Im finally getting round to passing a driving test in the next few weeks and have been thinking about what car to get.

I'm fairly skint so the absolute most I can spend is about 2 grand (but ideally closer to £1500) for *everything*. Having a play with price comparison websites, the absolute cheapest insurance I can find is around £1000 for a 30-year-old with no experience on the lowest insurance group cars (we're talking 800cc Daewoo Matiz kind of thing here).

Bear in mind I'm in my 30s, married, with a kid so dignity and speed have absolutely nothing to do with it I want something that'll be cheap to insure, will do what I tell it and won't fall apart within a month. I care not a jot about handling, 0-60 times or what shape/colour it is.

Any suggestions?

£1500 will buy you a decent car.
Have a search through this list for some ideas.

http://www.pistonheads.com/sal ... ax=1500&Submit=Search

£1500 (£2000 max) INCLUDING INSURANCE (and probably tax/MoT as required).

i think youre asking the wrong people here
try www.housewives.co.uk/forum

Oops. I shoulda read his post a little better.

Heres some.
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1176796.htm
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1177811.htm
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1102879.htm
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1195386.htm
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1118546.htm
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1181235.htm

Quote from Nathan_French_14 :

Oops. I shoulda read his post a little better.

Heres some.
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1118546.htm

Only an idiot would by that for £500 it's ugly, it's a bad colour, it's a Ford, it's an Escort ESTATE, and look at the damage on it? Clearly not been looked after.

Quote from Nathan_French_14 :

Oops. I shoulda read his post a little better.

Heres some.
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1176796.htm
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1177811.htm
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1102879.htm
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1195386.htm
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1118546.htm
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1181235.htm

All have way too big engines, even the Corsa, which just puts the insurance too high. On the Rover there in particular, the cheapest quote I got was over 2 grand. The Corsa, at just 1.4L was still nearly £1300. Thanks for taking the time though

To reiterate, I *could not care less* if it goes fast, or looks cool.

So we're talking 15 year old baked bean cans here?

Ford Fiesta?

You can get last of the MK3 (1.1/1.3L, some decent condition and mileage) for £100 to £400 ish, or first of the MK4 (with not so good mileage) for similar money.

Just an idea

With the new scrappage scheme, and other factors (inc increased demand) second hand car value has been rising. Someone didn't tell someone that giving people £2000 for their heaps of shit may push the value up of that heap of shit. The headlines are nice for the non-bias and completely impartial BBC "New Car Sales On Rise"! But 'oddly' they don't seem to mention the fact many are now seeing second hand prices rising pushing many people out of the market and potentially out of a job.

9 months of consecutive value rise in second hand market so be smart dude... and fast

Quote from BlueFlame :

Only an idiot would by that for £500 it's ugly, it's a bad colour, it's a Ford, it's an Escort ESTATE, and look at the damage on it? Clearly not been looked after.

You reckon? Providing you could find some in the same colour, you could get a replacement bumper and bonnet for no more than £50 from a scrap yard providing you took them off yourself, which isn't hard.

IMO, its pretty cheap and would make a good workhorse, as there reliable cars. Its just obvious you singled that one out as you hate fords with a passion.

Quote from Nathan_French_14 :

You reckon? Providing you could find some in the same colour, you could get a replacement bumper and bonnet for no more than £50 from a scrap yard providing you took them off yourself, which isn't hard.

IMO, its pretty cheap and would make a good workhorse, as there reliable cars. Its just obvious you singled that one out as you hate fords with a passion.

It is and it isn't, the Escort Estate is not a good car at all, and to have to pay 500 for one which has damage on it already, you already get the impression that they know nothing about how to drive (or to sell cars looking at the price) 500 could get me a 2nd hand Golf GTi (not that I could insure it)

Well seing as you brought a VW GTi into this, then your obviously just brining this up because you hate fords. And it depends what you would need the escort for. Sure, the escort would not be a good car if your looking for a sports car, but if your looking for a workhorse, i.e a car which you can happily drive around and chuck stuff in, then its a much better car to have than a golf GTI.

