Used car help

[olly83]

Can anyone offer me some advice? I'm buying my first car. I have £1500-£2000 to spend and i want something at least Ford Escort size. I've actually seen 10 year old Audi A4's from £1500 and im sorely tempted
Any Do's or Don'ts?

Thanks

[Dave Brand]

Just remember that parts prices are related to a car's new price, not its current value.

As it's your first car you will, I assume, have no insurance history & be fairly young. Get insurance quotes before buying!

[SALEEN S7R]

When you say you want something at least Ford Escort size are you talking in terms of car space or engine capacity? If engine capacity I would suggest a MK2 Toyota MR2, you can get a nice model for about £2,000 say a 2.0ltr non turbo 1993 plate, has 175bhp and averages 32mpg. Dont get a earlier model than 1993 though as the power is signifcantly less at 144bhp, although with the pre 1993 model the insurance might be a bit cheaper.

If you want a bigger car though in terms of body size I would go for something like a VW Golf GTi or Golf Driver, both have good power for the car size. Either that or a Peugoet 205 GTi, might not be able to get a good spec 1.9 that has 130bhp but you should get a nice 1.6 GTi model with 115bhp for under £2,000.

[SALEEN S7R]

Oh and as Dave Brand points out, insurance could be fairly pricey. Not too bad though, I was 23 when I got my first car last year a MK3 Toyota supra 3.0ltr turbo and thats a higher insurance group than any of the cars I mentioned by quite a bit, I got 3rd party fire and theft for £157 a month, I imagine itd be a lot cheaper for any of the cars I listed especially if you went 3rd party only.

[Truckosaurus]

Running a small engined A4 shouldn't be any more expensive than something like a VW Golf, if you use an independent garage or buy parts from somewhere like Eurocarparts.

The MR2 is a good suggestion too.

[Dan Friel]

If you need four seats, then perhaps a Nissan Primera GT? 150bhp and 150,000 miles won't be a problem...

Or an SRI is the insurance is an issue.

[davemorganfan]

Reality check needed here, I think. First car, budget of £1500-2000, and we're talking about sports cars with an excess of 150bhp.... come on, he'll spend more on insurance than the cost of buying the car. Utterly daft.

[SALEEN S7R]

Not really, especially if he goes 3rd party only. And lets be honest when your choosing a car thats £1,500-£2,000 all you really need is 3rd party only cover, or perhaps 3rd party fire and theft. Now fully comprehensive, that would be stupid and id not recommend it to anyone with a cars value anything under say £5000.

[BertMk2]

Keep it simple for a first car, especially if you're looking at a budget car - a "cheap" high powered car will be horrific to insure and the general wear and tear parts (brake discs, pads, tyres etc) will also be more expensive. Diesels are usually cheaper to insure and tend to live longer so they're worth a look.

Do's:
- Get insurance quotes before buying anything.
- Get it HPI checked.
- If you don't know much about the technical side of things take someone with you that does.
- Take your time, there are plenty of cars out there, don't rush the purchase.
- Always take the car for a test drive.
- Check owners club websites and places like Parkers for reviews and reports of common faults with particular models (gives you clues what to look for).

Don'ts:
- Don't pay the asking price. You'll always get something taken off it.
- If you're in any doubt about the cars condition or history walk away.

Do you have any ideas other than "Escort sized or bigger"? Any makes or models you want to avoid? Petrol or diesel? Number of doors? Boot space important?

[garcon]

I wouldn't bother with anything German at that price - they'd be no more reliable, older, and more expensive to fix (even at a specialist rather than a dealer).

Unless you're a complete petrolhead willing to spend two grand on a car and risk losing it all every time you drive it, I really wouldn't take SALEEN's route.

Read what Bert says - very sound advice indeed.

Difficult to know what cars to suggest without a better idea of your criteria. Sifting through autotrader, two grand buys you:

1999 Ford Focus 1.6 LX 100,000 miles
1999 Ford Mondeo 1.8 LX 80,000 miles
2000 Vauxhall Astra 1.4i 16v LS 80,000 miles
1999 Vauxhall Vectra 1.8i LS 90,000 miles
2000 Skoda Octavia 1.6 GLXi 60,000 miles (don't laugh - it's a cracking car)
1998 Nissan Primera 2.0 SRi 60,000 miles (though I'd check the insurance)
2000 Nissan Primera 1.8 S 65,000 miles (newer model)
1999 Mazda 323 1.8 SE 90,000 miles
1999 Renault Megane 1.4i 16v Sport 60,000 miles

etc etc

Of those, I'd pick out the Astra, Octavia (make sure it hasn't been a minicab though), Mazda and Megane.

