Passed my test :D

[LWA]

Hey all,
I passed my test yesterday and I'm on the look out for a car. I'm 24 (yes I realise I'm a bit late!)

My budget is around £2000 and I'm trying to find a car that I can afford the insurance for! (so category 1,2,3 I think)

The two cars I'm currently considering are Skoda Fabia (1.2 & 1.4) and the Volkwagen Polo (1.2 & 1.4).

Any other recommendations and advice will be gratefully received.

Thanks,
Leon

[Stoo]

Congrats chap

I was a bit late into it as well, good thing is though, insurance isn't quite as mad

[Funkstar]

Well done big fella

[LWA]

Thanks guys, was well chuffed Any thoughts on the cars?

[Funkstar]

My first grown up car was a P reg 1.4 Polo and loved it to bits. Coped well with two adults, the back seats folded down and full to the roof with junk for a car boot sale

I am a bit of a VAG lover though, so either of those sounds good!

[Butcher]

Check out insurance quotes for different groups. I passed at 26 and the difference between group 1 and 10 was surprisingly little...

[rover214]

I was 23 when I passed my test, don't feel left out,

My first car after I passed my test was an 'E' reg Astra, it had the heaviest clutch I have ever experienced,

on a pug 306 now, serving me well,

enjoy the test drives

[Rave]

My first grown up car was a P reg 1.4 Polo and loved it to bits.

My first car was a Nissan Prarie 1.8SGL which my parents gave to me, and which I loved to bits. They had replaced it with an R reg 1.4 Polo which I thought was crap. It was far too heavy, and the suspension was rubbish- it handled about as well as a greased piglet. The engine was far too weak for such a heavy car.

I wouldn't necessarily go by insurance group BL, it makes surprisingly little difference in my experience- put your details into confused.com, then change the cars at the end and see what quotes you get- you could well find that you can insure a bigger car for not much more. If you want a small car for ease of driving/ease of parking/fuel economy reasons then fair enough- but if not you could probably get a Nissan Primera of similar age/mileage to a Polo/Fabia at around the £2k price point- because big cars depreciate faster. Primeras, from what I hear, are exceptionally well made and reliable too.

Congrats on passing your test BTW.

[Howard]

you could probably get a Nissan Primera of similar age/mileage to a Polo/Fabia at around the £2k price point- because big cars depreciate faster. Primeras, from what I hear, are exceptionally well made and reliable too.

Congrats on passing your test BTW.

Or an older Honda Accord

[Gunbuster]

I am going to get hammered for this, but I love my Ford Ka, its a 1.3 litre on insurance group 2! thats the highest powered group 2 car I could see and it is such a lovely car to drive. I bought it after putting up with the frankly awful AX. I have a first edition un-powered steering job with plastic bumpers (that pop back out! handy for a new driver). All in all I can not recommend it enough, heh so it looks a bit girly, at least it doesn't look like you are having to compensating for other things.

It's just gone for it's 4th MOT with me, and is a 1996 P, only failed on discs it otherwise 100% good. With 92K on the clock it should be a banger, but I have had no failings versus my friends underpowered and unreliable 3 year old 206.

[shelley bda]

Hey all,
I passed my test yesterday and I'm on the look out for a car. I'm 24 (yes I realise I'm a bit late!)

My budget is around £2000 and I'm trying to find a car that I can afford the insurance for! (so category 1,2,3 I think)

The two cars I'm currently considering are Skoda Fabia (1.2 & 1.4) and the Volkwagen Polo (1.2 & 1.4).

Any other recommendations and advice will be gratefully received.

Thanks,
Leon

Hey! that's not late I recently passed my test at the grand old age of 32 ( was a few days off my 33rd Burpday ) congratulations!!! it's an amazing feeling isn't it?

If I were you i'd go for the Fabia! I'd love one of those!!! or what about a Megane?

I have a ickle oooold Clio ( 94 ) that I love to bits he's got a magic tree and everything

[Behemoth]

Have alook at a Nissan Almera, insurance group 5 for the 1.4 models, alot of car, very reliable and very comfortable to drive

[Vimeous]

Congrats!

Does the £2k include the insurance?
If so a Fabia is most likely out unless you hit a mega bargain. Top car though.

Gunbuster a Ford Ka is almost the perfect starter motor car, cheap to run, fun and has huge big plastic bumpers to hit stuff with. You'll get no complaints here!

Rave is right about Polo's. The P-reg onwards models are hugely underpowered, too heavy for their little wheels and understeer at the first sign of a corner. I disagree they're crap though because you learn to drive around the understeer and become a demon at maintaining momentum without going fast enough to alert the long arm of the law. A decent if uninspiring choice.

If you find insurance is better than you thought Behemoth's Almera suggestion is perfect. Add to that the Mazda 323, Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla and you have a group of reliable cars that will provide a choice of sensible, fun and comfy. The Civic would be my choice but the Almera and 323 depreciate faster, are almost as fun and bigger. Crucially they'll be cheaper to insure than the Civic and finding an unmolested one should be alot easier!

Other than that most IG1-2 cars that cost £1500-2000 are Italian or French. If you fancy a Punto or the like be extra careful when buying as electrics in particular can be troublesome. They'll be more fun than a Polo or Fabia but are much more likely to break.

Regardless of what you choose there's a huge choice of starter cars out there so don't be afraid to say no if you're unsure in anyway.

Enjoy the hunt!

[Shorty]

Congratulations sir!

I am the same as many here and didn't pass until recently (passed at last year at 32).

Check the insurances out as I found the difference between my 1.3 Fiesta and my 1.6 Focus was £200 a year.

Good luck and spend the most you can get as you want to enjoy motoring!

[LWA]

Thanks guys and gals, really enjoying driving at the moment (am insured on my girlfriends Micra)

I'm currently looking at a 1.9 SDi Fabia which will cost around £2500 and will be around £800 to insure

I'll keep you up to date with going ons! - Thanks again for all the advice and support.

[LWA]

Sorry for the bumpage but I just thought I'd update you with the latest goings on.

I bought my car yesterday and here she is:



It's a 1.9 SDi Fabia and cost me £2280 with a 3 months warranty. Really like how spacious the car is (and that's from a guy who is 6' 6"). Really comfortable and quick too!

Have fun all!