Quote from Nathan_French_14 :

Well seing as you brought a VW GTi into this, then your obviously just brining this up because you hate fords. And it depends what you would need the escort for. Sure, the escort would not be a good car if your looking for a sports car, but if your looking for a workhorse, i.e a car which you can happily drive around and chuck stuff in, then its a much better car to have than a golf GTI.

A Golf GTi is a workhorse, and I wasn't mentioning it because it was a VW, just because it is the truth. Sure it won't be top spec cos you'd probobly be paying over 3k for a topspec one, but it WILL be a GTi and still have alot of its pedegree left. A work horse to me is an Audi 80 TDI or A4 avant TDI, either that or a Passat estate TDI you'd get more fuel for your money, you'd pay less, spend less whilst having it, and it WILL be a great car, comfortable maybe not QUIET, older diesels never are, but they aren't as bad as old Peugeots that rattle like tanks. You just can't go wrong with a Volkswagen (unless it's a VR6 which are quite often handled by complete idiots or unless it's a car that's been messed with IE electronic chipping etc)

Quote from Intrepid :

With the new scrappage scheme, and other factors (inc increased demand) second hand car value has been rising. Someone didn't tell someone that giving people £2000 for their heaps of shit may push the value up of that heap of shit. The headlines are nice for the non-bias and completely impartial BBC "New Car Sales On Rise"! But 'oddly' they don't seem to mention the fact many are now seeing second hand prices rising pushing many people out of the market and potentially out of a job.

not to mention that because new car production has increased, it will end up doing more damage to the environment in the long run than all the second-hand cars would have done if they were still on the road

Quote from Nathan_French_14 :

blahblah...Its just obvious you singled that one out as you hate fords with a passion.

well i actually liked escort...before i had it myself, i'm never going to do same mistake again of buing ford escort...fragile car by any means!

Try Land Rover Series 2/3. They are cheap to run and insure, you could even get a Defender 2.5TD insured for cheap (my last quote came back at £800 and I am 23).

They are hardly pussy magnets, but due to a large amount of cheap parts for them and their almost Lego design, insurance is cheap as shit on them.

Quote from Nathan_French_14 :

You reckon? Providing you could find some in the same colour, you could get a replacement bumper and bonnet for no more than £50 from a scrap yard providing you took them off yourself, which isn't hard.

IMO, its pretty cheap and would make a good workhorse, as there reliable cars. Its just obvious you singled that one out as you hate fords with a passion.

I have to agree with BlueFlame, it's a bit of a dog

Quote from P5YcHoM4N :

Try Land Rover Series 2/3. They are cheap to run and insure, you could even get a Defender 2.5TD insured for cheap (my last quote came back at £800 and I am 23).

They are hardly pussy magnets, but due to a large amount of cheap parts for them and their almost Lego design, insurance is cheap as shit on them.

I imagine they're pretty thirsty though?

Could easily get yourself a trusty 323F and insurance for that money

Quote from Dajmin :

Could easily get yourself a trusty 323F and insurance for that money

£1700 to insure for even the smallest engined 323.

I don't know where you're getting these crazy insurance quotes from. At 23 with no experience my first ever years insurance was under £600 for a 1.8? Dropped nearly another £150 after the first year too. I did stuck my mum down as a second driver though, don't know if you can do the same.

All these prices are from ComparetheMarket.com, Confused.com and GoCompare.com, taking the cheapest and getting a quote direct from their site.

If you can find me £600 insurance on a 1.8 I will be very, very pleased indeed (but also very surprised).

There must be something in your details that they consider statistically bad. Job and location are factors too, so being a Mancurian car thief (or living next to many) is always going to be expensive.

Seems to be where I live that's doing it. If I put the address where the car is kept as my parent's house out in the country, that £1700 quote for the Mazda goes down to £700.


What's the likelyhood of getting away with saying it's kept at my parent's house? (which is a good 100 miles from where I live)