Car/ Insurance

[Disturbedguy]

Hello all

Am hoping to go for my driving pratical test in the next few weeks and obviously if I pass I will be looking for a car.

I have been looking at the following: -

Pug 106
Pug 206
Clio (Older Model)
Saxo
Fiesta

I have been looking at all the above cars in the 1 - 1.3 Litre range and all have been near enough the same price, the dearest being the 206 by about £100.

I haven't got bags of money to spend, being a student, soon to be ex student (finish uni today ), so i was wondering if anyone could recommend any other small cars as a first car, other than a Corsa, dont want to go near them.

Also, would anyone recommend a specific company for someone in my position, first car, first time insuring etc?

I have used the comparison sites out there and they all return pretty much the same quotes, with a certain company I have never heard of coming top of the list all the time.

Thanks in advance.

[Howard]

A Fiesta 1.25 is the best car about of those lot, so find one of them

Insurance wise I never find the comparison sites much cop, check on sites like Bell, Admiral, Elephant, Direct Line, Endsleigh etc for decent quotes

[Salazaar]

I've found Virgin to be quite reasonable on prices, and more importantly they don't charge you for paying monthly. Most insurers treat paying monthly as a type of credit and charge you around 14%, your only other alternative is paying it off in one big lump.

[99Flake]

A Fiesta 1.25 is the best car about of those lot, so find one of them

Insurance wise I never find the comparison sites much cop, check on sites like Bell, Admiral, Elephant, Direct Line, Endsleigh etc for decent quotes

Agree with the car, 1.25 zetec is a great little engine, reliable and quite nippy. Fiesta's are good fun to drive as well.

As for insurance, just shop around and go with the cheapest really, out of interest who was the company you have not heard of?

Howard - Funny you say that about insurance comparison sights. I would have said exactly the same but this time I found that confused got me the cheapest quote through Privilege (part of Direct Line) so I shifted from Tesco (also part of Direct Line) who wanted £160 more.

[Disturbedguy]

Ahh tanks Salazaar I didnt know that and tbh didnt even consider virgin

Howard, I have looked at Fiesta's and do like them, the GF has one and its a nice little car, but I wanted to go for something different, of course more than likely I will end up with a 1.25 Fiesta simply because they are reliable and good little runners

Edit: Flake, yup my gf has a 1.4 Ford Fiesta Ghia and its quite nippy and she enjoys that, looks like the ford is popular. The company was Quinn Direct.

[Disturbedguy]

While am at it, does anyone recommend any other sites to buy second hand cars other than autotrader?

[99Flake]

Whatever you do don't get the 1.3 Fiesta over the 1.25! (If you get a Fiesta) worse MPG, slower and agricultural. To my knowledge it is an old CVH based engine.

[Howard]

Ahh tanks Salazaar I didnt know that and tbh didnt even consider virgin

Howard, I have looked at Fiesta's and do like them, the GF has one and its a nice little car, but I wanted to go for something different, of course more than likely I will end up with a 1.25 Fiesta simply because they are reliable and good little runners

Edit: Flake, yup my gf has a 1.4 Ford Fiesta Ghia and its quite nippy and she enjoys that, looks like the ford is popular. The company was Quinn Direct.

None of those cars are "different". The Fiesta is simply the best out of them.
edit: oh I misread.., but my opinion still stands

and 99Flake, interesting that you found your cheapest quote through comparison sites! I won't stop using them just yet then

[Spud1]

I love my little 206, which was (and is) my first car...had no major problems (apart from a problem with the passenger seat - was fixed free by the garage) and I would reccomend one if you can get one for a good price. They have good residuals and are often overpriced though Make sure you look at newer ones (04/05 on) though as before 2004 the 206's tended to have some big problems, probably due to the switch over to multiplexing I would guess.

Insurance wise look at swiftcover.com - pretty cheap, much more so than anywhere else when I first got my own insurance...plus they have quidco for another £40

[cptwhite_uk]

Would be nice to know what you're budget is. I would highly recommend using confused.com I've tried a few comparison sites but always go back to confused. There website might look a little untidy but they always seem to return me the best quotes. I just saved £70 on home insurance (homeinsurer.co.uk) and £20 on car insurance (privilege) using them, compared to other comparison sites out there.

I have a Clio myself, 1.4 Diesel and get 51.5mph. It's 06 reg so probably out of your range but the other clio have a decent review and the engine (in mine at least) gives a very nice ride. Others have also praised the quality of Clios when I was deciding what to get 6 months ago.

[Disturbedguy]

Well at the moment Im not sure what my budget it is really.

Im setting myself a max of about £700 really, although I don't have the money right now, its money I know I can save.

I have looked at 206's spud but the cars themselves even second hand are quite pricey and the cheapest quote I found on a 206 was about £1300 I think but that was on a 1.2 or 1.3 cant remember.

Like I say, a Fiesta is more likely to be the car I go for, simply because how reliable they are.

[smargh]

Try Prudential for an insurance quote. They have (or had, a month ago) £100 quidco too - Quidco said & says £75, but I got £100 back.

With Prudential I got my license about 3 years ago (never driven since), 1L 2002 Suzuki Swift - it came to £480 including the £100 quidco.

[Shad]

I had a K plate 1.4 Clio which was quite good. It was a top spec model and was much nicer inside than my friends Fiesta Ghia of similar vintage.

What about a Renault 5?

[Disturbedguy]

Never looked at a Renault 5 to be honest mate *goes look*

Cheers all

Edit: Just looked at the Renault 5 and..hmm no thanks, i should of mentioned that I do kind of care about the look of the car.

[Howard]

Yeah Renault 5s are all sheds now. Fiesta

[Disturbedguy]

looks like its going to be a Fiesta, question is where to buy?