened on both my civics). The engine should be quiet at idle and rev cleanly to a bit over 7k. It should also get up to temperature within a few miles of driving (it will be a bit below the halfway on the temperature display)

jigger · 3 Nov 2019 at 13:30

Wrong thread.

Illuminist · 3 Nov 2019 at 13:59

mccarf said:
Yeah definitely haggle. If you go on Autotrader or Gumtree you can pickup civics with similar mileage, full service history etc but a few years newer for the same money. To put it into perspective I paid £1500 for my 2006 one with 124k miles, almost 3 years ago. The mileage isn't really a problem for these cars (mine is on ~167k now).

Make sure it's got full or at least ample service history because these cars are so plentiful there's no point in getting an abused one, check the gear changes are smooth, quiet and easy to change, the air conditioning works (both my civics have had failed air conditioning) and that the mirrors operate (common fault, again happened on both my civics). The engine should be quiet at idle and rev cleanly to a bit over 7k. It should also get up to temperature within a few miles of driving (it will be a bit below the halfway on the temperature display)

That's great, I will bring those all up when I'm there, is it customary and normal to test drive from a dealership? And essential I'm guessing?

mccarf · 3 Nov 2019 at 14:28

Illuminist said:
That's great, I will bring those all up when I'm there, is it customary and normal to test drive from a dealership? And essential I'm guessing?

Yeah, if a dealership wouldn't let me test drive it then I'd walk away personally

Illuminist · 3 Nov 2019 at 22:03

mccarf said:
Yeah, if a dealership wouldn't let me test drive it then I'd walk away personally

Well that was a disaster, the car lot was down a lane that had pot holes the size of arm chairs, then the two guys trying to sell me the car just lied about everything, one even was trying to convince me and his colleague that it was a hybrid electric.
The wheels were rusty, the bonnet was a different colour to the car body, the hand brake cover was broken and the engine sounded like a lawn mower, when we brought them up on it they said... 'we have a golf over here,'
The golf looked smart but the bonnet was warped and would not open, they got screwdrivers to try and prize it open while I tried the wipers, that didn't work, there was also a dogpoo next to the drivers door and my friend stepped in it.
At this point we just got out of there.

I then on the way home found another one from a private seller, 78,000 miles 2007 civic sport i-vtec 1.8l, mot until oct 2020 just had shocks replaced. Bought it, it was immaculate
Yay

mccarf · 4 Nov 2019 at 06:28

Illuminist said:
Well that was a disaster, the car lot was down a lane that had pot holes the size of arm chairs, then the two guys trying to sell me the car just lied about everything, one even was trying to convince me and his colleague that it was a hybrid electric.
The wheels were rusty, the bonnet was a different colour to the car body, the hand brake cover was broken and the engine sounded like a lawn mower, when we brought them up on it they said... 'we have a golf over here,'
The golf looked smart but the bonnet was warped and would not open, they got screwdrivers to try and prize it open while I tried the wipers, that didn't work, there was also a dogpoo next to the drivers door and my friend stepped in it.
At this point we just got out of there.

I then on the way home found another one from a private seller, 78,000 miles 2007 civic sport i-vtec 1.8l, mot until oct 2020 just had shocks replaced. Bought it, it was immaculate
Yay

Haha it's amazing how much some people try it on. Glad you found yourself a decent car though! Enjoy

Illuminist · 4 Nov 2019 at 07:59

mccarf said:
Haha it's amazing how much some people try it on. Glad you found yourself a decent car though! Enjoy

Thanks to you and others that gave me the advice, it really helped!

bledd · 4 Nov 2019 at 10:38

Yaris isn't a bad shout, cheap to fix, not much to go wrong on them