advise hexxeh!

[directhex]

I myself told him not to buy a newish small car- but the horse has long bolted.

i understand the arguments you put forward - and given my usage patterns, even cheaper than buying a banger would be taking a taxi and ordering groceries online.

however, it's not neccessarily about the cheapest option. given my tender age, zero ncb, and 3-month-old license, insurance is prohibitavely expensive - i got only 2 quotes on the seicento for less than a grand, and nothing has changed moving to the jazz. there's no way in hell i could afford something like group 15 (mr2) , 12 (205 gti), 9 to 14 (145), or your other suggestions.

for me, a car is a convenience, and as part of that convenience, i need something i can rely on, to serve my purposes. something modern, with decent fuel economy and a big boot, i can get along with. even if i'd spent thousands on gutting & refitting the seicento from scratch, i'd never have been fully confident with it, and i suspect i'd feel the same buying any (insurable) banger, where "insurable banger" only really leaves me with 10-year-old fiestas. which are hardly fun to drive.

so yes, i've committed myself to a lot of money coming out of the account, but it's at an affordable rate, and the end result leaves me feeling completely confident about my ability to travel without incident (whereas my supposedly nippy, properly small car, with a low mileage and relatively new, managed only 1 of 3 "long" trips of over 30 miles without major incident)

i'm prepared to pay for that confidence.

[directhex]

hexeh - I hope you enjoy your new car. Whilst it isnt what I would have picked there is no denying that as far as small cars go, the Jazz is right up there with the best

the input was appreciated, it just felt a little like being told off by teacher. i'm not going to make any claims to know about cars, but i *do* know what i likes

and whilst you're right about the jazz in terms of power (it has buggery all torque, but you really can get away with it if you're careful on the gear changes), spend 6 months with a seicento and you'll find it hard to criticise, well, anything on the market on that front. "Fun round town, stretched out of it and overtaking needs forward planning and a note from your mum." barely covers it

[Howard]

There are people who see a car more as a tool than an enjoyable object... Hexy is one of them. Enjoy it


Let me know when you're gonna start the 2l Civic Type-R Engine conversion


I am surprised your Sei has given you so much grief though... I've been all over the place in my old cinq, including a trip to Nottingham and back (140 miles each way) without hiccup Poor little things, Lol

[directhex]

There are people who see a car more as a tool than an enjoyable object... Hexy is one of them. Enjoy it

it's great fun taking 90 degree or tighter corners at ~30, and it's something i'd have never gotten away with in the seicento (since 2nd gear on the jazz is servicable from about 15mph to just under 40, cornering without losing speed is pretty effortless, as it's the same gear the whole time, with no real cause to brake). i'm sure other cars can happily do this, but it's nice to have in a "tool" car, and it's not something i've felt confident with in any of the other cars i've driven

I am surprised your Sei has given you so much grief though... I've been all over the place in my old cinq, including a trip to Nottingham and back (140 miles each way) without hiccup Poor little things, Lol

it just ain't well regarded on that front. perhaps i was just unlucky, but you know how it is when tech fails you miserably - do you re-buy an nvidia or an ati when one of them causes you endless grief? how many people still avoid Via boards for the old KT133 PCI bug?

in the end i've no doubt that i stopped looking at it subjectively - but it *did* cost me an awful lot of money. i'm just glad i'm not the one footing the bills for it from now on (sorry Johnsons Honda, hope you can make back a few quid )

[Howard]

Does it have air con?

[directhex]

Does it have air con?

yes - but the non-aircon cooling is so damned good i haven't turned the aircon on for more than a "look it works" test. and yes, it works. brrrr......

[Howard]

My non-air con cooling.... Doesn't cool. It's like opening the door on a fan oven, or a furnace in this weather. Air con changes everything though

[rainbow]

i dont know mate i have one years no claims i currently have a golf 1.9 tdi and its 800 quid, i am going to get a sxo vts am yet to find out the cost but i did get a quote for a 306 gti-6 2ltr at just over 1200 so maybe u arent looking the right place i am not lying, it seemd cheap but its legit coz i had a clio 1.2 which was 700 quid and me 1.9 turbo only one hundred quid more lol @ quinn insurance tbh oh well im loving it

[directhex]

i dont know mate i have one years no claims i currently have a golf 1.9 tdi and its 800 quid, i am going to get a sxo vts am yet to find out the cost but i did get a quote for a 306 gti-6 2ltr at just over 1200 so maybe u arent looking the right place i am not lying, it seemd cheap but its legit coz i had a clio 1.2 which was 700 quid and me 1.9 turbo only one hundred quid more lol @ quinn insurance tbh oh well im loving it

quinn was one of the two sub-£1000 quotes i got. additionally, i've only been looking at fully comp.