[SALEEN S7R]

Risking it all Garcon? Come on, the MR2 and Peugoet 205 GTi have not really got any more power than any of the cars in your list. If they do all we are talking is 15-25bhp differnce at most. Both the 205 GTi and MR2 are renowned for their handling abilites and both are pretty quick but yet not stupidly fast. IMO.

If you have a heavy right foot theres 1 very simple soloution, buy Road Angel, doesent need to be the top specificaton model in order to pick up every safety camera there is. Of course you could just slow down and drive sensibley but where's the fun in that? If your going to get a quick car, use it. Im not suggesting you road race or anything like that but track days are good fun from what i've been told.

[garcon]

Not surprisingly you completely miss the point.

I wasn't entirely considering the extra performance (though an MR2 is a serious handful in the hands of a novice). What I meant was whatever car you buy for two grand, you'd be ill advised to insure it 3rd party fire & theft. Because sooner or later you may have a fault accident and see your pride and joy carted off to a scrapyard without getting a penny back. Unless you really are a committed petrolhead, you really wouldn't want to take that risk - and hence you'd buy a cheaper car to insure and get comprehensive cover.

He hasn't even said he wants a performance car yet...

As for your second para - how does having a machine telling you where speed cameras are make you less likely to crash? Your first car is a Supra, you obviously like "using" it, and yet you haven't been on a trackday? Remind me to steer well clear of all Supras in Dorset - with that power and no training or experience (and I suspect very little restraint) you're an accident waiting to happen.

[SALEEN S7R]

Accident waiting to happen Garcon? I think not. I've got a years no claims now and have had no accidents or dinks. As for me driving fast, yes I do drive fast sometimes but not during the daytime. If I drive fast I normally do it on a dual carrigeway at night near me which has 2 or 3 mile long straights and no on or off roads leading onto it. Unlike most I try not to speed when there is other people about, and especially not on roads where there is a likelyhood of their being pedestrians.

You know nothing of my driving Garcon, yes a Supra is a powerful car for a first car but then im not some teenager or 21 year old who has just got behind the wheel. I have judgement, I beleive I know when and where it is safe to drive quickly, heck I do over 1000 miles a month, and trust me when you drive a Supra you learn to drive and you learn car control. Quickly. If you dont the back end will snap out in a second and you will find yourself in a nasty accident.

[garcon]

A whole year's no claims eh? Oh the confidence of youth!

[chezza]

Indeed...I had 2 years no claims...was well on the run to 3 (was about 3 months short) and had a fault accident...NEVER EVER take your no claims for granted. Fortunatley I am fully comp and so my car was repaired.

[Suze]

I paid sub £500 for my first car (Micra!) but have insured it fully comp, just because the price difference between that and third party was little.

However, although I paid sub £500, I am about to spend a few hundred on it to "get it straight" and keep it running, hopefully, well - new tyres, new front brake pads etc etc - just wear and tear stuff. If you do decide to buy a slightly older car, as someone mentioned earlier (sorry can't remember who!) I would really recommend checking out part costs as well, and remember that you may have to spend a few hundred on it as well to keep it on the road and functioning well. Mine's a 94 model, FWIW, and I looked at VWs, Corsas, Micra etc - ie small second hand cars - before going to this one which was kept tidy anyway.

[olly83]

Thanks for all your replies and advice so far, I really appreciate it. just to clear a few things up, When I say Escort sized, i really mean the car itself. TBH, I'm not too bothered about having a powerful engine or anything.


I'll be doing alot of motorway miles, so I'm after something quite comfortable on longer journeys, I'm about 6 foot 4 and long distances in my Sister's Fiesta leave me a bit sore!!

I dont think I'll get anything other that fully Comp, and £550 PA is the absolute limit. I'm not a boy racer, nor do I want to be, so i guess im looking for something reasonably sensible that will be reliable. Thanks!

[Dan Friel]

A 1.4 Focus is what you need. User friendly, cheap to buy, reliable and cheap to insure.

[garcon]

Hi Olly,

Given your height, and the fact you'll be doing longer journeys I can understand your preference for a bigger car!

