First Car. Where to buy?

quarryman

I'm looking for a 1litre to start driving. I plan on spending €3000.

I've checked out Autotrader, which was crap. For some reason thay choose to group cars by make rather than price. Buy and sell seems ok but i'm just wary about buying from a Private Seller.

Has anyone bought a small 1st car from a Dealer. Is it possible to approach them and tell them what i'm looking for etc?

My preferences would be a VW Polo, Fiat Punto, Peugeot 106, (hate Micras).

Lastly, I've heard 1.2ltr cars are in the same insurance bracket as 1.0ltrs, is this true?

TIA.

-q

_sheep

When i was getting quotes on my first car, the quotes were the same on 1lt's and 1.2lt's and I didnt even think of trying 1.4's. Im 20, first provisional and i got a 1.2 99 punto, hated it, quickly looked at getting a decent car, moved up to a 1.4 megane classic, insurance was only about 5% more, and i fecking love it.

Out of small cars my friends have, favourite would be the Seat Ibiza or prehaps the Polo and the peugeots are bad either. The skoda fabias might be worth a look as well. Micras are built like tanks, and dont seem to give trouble but i dont like them myself.

Personally i would go with a dealer, unless you know what to look for with cars, its just so much easier and if anything happens you have somewhere to turn.

Seth Brundle

quarryman wrote:

I've checked out Autotrader, which was crap. For some reason thay choose to group cars by make rather than price. Buy and sell seems ok but i'm just wary about buying from a Private Seller.
My preferences would be a VW Polo, Fiat Punto, Peugeot 106

did you look at www.autotrader.ie - can look at your favourite cars within a price range!

quarryman wrote:

Has anyone bought a small 1st car from a Dealer. Is it possible to approach them and tell them what i'm looking for etc?

I find salesmen (& women) often to be smug gits who (as per their job description) just trying to sell you a car and don't care what you want.
However, a dealer will probably give some kind of warranty on a used car (may not be much but it is better than no warranty!).

quarryman wrote:

(hate Micras).

almost everyone does!

quarryman wrote:

Lastly, I've heard 1.2ltr cars are in the same insurance bracket as 1.0ltrs, is this true?

Haven't heard this but how the insurance market is decided is anyones guess. Your best bet is to contact as many brokers and companys and find out how much it would cost to get tpft and fully comp cover on your various choice of cars. Don't buy the car until you know this as you may discover that cover costs more than your car!

Sleipnir

http://www.cbg.ie

koneko

Micras aren't the prettiest cars around but they're reliable and cheap to run. Polos are expensive, Puntos will give you nothing but bother (based on people I know with Puntos that do nothing but complain).

I got a Micra and it served me well until I got my full licence, and my insurance came down.

SprostonGreen

I paid €950 for my Toyota Starlet 1L, throught the buyandsell.ie

A very reliable car and the parts are cheap!

mike65

For a first time owner peace of mind should be the watchword or phase. So buying from a pukka garage which might be able to stretch to a 6 month engine/gearbox warrenty makes good sense. I would stay away from the classifieds unless you have the active help of an old hand to guide away from the shiney-wheeled/freshly waxed dogs. The main problem might be finding a main dealer garage that still has 3 grand cars in stock. So many shift them on to used car lots where there will be no guarentees.

Mike.

quarryman

Thanks for the replies.

I should give the quotes i got. Basically the only 2 that were realisitc were Insure.ie (rang up) and Quinn Direct.

QD: 3100 f/c 2600 t/p
insure.ie: 3400 f/c 2800 t/p

I haven't even got my provisional licence yet, i'm taking the theory test next week. So, for the quotes i basiaclly said no experience, no NCB etc. Also, this is on a 1ltr polo.

How many of you are on t/p? Is it worth the saving? It was outlined to me that should i crash the car on t/p i will have to pay the remaining balance on the insurance and obviously, the payments on the car (which will be gone) and have to buy a new one in the meantime. Could work out costly, but i would have thought the benefits of F/C are for more valuable cars.

I'm going to try make a list of cars to use when i'm looking:

VW Polo
Seat Ibiza
Toyota Starlet (Saw one on sale on boards a while back)
Daihatsu Charade
Peugeot 106

...any more?

might look into getting quotes on 1.2ltrs as well.

Sleipnir, thanks for the link to cbg, looking at it now.

D!ve^Bomb!

how old are you.. they aren't bad quotes f/c(by irish standards) depending on age of course.. i was quoted over 5g's f/c on a 1.2 punto!! (i'm 21, 20 when i got the quote)

quarryman

oops. that's kinda important alright. 23.

ubu

opel corsas arent bad cars and come in 1.0 and 1.2
citroen saxo might also be one to consider

[URL=http:///www.carzone.ie/usedcars]www.carzone.ie[/URL] is another website to check out, it has cars for sale by dealers across the country and you can refine your search by max price, engine size, etc

puntos are grand cars imo if you get one thats been looked after apart from the tendency for the head gasket to go in the 1242 engine which is fairly well documented!