[headbrace]

Loving the Jazz there hexeh.

They really are the best small cars out there at the minute. Half-decent handling and really rather fun to drive. It's nice knowig you can just grab the car keys and go anywhere without any planning, and with the fuel economy, usually without filling up either. I still really enjoy the times I take the Jazz out- it really is a different feel to lots of other cars. Even compared to the new Micra, it's much, much nicer to drive. And the fold flat funky seats are excellent. best bit by far is the folding the seats upwards so you can store things in the entire boot floor. Many a trip to the Garden centre has been saved by that; essentially giving you two boots.

Enjoy it, we've have ours for over 3 years, and can't bring ourselves to change it yet....

[rainbow]

yer quinn appart from muggin me off with direct debits are cheap as chips tbh, yer i cba to go fully comp its not worth it but obviously u have to on your car

[Butuz]

I think i must have lucked up. Group 20 car, with additional mods declared = £650 fully comp. 25. 3 years NCB.

I see lots of people saying its gonna cost £2000 to insure a corsa or a saxo or some other little shopping box. I just dont get it

Butuz

[Rave]

Oooh, that paragraph just struck a chord with me.

I'm sorry guys Will try and be a tad less... pointless

hexeh - I hope you enjoy your new car. Whilst it isnt what I would have picked there is no denying that as far as small cars go, the Jazz is right up there with the best

I couldn't have asked for a nicer, more polite reply than that. I don't think I've ever made a sensible car choice in my life. My MR2 has sat in my private parking space for the last six months with a broken exhaust, and TBH I doubt it'll ever move under its own steam again. I can't afford to fix it, and as a 26yr old married man (27 in two weeks) I no longer need a two-seater sports car. I still love the thing though and it'll break my heart to see it towed away. For what it has cost me I could have run any number of other interesting cars but I don't regret a second. Frankly, it was amazing to drive and it rocked. My favourite memory was joining and keeping up with a 130mph freight train down the fast lane of the M20 behind an F360 and an RS4. My wife was asleep at the time and she didn't even wake up.

or me, a car is a convenience, and as part of that convenience, i need something i can rely on, to serve my purposes. something modern, with decent fuel economy and a big boot, i can get along with. even if i'd spent thousands on gutting & refitting the seicento from scratch, i'd never have been fully confident with it, and i suspect i'd feel the same buying any (insurable) banger, where "insurable banger" only really leaves me with 10-year-old fiestas. which are hardly fun to drive.

so yes, i've committed myself to a lot of money coming out of the account, but it's at an affordable rate, and the end result leaves me feeling completely confident about my ability to travel without incident (whereas my supposedly nippy, properly small car, with a low mileage and relatively new, managed only 1 of 3 "long" trips of over 30 miles without major incident)

i'm prepared to pay for that confidence.

Well, I've never had anything like the money to put down upfront for that kind of reassurance. I've been lucky with my cars, they've never once broken down, only failed MOTs. But- in my first post I said buy a Honda Jazz, and you did. I expect it'll serve you very well. I've never needed to own my own car, it was always for fun/convenience. Right now I regularly ponce my mum's car because she lives half a mile away and doesn't need it. I don't need it either but it saves me walking back with 15kg of shopping in my rucksack. Once I get another job I'll be looking to get a working car again- but my main criterion will be how much booze it can fit in the boot on the way back from Calais. Booze cruises are the only serious use I have for a car nowadays. That's why my next car will probably be a Berlingo Multispace.

You've signed up for a possibly punitive three year finance deal from a Honda dealer. It could have been worse- my brother has just bought a 1 bedroom flat for £159K on a 25yr interest only mortgage. Guess who I'm really worried about.....

[directhex]

Once I get another job I'll be looking to get a working car again- but my main criterion will be how much booze it can fit in the boot on the way back from Calais. Booze cruises are the only serious use I have for a car nowadays. That's why my next car will probably be a Berlingo Multispace.

you know what you need? fold-flat seats! might i suggest a honda jazz

You've signed up for a possibly punitive three year finance deal from a Honda dealer. It could have been worse- my brother has just bought a 1 bedroom flat for £159K on a 25yr interest only mortgage. Guess who I'm really worried about.....

interest only? it's madness, but given house prices these days, you've gotta be on a serious income to afford capital repayment. it sucks, but at least he gets a roof over his head for 25 years.

then again, he'd get that with renting, and with added flexibility

[Howard]

i am going to get a sxo vts

Keep the Golf. Lol

[rainbow]

i agree butuz, looks like u got a good deal there though, bmw m5 nxt for you then .

and howard i dunno i want something with a alittle performance, i was also thinking clio 1.8 16v ??

i think in surance is all down to luck sometimes