Good car for a first time driver

[dessiato]

If it's so cold that you need a hat to keep your head warm, why would you have the roof down?
You're not one of those people who needs to have the roof down all year round, just to show people you own a cabriolet, are you?

I live in Seville. It's almost always warm enough to go topless. But in winter the air across the top of your head can cause headaches. But, if you've got it, flaunt it.

 

[Riklet]

Ford is a good shout. I quite like the look of even the older Focus and cheap parts right? Mondeo is so tempting but maybe I'm being a bit daft for first car.

Now having doubts and wondering whether to look at petrols mainly rather than diesels. Seen some of the latest low emissions for city centres things.

Is the engine really the issue when buying a 10-15 year old car? Does 100k for a petrol engine matter that much nowadays or is it all the other bits that go wrong and fall to pieces?

 

[Chz]

I'm still learning but doing test pretty soon. Gonna buy a car to practise more and upgrade license when (if?) I pass.

I dont want a small car really cos I'm big and tall and have loads of crap I may need to move. And would like to go camping and drive up big bad mountains or on big trips to Europe. And also I just want to look like a badass tbh, not be crawling out of a fucking Nissan micra or shitty Renault with my knees round my ears.

Budget is 1k as my first car, could stretch to 1.5k but I don't really see the point as I may well dink it and fuck it up or even crash it in my first year driving. Gonna go for a diesel cos i'm mostly looking at older cars with 100k+ milage and also I figure there may be some future gov scheme to get people to trade them in and I could take advantage of that. I figure nothing is as bad for the environment as making a new car and the eco chat is all bollocks anyway to sell more cars.

I'm thinking Skoda Octavia/Fabia, Ford Focus/Mondeo, Toyota Corolla/Avensis or an older Honda Civic. Hayundai, Mazda, Nissans would be ok too. Won't get a VW as they are fashionable and seem pricier and half the diesel cars around have a VW engine anyway. TDI 1.9 etc. Honest John is helpful but I'm still a bit nervous about actually going to look and test!

On that budget? There are a few small cars that feel like big cars - Gen.1 Nissan Note comes to mind (since I have one). Even with the front seat all the way back, someone can sit in the rear without chopping their legs off. Available with the 1.5L Renault diesel, though the 1.6 petrol is the better motor unless you're doing high mileages. Ford B-Max is much the same, but Ford-y. (People seem to love or hate Fords. I'm in the hate group, but it's true that they all feel vaguely Ford-y.)

Toyota's Verso is normally a bit too pricey (and a horrible drive), but some people value the name. I don't think they're worth extra. There's also the Hyundai ix20/Kia Venga twins, though I don't have first-hand experience of their interior space.

The Honda Jazz looks like it falls into the same category, but it's actually quite tight inside. Though due to the rear seats folding into the floor it probably has more carrying capacity than any of the above.

Engines that have been serviced properly are good for several hundred thousand miles.

 

[mx wcfc]

You won't go wrong with a Focus...

That's what my daughter had, tbf, it was our second car, and we put it into her name, so she could clock up some no claims bonus while she was at uni and not driving it much. Its a 2005, was reliable, but is now costing money to keep on the road - the last time we had to get it fixed it cost the thick end of £700, which is probably more than it's worth.

 

[Tankus]

hyundai i10 .....uber reliable ...cheap insurance , cheap to run ...good dealer network in the UK... not too sure on mainland euro ,Ive had mine 7 years with plenty more left in it ...lives outside ....a few dents over the panels as I park in some tight rough places in west Cardiff .....last car of choice to nick if streetparked ....quite nippy if you work the gears ...air con as standard ....