First Car (student)

[oshta]

Ive been driving my dads 306 (blue 1.6 merdian) for just under two years now, but im in my second year at uni, and next year im doing a sandwich year and will need a car. So im starting to think about what to get. With the plan to get it around feburay/march time.
- Basicaly im looking at a meduim price, medum sized, hatchback.
- Somthing that wouldnt cost a bomb, and woulnt be to bad to insure, but that would confotably carry 4 lads around the 6ft size!
- Enginewise, around the 1.6 area would be nice. I could cope with 1.1 day-today, but it quite possable that i would be trailing upto half behind it on rair occations.

I'll be 20 in may, but if i got it in febuary i'd still be 19! 2years experence, but no ncb as it stands.

What are your thoughts then? Short of bullying my dad into selling me the 306!


Daniel

[Howard]

Buy a 306 if you like them. Just don't look in the pitstop forum

[Konan555]

Medium price? About £500?

[Shad]

EG Civic, maybe an EK if you can stretch. Cheap to run, as reliable as rain on Sports Day and space for your mates

[oshta]

Yeah, price. Im not sure?
- Im going to have to figure out how i can afford to spend, but if we say £500-800 for now?
- I have a figure of around £600pa for insurence? Obvsouly it will depend on the car, but that about what i worked out?

Whats wrong with the pitstop forum?
[edit] Ah i see, its 60% 306 prolems!


Daniel

[cv65user]

hmm tbh , im student and 1.4i wil even kill u on insurance ..... u better off with 1 litre vehicle ..... if u really want 1.6 id suggest civic .....

imo id never ever buy a french car again , i prefer japsense or german ... my expereicnce with peugeot is they dont kp spare/parts in uk coz they are french cars,... so if u crash and need eg a bumper ,, they always hav a delay of 3wks and always use this excuse thts its being sent over from france *rolls eyes *

so id buy a car mfg that has known car parts in uk such as mitsubushi , my second car ....which gav me nothing but great service

[kalniel]

Mk IV Astra 1.6

Easily carries four six-footers in comfort. Engine is good, insurance is low, servicing's cheap and quick. Only problem is possibly finding one for the price - though there are a huge number of them out there.

[loki]

Expect insurance to be dearer than 600 pounds. I was 690 pounds when i was 21 on a group 5 insurance car in a group A insurance postcode (i think group is the lowest. Anyway my postcode is the lowest insurance group).

However for a first car i think a 306 is a good choice. Mine has it's quirks but it's never needed any major repairs and is cheap to run. I wouldn't advise them as more than a first car though.

I was quoted 1100 pounds on a civic at the time as well

[5lab]

yeah - to be fair the only way to find that out is to check various random cars and find out. the reason i bought my first 340 was because its tax (£105 per year) and insurance (£502, tpft, no ncb, i was 21 and had been driving 3 months) were very very cheap. its a good mid-size family car, easy to work on, but probably older than what you're looking for - however if the insurance kills you more than you think it will, might be time to take a look

[badass]

If you want reliability, then look for somethnig japenese - Toyota or a Honda. Anything European at that price will have reliability problems.

[robbo]

look in what car and see what cars are rated insurance group 1 or 2. then look at j d power survey and see where they feature.

for me it must be japanese.(micra. yes i know its small. but it is relaible and there are loads outhere)

your insurance estimate looks rather low.


good luck anyway.

[Butcher]

Ugh, micras are butt ugly though.

[kalniel]

And four six-footers in a micra?

[XA04]

Nissan Primera, the p10 version. Should get one for around £500-800-ish. They aren't as nice as the slightly newer ones (p11), as you don't get aircon and such, but they're just as nice!

Edit: Something like this: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1995-NISSAN-PR...QQcmdZViewItem

[Rack]

I'd go with a Focus, cheap parts, decent size, good reliability, older models are now worth nothing because it's a ford. or Astra. For a first car not a bad idea.

Nissan isn't a bad idea either, they are popular and fairly cheap, good size.

[Konan555]

A Focus between five and eight hundred pounds?