Sub-€3k car - opinions please

mvpr

How are things?

Have a mate who's looking for her first car. Provisional licence, early 20's.

What do you guys think?

I've seen a few that might be suitable, all sub 60k miles with 2yr NCT:

Fiesta 1.25 / Ibiza-Polo 1.0 / Clio 1.2

All 1999.

Opinions on any of these cars (or even suggest something else) please!

JHMEG

Make sure it has power steering. And depending on where she lives a factory immobiliser. (An aftermarket alarm is nice to have, but the factory immobiliser is more important.)

If I had to pick one of those I'd go for the Polo, tho some of them didn't have power steering.

RobAMerc

fiesta,fiesta,fiesta - nicest to drive by a long way and no less reliable than the others ( none should be at all bad )

mvpr

Of the 4 mentioned above, I've driven a Clio and Polo and found both to be OK. 1.0l engine in the Polo is tough work though, especially on longer journeys...

Fiesta's seem to be cheaper than the others, so might work out a better deal.

Thanks for the advice lads...

L-M

As mentioned above, powersteering is a must... If he/she can get one with powersteering all the more merry... But i would go for the Fiesta.

cantdecide

GUYS, here's my usual rant.

What usage.
What conditions will she use the car.
How much mileage PA.
Work commitments.
Family to consider.
Is she freakishly tall (or plump).
Fanciability of car.
Medical needs, maybe.

There's a ton of things to consider before chosing a car rather than age and sex.

I'd find it so patronising if I were a girl to get the small girl, small car routine.

She could be a 6' tall sales rep with 5 yrs as a named driver, doing 40k of backroads a year, with 2 small children and a large dog. What good is a clio to her?

Getting value out from a hatch with a budget of €3k is also so tough and before you all wade in, insurance and tax differences are usually negligable, so buying a suitable car should be first on the list, even if it isn't the absolute cheapest. Running a car always has a habit if costing roughly the same no matter how many corners you cut.

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=795840

colm_mcm

Fiesta. out of that list easily the best. presuming it's not the 1.3 Anglia engine.

vengeance52

Fiesta, toyota starlet or a polo.

zilog_jones

Fiesta. And the 1.3 bag-of-nails is still better in nearly every way than the 1.0 in the Polo/Ibiza, and there's no timing belt to worry about (as opposed to any other of these cars with around 60k). 1.25 is a much more refined enigne though, and probably does equal if not better fuel economy on top of the extra 15bhp.

Make sure it has power steering. And depending on where she lives a factory immobiliser.

Since immobilisers were made mandatory in the UK in 1997, it seemed most (or all?) cars got them here too. Shouldn't be a problem with a '99 AFAIK unless it's a Japanese import.

bazz26

Fiesta 1.25 litre Ghia - decent enough spec, alot of them had cd player, air conditioning or sunroof which was pretty much unheard of in a supermini back in 1999.

S.I.R

imo the clio but meh theres alot more to choose from but still id take the clio and its many problems over a ford anyday

daedalus2097

I'd say the Fiesta - the 1.25 Zetec is a great engine, much nicer as was said there for motorway cruising and long drives than the 1.0 of the Polo. Never really liked the Clio myself, but that's just a personal preference. The 1.3 engine Fiesta is a different beast altogether, but still serviceable and reliable. Not as much of a gain over the 1.0 Polo as the Fiesta Zetec...

thebiggestjim

'98 honda civic, 1.4

They will go forever, Insurance might be worth checking out if your mates is male. Something clicks with insurance companies for young male drivers. Female should be OK.

JHMEG

daedalus2097 wrote: »

I'd say the Fiesta - the 1.25 Zetec is a great engine

Just to be clear: zetec is a trim level, not an engine technology. ie, you can get a 1.25 LX etc, and they all have the same engine.

(The 1.3 is not the same)

Stark

Zetec was used back in the 90s to describe engines. The 1.25L engine used in the late 90s Fiestas was known as the Zetec-SE (as opposed to the 1.3L Endura-E) for example. It's fairly recently that it's been used to describe trim levels.

JHMEG

Ok, zetec was applied liberally and confusingly to a lot of stuff, but zetec is not like vtec, in that it is not a technology.

Earth Worm Jim

The cars mentioned above are pretty much alright, but there are a few more around the same specs - opel corsa - punto ( I know its a fiat but you could get an 01-02 one for the same money)

I recently sold a 99 clio 1.2 with under 18,000 miles on it - immaculate - gave it away for 2000 yoyo's to a member of the family, was my mums - just used for post office run (pension) and sunday mass. But it was a great little runner.

I also have a 99 corsa 1.0 eco, 3dr, alloys,cd,spoiler,alloys with 40,000 on the clock, great condition, looking for 2,500 yoyos with a fresh NCT. running costs are practilally nothing and a great little motor.

PM me if your interested