Preface - I love my car to bits, and it's worth about £700. Passed it's MOT not long back, dependable and great to drive...

...but it's fudging expensive to run! It gets 34MPG and is insurance group 11, and I am paying for everything this year (i.e. when the insurance comes in - I'm paying for it).

I've just got a quote, and when I renew it (putting all the details in like 1 years NCB, Pass Plus etc) it'll be £900 for TPF&T - Which I can deal with (less than £85 a month)

I have also been trying to get quotes on other cars - so far i've just got a quote on a 106 Rallye from 1998, with the mods it's £1040 to insure, without it's £900 - the same price as my bloody Proton!

Open to suggestions here - needs to have more than 84hp, needs to be quicker to 60 than 12.4 seconds, needs to be reliable and cheapish to insure (and to run and buy i.e. less than £2k), would also like a trip computer and CD player with Aux input but not so important, and needs to be FUN Will add more when I think about it...

F1RST!

*cough* Civic *cough.*

Ah, you again.

I'm not really familiar with how expensive all that insurance things are since I'm not driving yet.
But what about an mx-5?
Mazda, thus reliable
RWD,
More than 84BHP
Should be quicker than 12.4 seconds I guess.
And I suppose it's great fun.

Are you sure you have enough money for a 'fast' car? Anyway, if I were you I'd go for the typical Japanese hatchback. A fast Civic, Corolla or Swift would be the right car for you.

edit: Blakje, I hadn't even thought of the MX-5 yet. That'd be a good car too! I'm not sure about the mileage though.

Oh i'm looking for cheap btw - under £2k pref!

MX5 is still a bit much...

you really want a faster car?
i mean..just learn driving bevor buy a "big" car.
you crashed your old one after few weeks

no offence here, but what i mean is, if you cant handle "small" car in stress situations then maybe you should keep on that and get a few experiences bevore getting something faster

Look at older cars.

Sure, they're old, but you'll get more go for your monies.

... until it breaks or you crash it

Can pick old mk4 Escorts in good nick with a decent engine for less then £1500. Not sure about insurance though.

Been looking at RS Turbo's recently so that's pretty fresh in my brain.

Having recently passed, insurance companies might not insure you on something bigger. Buy with caution!

Quote from BastianB :

you really want a faster car?
i mean..just learn driving bevor buy a "big" car.
you crashed your old one after few weeks

no offence here, but what i mean is, if you cant handle "small" car in stress situations then maybe you should keep on that and get a few experiences bevore getting something faster

In my defence on a single track road with a car coming the other way on ice there really was nothing I could of done - a faster or slower car would of been no better.

I'm actually looking for a car which is better than what I have now, but also cheaper, too...

EDIT - How is a Civic or Swift an upgrade to what I have atm?

Quote from Jakg :

In my defence on a single track road with a car coming the other way on ice there really was nothing I could of done - a faster or slower car would HAVE been no better.

I'm actually looking for a car which is better than what I have now, but also cheaper, too...

EDIT - How is a Civic or Swift an upgrade to what I have atm?

It might get better mileage.

Quote from Jakg :

EDIT - How is a Civic or Swift an upgrade to what I have atm?

It's not a Proton.

Quote from hrtburnout :

It might get better mileage.

But i want something as good as I have now if not better - it may be a Proton but it'll out-handle a (1995) 306 and it's got a very nice engine and gearbox (or at least they feel nice )

Civic's have a huge aftermarket business behind them. Parts would be relatively cheap, but I expect your insurance group wouldn't change much.

TBH £900 for a first year insurance is a really good price. As is 34MPG. If you get a 'fast' car you will never be anywhere near the estimated milage anyways, trust me on this

Stick with the proton, you know the car and know the quirks behind it. If you get a new car you end up with a car that you, or your Dad doesn't really know the history on.

If you want a 'fast' car MX5's will probably be too high in insurance for you.

I always told you get an srt-4 from the states, insurance group 8!

Quote from Jakg :

In my defence on a single track road with a car coming the other way on ice there really was nothing I could of done - a faster or slower car would of been no better.

