car for beginner?

snowman707

I am looking around for a car for my daughter, & have narrowed it down to a fiesta, micra, punto or polo hatch possibly 00-02 . she is almost 18 on a learner permit & finds my primera dsl (01) a bit of a handful

Just wondering if there is any realibility issues with any on the above models as I am hoping to get something that she will get 3/4 years out off.

colm_mcm

reliability roughly in this order

Micra
Fiesta
Polo



Punto.



You'd lose the least amount of money in a Yaris, (despite the fact that they're more expensive) and have the best reliability. you'd get a 4 star safety rating too, of the cars listed above, only the Punto gets that (I'm nearly certain!)

peasant

Ovbiously, with 6 - 8 year old cars quite a lot depends on service (or lack thereof) and driving habits of the previous owners as well as the make of the car.

Puntos have a bit of a bad reputation, but that is often due to having been cheap in the first place and not deemed worthy of any attention whatsoever during use.

Out of the cars you mentioned, there probably isn't all that much in it reliability wise, as long as you make sure that the car itself was looked after and cared for.

I'd say go for the best one you can find within your budget, regardless of the make (just take an even closer look for faults when looking at a Punto ) and pick one your daughter likes as well.

vectra

What about a nice little SEAT Arosa ?
Like >> THIS ONE HERE << :cool:

Esel

^ Link to adverts.ie would have got you a lot more brownie points with the mods......



MODEDIT: No, it wouldn't

vectra

esel wrote: »

^ Link to adverts.ie would have got you a lot more brownie points with the mods......

Is there one on adverts.ie ?

even so I was only showing an example of what it looks like as I have no idea where the OP is from :cool:

*Tripper*

Is it really that sunny in here Vectra?

vectra

*Tripper* wrote: »

Is it really that sunny in here Vectra?

Huhh?
If there is one thing i hate.. That is short answers like that..!

If someone has something to say then please say it properly.:rolleyes:
I was only trying to help the OP

snowman707

Thanks for replies so far. She isn't too interested in the yaris, that is why I didn't list it. have my eye on a 02 fiesta full service history, 1 lady owner 66k miles, spotless .

must wait until she finishes her Leaving cert. & then we will go shopping.

The dealer with the seat is a little too far away

Cionád

snowman707 wrote: »

Thanks for replies so far. She isn't too interested in the yaris, that is why I didn't list it. have my eye on a 02 fiesta full service history, 1 lady owner 66k miles

must wait until she finishes her Leaving cert. & then we will go shopping.

The dealer with the seat is a little too far away

If its a ghia model, and has the 1.25 engine go for it.

PurplePrincess

My very first car was a Fiesta and it was a great car to learn in. I've had 4 Fiestas since and they've never given me a days trouble, they're nice to drive and the servicing isn't outrageously expensive.

kippy

Still have this (mostly because GF hasnt been able to find a suitable replacement)
It may be a bit far away for ya but if ya interested let me know, the price is from a few months ago. The timing would suit.
Kippy


http://www.adverts.ie/showproduct.php?product=51645

angelfire9

snowman707 wrote: »

I am looking around for a car for my daughter, & have narrowed it down to a fiesta, micra, punto or polo hatch possibly 00-02 . she is almost 18 on a learner permit & finds my primera dsl (01) a bit of a handful
Just wondering if there is any realibility issues with any on the above models as I am hoping to get something that she will get 3/4 years out off.

My first car was a Micra, it was 7 years old when i got it and kept it for 3 years without a spot of bother, saw it recently around town and its still going strong, brilliant car!
Next car was also a Micra, was 3 years old, again not a spot of bother, micras are very reliable kept it for 3 years as well
My current car is a Fiesta, bit nippier than the Micra but a good all round car as well no problems so far, have it one year

So, for my 2cents worth, personally i think you should go with a Micra, its a 1litre so the insurance will be less than the 1.25 Fiesta, its fast enough to get her wherever she wants to go but not so powerful that she'll turn into a little girl racer! (i'm female so i'm not being sexist here)

something like this: http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/Nissan/Micra/1.0-GX/945210/
(i have no connection to this advert its just very like my old cars )

Tax is also cheaper for the Micra and the fuel economy is amazing!

