How much to spend on your first car?

Hi guys!

I've been learning to drive for the past 3 months now and I've just applied for a Driving Test, so hoping that I pass, if and when I do I'll be looking for a car of my own.

Up until now I've been practising on my parents cars, both big 2.0 Diesels.

Now I know for most people the school of thought is to get something cheap (less than a grand?) that way you won't mind as much if you scratch it badly etc...

However the thing is I'm big on safety and would really feel safe at all in a 15yr micra or similar. I want something newish with a good NCAP rating, lots of airbags etc...

At the moment I'm looking at the Fiat Grande Puntos (Never in my life thought I'd like a punto, I hated the old ones, however I've taken a real shine to the Grandes and they have a full 5* NCAP rating)

Would it be madness to fork out around 7k for your first car?

I have money saved so I wouldn't need to get out a loan.

Just wondering what sort of budget people had for their first car?

Thanks all.

I had the choice of a brand new small car, or a big old one.

When I saw a car skidding on ice towards me, I knew I'd be ok (I'd picked the big old one - also handy for golf clubs) ... ...

Guelder said:

Would it be madness to fork out around 7k for your first car?

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Personally, I think so yes.

If safety is your main concern, plenty of cars have a good rating.

The last Almera for instance was a segment leader when it came out - beating Volvo etc.

Setanta12 - I actually have the option aswell of using a 10 year old car - it's a big one aswell, really nice and comfy however it's a 2.0 diesel. Originally I was gonna go with this as the car drives like a dream, there's nothing wrong with it, however when it comes to insurance and road tax I'd be paying through the nose for it!

Also I was hoping to do the Hibernian Ignition course and when you pass you could get up to 50% off your insurance quote, however... You can't do it if the car is larger than a 1.6, so again that's really put me off using the 2.0

Caveat, really the Almera beat Volvo? That's a surprise as Volvo have always had a name of being a very safe car on the road.

Not too sure I could see myself driving an Almera.. but hey, might be worth a shot taking one for a test drive and seeing how it goes!

Basically I want something with a small engine so I can do the Ignition course, and something that will be cheap to run with low road tax and insurance etc..

I was thinking of a Yaris too, however I could get a much newer Grande for the same price and going on looks alone the Grande would win hands down every time for me.

I think the new Punto looks great too - but I could never buy a FIAT. Not until their track record improves drastically over a period of a few years anyway.

The Almera was just an example - it's certainly not glamourous, but, it's cheap to buy/run (v. reliable) roomy, safe and whilst definitely not exciting to drive it's very kind of familiar/relaxing to drive if you know what I mean - test drive one and you'll see - nothing about it feels odd/unusual whatsover like you get with many cars. You get in, you operate the controls and that's it - no quirks, no surprises.

After 5 minutes you'll feel as if you been driving one for years - not a bad thing for a first car.

Yeah, I was always wary of FIAT aswell (Hello, Fix It Again Tomorrow? lol) however I see that the Grandes are a huge improvement and haven't been giving trouble like the old ones, plus I'm pretty sure Opel had a big hand in the making of it too.. I think?

Just did a quick search on Car Zone for an 06 Almera (Just to compare prices with the Grande which was released in 06) for the same year there's a huge difference in price - almost double, yikes!

I'm not looking for anything sporty or particularly nippy, just want something fairly modest and reliable which would be cheap to run.

Don't suppose you know which year model of the Almera got such good ratings? Would it have been one of the older ones?

I'd imagine you could probably get a good deal on an Almera these days though (Over 1000 of them on carzone compared to just 100 Grandes!) seeing as no-one really wants them anymore.

It never even occured to me to look for an Almera, hey y'never just might be what I need afterall! lol

Here you go for the almera

[broken link removed]

Useful site too.

You could get a decent car from 5-7k and its not necessary to come up to a 06. The almera hachback is nicer than punto and a bigger car, but the best thing to do is go around to garages take a few test drives and that way you will find your first love.

A major weakness in the old model Punto was the head gasget going which is a big job if it goes. Has this issue been addressed in the new Grande model I wonder?

I would tend to buy slightly bigger and slightly older if your finances dont allow - something MrMan suggested in an earlier post.

Otherwise cant go wrong with a small Toyota or Opel.

Pick up a dirt Cheap BMW (1.6) these days on many sires....reliable as hell and drives like a dream.

A friend of mine works for nissan and he is fixing almera gearboxes fairly regularly. That said, it is a simple enough job to replace the bearings in it.....once it it caught in time. My brother literally split his gearbox in a 2.2 turbo diesel almera van after missing the, in hindsight, telltale whine from the box. In fairness, it was a well worked van so a petrol almera car wouldn't have been worked as hard.
They are a good car and handy on the juice too i believe?

ollie

ollie323 said:

...handy on the juice too i believe?

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Seems to be, yes. I have one - haven't actually properly estimated or measured real life mpg, but the fact that the needle seems to move more slowly to the left than in other comparable cars I've driven is good enough for me.

If you would go for a smaller car the Honda Jazz is a very good car very reliable and will probably last for years.