I'm actually looking for a car which is better than what I have now, but also cheaper, too...

EDIT - How is a Civic or Swift an upgrade to what I have atm?

I know you will tell me to go away but kia picantos are cheap and iirc is in about class 2

jack 2 sugestions a corsa higher engine one maybe or how about mini lol, the old one, fun, quite quick ,if you get a cooper especially, and i asume cheapish to insure oh and the small size isnt a debate cos im quite tall and ive driven one( yes on private land)

Quote from Christopher Raemisch :

Civic's have a huge aftermarket business behind them. Parts would be relatively cheap, but I expect your insurance group wouldn't change much.

TBH £900 for a first year insurance is a really good price. As is 34MPG. If you get a 'fast' car you will never be anywhere near the estimated milage anyways, trust me on this

Stick with the proton, you know the car and know the quirks behind it. If you get a new car you end up with a car that you, or your Dad doesn't really know the history on.

Couldn't agree more. Wait at least a year with the Proton insuring it under your name. In a year or so you'll have more money to spend and your insurance should be cheaper too. If you rush into buying a "quick" car at the moment you're likely to get caught speeding and/or have a fairly major accident.

Get a Rallye

(or it's inbred cousin, the Saxo VTR)

Quote from Luke.S :

I know you will tell me to go away but kia picantos are cheap and iirc is in about class 2

As soon as I saw you posted in here I knew what it would be about

You can get it in pink you know?

Quote from J@tko :

As soon as I saw you posted in here I knew what it would be about

You can get it in pink you know?

But the thing is it is a sensible car for young drivers. They come with pretty much everything and even the base model has ABS. It won't run away into a bush either.

Quote from Luke.S :

But the thing is it is a sensible car for young drivers. They come with pretty much everything and even the base model has ABS. It won't run away into a bush either.

True, but I can't think of a car that Jack would want to drive less tbh.

It's driven by Old People and Girls

Quote from Bean0 :

Get a Rallye

(or it's inbred cousin, the Saxo VTR)

Yep...The 106 is my first car, and it can be very good fun! It's pretty nimble too because of it's light weight, and insurance doesn't cost much (for the Rallye I'm not sure)!

Quote from Christopher Raemisch :

Civic's have a huge aftermarket business behind them. Parts would be relatively cheap, but I expect your insurance group wouldn't change much.

TBH £900 for a first year insurance is a really good price. As is 34MPG. If you get a 'fast' car you will never be anywhere near the estimated milage anyways, trust me on this

Stick with the proton, you know the car and know the quirks behind it. If you get a new car you end up with a car that you, or your Dad doesn't really know the history on.

If you want a 'fast' car MX5's will probably be too high in insurance for you.

I always told you get an srt-4 from the states, insurance group 8!

By "fast" i mean "faster than a car with 84hp" - I don't mean MX5 fast! Something like a 1.8 Astra would be plenty etc.

Get an old Mini. Should be cheap to insure, easy to maintain and they're bags of fun, not to mention timelessly stylish.

Don't get one if you're especially tall, but I'm recommending one because I picture you as a shortarse.

Quote from Jakg :

Oh i'm looking for cheap btw - under £2k pref!

MX5 is still a bit much...

I know people will laugh, but rovers are cheap to buy and the 16 valve k series is a fairly quick.

I have a 1998 rover 200, with the 1.6 16v engine, 113bhp as standard, a couple of sensible mods should get you to around the 120 mark.

Im running an ashley competition full system and a k&n induction kit, and i am still getting about 30-35 mpg, depending how hard i drive it.

My insurance is about 700 a year 3rd party fire and theft. Im 25, but bearing in mind i have a dangerous driving conviction on my record from a couple of years back, so im paying roughly the same as a 17 year old new driver would, so thats not too bad really.

The only downfall is they do suffer from head gasket issues, but as long as you are fairly car savvy, or know someone who is you should be able to pick a good one up for around £650ish.

If you can't have fun with 84bhp you aint driving the right roads.

Strip the Proton out, then see what it's like. (I'm not serious, it becomes a pain when you want to take someone somewhere).