In my Micras i used to get 100 miles out of 10 litres of petrol, a variety of driving, some long spins more around the town though, the Fiesta is not as fuel efficent, not much of a difference but a difference none the less

To sum up, marks out of ten as follows:
Micra 10/10
Fiesta 8/10
Punto 4.5/10
Polo 7/10

I think a bit of hardship on buses until you earn your own first car is a good life lesson.

kippy

Moonbaby wrote: »

I think a bit of hardship on buses until you earn your own first car is a good life lesson.

I couldnt agree more with that one!
Kippy

angelfire9

Moonbaby wrote: »

I think a bit of hardship on buses until you earn your own first car is a good life lesson.

Is that not a tad sanctimonious (sp?)
What do you do if you happen to live outside of Dublin where there isn't a bus service?

I got a loan out to buy my first car
I wouldn't fancy walking home from a night out, or hanging around in town til 3am to get a taxi so i take my car! I'd be lost without it tbh

S.I.R

snowman707 wrote: »

I am looking around for a car for my daughter, & have narrowed it down to a fiesta, micra, punto or polo hatch possibly 00-02 . she is almost 18 on a learner permit & finds my primera dsl (01) a bit of a handful

Just wondering if there is any realibility issues with any on the above models as I am hoping to get something that she will get 3/4 years out off.

1.3 corrolla.... enough power for any type of driving aswell as the fact that you cant break them...


if your going lower in insurance a pre- 98 citreon saxo/citreon ax/peugeot 106 is a trade secret....

But i didnt tell you that.... if i did id be out of a job... :rolleyes:

snowman707

angelfire9 wrote: »

My first car was a Micra, it was 7 years old when i got it and kept it for 3 years without a spot of bother, saw it recently around town and its still going strong, brilliant car!
Next car was also a Micra, was 3 years old, again not a spot of bother, micras are very reliable kept it for 3 years as well
My current car is a Fiesta, bit nippier than the Micra but a good all round car as well no problems so far, have it one year

So, for my 2cents worth, personally i think you should go with a Micra, its a 1litre so the insurance will be less than the 1.25 Fiesta, its fast enough to get her wherever she wants to go but not so powerful that she'll turn into a little girl racer! (i'm female so i'm not being sexist here)

something like this: http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/Nissan/Micra/1.0-GX/945210/
(i have no connection to this advert its just very like my old cars )

Tax is also cheaper for the Micra and the fuel economy is amazing!

In my Micras i used to get 100 miles out of 10 litres of petrol, a variety of driving, some long spins more around the town though, the Fiesta is not as fuel efficent, not much of a difference but a difference none the less

To sum up, marks out of ten as follows:
Micra 10/10
Fiesta 8/10
Punto 4.5/10
Polo 7/10

thanks angel,

she took a few lessons in a driving school micra & liked it, also the controls are similar to my primera, I drive a primera & a pajero & am always getting the wipers / indicators etc, mixed up when I change over.
the bus service here isn't suitable for where/ when she would be going.

angelfire9

S.I.R wrote: »

1.3 corrolla.... enough power for any type of driving aswell as the fact that you cant break them...

Do you not think a smaller engine would be more suitable for a first car? To say nothing of insuring/taxing it
As for the safety aspect a Micra is just as good, i was rear ended at about 40mph in my Micra when i was pregnant, as the vehicle in front of me was a horse box i yanked the car off the road into the ass of a parked car so i ended up with minor damage to the back & a fair amount of damage to the front of the Micra but i was completely uninjured (thank God Touch wood etc etc)

S.I.R wrote: »

if your going lower in insurance a pre- 98 citreon saxo/citreon ax/peugeot 106 is a trade secret....

Not if it was the last car on earth would i buy one I'd rather walk!

Biro

angelfire9 wrote: »

Do you not think a smaller engine would be more suitable for a first car? To say nothing of insuring/taxing it
As for the safety aspect a Micra is just as good, i was rear ended at about 40mph in my Micra when i was pregnant, as the vehicle in front of me was a horse box i yanked the car off the road into the ass of a parked car so i ended up with minor damage to the back & a fair amount of damage to the front of the Micra but i was completely uninjured (thank God Touch wood etc etc)

Insurance or tax aren't vastly different between a 1 litre and 1.3. A 1.3 still isn't a big engine, won't make a difference to a learner, unless they're inclined to speed.

angelfire9 wrote: »

Not if it was the last car on earth would i buy one I'd rather walk!