Nukem

Good luck in the test first off.
(Starlet 1L) Great car,mechanically bulletproof,great miles to d gallon,great runner,I bought a lupo instead.Was going for a polo and got a good deal on d lupo. Had a Charade 90,built like a tank bit heavy on the juice but if its the 16v its a rocket and i crashed mine into a Starlet(funny) @ 10mph and it pushed the Starlet across the road { Starlet 0 - Charade 1 }(Charade no damage - starlet in bits,new door,new wing) i thought it was a pothole

Ibiza are ok but (cheap vw parts in them) 106 make sure you have a mechanic with ya(good when they are good,Fu*ked when they are bad)

Try www.buyandsell.ie

Oh avoid Fiat Puntos at all costs(F.I.A.T- fix it again tomorrow, Fu*k it and tow),Eats head gaskets and back shocks and body is tin.
Saxos are d same as 106's,Corsa's are ok.

samo

Wouldnt be too keen on a pug 106, had one for the weekend a few months back as a replacement car and absolutly hated it. Was very cramped inside you would want feet smaller than a size 6 if you wish to hit the pedals smoothly IMO as very cramped. Also was going up the exit ramp for M50 roundabout in Tallaght and only my willpower alone got that car up that hill, thought it was going to go backwards!

now admittidley, my regular car at the time was a 1.6 avensis which as boring as it looked is very fast when it wanted to be and maybe this was just a dodgy peugot but for a first car dont think peugot's are that reliable. My money would be on the VW polo which is a bit of a tank and fairly indestructible or the startlet which is nice and nippy as a 16V engine.

It's a shame you wont consider a micra as much as you dont like them as great first car and think they are the best of bunch in terms of space, reliability and nippiness.

Hope it works out well for you.

impr0v

Personally I wouldn't bother with fully comp at that price of car. Statistically your chances of doing 500-600 euro damage per year to a car of that value are low, and the risk is certainly worth taking given that the worst case scenario is a loss of three grand.

If you crash with only third party fire and theft your insurance covers the damage you inflict on other people and their property (minus the policy excess), and you fix your own car.

alias no.9

It's amazing the tripe some people come out with.

1. The old Fiat bad and VW good myth. The reality is that fiats aren't nearly as bad as some people would have you believe and VW aren't nearly as good, both reputations are based on years ago. For either, if they're looked after, you'll most likely not have a problem. As for head gaskets on puntos, at your price range and the age / mileage of car you'll be getting, if it was going to go, it'll most likely have gone already so it's down to the quality of the workmanship of the repair rather than any inherrent feature of the car. The real difference between a punto and polo is the cost of parts and servicing, which is far cheaper on the punto. Avoid a 1.0 polo at all costs unless you want to be passed out by cyclists on the open road.

2. The peugeot 106 is a good car. It doesn't have any major reliability issues though may suffer from some filmsy pieces of trim, but any of them will have fallen off by now and everything that's left will last forever. The saxo is much the same. Avoid the 1.0 though, the 1.1 is a much better all round performer.

3. The nissan micra is, as has been said, reliable as the day is long.

So some real advice. For €3000 you're not going to see a whole lot, if anything at all, at a main dealer and you're sure as hell not getting a 6 month warrenty. Some independant dealers should have plenty stock in this price range and will probably offer you a 3 month warrenty, just make sure it's a proper parts and labour warrenty as some warrentys aren't worth the paper they're written. Despite what others have said here, your best bang for your buck will be private. Get somebody who knows what they're doing to go with you and get a proper mechanic to inspect it before buying. There are mechanics advertising this kind of service in the buy and sell at reasonable rates and for a little more you could get an AA inspection.

Most importantly, chose a car based on that car and it's condition, not based on the reputation of that type of car you heard about on a message board and don't pay over the odds, it's a buyers market.

alias no.9

One final tip, a useful site for impartial reviews of various models is www.parkers.co.uk

Seth Brundle

on the issue of whether or not you should go fully comp - can you afford to be paying off this car and having to buy another?
Also I have found a number of times in recent years that (for me) fully comp is cheaper that TPFT (don't ask me why!) so get a quote for both!
Also many people have found that adding a named driver (wife/gf) can help reduce the cost of the policy - see if it makes a difference!

quarryman

Thanks again for all the help.

I rang up Quinn Direct again to get quotes on a few of the cars mentioned above. It seems that anything 1.0 litre is €2600 for me t/p.

I checked a few models with slightly higher cc and 1.2 litres do cause an increase in the premium maybe by €100 or €200. However this depends on the make and model. A Fiat Punto 1.2 litre is €2600 strangely enough.

At this stage i'm gonna go for a 1 or 1.2litre on t/p. Took a walk down to the bank today to enquire about finance etc. I've no idea when it comes to finances such as loans etc. For a €6000 loan i was quoted an APR of 8.2% which means €6500ish. This is per year per €1000 so it all depends on how long it takes me to pay it back.

The problem is €2600 would need to be paid back in the first year (for the insurance) so i would have to stretch paying off the car for 2-3 years.

Has anyone got any advice on motor loans etc? I have a credit union a/c but as far as i know i can only borrow 1.5 to 2x what i have in the a/c but since i don't use (and have no cash in it) its no use.

So with some solid quotes on my post-it notes, i'm off car-shopping....

TIA for the help.

Woogie Boogie

u might also find a cheap car on www.carsireland.ie . If the car dont turn out so good u can sell it there to for free:)

comanche

you may have to be careful with your car insurance if you are getting a car loan - you may have to go fully comp, it may be in the small print.

also some insurance companies allow you to pay insurance in installments - its more expensive but if means you don't have to take out a loan for insurance as well.

have a look at prima finance http://www.primafinance.ie/ and http://www.ifsra.ie/frame_main.asp?pg=%2Fconsumer%2Fcr%5Fcostsur%5Frecs%2Easp&nv=%2Fconsumer%2Fcr_nav.asp