Hi,

Just split with my girlfriend of 20 years and moved back to wallasey. Never had my own insurance as always used company inurance but now need my own car.

As no job now, I'm looking to spend about £1,500 for the car, any ideas??

Thanks for any advice.
P

stick to a small engine and low spec to keep the cost down corsa or clio

Fiat Punto,suppose to be one of the cheapest to insure..,;-))

I would get a few quotes on line
Pick some cars you like off auto trader or eBay and use the reg numbers for a factual quote
You will find ford focus cars value for moneyb

Thanks, will have a look!

Get something Japanese. They're usually more reliable.

Get a quote on insurance before you commit to buying.
Check out cost of tax (I'm stung for £200 every year!)
Consider the condition the car is in, how much work it will need over the coming years in order to pass it's MOT.

If I'm recommending I'd say get a classic mini. Nice cheap insurance, not too bad on tax, only downside is it might need work to pass it's MOT each year (or if you're tall it might be too small!)

mini has to be the most overpriced car you could pick!!

yeah, very tall so mini might not be too good lol.

Always had audi or merc company cars so this is strange as i have to pay myself.

I do fancy a cleo or corsa and seen a few on seaview road (is it wallasey car sales?)

Thanks for your input, much appreciated!

P

Hi P
I may get rubbished for this but why dont you look at a Rover 75 or even the MGZT version.
You get a lot of car for very little money and if you go for the sporty version they are quite nippy.
I have a 1.8 Turbo and it goes like stink but inside you get all the luxury of your Mercs or Audis and dont believe the rubbish that there are no parts cos there are plenty if needed.
I also find my insurance is cheap just don't go for the V8 version cos you will get me jealous

Steve

iv'e had a couple of rover 75 and they are nothing but trouble!!!they have clutch problems which seemingly are very common on them!and theyr'e not easy to fix as its all hydroulics on them,cost a bomb to get fixed.

Did look at a rover 75 v6 estate in Birkenhead earlier in the week! When you have no job it's such a decision! Once again thanks for your advice.

Will be the first here to say, sorry to hear you split

cheers :-)

I would only buy Jap at that price. Anything else is likely to cost allot in repairs.

Old Honda civic or something

Japanese all the way. Get a Mazda 3 or similar

Well I have had my Rover 75 for 2 years now and have covered around 20-25K and all it has cos me is;
new brake pads for the back
4 spark plugs (not required but replaced anyway)
and a new spring for the back

total cost - £85
cost of car £1800 ( I overpaid from a garage but got a warranty!)

Its 10 years old, there is no rust anywhere (unlike 10 year old jap crap) and has all the luxuries you would need.

Can't stand cars that when you close the door they sound soooo tinny.

There are a lot of fords, citroens and pugs out there for cheap money you just have to look around

Good luck

You are lucky. I wouldn't touch a rover with a shitty stick. Imo the worst cars on the roads. Everyone I know who has had one has had major problems.

Jap cars are renowned for being the most reliable cars.

I have had loads of old jap cars and they are great, although a little boring unless you go for a sporty version

I currently have a ford focus and it is great but if money was tight and I couldn't afford repairs I would not buy an old ford as they can be a little tempremental

+1

wouldnt touch a rover with a barge pole

I also had a Rover 25 which was very reliable, and a couple of Metros in the dim and distant pass which were also fine.

I hate the way people slate an entire motor manufacturer based on limited experience and recycled anecdotes.

As for Jap cars being reliable, they're not any longer:

Toyota recalls 1.3m cars over airbag and windscreen wiper faults
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/jan/30/toyota-recall-cars-airbag-wiper-faults

Honda recalls 777,000 Odyssey, Pilot vehicles in North America
http://news.yahoo.com/honda-recalls-748-000-odyssey-pilot-vehicles-u-172206654--sector.html


Nissan recalls 50,000 Qashqai cars for urgent inspection after customer's steering wheel 'came off in his hands'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ect-possible-steering-wheel-defects.html

Might just get a mountain bike but look in the news at the top of the forum and they're getting robbed!

Would you touch an old BMW?

Thanks
P

+ 1

I can't stand all the faceless and mundane jap crap

Unfortunately buying a 2nd hand car is always a mind field - look for something that has been well looked after and its a start.

Wise advice. I'm active on a Pug forum and we occasionally get someone joining just to [censored] off Pugs and the French in general because they've bought a car with problems.

A little investigation then shows that the car has little or no service history, with no consideration to this. When I was recently looking for a car I was astonished to see how many had not even been cleaned inside, one was caked in mud and all the water channels were full of gunk and leaves. If they can't be bothered to clean it before sale, what on earth was their care of the car like before this?

I don't think people see the correlation between "no history" and the potential for problems down the line.

The biggest factor in making a car unreliable is the previous owner(s). Its a buyers market and there are plenty out there, so its not unreasonable to wait until a good one comes along rather than buying the first thing you see or just the cheapest.