Getting my first car

Cianos

Hi everyone,
I dont know much about cars at all, or anything to do with the best insurance deals etc. But I am thinking of saving up for a car now, and am wondering what the best way to do it is.

Im 22, taking a year out of college, self employed (its the easiest way of saying what I do).

Where do I start!?
Cheers

Alfasudcrazy

It seems to me the best car for young people starting out at the moment is the Fiat Punto. They are cheap both to buy and insure and are fairly practical and reliable - as well as being cheap to run.
I think its best not to go for a valueable car at first because there are bound to be a few learning curve experiences - just part of the course.
If you don't fancy the Punto a nice Mini (not the BMW one) would make an interesting start.
As far as saving goes there is no easy way except decide an amount you are going to put away towards your car each week and stick to that. Easier said than done if your income as a self employed person is not a regular weekly wage.
Good luck with your search and let us know what u eventually pick

Jivin Turkey

Cianos wrote:

self employed (its the easiest way of saying what I do).

Drug dealer eh?

On a more serious note, something like a Punto or a Fiesta is a good car to start in. Cheap and reliable.

How much do you intend on saving etc? Can you drive already?

PowerHouseDan

Jivin Turkey wrote:

On a more serious note, something like a Punto or a Fiesta is a good car to start in. Cheap and reliable.

Punto = Reliable, Ha thats a good one.

Stephen

Do you have a full licence yet? If not, make that your top priority. You will find it very hard to get insured (well, insured in a relatively affordable way) on a provisional.

I passed my test about 2 months ago, and bought a car a few weeks later - '00 Fiesta zetec. No problems yet besides a blown brake light bulb

camarobill

ring up to c what the cost will b to b insured on a few cars first,its to late when u buy the wrong car :eek:

A$$A$$IN

Polo is always a good bet have one mesef 1st car very good cheap insurance can be got easlily. Fiat - fix it again tomorrow motornet.ie is very good for pricing and locating cars

Aquos76

camarobill wrote:

ring up to c what the cost will b to b insured on a few cars first,its to late when u buy the wrong car :eek:

You have a full keyboard in front of you not your mobile. How hard is it to type see(c) be(b) and you(u)

Cianos

Jivin Turkey wrote:

Drug dealer eh?QUOTE]

Ha ha...not quite.
I was thinking of getting a Punto, Polo or something along those lines. Cant drive yet. Dont have a provisional even. Im going to start saving now for a car, and would love to be up and running asap.

While I respect everyones opinion, a few of you are saying Puntos are great, then a few of you are saying theyre not. Does it just come down to what I feel I need, or are you just speaking out of personal experience with the car? What would be the most reliable, beginner friendly, cost effective car for me - from an objective as possible view?

Oh yeah and another thing, does it make any difference to an insurance company on what you do for a living? If I told them I work from home, would that be a plus for me, or would it make much difference?

Stephen

Your occupation does make a difference. If you will be using the car in the course of your business you will need to get insured for that class of use, which generally means a higher premium.
The cheapest way for you to get insured (if possible) would be for a parent (especially your ma) to be the owner of the car (on paper anyway), and get you insured as a named driver on the parents' policy.

With regards to reliable cars, the likes of a Fiesta, Micra or Yaris would probably be your best bet. Not particuarly cool ('specially the micra!) but they keep on going.

camarobill

Leonard wrote:

You have a full keyboard in front of you not your mobile. How hard is it to type see(c) be(b) and you(u)

thanks for that,now i can spellll them does urds clown :cool:

Cianos

My mam doesnt drive. Would that still be the cheapest way? What disadvantages are there to doing this?

declanoneill

Cianos wrote:

While I respect everyones opinion, a few of you are saying Puntos are great, then a few of you are saying theyre not. Does it just come down to what I feel I need, or are you just speaking out of personal experience with the car? What would be the most reliable, beginner friendly, cost effective car for me - from an objective as possible view?

I've just gone through the hell of trying to buy my first car and I asked pretty much the same questions about Puntos. The general opinion on them is pre 99 shouldn't be touched and post 99, it really depends on the car, one well looked after will be fine, but that wasn't, wont be. Of the puntos I saw (I'd say about 5) every one had a, shall we say, active driving life, as a result I didn't get one. For me (23, 1st provisional) insurance was exactly the same up to a 1.4L, I ended up going with a Hyundai Accent and I love it. Also I'm a little on the big side (6'5) so me being in a micra would be akin to an elephant on a tricycle, I can't even fit behind the wheel in the imports! Get some quotes of cars you think are nice and once you've found some you can afford, get some opinions on them. www.cbg.ie would be a good place to start. Hope this helps

lilulila

powerhousedan wrote:

Punto = Reliable, Ha thats a good one.

I totally disagree my last two cars have been fiats and ive had no problems. I bought a 03 punto just over a month ago and im very pleased with it. No probs so far

unkel

declanoneill wrote:

I asked pretty much the same questions about Puntos. The general opinion on them is pre 99 shouldn't be touched

What general opinion? Not here it isn't...

