Recommend A First Car Please....

[ramps]

1970 Dodge Charger...Just thinking about that car makes me a bit wet.

Are you that much of a twat?

I recon a fiat cinquecento, Only because i have one

[andyb]

For a first car if you want cheap insurance go diesel, i looked at a 2 litre vectra diesel and it was cheaper to insure than my 1.4 306. But i got the 306 anyway because im an idiot.

Andy

[dirtbiker]

I bought a Seat Ibiza Mk2 at the beginning of this year for about £1000 and it's been brilliant.

Mine's the 5dr 1.4 version which is essentially a mix of mk3 Golf and mk4 Polo but with better (imo) looks.

The handling is nothing to write home about but its quite torquey for a 1.4 and insurance is cheap, will hit about 100 on the motorway too.

Starts first time, every time and returns quite a good mpg value as well.

[craigjames]

swifts are ok cars the 1l and gls models are pretty unpowered and you have to work them hard. very cheap to insure, parts arent cheap though, but if you can find one with good service history, good miles and a recent belt change it'll do the job well. watch for rust on the arches and sills notorious for it.

a nice lil polo is a definately a good option, yes parts arent too cheap but then they dont tend to go wrong.

or on completely the other end of the scale you could by my mini cooper s

[Tom Booth]

... scale you could by my mini cooper s

Do it. There is no other first car that you could buy that will give you the satisfaction of the mini.

There perfect 1st cars, aslong as you treat them right, such as a 998 cty or something, my friend picked one up, 1992(I think) J reg city for 300 quid. it had 18000 genuine miles on the clock and was in perfect condition. it costs him pennies to insure, in his own name, last time i spoke to him he was paying 750 quid in his first year of driving, fully comp.

Another thing with the mini is, it becomes a friend. As strange as it sounds, there so much fun and so good on fuel if driven properly. ideal for a learner/early driver.

As the years go on too, you'll eventually start to mod it and the fun you have is unbelievable. There preety nippy too, my friends 998 is a good match for your 1.2 corsa's ect. Get one. You won't regret it

[huge]

Ive seen a few minis but theyve all been riddled with rust.

[rich4130]

MK2 Golf 1.6, mucho goodness for little money.

[Tomm]

I've got a 1998 (R reg) 1.6 Polo Mk4 and it's pretty decent. It's got 130k on the clock so it's worth a pittance (about £600) but it's decent and still reliable. I'd much rather have it over a Corsa or something, anyway.

The only thing I would say is don't get the 1.6 - it's pretty pointless (The 1.4 16v has the same BHP) and I think the fuel economy's a bit crap. But it'll easily do 100 on the motorway - I'm not so much of a dick to take it any further but I reckon it would, easily. Also I think the weight distribution is a bit rubbish, and with a lot of power in the front wheels it wheelspins a bit easily. But I don't really know much about cars, that's just my opinion. Insurance isn't as bad as you would think, either.

The other thing is the boot's a bit small if you wanna have lots of bikes and stuff in it. It'll just do 3 trials bikes and 3 people, but it's very tight. It won't fit 3 proper (non-trials) bikes + 3 people. The back seats are pretty small too, so if your friends are tall then they won't like it

[nmt_oli]

MK2 Golf 1.6, mucho goodness for little money.

Il agree with that, a bit heavy on insurance though! Insurance was 3 times the price of the car for my first year driving on my own policy.