'Good' 'Ideal' set of [4] wheels?

[rezzin]

For when i turn 17. Around 5 months. I realise nothing big engine wise,insurance rape etc. Im definitely going into the bike route,but the car will serve me well until i have funds for something bigger than a 125cc and will give me opertunitys career wise also,as lets face it a driving licence is a 'bonus' in everyday life. I was thinking along the lines of 206,golf..all i can think of atm really,and i know people who own each and have given good reports. Ta for reading.

[gmanxiii]

Don't mean to rain on your parade but you do realise that as a young and new driver you'll be doing well to find insurance for anything less than a grand even if your driving a banger worth 300quid... and thats before you get the cost of the car itself and then road tax and using more fuel etc. May as well spend the money on a bigger bike...

However a drivers licence is handy to have though just dont under estimate how much it will cost to run one. As for cars, you thought about maybe an old fiesta or corsa?
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I kills hondas

VFR400NC30 > ZZR600 > CBR600FX > CBR1000rr

[iCraig]

Go ahead and pass your test, but think to yourself do you really need a car? Like the above post says your gonna get battered on insurance.

Even on the most basic of cars its gonna be atleast a £1000+, Personally I'd say pass your car test, and get your bike license too.

Then you have the best of both worlds, plus bikes bigger than 125s I find are alot cheaper, as learners keep 125 prices higher where as your bog standard 250+ is cheaper.

[binge]

My girlfriend (yes being a girl helps) is 17, Her test is coming up. We have been looking at cars and Insurance etc.

1.0 1995 Polo - Insurance is coming out at £650 TPFT.


So you really aren't going to get alot of car at your age, being a fella and all.


Also come October the bike test is going to change considerably. Maybe its worth spending the money on a bike test before then. (thats if you turn 17 before then).

206's are great little cars, I had one. They hold their price though so don't expect to pay less than £3k for a half decent one.

[AJI]

Fiestas, Kas, Corsas and Polos are good - pretty reliable and generally cheap in most respects. And better built than Clios, Saxos and Pugs.

Incidentally, in my first year in my 98 1.3 Fiesta, 17 years old, insurance in a nice area, garaged, 4000 mile limit, was £1400 TPFT.

If you stick it out it's worth it though, I'm 23 now and paying £200 a year TPFT. Though on the flip side petrol is about 30p a litre more than it was when I started driving...
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TARMAC - Automotive blog *UPDATED 26/3/09 - Abandoned fuel stations to go electric? ~ Buy my eBay stuff!
You're gonna go far, kid

[Phil_G]

If it has a Blue oval on it, then look out for rust. Our Ka rotted, our Transit is currently in for rust repair, and Ford seem to design in loads of dirt traps around the vehicle to keep you on your toes. Check around fuel fillers, in the sills, and wheel arches.

If its got a griffin on it then look out for random Sensors failing on the motor managment.

If its French then check the electrics work (although, my own experience of them is that IF anything goes, it only needs a rub with a bit of emery paper to clean a connection and is sound again)

In 1999 I paid £495 tpft for my first car which was a 1.2 Nova, and now currently pay £176 F/c on a 1995 106D. The latter of which would be my recommendation for a cheap little first car. Low insurance, low road tax, good economy, and cheap enough parts.
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1997 Kawasaki ER 500 A1:- Once again, Its merely crap

[McGee]

[Phil_G]

[tutton]

All these problems with cars,
Like people saying pug box's go,
Brothers mate has been driving his 306 gti6 for like 3 years like a maniac and the box is still lovely.

What are breakers for anyway, if your box goes just go pick up a box from a crashed of the same car, alot cheaper than going to pug for a new one, just get someone to fit if you cant and your good to go.
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Past: '05 Peugeot XPS '99 Aprillia RS125 '94 FZR600R
Current: '02 ZX636 A1P '51 CCM R30

[iCraig]

[tutton]

I know it depends how you drive/treat the box.
i was just making the point it isnt that hard to get parts if they do go wrong on common cars like that
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Past: '05 Peugeot XPS '99 Aprillia RS125 '94 FZR600R
Current: '02 ZX636 A1P '51 CCM R30

[cagiva gezzer]

Use your bike NCB for the car policy. The bike policy will go up a bit, but the car one will drop loads.
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"because one stroke isnt enough and four strokes waste two"

[.Chris.]

Another vote for nothing French. Back at home our neighbours have a Megane which they bought from new and is a complete catalogue of disasters. They had to have a new 'box, various electrical stuff, the trim falls to bits, it leaks, etc..

206s are French and feel like biscuit tins. Corsas are horrid to drive and have a nasty clutch (in my experience).

I say - MG Metro and lots of waxoyl
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Chris
1985 Kawasaki Z550F

[Robby]

The box in the pug 306 1.4 is particularly weak - Something to do with an important load carrying bearing being cast into the casing, not a proper bearing. When it wears, and it does, you can't fix it without stripping the whole box back and building the casing back up with weld and machining it down.

That procedure would cost more than the car was worth 5 years ago, so it doesn't get done.

[map]

If you want substance over style then old Volvo's last well, quite reliable and if needed can get plenty of spares and from what I'm told the insurance isn't that bad (but as always depends on postcode).

Ok, as said, no style but if insurance is cheap enough you'll be gaining on the no claims discount.

Other option is as said, get the car test passed but also go the bike route for independent transport. I passed at 17 but didn't get a car until after 21 and the insurance was peanuts in comparison.

HTH
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...and the whirlwind is in the thorn trees, it's hard for thee to kick against the pricks...
Gibbs, what did Duckie look like when he was younger?

[AJI]

I've changed my mind. Get something old like an Alfasud or an MGB GT which you know will go wrong occasionally but will be dirt cheap and dead easy to fix, and insure it on a classic policy which will probably be cheaper than a more modern car. And it'll be a bunch more interesting than a Eurobox hatch.
____________________
TARMAC - Automotive blog *UPDATED 26/3/09 - Abandoned fuel stations to go electric? ~ Buy my eBay stuff!
You're gonna go far, kid

[.Chris.]

[Robby]

Be careful buying old cars - remember that anything you can afford to run that is a classic (basically anything fairly small) would have a bit crap when it was released, 30-40 years ago, with much of the design going back to well before that. Great thing to have if you can spanner and weld. Also, as Chris above me said, it will be slow.

Real budget motoring is still a case of buying a 10 year old hatchback without a barry boy image and an engine under 1.55 litres. Old diesel pug 106s look like a good choice, Phil_G on here is always saying how good his one is for cheap wheels. And the engine is a pug XUD, they run on chip fat well. I used to run a 306 D turbo on biodiesel. It was a shit car though, and I wouldn't buy another, certainly not with the level of bum raping that a 17 year old would have on insurance.

Also you probably wouldn't get a classic policy at that age, they tend to be restricted to over 25s, with no commuting or business use.

However you cut it, its going to cost you a lot to drive at 17. With the benefit of hindsight I can recommend getting something not very quick, with dirt cheap running costs, and spending as little as possible on it.

You won't, though. You'll get the quickest car you can afford, and pour all your money into it, either by doing a goose and trying to get in perfect mechanical condition, or by chavving it up then wrapping it round a lamppost because you spent 300 quid on a bodykit and your tyres and suspension are knackered.

[Phil_G]