Starter Car

sam3011

I have about €3000 to spend on a starter car im looking at fiat punto's, peugeot 106 306, renault clio. I dont wanna go over about a 1.4 for insurance. Any one got any idea which of these would be best to drive and any expierence ye might have with any of these cars or others?? and good alloys and things lik that? Thanks

Seth Brundle

Not puntos or the 306 IMO

nupplenits

I've a lovely 99 Renault clio for sale at the moment for 3400, negotiable.
Check adverts.ie for full spec - it's in perfect condition anyway.

Gary ITR

Something like this would float my boat

rowanh

Id go for something japanese. a 1.3 corrolla maybe?

somethig like this

http://www.carzone.com/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=724907

or if you want something smaller maybe something like this

http://www.carzone.com/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=737044
though find one that isnt red

I would definatley not get a punto, horrible car. The 1.6 ltr 106 gti is a very good car, i would imagine the smaller size engine versions could still be ok. I wouldnt go for a french car though if your spending 3k or italian.

Owen

Check adverts.ie, there are a lot of cars which fit your Criteria. I'm selling one, and few others are too! The nice thing about adverts is that most people are honest, which is a welcome change I've found from most classifieds.

Maccattack

i would steer clear of the puntos if i were you. im selling a VW Polo at the moment if you can raise a bit more cash you might get a bargain.

Holsten

Why the negativity towards Puntos?

Vain

whats wrong with puntos :L i hav one as my first car

stepbar

kbannon wrote:

Not puntos or the 306 IMO

Thinking of buying a 306 at the moment, why would you not buy one? Just interested to hear.

bazz26

Ford Fiesta. Go with the 1.25 litre 16 valve version, engine was co-designed with Yamaha and produces around 74bhp. Cracking little car and very nice to drive. Servicing and spare parts are relatively cheap. Try and get a Ghia spec model, they usually have toys such as cd player, sunroof or air conditioning.

A few examples:
http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=730357
http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=548451
http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=687058
http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=724478

Max_Damage

Vain wrote:

whats wrong with puntos

What's right with them I think is what the question should be!

colm_mcm

is being crap part of the criteria?

Hotwheels

There's lots of Punto's to be had, go for the 1.2 16V, if you find a well looked after example. You'll have cheap motoring, petrol,tax, insurance etc...
What ever you buy get a proper Mech to look it over for you, and not some lad that knows a "bit bout carz..."
Good luck with car, what ever ya buy

Owen

Puntos? Tell you what. Give me the 3 grand, and I'll blow it on a holiday. You'll get the same value for money.

Seth Brundle

stepbar wrote:

Thinking of buying a 306 at the moment, why would you not buy one? Just interested to hear.

Any I have come across have been lemons!
Also look at http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/index.php?url=/carbycar/index.htm

The dealer network would put me off any Pug but the Mrs. has a 106 & 206 which have had no issues (apart from cretinous dealers!)

jjbrien

ned78 wrote:

Puntos? Tell you what. Give me the 3 grand, and I'll blow it on a holiday. You'll get the same value for money.

There nothing wrong with Italian cars or French ones to that matter. Most motoirst will tell you you can either be very lucky with a car or very unlucky. A friend of mine just got rid of a Toyota corolla and buing a Reno Maegan becaus of all the trougble he had with the toyota. If you buying second hand it all depends on weather the pevious owner looked after it.

Most poster who are bashing French and Italian cars here have never even owened or driven one.

um7y1h83ge06nx

In fairness, get a nice, clean Toyota Corolla 1.3L hatchback or Nissan Almera 1.4L hatchback.

I have a '99 Almera saloon, 142.5K miles and it's grand, no problems at all.

Comes with electric windows, central locking, electric sunroof, and above all, the most important thing I looked for in my first car, reliability.

Cheese Princess

I bought a Punto when I started driving in Sept. 05. It's a 95 and I only paid 1500 for it and it's still flying around. I did all my lessons and my test in it and lots of mileage up and down the country.

