Ideal First Cars

[TJ.]

Hey, nearly test ready so its time to start thinking about what car I would like.

Any ideas of sensible first cars would be good.

How much do you pay for insurance and what car did you start off in?

Cheers TJ

[PaRtZ]

My mum bought a car for me and my older brother to drive: a 1.1 saxo it was terrible and because it was a saxo it cost nearly £2000 in her name with me and my brother as named drivers.

I then bought a 1.9D skoda felicia estate because I could get bikes in easy, it was diesel so more economical, and it was a relatively low insurance group. That cost me £900 odd in my name.

Something sensible is no bigger than 1.1 Purely because it costs so much to insure because you're a 'high risk' driver. Look at older cars too because their cheaper and you can fix them yourself most of the time. Something like old micras and fiestas and 205's

On the plus side though, when I was 19 I bought a 1.4 205 (about 65bhp) and that cost me £300 to insure, third party with 1 year no claims. So there is a silver lining...

edit. I now have an mi16 205 and at 22 that costs me £800.... but that is around 150bhp so its not too bad

Edited June 27, 2010 by PaRtZ

[club_card]

I've heard that Polo's are good first cars.

[Muel]

Robin Reliant.

I'm actually considering one, because you can drive one on a bike license!

[Captain Scarlet]

I've heard that Polo's are good first cars.

Reliability possibly, but unless its a 1.0L then the insurance is ridiculous!

You gotta look for low insurance group cars, things like; Fiat Panda's, Corsa, Cinquecento/Seicento, all with small engine sizes. But even then insurance is about £1500 for a Fiat Panda in my own name!

So I gave up, as much as I would like a car to take my trials bike places I really cannot justify spending £1500 purely for insurance for the most gutless car on the road.

So I went for motorbikes, I have a Honda CBR600, capable of 0-60 in 3.9 seconds and 155mph overall, yet my insurance is only £490 a year with breakdown cover, (That will be £350 at re-quote in August).

[dann2707]

Stay away from fiat puntos. I had one as my first car, they gather oil leaks faster than you can stop them! They are generally unreliable and the head gasket goes on the 8vs too easy. On the later models the power steering fails and said head gasket failure (mk2, not grande).

Corsas are good for first cars, they have very low insurance groups (the 1.2 16v models). Fairly reliable and great on fuel.

Fords are good, like ka's, nice refined engines and are ecenomical.

A good tip is go on to parkers.co.uk and look at the low insurance group cars, goes from 1-20

My fiat punto was group 4, my 1.6 golf mkiv was group 5 and my current ford focus 1.8 tddi is also 5. I'm paying £1800 per year on my own policy tpft. Not bad for my first year driving at 18 I'd say!

[Nick Melson]

I just bought a 1.2 2001 clio, done a few insurance quotes and cheapest i have got it so far is 1.6K and thats with mods on what i did was put your parents on the policy to but not as named drivers it should go down a fair bit then mine was £2k but with parents on its gone down to 1.6k with mods on and thats comprehensive , that was with direct line [there fairly expensive to be honest even though thats the cheapest i have found so far]

[Greetings]

What about Hondas? My first car was a '91 CRX, did about 60k miles in it and it didn't break down once. It was quick, fun to drive and very cheap to run.

[Muel]

Over here a CRX would cost a fortune to insure. I'd say at least £2k.

[davey1991]

And would be almost impossiable to find the older, better looking one.

[TJ.]

Thanks guys, been hunting around the last few days and around £1800 is cheapest i can find, crx's are stupid insurance over here in the UK.

I can get the price down if I get a diesel van but then its only two seats but are the extra 3 seats in a can worth the extra few 100 quid?

cheers TJ

[matt rushton]

My first car is a Fiesta Zetec s, But I have to go on my dads insurance, but on my dads it's £1400. And thats a group 8.

[PaRtZ]

Thanks guys, been hunting around the last few days and around £1800 is cheapest i can find, crx's are stupid insurance over here in the UK.

I can get the price down if I get a diesel van but then its only two seats but are the extra 3 seats in a can worth the extra few 100 quid?

cheers TJ

super tempting isnt it? but the seats thing is the main drawback. Plus, despite how comitted you are to trials, you'll still want your car to go for a drive with your friends, so you will want the seats. Id say go for the extra seats. Also once you've found your main two competitors, phone them up (the cheaper one first). Once youve got the first quote, phone the second one up and tell them the best price youve had and who its from. If they cant beat it, then no worries, you've got the cheaper price anyway

[Borat]

Ferrari Enzo, enit?

[Captain Scarlet]

.I can get the price down if I get a diesel van but then its only two seats but are the extra 3 seats in a can worth the extra few 100 quid?

What van and company was this?