Build quality is not the same as a Toyota, but running costs are not the same either. Make sure you have the car thorougly checked. I'd personally only go for one with service history

A lot of them were rarely or never serviced in this country. Something that will make the car suffer and cry a few years down the road

jm2k

my mother drove a punto (late '99 mark II) on which i was a named driver ...one of the most unreliable cars we have ever owned (including all the alfas my dad drove in the 70's and 80's!) u name it, it went wrong ...shame really as i think the car looked better than anything else on the market at the time.

fiat are about to launch a new model so existing ones will be falling in value (even more)

...theres a reason they're cheap

unkel

jm2k wrote:

...theres a reason they're cheap

Oh yes and more than one

A fully serviced and well looked after Punto can be a great bargain though

shoegirl

Cianos wrote:

Jivin Turkey wrote:

Drug dealer eh?QUOTE]
I was thinking of getting a Punto, Polo or something along those lines. Cant drive yet. Dont have a provisional even. Im going to start saving now for a car, and would love to be up and running asap.

Oh yeah and another thing, does it make any difference to an insurance company on what you do for a living? If I told them I work from home, would that be a plus for me, or would it make much difference?

DON'T buy a car if you don't have even a provisional licence and cannot drive at all. Owning a car is extremely expensive and you'll find yourself forking out a lot of money for something you can't really make much use of.

To answer your other questions the main reason people are recommending Puntos is because they have small engines (and so are cheaper to insure). Puntos come with 1.0 to 1.1 litre engines which puts them near the bottom for insurance prices. Nissan Micra and most Polos also have 1.0 litre engines, and Opel Corsas mostly come in 1.0 or 1.2 litre versions. Smaller cars include Daewood Matiz, Fiat Seicentre and Hyundai Getz/Atoz, which have engines that are all between .8 and 1 litres. Basically every .1 of a litre will increase the insurance. For example were I to swap my 1.3 litre Ford Fiesta for a 1.5 Mondeo, my insurance would climb to about 900 euro, however were I to buy a Micra or smaller engined car, it would drop to less than 500 euros.

What you do for a living DOES impact your quote. Certain professions may be considered safer or riskier. Being self employed in itself isn't a disadvantage but if the insurer suspects you will use the car for business purposes they will insist on on you having commercial rather than personal insurance (which is more expensive).

Other factors include your driving experience (which basically means insurance history - basically have you been insured with no more than a 2 year break, any accident in last 5 years, how many years without a claim etc). Your age, gender, licence type and driving history are major factors. Sadly insurers tend to penalise those driving for the first time (and incidentally, also claim free drivers who haven't been on an insurance policy for over 2 years, regardless of driving history) and males under 30.

You don't need a car in order to learn, and you will save a lot of money by getting a good instructor. If you really want to get started you must pass the theoretical test in order to get even a provisonal nowadays. Then concentrate on learning first. I'd recommend at least 5 months of lessons before you consider buying a car. You can get a fairly decent 7-8 year old these days for under 2500 euros, which will get you started without paying out too much in one go or borrowing heavily whilst paying large insurance costs. However I'd caution you against buying without a full licence as the minister for years has been moving towards pushing L-plate drivers off the road (though in a very ham fisted manner).

ds20prefecture

Cianos wrote:

While I respect everyones opinion, a few of you are saying Puntos are great, then a few of you are saying theyre not. Does it just come down to what I feel I need, or are you just speaking out of personal experience with the car? What would be the most reliable, beginner friendly, cost effective car for me - from an objective as possible view?

Hi

From personal experience, both the Seat Ibiza and Skoda Fabia are excellent starter cars. The Ibiza is a bit cheaper to buy and easier to find second hand. Make sure you get one with power steering (standard from 99 on, I think). Both use VW mechanicals and both are extremely well put together. I put 55000 miles on a 97 Ibiza over 3 years and loved every one of them. Objectively, there are very few truly bad cars out there. Cars are basically appliances now, if treated well they rarely give trouble. If you can afford one, the Honda Jazz is probably the best supermini you can buy second hand. The Toyota Yaris is also good. Buying new, the Fiat Panda diesel is exceptional value and a lot of fun.

One of the biggest costs of running a car is depreciation. If you spend, say, 5000 on a punto and sell it after 3 years of happy motoring, the chance are that it will be worth about 2000 - that's a grand per year. If you spend 7500 on a Skoda Fabia after 3 years it will be worth about 6000, that's half the cost, even though you paid more for it initially. Check out the average prices on cbg.ie across years to get a feel for how well a car holds it's value.

Your insurance will be expensive, but cannot be avoided. Smaller engines and a full license will help, but not much. Budget €2500 per year to begin with. You need to work up a no-claims bonus in order to reduce your premium. You can partially do this as a named driver on someone else's policy (like a parent's).

Tax on a 1.0 will be less than €200 per year.
Fuel is an unavoidable part of the cost - say €2000 per year.
Servicing shouldn't cost more than €300 per year.

So your looking at total ownership costs of about €5-6000 per year. You'll be paying the bulk of these costs regardless of your car choice, so make sure you choose one that you'll be proud of and have fun in. Imagine paying that sort of money for something you wouldn't be seen dead in?

Avoid buying a very cheap car unless you know that it is in top condition. There is nothing worse than not having confidence in your car when you are trying to build confidence in your driving. Whatever car you buy, make sure you get a trusted mechanic to check it out before forking over your hard earned.

Bear in mind that unless you plan do use public transport for the rest of your life, you'll have to buy a car sometime. This is an excellent time of life to do so - you'll be glad of a full no claims bonus when you're 25. Then you can buy yourself something with some class and power and have some real fun.

Good luck (ps - sorry if this sounds preachy/patronising)