I've had to replace the exhaust and got a new clutch a couple of months ago but really that's not bad going for a 12 year old car.

I think people have a really negative opinion of puntos when in fact any car can cause you grief - my sister has much more trouble with her VW Golf than I ever had.

Owen

jjbrien wrote:

There nothing wrong with Italian cars or French ones to that matter.

No one has said that, a sweeping statement like that cannot be proven. We are arguing that the Punto is a terrible car though.

jjbrien wrote:

Most poster who are bashing French and Italian cars here have never even owened or driven one.

Actually, we have.

jjbrien

ned78 wrote:

No one has said that, a sweeping statement like that cannot be proven. We are arguing that the Punto is a terrible car though.



Actually, we have.

As a privious poster said he has a 12 year punt and it has been very reliable. My brother inlaw is driving a 97 punto although they dont look like nice cars any more (the older models) he has not had any trouble with it other than he broke the drivers seat due to his own stupidy.

I myself drive a fiat a 7 year old one at that and have not has any trouble either. Cars are a game of luck not matter if there jap, Italian, German etc.

Owen

jjbrien wrote:

As a privious poster said he has a 12 year punt and it has been very reliable. My brother inlaw is driving a 97 punto although they dont look like nice cars any more (the older models) he has not had any trouble with it other than he broke the drivers seat due to his own stupidy.

You're quoting a closed survey you've conducted yourself.

jjbrien wrote:

I myself drive a fiat a 7 year old one at that and have not has any trouble either. Cars are a game of luck not matter if there jap, Italian, German etc.

Do you honestly believe that? Cars are a game of luck?

jjbrien

ned78 wrote:

You're quoting a closed survey you've conducted yourself.

Nope not a closed survay http://www.whatcar.com/news-article.aspx?NA=219682#

Aslo what cars reliabily index for 2006 fiat is 18 of 30 with Ford amung others coing below them http://www.whatcar.com/news-special-report.aspx?NA=217350#

Owen

jjbrien wrote:

Nope not a closed survay

Yes, but we're not discussing cars of 2006. The OP has a budget of 3k, which will allow him to buy a late ninties car, or early 2000's car. At which point in time, Fiat Puntos were known for blowing head gaskets, and having electrical issues.

um7y1h83ge06nx

Look at this Which? car survey:

http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/display.var.1527002.0.0.php

"Land Rover is rooted firmly at the bottom of the reliability table on 68 per cent, just behind Renault and Fiat."

Or

http://www.whatcar.co.uk/news-special-report.aspx?NA=217350#

um7y1h83ge06nx

Just looked at the manufacturer table in the second link in my last post.

8 of the top 10 reliable manufacturers are Asian, 6 Japanese, 2 Korean.

Every mechanic I know swears by Japanese cars, and by far the most reliable cars our family has had, have been '98 Toyota Starlet, '99 Nissan Almera, and '02 Mazda 323.

And there finishes my "stick to the Asians and you won't go far wrong" rant!

Masada

Yes, but we're not discussing cars of 2006. The OP has a budget of 3k, which will allow him to buy a late ninties car, or early 2000's car. At which point in time, Fiat Puntos were known for blowing head gaskets, and having electrical issues.

well no actually, their has been a few electric issues with the mk2 punto which was released in late 99 and was replaced in 03-04 with an updated version, the mk1 punto from 94-99 is a great little car, and if you go or the 16v version then you wont have any problems with headgaskets., the 8v engine is still a good little engine and is just as reliable as the next., from time to time things break/wear out on cars and thats just life,.,
it pains me to see people bitching out these facts about fiat which are just typical hearsay from the old days of fiat in the 60-70s when they used russian metals to make their cars, it was a lot more prone to rusting than other cars., i would also assume that most o the people against the punto option either never had one or never looked after theirs, or even the usuall "my mates mates sister has a friend that has a punto and its cr*p".,

OP:if your looking for a car to learn in i would go for a punto around €1000 as your most likely gonna bump it a bit anyway so at least you'll get your money back on it and then get a better car when you can drive better., ive owned 3 punto's so far and im mainly a honda man, i think there a great little car,.,