Good job it's not you that's buying it then!

angelfire9

Biro wrote: »

Insurance or tax aren't vastly different between a 1 litre and 1.3. A 1.3 still isn't a big engine, won't make a difference to a learner, unless they're inclined to speed.

Annual motor tax for a 1l car is €249, its €320 for a 1.3, that's a €70 difference https://www.motortax.ie/OMT/pdf/motortax_rates_2008_en.pdf

I did a quick quote on hibernian regarding the insurance
Comparing a 1l Micra to a 1.3l Corolla
Aged 18 female driver, living in clare, full licence for 1 year, no penalty points, no accidents or convictions, no other Hibernian policies, 5k-10k miles per year went for Fully Comp with no frills
Choose a 00 Car for both
Quote for Micra was €1178.30, Third Party 809.76
Quote for Corolla was €1416.88 FC, third party was 968.52

So by driving the Micra you save yourself €70 on road tax and €238.58 on fully comp insurance, thats a total saving of over €300 in year one
When your 18 that's a bloody big difference!!!

Biro

angelfire9 wrote: »

Annual motor tax for a 1l car is €249, its €320 for a 1.3, that's a €70 difference https://www.motortax.ie/OMT/pdf/motortax_rates_2008_en.pdf

I did a quick quote on hibernian regarding the insurance
Comparing a 1l Micra to a 1.3l Corolla
Aged 18 female driver, living in clare, full licence for 1 year, no penalty points, no accidents or convictions, no other Hibernian policies, 5k-10k miles per year went for Fully Comp with no frills
Choose a 00 Car for both
Quote for Micra was €1178.30, Third Party 809.76
Quote for Corolla was €1416.88 FC, third party was 968.52

So by driving the Micra you save yourself €70 on road tax and €238.58 on fully comp insurance, thats a total saving of over €300 in year one
When your 18 that's a bloody big difference!!!

I got a difference of €190 on insurance, but it's more down to the car type than engine size. Drop a bit in the age of the car and you'll save a lot of money towards tax!
€70 isn't a big difference in a year. If you're that broke, stay in one more night in each year or have 1 less drink every 2 weeks! Even reconsider a few trips. It equates to not much more than €1 per week!

angelfire9

Biro wrote: »

I got a difference of €190 on insurance, but it's more down to the car type than engine size. Drop a bit in the age of the car and you'll save a lot of money towards tax!
€70 isn't a big difference in a year. If you're that broke, stay in one more night in each year or have 1 less drink every 2 weeks! Even reconsider a few trips. It equates to not much more than €1 per week!

Get real here, we're talking about an 18 year old!
As for getting an older car, the older the car the more problems you're going to run into, as for one thing and older car tends to have more mileage so apart from rust and ordinary wear & tear cars over 10 years old have parts that will need to be repaired/replaced sooner rather than later
Which is why i picked a 00 model, 8 years old, not too old to be falling apart but old enough not to be too expensive
With the Micra you'll save on Tax, Insurance and petrol (more fuel economy on a 1l) you can't really argue with that point cos it's the truth, even with the insurance you found almost €100 of a difference

But, because you said the insurance difference was down to car type than Engine Size i went onto chill.ie (used to be insureme.ie) for a new quote,

female driver, DOB 14/01/1980, full irish licence for 1year, zero no claims bonus, no penalty points, kept & used in Clare, insurance for insured only, immobilzer fitted, no alarm, mileage of 10k, parked on property at night value of car €5k


Nissan Micra 998cc 5 door, petrol, 93-00 model Cheapest quote was €793

Corolla 5 door hatchback, 1398cc cheapest was €868

Micra still cheaper, though not by as much as Hibernian, and this is down to the engine size & nothing else!

eringobragh

angelfire9 wrote: »

Get real here, we're talking about an 18 year old!
As for getting an older car, the older the car the more problems you're going to run into, as for one thing and older car tends to have more mileage so apart from rust and ordinary wear & tear cars over 10 years old have parts that will need to be repaired/replaced sooner rather than later
Which is why i picked a 00 model, 8 years old, not too old to be falling apart but old enough not to be too expensive
With the Micra you'll save on Tax, Insurance and petrol (more fuel economy on a 1l) you can't really argue with that point cos it's the truth, even with the insurance you found almost €100 of a difference

But, because you said the insurance difference was down to car type than Engine Size i went onto chill.ie (used to be insureme.ie) for a new quote,

female driver, DOB 14/01/1980, full irish licence for 1year, zero no claims bonus, no penalty points, kept & used in Clare, insurance for insured only, immobilzer fitted, no alarm, mileage of 10k, parked on property at night value of car €5k


Nissan Micra 998cc 5 door, petrol, 93-00 model Cheapest quote was €793

Corolla 5 door hatchback, 1398cc cheapest was €868

Micra still cheaper, though not by as much as Hibernian, and this is down to the engine size & nothing else!