As Dan says, a 1.4 Focus - or equivalent Astra - would be cheap to run, and they're comfortable enough on long runs. I'd say the Focus is the better car, but the Astra feels a bit more "substantial" and is a bit more comfortable for the long journeys.

For the same price you could get a 1.8 Vectra/Mondeo/Octavia (big used cars are cheap to buy!). More comfortable on the long journeys but slightly more expensive for fuel, servicing & insurance. My first two cars were Cavaliers, so not everyone starts small!

Happy hunting!

[TimD]

Just keep an eye on electrics on middle-aged Astras. A friend of mine has had two and both have had engine management niggles which have required trailering and expenditure. That's on a 2000 X plate and a 2003 53 plate.

Another vote for the Skoda - I know of an S reg one which has had 80,000 miles completely glitch-free in the last 2 years alone and it's about to hit 200,000 in total.

Why not also consider a late Rover 25 or 200? They are as reliable as anything else out there, despite the doom-merchants there ARE parts to be easily had and the servicing and insurance costs are some of the lowest. I run 2 Rovers, a 216GSi and an 827 Sterling and I'm very, very happy with both. The little 200 encourages spirited driving, likes to be "chucked" and will eat motorway miles very satisfactorily.

BTW, I very rarely buy comprehensive insurance. I get a good deal on TPF&T and the only time it's proved to be a false economy was the year a stone put the windscreen in my lap.

[Quagmire]

I think you may struggle to find fully comp insurance for £500 pa.

One option to reduce your insurance costs is to see if you can be put on your parent’s policy (I don’t know how practicable this would be for you).

I had a mailshot come through from direct line (my insurance provider) a few weeks ago saying that I could insure my children (not that I have any that I am aware of!) on my policy, and they could still earn no claims. It sounded like a good way to reduce some of initial cost for the first couple of years of driving.

As for your choice of car, we could all recommend all sorts, but my recommendation is to test drive lots of different cars to see what you think to them and take your time to find the right one. (I did that 18 moths ago and ended up with something well away from what I intended to buy – went looking for a mk4 supra and came back with a BMW!) However, while I was looking I drove all sorts from audi’s, to evo's and looked at a lot of cars before I decided to buy.

To add my 2 pence worth on cars to consider - have you thought about a citeron ZX ?

Cheap to buy and maintain (use Euro car parts), generally well equipped, handle extremely well (passive rear wheel steering), and no silly suspension to go wrong!

I had one for my first car as soon as I turned 17, I kept it for 2 and a half years and have to admit that I drove it extremely hard while clocking up 30K a year. However, during that time, it never let me down and all I ever did was service it regularly.

Also, if you plumb for a 1.9TD you end up with golf gti performance with +40 mpg

[Dani Filth]

the ZX is a bit old .. you probably mean Xsara and it's in the same class as the Focus&Astra .. with a bit more room

[Quagmire]

Nope. Definately a ZX!
(He said he was looking at 10 year old audis, so this fits perfectly!)

Theres loads of good ones about with low milage and FSH for ~ £750 - 1K. For exmaple there is one for sale just round the corner from me in watford 1997 R reg 1.9td 48K from new, FSH, £750 - bargin!

You also have the added bonus thats there no expensive HDI system to repair if it goes wrong unlike on the xsara.

[chunterer]

I remember the insurance issues when I passed my test at 17.

Even for small cars it was quite dear so I had to go on as a name driver on my mum's insurance.

Naturally insurance is cheaper going 3rd party but I wouldn't recommened that for a car of any significant value. I'd also suggest plumping for a limited mileage policy if you can as that also reduces the premium.

First cars I 'had' to drive were a Panda which I unfortunately wrote off and then a succession of Citroen AX's. For 'bangs per buck' those little 1100 cc cars were good fun to drive, cheapr to insure and gave cracking fuel consumption.

The first one I had was only a 4 speed box but somehow hit 60mph in second gear??!! The thing did almost 110mph and I wondered if a 1.4GT engine had been put in it by accident!!

A classic car can be quite cheap to insure if you go on a specialist policy, but mainstream firms are a bit stingy on what they classify as a classic car!

[Truckosaurus]

On the subject of ZX's, I bought a £400 one for my brother to use last summer. It was the non-turbo diesel estate and had done 150k miles. It drove well, if a little slowly, and other than a service and a couple of new tyres in performed faultlessly (although the central locking didn't work )

At that price you can't expect a car free of dings, but on the plus side, it came with a stereo that was probably worth more than the car