If you need urgent support, call 999 or go to your nearest A&E. To contact our Crisis Messenger (open 24/7) text THEMIX to 85258.
Read the community guidelines before posting ✨
brum brums!
BillieTheBot
Posts: 8,735 Bot
i am buying my first ever car next month/september :yippe:
not sure what im doing though.
im just thinking a KA or something. its my first car and its super cheap on insurance. my boyfriend agrees. i'll probably crash my first car
thing is, when i look online, for example, on autotrader, i have no idea what im looking for? my boyfriend seems to but im being stubborn and want to do it myself :razz: i just look at the pictures, haha.
ive not got too much to spend - probably about £800 max - will i be able to get an ok-ish one for that? :nervous: i can't afford too much as im in the middle of buying a house
im gonna be using the car to commute to and from work on a daily basis (a 40 mile round trip) on motorways so i can't have it breaking down or owt. are KA's reliable? obviously i'll get breakdown cover because i can't expect a cheap car to not break down but generally, how reliable are they?
oooo, i need one that is nice with petrol too
not sure what im doing though.
im just thinking a KA or something. its my first car and its super cheap on insurance. my boyfriend agrees. i'll probably crash my first car
thing is, when i look online, for example, on autotrader, i have no idea what im looking for? my boyfriend seems to but im being stubborn and want to do it myself :razz: i just look at the pictures, haha.
ive not got too much to spend - probably about £800 max - will i be able to get an ok-ish one for that? :nervous: i can't afford too much as im in the middle of buying a house
im gonna be using the car to commute to and from work on a daily basis (a 40 mile round trip) on motorways so i can't have it breaking down or owt. are KA's reliable? obviously i'll get breakdown cover because i can't expect a cheap car to not break down but generally, how reliable are they?
oooo, i need one that is nice with petrol too
Beep boop. I'm a bot.
0
Comments
Could you maybe get something a bit more expensive from one of the car supermarkets by using your 800 as a deposit and paying something a month?
I'd try to overcome your stubbornness if your bf knows about cars and what he is doing. It could save you buying an utter lemon.
i dont think its always the case that if you get a cheap car, it will break down lots. my brother's first car was £450 and never broke down. his current car was £2k and he's had SO many problems with it.
are KA's reliable then?
My bf had a ford fiesta zetec as my first car. It was 10 years old and cost £650 and was cheap to insure and cheap to run! Me and my bf shared it and he used to trive to Doncaster and Crewe alot and had no problems with it! It was good for me as just nipping to mates and the Traford Centre when I wanted. We've upgraded now and he's bought an 06 plate zetec that we share.
Not true at all. My car was £820, and it hasn't let me down once. My favourite car cost £500, and that never let me down either. Actually, I lie; it refused to turn over once. Turning off the ignition and flicking it back sorted it, and it never did it again. And after investigating, I couldn't find a reason for it at all...
But having said that, it's very easy to buy a car with problems for £800. At that kind of money, cars are often near the end of their life, and the little jobs have been overlooked, and can lead on to bigger problems.
Given the budget, and lack of knowledge, I'd suggest looking for a car of any colour, but trying to find one that someone has owned for 4+ years and with a full MOT, and plenty of receipts for work done during their ownership(don't let early service history fool you; the fact that the car saw a Ford dealer twice per year when it was less than 3 years old is largely irrelevant now). They tend to be cared for very differently compared to something someone only planned to keep for a year.
I would suggest taking someone that knows what kind of things to check as when buying privately there are people that will want to rip you off and once youve handed over the cash you don't have any back up if something is wrong.
Things to think about with older cars: maintainance costs! My car went through his MOT earlier tis month and it cost me £400 to get him back to being road worthy gonan scrap him and get something shiny and new in a few months though
You can get really lucky and pick up a decent car that will run for a few years and cost even less than £800 but anything car of the kind of age where you can buy it for less than a grand will have risks.
Driving is fun though
It has been so reliable, it is cheap to run, everything about it is perfect for me.
When I buy a new car I am going to get another KA but one of the new style ones. I would definately recommend a KA.
Due to disposable income (not saying to rub it in), I would probly be able to afford a slightly better car than Id expect, and the insurance to go with it.
What Im not interested in is something super fricking duper charged with a v8 engine. Though on the other hand I also dont want a car that takes 3 weeks to get from 0-60. Big enough to be able to put a big bag or two in the boot. 5 doors simply for the point of not having to get out of the fecking car everytime someone needs to get out of the back.
Something midsized, and if it were the case, Id be rather happy with something in a low band of tax/emissions etc.
As while I watch top gear, Im not a car geek, and yeah its 6 and a bit months off, but im maybe starting to look around now and get some ideas.
sounds good! i really do think im going to go for a KA but i think i might try and spend a little more on one thats a bit newer!
whats it like for doing an MOT and stuff? expensive? how old and expensive was your KA when you bought it if you dont mind me asking?
Exciting news about buying your first car Just to let you know we have some info on TheSite about buying a second-hand car that you might find useful, things to look out for...
Hope it helps
Take advice from people who know what they're doing with cars. I don't really know one end of an exhaust from another so I bought a new one.
i learnt in a KA for a while and didn't find it too hard to drive.
im gonna have to test drive a few though i reckon
i might go to that car craft place!
don't buy from carcraft, but it is interesting to see lots of different cars in one place, to just get a feel for many of them
Anyone selling a car knows that women are easy targets because most of them don't know what they're talking about, and as you fall into that category you're much more likely to pay a fair price if you have some company.
You say you want it for motorway communting. There's no way I'd touch a KA with a barge pole if that was going to be my regular driving, just because they are so damn small. There's naff all around you in a KA to crumple if you end up in an accident and it's going to be you that gets a fair amount of the impact. Something bigger will give you much more protection, and you don't need to get much bigger, Corsa's and Clios and the like all put a lot more between you and the extremities of the car than a KA does.
For an old-ish ka with PAS in good nick expect to pay £1300-2000, they're popular little cars
Also I would reccomend getting one with the black bumpers, some say they're not as stylish but you can reverse into whatever you like and they don't even scratch! Yes this is from experience, walls, gates, fenceposts, multi story car park pillers - you just bounce right off
For those who say they're a little small, I actually find them to be quite roomy inside for front seat passangers, only midgets can fit in the back though, and don't expect to fit more than 3 bags of shopping in the boot
I love mine, I think it's fab
Also definatly take a bloke with you when you go and look at cars and get them to sound knowledgeable and do all the negotiating unless you really know what your talking about.
I would be far to scared to regularly drive a KA on the motorway as well incase of crashes!
Currently got a Ford Fiesta hatchback on the drive, it's a good little car, diesel, and cost £700. A similar spec and condition Ka you would pay more for just becuase it's more popular. And don't even go near a BMW mini because people will happily spend half their live savings on one just for the looks. (the iPod effect )
I'm not a car guru by any means though, just think it's good to keep your options open!
so what cars would you suggest shyboy knowing my budget?
Unfortunately... as I said "I'm not a car guru by any means though" but Click seems to know a lot as does g_angel . My recommendation would be a nissan micra just because i know you can get cheap reliable ones of those.
I drive my car about 12,000 miles a year, mostly on the motorway, and i haven't died... yet!
For the money, you can do a LOT worse.