First car

Logrence · 19 Nov 2003, 22:50 (Ref:788810)

OK. So bearing in mind that money is an extreme issue - we're looking at insurance groups 1-4, something cheap to run, but a little different - what should I be saving up for?

I quite fancy a Mini, £1100 will buy me a sensible 90s 1.0l model I could insure for about its value.

A 2CV would be amazing, I love those...any suggestions?

garcon · 19 Nov 2003, 23:19 (Ref:788834)

One slightly bizarre suggestion, as demonstrated by Tiff Needell on 5th Gear the other night - how about a Morris Minor??

If you can find one, they're around a grand. And there's little better for learning the basics of real wheel drive - steering on the throttle on wet roundabouts and such... all at a mind-blowingly safe 15-20mph!!

Bluebottle · 19 Nov 2003, 23:45 (Ref:788856)

I like the idea of a Moggy Minor, thats if you can find one! 2CV could be fun but I suspect you'd tire of it quite quickly, it would be cheap motoring 'though, and there's a race series.....

josvandeperre · 20 Nov 2003, 09:37 (Ref:789216)

Fiat Cinquecento - ours is ten years old - never cleaned - hardly ever serviced - suprisingly well built which is why so many are still around

garcon · 20 Nov 2003, 11:03 (Ref:789251)

About the only thing Fiat have made that doesn't completely self destruct. Everything that can fall off does so in the first twelve months, and is either discarded or stuck back on properly, depending on how essential it is. After that, it's a pretty good car!

Cinquecento Sporting is well cool. Especially in yellow (was it available in any other colour??)

josvandeperre · 20 Nov 2003, 11:19 (Ref:789265)

There were also red and black Sportings - the red began as a sort of Ferrari red but has biodegraded into a sort of bland cherryade (supermarket own brand) type colour

Hobson · 20 Nov 2003, 16:41 (Ref:789721)

Theres a purple one up our street, it also has orange buper inserts. Tasteful!

krt917 · 21 Nov 2003, 10:28 (Ref:790375)

Quote:

Originally posted by josvandeperre
There were also red and black Sportings - the red began as a sort of Ferrari red but has biodegraded into a sort of bland cherryade (supermarket own brand) type colour

That is sooo true! There is one near my house and the red is heading out of that cherryade phase towards a kind of faded pink of the sort that you get in second hand bookshops when they've left a red book in the window for too many summers!

Dave Brand · 21 Nov 2003, 11:18 (Ref:790440)

Quote:

Originally posted by Logrence
OK. So bearing in mind that money is an extreme issue - we're looking at insurance groups 1-4, something cheap to run, but a little different - what should I be saving up for?

Being 'different' is fine in theory, but not in practice. First you need to ask why the vehicle in question is 'different'; there is a good reason why it didn't sell - maybe it's a heap of

. If you're running a car on a budget something common may be your best bet - spares will be readily & cheaply available at your local car accessory shop & there will be plenty in scrapyards to supply non-safety-related items.

Quote:

I quite fancy a Mini, £1100 will buy me a sensible 90s 1.0l model I could insure for about its value.

A 2CV would be amazing, I love those...any suggestions?

I wouldn't touch either of them (now we'll hear their apologists screaming!

) The Mini is a good example of 1950s engineering - overcomplicated, rust-prone, leaks oil everywhere. As a car it handles superbly but has lousy ride & is cramped.

The 2CV is even worse - 1930s engineering! They ride well, but performance is marginal for modern traffic conditions.

For your money you can get handling as good as a Mini, ride approaching 2CV standards & better reliability with freedom from rust from any number of small cars. We all have our prejudices - I'm a great Peugeot fan, but somebody will now tell us what junk they are.........

Having said all that, you must buy what you want; buying cars should not be a rational decision - if it were, we'd all be driving Nissan Micras!

TimD · 21 Nov 2003, 14:55 (Ref:790712)

There's nothing rational about driving a Nissan Micra.

garcon · 21 Nov 2003, 18:05 (Ref:790885)

Alright, I'll oblige Dave

New Peugeots are utter junk. Diabolical build quality, alien electrics, and general self destruct tendencies. And they're not even that cheap.

