[Travel] New (Used) Car Advice

[dazzer6666]

My advice is buy the newest car you can afford to have. Think about size and how far you'll drive. Ask your friends what cars they have, are they happy, is it more expensive, or cheaper than expected to run? Has anything gone wrong and would they buy the same car again. I love my Fiat panda (brought new) and would buy it again in flash.

These days small cars are really comfy, much easier to park, use less fuel and are cheaper than bigger ones. Never go for old low mileage cars for a first car and always go to buy a car with a good friend who knows cars.

For a first car I'd always buy from a dealer and keep it ' a boring, mainstream manufacturer like peugeot, nissan , ford, etc. Kia and Hyundai offer brilliant guarantees and have great reliability. Independent dealers that have a selection of different cars are probably better than a single make dealer. Look at several before you decide and never be pressured.

Insist on a full service history, 12 months MOT and a full service as part of the price and always go for a car with original paint and wheels. Make sure it has plenty of life left in the tyres , or get a reduction if they need changing soon new tyres are a great sign the seller has looked after the car and saves you buying them for a couple of years.

Probably best buy from somewhere local and something you like the look and color of. Avoid BMW, Mini, Audi, Renault and VW for a first car, unless you really want one of them and have a mechanic friend as they tend to be more expensive to buy and maintain. I've heard horrors about Minis burning a lot of expensive oil.

Taxing a car is easy, on line. Insurance is a nightmare as so many companies to choose from. Running costs depend on how old it is, how many miles it has done and fuel consumption. Tyres are at least £100 each and last 20,000 - 30,000 miles depending on use and car, brake pads and discs several hundred pounds and last 50,000 miles. Most cars need a cambelt, water pump and tensioner every 6 or so years/ 80,000 mikles, so ask the dealer how much that will cost if its due in the next 3 years. Other than that a good car will need an annual full service at £300 - £400 including the MOT. The older the car the more it will go wrong.

Check out the prices on Auto trader and read a review of the test drives on Autocar etc. Best of luck and enjoy it.

Tyres at least £100 each ? Shouldn’t be for the type of car someone is likely to have for a first car…….

 

[Eric the meek]

Reliabilityindex.com is a useful website owned by Warranty Direct, that compares reliability by manufacturer and model.

It records how often they fail and how much it costs to repair them.

Be aware that cars/marques which are fully loaded with gadgetry will skew data, and vice-versa, so you get cars like the Vauxhall Agila and Hyundai Getz at the top of the list as there's less to go wrong, and the BMW M5 and M6 are at the bottom.

Carguide.co.uk gives you a free report of the last MOT of a particular car, or a full report for a fee.

 

[WATFORD zero]

Thank you, appreciate all the advice.
I know a couple of second hand car dealers who will gladly help me find the right motor at a decent cost and also assist in maintaining it.
Part of me says buy a cheap pile of shit to break myself in with driving as I know I'll ding it and curb it, but the other part of me says I'm late to the game and should buy something that I will absolutely love.

I must admit that my advice would be to look for something a few years old with 50,000ish and no more than £1500 quid for your first car. You are correct that statistically, you are likely to 'ding' it so don't go for anything too expensive. Get something for a couple of years, then look for a 'nice' car. Check out what the insurance would be for you on the common small cars and build a list from there (you can sometimes get quite nasty surprises on insurance on certain models).

Use Autotrader to find 3 or 4 (I tend to use private or cheap dealers rather than big showrooms), get a mate who knows about cars to go with you, go round and try them out. I did this with my son for his first car, he kept it 2 years and sold it for £75 more than he paid.

Good luck

 

[Elbow750]

Tyres at least £100 each ? Shouldn’t be for the type of car someone is likely to have for a first car…….

I was very surprised at the price of tyres when I had to replace the front two on my Panda 6 months ago. £90 each to get into the half decent range., and that was shopping around. Michelins were over £100!!!

Being a motorbike rider, I always get decent tyres and like a good bit of tread going into winter.

 

[Springal]

Dacia until recently we’re generally not well reviewed . The last 2-3 years the quality has improved . It’s never going to have the quality of a Range/Land Rover or Mercedes but it’s a reasonable budget buy.

Assume that’s a joke given the quality and reliability of modern JLR cars are horrific

 

[dstanman]

Anyone got any experience of buying a car from Cazoo or Cinch. Looking for replacement car and they do seem slightly cheaper online, but of course you cant really see what it is like until delivered and no doubt not easy to return

 

[Biscuit]

Anyone got any experience of buying a car from Cazoo or Cinch. Looking for replacement car and they do seem slightly cheaper online, but of course you cant really see what it is like until delivered and no doubt not easy to return

No direct experience, but my sister-in-law used cinch recently and recommended it. Said they took her old car, after a cursory glance, and left the new one. Gave her all the paperwork and answered any questions and were on their way. I'm looking at it too, but a bit of me feels more comfortable going the traditional route.