New car

DonkeyRhubarb

Im looking to buy my first car. Has to be a small engine and easy on insurance cos I have my first provisional.

Im willing to spend upto 5,000. Something comfortable that doesnt require much effort to drive. Any suggestions? (NOT A MICRA!!!!!!)

Henry Ford III

Yaris?

DonkeyRhubarb

Is that no a bit womenly? Are they going for 5000 nowadays? It's something I hadnt thought of b4, so thanks for the suggestion. Ill look into it.

delly

Yaris was my first thought as well. They do have a bit of street cred imho.

DonkeyRhubarb

Ive been looking up reviews and comments on the yaris and this little baby might just be a serious contender. The 206 pales in comparison to what Im reading about this. I do have a bias for toyota BTW.

mik_da_man

What year of a car are you looking at buying?
that will give a good idea of what ya could get;)

bazz26

To be honest you will be hard pushed to find a Yaris for €5k, maybe a high milage 1999 model.

Did you consider the Ford Fiesta. €5k will probably get you a 00 reg old model Fiesta. Grand little car and the one to get is the one with the 1.25 litre 16 valve engine. If you pick up a Ghia model it will have things like alloy wheels, electric windows, cd player and a sunroof or air conditioning.

Here are a few examples:
http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=424275
http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=412623
http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=429449
http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=408752

Avoid the old 1.3 litre 8 valve Fiesta as this engine is very old and performance is terrible.

Gurgle

DonkeyRhubarb wrote:

Im looking to buy my first car. Has to be a small engine and easy on insurance cos I have my first provisional.

Im willing to spend upto 5,000. Something comfortable that doesnt require much effort to drive. Any suggestions? (NOT A MICRA!!!!!!)

You should be able to pick up a 99-00 Corolla for €5k.
Can't go wrong.

Henry Ford III

Small engine folks. 1.25/1.3 is too big chances are.

This has lowish miles and looks tidy....Yaris

mik_da_man

How About a 98/99 Astra?
1.2 - I had a lovley one for sale a few weeks ago:D
Cheap insurance/tax and v nice to drive

Gurgle

Henry Ford III wrote:

Small engine folks. 1.25/1.3 is too big chances are.

Have you got insurance quotes?
afaik, insurance isn't as dependant on engine size as it used to be.

_Kaiser_

I can recommend the Mitsubishi Colt/Mirage (hatchback and coupe).

Great car.. reliable, sporty, all the extras on the imports, not too bad on the petrol, and not a "typical woman's car"

Some great deals to be found on Carzone.

colm_mcm

99 Yaris' can now be had for €5,000.

trust me!

cantdecide

go to carzone- enter cars between 1.0 and 1.6 and price €4000 to €6000. you will see examples of dozens of cars you haven't thought of.

cantdecide

colm_mcm wrote:

99 Yaris' can now be had for €5,000.

trust me!

you can have a '99 1.6 avensis for €5k or €6k if you look in the right places. much better value.
as previously posted, insurance will probably be comparible to yaris. i know which one i'd have.

greglo23

stick with the Yaris. great car and no problems to speak of. anti roll bar brackets can break on them which are simple to replace. newer models 03 on can have gearbox trouble but Toyota warranty is the best there is. avoid english imports as they can come with no power steering and 13" wheels i saw a 00 one recently which passed its NCT with flying colours at 193,000 miles :eek:

maidhc

greglo23 wrote:

i saw a 00 one recently which passed its NCT with flying colours at 193,000 miles :eek:

That is very good for a small car!

wingnut

Kaiser2000 wrote:

I can recommend the Mitsubishi Colt/Mirage (hatchback and coupe).

Great car.. reliable, sporty, all the extras on the imports, not too bad on the petrol, and not a "typical woman's car"

Insurance could be a problem. Most companys will give you grief if you have an import (the mirage is no exception). Unless of course you lie and say its not an import in which case you are not really insured anyway. Also The Colts are a good car but very pokey on the inside for tall people.

cantdecide

in that range, the civic really is a good car. i had first a '98 1.4 then a '92 1.5 dual carb import.
boy racer cliches aside, both were really great cars. and leg room is very good (i'm 6'4). and the handling is superb and forgiving for the times you will mis-judge a corner, as you do when you're learning. and both got over 40 mpg (even the dual carb)
the best advantage is that unlike the colt/ mirage, the jap civic is also a civic, so unless you are asked the direct question -"is it an import" (which i never have been) they will cover you regardless of their policies on jap cars. insurance companies have autonomy and can break their own rules if they want to. they actually do regularly, they wouldn't quote my brother on a golf gti, but they gave in, in the end.

colm_mcm

insurance quotes on a Civic will be much higher than on a Yaris, even a 1.4 Corolla would be much cheaper to insure.

I'm not deliberately going out of my way to disagree with you on everything cantdecide, but for a driver on a first provisional looking for a car that's easy to drive, run and insure there are better options than a Civic

_Kaiser_

wingnut wrote:

Insurance could be a problem. Most companys will give you grief if you have an import (the mirage is no exception). Unless of course you lie and say its not an import in which case you are not really insured anyway. Also The Colts are a good car but very pokey on the inside for tall people.

I had no problems (Quinn Direct) and I told them it was an import?? Probably right though that it could be a bit tight if you're very tall.

judesherry

hey i have a ford ka 01 for sale for only 4,500. its a perfect ar for a leaner because its so small and easy to park. and the there is pleantly of space in the front for the driver. its a great little car and i never had a problem with it.

colm_mcm

Never really saw the Ka's appeal apart from easy parking, If I was looking for a stripped out Ford with the ancient 1.3 engine, I'd buy a Fiesta LX

maidhc

colm_mcm wrote:

Never really saw the Ka's appeal apart from easy parking, If I was looking for a stripped out Ford with the ancient 1.3 engine, I'd buy a Fiesta LX

It looks well, especially with colour coded bumpers. The 1.3 is also supposed to be a simple engine to work on, which I suppose is unsurprising given its heritage.

colm_mcm

I suppose it has a certain charm that the Fiesta lacks, drove a 04 rental in 04 and was shocked at the lack of a casette or cd player, no leccie windows, and the general old-fashioned-ness of it