Did you know Peugeot have just dropped the warranty on 307s from 3 years to 1 year on brakes (pads/discs) and shock absorbers, because they ALWAYS need replacing just after a year old and they can't afford all the 'free' warranty work anymore??

Having said all that, generally speaking with Peugeots, the older you go the better they are. There's not many straight 205s around anymore, but there's plenty of 5-10 year old stuff that's already had all the stuff Peugeot

ed up put right...

Az · 27 Nov 2003, 00:23 (Ref:795645)

Mine was a C reg 1.1 Fiesta POPULAR PLUS - WOHOOOOOO

It was nice and manly red, and had a very sporty steering wheel and dashboard! hahahaha

However it did have only 32,000miles and was very tidy (bought off a Granny), however a damn tree jumped out at me on a corner and wrote it off

wyzard · 27 Nov 2003, 14:30 (Ref:796101)

How about an old honda civic, reliable and cheap to run.

Dave Brand · 27 Nov 2003, 14:34 (Ref:796106)

Quote:

Originally posted by wyzard
How about an old honda civic, reliable and cheap to run.

He's looking for his first car, not a car to go & collect his pension in!

Smokey 6 litre · 27 Nov 2003, 15:04 (Ref:796135)

Quote:

Originally posted by Logrence
insurance groups 1-4, something cheap to run, but a little different

Insurance group 2

More than a little different

but not cheap to run!

Land Rover Series 2, 2 Door pick up!

daz90 · 7 Dec 2003, 13:31 (Ref:805996)

how about a ford ka, there cheap to run and surprisingly fun to drive, i borrowed 1 recently when i took my car for a service, it was quite nippy for a 1.0 ltr, had a look under the bonnet though and there wasent much there

. u could pick an early 1 up for around 2 grand now, if i needed a 2nd car i would consider 1.

**Spudgun** · 7 Dec 2003, 22:23 (Ref:806226)

Quote:

Originally posted by daz90
how about a ford ka, there cheap to run and surprisingly fun to drive, i borrowed 1 recently when i took my car for a service, it was quite nippy for a 1.0 ltr, had a look under the bonnet though and there wasent much there . u could pick an early 1 up for around 2 grand now, if i needed a 2nd car i would consider 1.

Nooooooooooooo!!! Engine sounds like a cement mixer and most of the car is bumper.

But seriously, I'd steer clear of Peugeots. I stress that this is just personal experience, but my first car was a Pug 205 and I found parts quite expensive being French and not having at least a proper UK division like Ford.

Though saying that I now own a Vectra SRI. Lovely car with the sports suspension and a bit of extra power, but when it goes wrong, the wallet hurts.

I's go with a Fiesta or something like that. The Zetec engine is considered to be excellent and if you want to make it different, put a few mods on it (although check it doesn't slap a load on the insurance).

**Craig** · 7 Dec 2003, 22:37 (Ref:806235)

I feel I must stick up for Pugs here!

I think that I have done everything that I possibly can to endanger the life of mine but, in five hard years in my ownership, it has absolutely refused to die. It's a top little car - nice neutral handling and damn reliable.

**Spudgun** · 7 Dec 2003, 23:25 (Ref:806263)

Quote:

Originally posted by Craig Antill
I feel I must stick up for Pugs here!

I think that I have done everything that I possibly can to endanger the life of mine but, in five hard years in my ownership, it has absolutely refused to die. It's a top little car - nice neutral handling and damn reliable.

Craig, I apologise that after re-reading my post I may have been a little harsh on my Pug.

The parts may be expensive, but I must admit for the most part it was pretty reliable. I had a 1987 205 1.4GR. It wasn't one of the GTi things, but as it was relatively light, (there's not much to it) it did go like the proverbial if you were generous with the throttle pedal. (I remember when I first got it after passing my test I was always spinning up the front wheels in the wet by accident

) The good thing is it wasn't loaded with electronics.

I can't speak for the new ones, but if you can find a 10+ year 205 old in good nick it should be okay. But if it's a 1.0 the first thing I would do is replace those 'bicycle width' tyres.

Logrence · 15 Dec 2003, 16:28 (Ref:812293)

The 205 sounds good...I really like Saab 900s, but the insurance is a little high. Might just have to settle with a Fiesta...

Although if I saw a good Wagon R around somewhere I'd buy it...