EDIT:

Every mechanic I know swears by Japanese cars, and by far the most reliable cars our family has had, have been '98 Toyota Starlet, '99 Nissan Almera, and '02 Mazda 323.

theres no questioning how tuff SOME jananese cars are but the fac is that punto's arnt nearly as bad as people make them out to be., as i said above im a honda man myself and i know you cant get more reliable than honda but im perfectly happy to have a punto, and im a mechanic.,
oh and your mazda 323 is actually just a fancy ford mate.,lol:D they tend to have a lot or problems with the clutch, they go through a lot more of them in there life than most cars.,

jjbrien

vtec wrote:

well no actually, their has been a few electric issues with the mk2 punto which was released in late 99 and was replaced in 03-04 with an updated version, the mk1 punto from 94-99 is a great little car, and if you go or the 16v version then you wont have any problems with headgaskets., the 8v engine is still a good little engine and is just as reliable as the next., from time to time things break/wear out on cars and thats just life,.,
it pains me to see people bitching out these facts about fiat which are just typical hearsay from the old days of fiat in the 60-70s when they used russian metals to make their cars, it was a lot more prone to rusting than other cars., i would also assume that most o the people against the punto option either never had one or never looked after theirs, or even the usuall "my mates mates sister has a friend that has a punto and its cr*p".,

OP:if your looking for a car to learn in i would go for a punto around €1000 as your most likely gonna bump it a bit anyway so at least you'll get your money back on it and then get a better car when you can drive better., ive owned 3 punto's so far and im mainly a honda man, i think there a great little car,.,

EDIT:

theres no questioning how tuff SOME jananese cars are but the fac is that punto's arnt nearly as bad as people make them out to be., as i said above im a honda man myself and i know you cant get more reliable than honda but im perfectly happy to have a punto, and im a mechanic.,
oh and your mazda 323 is actually just a fancy ford mate.,lol:D they tend to have a lot or problems with the clutch, they go through a lot more of them in there life than most cars.,

Very true you took the words right out of my mouth.

squishywishy

Must agree with Bazz26

I recently bought a Fiesta Ghia for my first car, its a sturdy little thing and has all the electrics as standard

Bit of hunting about and you'll get one for sure

Stear well clear of the Punto...........friend of mine had his 2 days before it blew a gasket.....he's had nothing but trouble from it

Fiat..Fix It Again Tomorrow.....we've all heard it and with Fiats its true!!!!

colm_mcm

It's as simple as this, any car for 3 grand may have had a hard life, and while a few people may have had a certain car without trouble, with a manufacturer like Fiat, Renault or Citroen, you are more likely to have problems.
you have to give yourself the best chance that you won't have to do major repair work in the future, after all, if you buy a car for 3,000 and then have to spend another 1,500 on repairs in a year, that's a bit of a false economy. I would go with something Japanese like a Starlet or a 323 or Suzuki Swift, there is minimal chance of having to replace a clutch, or a head gasket, or have wiring gremlins on a car like this.

Masada

I would go with something Japanese like a Starlet or a 323 or Suzuki Swift, there is minimal chance of having to replace a clutch, or a head gasket, or have wiring gremlins on a car like this.

hmm, i take it you didnt rear this? mazda's like to fly through clutches, A LOT.,lol.

oh and your mazda 323 is actually just a fancy ford mate.,lol they tend to have a lot or problems with the clutch, they go through a lot more of them in there life than most cars.,

97ish -00ish toyota starlets can have problems with gearboxes also with some they can start blowing white smoke.,
toyota are not what they used to be a few years ago., my brother got rid of an 03 toyota corolla verso after it had gearbox problems, piston rings gone and every now and then the windows would just go up and down as they please., it was a terrible car but in the old days there cars were very reliable, like the old carina for instance, i was talking to a taxi driver yeaterday and he had 260K on a 1.6 petrol carina, now thats reliability.