[manuel]

I just bought a 1.2 2001 clio, done a few insurance quotes and cheapest i have got it so far is 1.6K and thats with mods on what i did was put your parents on the policy to but not as named drivers it should go down a fair bit then mine was £2k but with parents on its gone down to 1.6k with mods on and thats comprehensive , that was with direct line [there fairly expensive to be honest even though thats the cheapest i have found so far]

just why ?

get something totally shit and save your money until your insurance goes down and you can afford something better.

[Nick Melson]

just why ?

get something totally shit and save your money until your insurance goes down and you can afford something better.

Because it was cheap. and only mods i put down were suspension [soon to be done] and the alloys that it came on.

[grant_hundley]

Peugeot 306 1.4 cost me £760 to insure (in my own name, mum as a named driver) at 18 with no ncb

[TJ.]

What van and company was this?

stuff like fiesta, escort and corsa vans and on go compare

[trialsmax04]

I got an 02 clio 1.2 as my first car, cost me 1300 and costs 1000 to insure fully comp...

[Revolver]

Try a seicento.

[Nick Manning]

Knowone has actually stated at what age they had there first car, so everyone saying what they had their insurance price, isn't that helpful in my opinion.

The topic though is a good idea.

I passed just over a year ago when I was 23, my first car was a 1998 R reg Vauxhall Vectra 1.8 petrol, cost me £960 with me as policy older and main driver with my girlfriend as a named driver to bring it down as she has been driving for 4 years now.

The thing I found when insuring my car, was that I was getting cheaper quotes with fully comp compared to third party f&t. I would recommend checking both when getting quotes just incase you can get better cover for less.

I would suggest anyone who is age 17/18 to avoid cars such as corsa's and saxo's, as these are the cars that most boys buy and try and do up, rag and crash. So an insurance company is likely to charge more for a car like that as they will assume that based on your age and the fact your male that your gonna do the same. Maybe try diesel car's and see if they come out any cheaper.

I got rid of my car before christmas last year as it was going to fail it's MOT, I decided that I didn't need a car, as my girlfriend has one, so I am a named driver on her policy, and amazingly I reduced her premium by about £200, yet I have only had insurance for 10 months and so have no no claims earnt. Though when I was looking at cars, I was finding that diesels to be cheaper that petrol.

If petrol is your only option, then your are limited to a 1l, 1.1 and possibly a 1.2. But as it's your first car, it's best to get some old and possibly a bit scratched, as chances are your only going to scratch it some more. I was told by my instructor that when your learning to drive, you are only being taught to pass the test, after that when you can legally drive on your own, that's when you really learn to drive.

As someone mentioned Parkers is a great site to find out what insurance group cars are in.

Hope this helps.

PS: I wasn't bothered about driving till about a year or so ago, hence why I only passed last year.

[dann2707]

Sound advice that. And it's true, you really start to learn to drive when you are on your own in your own car. You get to see the day to day things that happen and learn by them, it's hard to explain I find but it's such a true statement.

[anzo]

I had a Fiat Punto (R Reg) when I was 18. 4 years ago.

My insurance was with Quinn Direct for about £1300. Fiat was only a 1.1 but it was soooo much fun.

The problems I had were:

1. Head gasket blew and cracked the cylinder - £50 from a salvo

2. Wheel bearings - £5 ish?

3. Exhaust rattled like a bitch, just replaced the bolt/rubber things

I kept it until finally the clutch died on it. Probably could have been replaced by which time I had a years no claims and went onto a Ford Escort 1.8TD - awful, awful car but I needed something urgently and cheap. That lasted about 4 months until the pump (maybe?) f**ked up and then I got a new Focus 1.8 TDCi, which I love.

Ps. I'm not technically minded with cars - as you can see, my terminology may vary to that of a Haynes Manual

[dann2707]

I had a Fiat Punto (R Reg) when I was 18. 4 years ago.

My insurance was with Quinn Direct for about £1300. Fiat was only a 1.1 but it was soooo much fun.

The problems I had were:

1. Head gasket blew and cracked the cylinder - £50 from a salvo

2. Wheel bearings - £5 ish?

3. Exhaust rattled like a bitch, just replaced the bolt/rubber things

I kept it until finally the clutch died on it. Probably could have been replaced by which time I had a years no claims and went onto a Ford Escort 1.8TD - awful, awful car but I needed something urgently and cheap. That lasted about 4 months until the pump (maybe?) f**ked up and then I got a new Focus 1.8 TDCi, which I love.

Ps. I'm not technically minded with cars - as you can see, my terminology may vary to that of a Haynes Manual

Almost the same as me, R reg punto then a focus now. But my Focus is oldddd! And it's the earlier TDDI model not TDCI.

How do you like the Focus?