Its a 1.4 vs a 1litre its going to be that bit dearer but not alot by the looks of things. TBH driving one of those puny underpowered 1 litre engines, all it'll teach you is how to sit behind a row of cars, try and overtake someone and say a prayer while your at it, no comfort whatsoever to drive.

peasant

Snowman707

Here's another suggestion, Skoda:

Felicia
http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/Skoda/Felicia/GLXI/1025289/
not a bad car at all and they're more or less given away these days


or Fabia
http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/Skoda/Fabia/1.2-AMBIENTE/1013795/
basically a Polo in different clothes

overexcitedaj

well ive been driving a year and ive a 97 one litre polo. I wouldnt have a single complaint about it and ive been driving to and from cork for the past 8 months. Only thing is lack of power steering.

angelfire9

eringobragh wrote: »

Its a 1.4 vs a 1litre its going to be that bit dearer but not alot by the looks of things. TBH driving one of those puny underpowered 1 litre engines, all it'll teach you is how to sit behind a row of cars, try and overtake someone and say a prayer while your at it, no comfort whatsoever to drive.

I never had a problem with it and i'm not a midget i'm almost 5'11"
There's plenty of power in it for Irish roads

overexcitedaj wrote: »

well ive been driving a year and ive a 97 one litre polo. I wouldnt have a single complaint about it and ive been driving to and from cork for the past 8 months. Only thing is lack of power steering.

That's cool, at least you know what you're talking about you're actually driving a Polo!
I rated the Polo 7/10 they seem a nice enough car, and VW are a reliable manufacturer, i assume the 00-02 models would have power steering?

Esel

angelfire9 wrote: »

I was rear ended at about 40mph in my Micra when i was pregnant, as the vehicle in front of me was a horse box i yanked the car off the road into the ass of a parked car so i ended up with minor damage to the back & a fair amount of damage to the front of the Micra but i was completely uninjured (thank God Touch wood etc etc)

The recommended 'if you have to crash' advice is:

1. Run off the road (if clear of objects etc.)

2. Crash into something going the same direction as you

3. Crash into a stationary object

4. Crash into something coming from the opposite direction

If the horsebox was moving in the same direction as you, it would probably have been the 'softer' option. All's well that ends well, however, and I'm glad you and your unborn baby were relatively OK afterwards.

angelfire9 wrote: »

Annual motor tax for a 1l car is €249, its €320 for a 1.3, that's a €70 difference https://www.motortax.ie/OMT/pdf/motortax_rates_2008_en.pdf

The road tax for a 1 Litre car is €165.

angelfire9

esel wrote: »

The recommended 'if you have to crash' advice is:

1. Run off the road (if clear of objects etc.)

2. Crash into something going the same direction as you

3. Crash into a stationary object

4. Crash into something coming from the opposite direction

If the horsebox was moving in the same direction as you, it would probably have been the 'softer' option. All's well that ends well, however, and I'm glad you and your unborn baby were relatively OK afterwards.

The road tax for a 1 Litre car is €165.

The horse box contained a rather large horse so i think hitting the stationary unoccupied car was the better option

SV

What about a clio?
Very safe car, despite Renaults reputation clios are actually very reliable..
Comfortable..and you can pick up some bargains too! (http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/Renault/Clio/3-Door/884831/) that's one of many..
Also very very cheap on the insurance

For a girl just turned 18, with the learner permit just obtained..premiums for fully comp start at 1271 up to 1668 on insure.ie

Make the right decision eh

woop

00 polos are that bit more expensive due to the change in model that year and if youre going for the older one get one with pas
toyota starlet would be my choice if I had to do it again, yaris is good though- have a look around is my advice
http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/Toyota/Starlet/car/1065248/
http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/Toyota/Starlet/1.3-Petrol/990715/
http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/Toyota/Starlet/1.3/986641/

Not if it was the last car on earth would i buy one I'd rather walk!

if youre going cheaper than the starlet Id go fiesta(1.25) or corsa(1.2)