Need A First CAR! :)

[T0M722]

Hey gang!

 

So, it's time that I start looking for a very first car for myself! I'm really excited, as you could imagine, and I reckon I most definitely need this forum's help. You all know an awful lot about cars, so who better?

 

Ok, so:

 

- I want something that's cheap. I don't have a huge budget, I think maybe $5,000 AUD might be the limit, not including insurance and all that crap...

- Next part also relates to money... I'm not good with mechanics, so I'd like it to be cheap to run and service. I don't want to end up paying $1000 on top of the price to get something fixed.

- I want it old, fun, quick and cool. I think some awesome cars such as an original mini (expensive), old volvo, peugeot 106/306/206 gti/ old golf gti etc.

- Ideally I want it to be manual, but auto is ok.

- It will mainly be used for local driving and driving in the city.

- Don't want a Holden or an Australian Ford. Too common.

- Either a hatchback/sedan or maybe a wagon if it's good. I want something that's fun to drive:p

 

And I think that's enough info to get the ball rolling. You don't have to go looking up advertisements for me, but just mention the name's of cars and I should take a look.

 

Ok guys, thanks so much for reading and considering. I will consider everything you say! :):duck::cool::D;):bananadance3::coolspot:

[TDUFREAK500]

My suggestions

 

Nissan S13/ S14 Silvia

Skyline R32/ R33

An old Toyota

Honda Civic

BMW E30/ E36 3 series

 

I dont know about prices in aussie but you can get all those for under 5k here

[iNotACactus]

I would probably say either an E30/E36 BMW 3-Series, an Audi 80 or the like, or an old Mercedes E-Class. Wouldn't do an E-Class if you could avoid it though as the prices on parts would probably exceed the price of the car. I haven't seen many of those with manuals though. If you're willing to sacrifice a bit of space on the Merc and go down a bit to a C-Class you can probably manage getting a newer one with more kit. Also been seeing some fairly recent Hyundai Sonatas on carpoint.com.au, those are probably quite good to drive as well.

EDIT: You can also get an original Mini for that money. That's about as unique and fun-to-drive as you could get for 5,000AU$.

[AZ-1]

Options:

AE86 Corolla

Honda CR-X

EG/EK Civic hatch (Don't rice!! :p )

would do the trick! Goodluck :)

[Ryzza5]

My first car was a twin-cam AE92 Toyota Corolla hatchback. Was nice and light, wasn't super fast but decent enough to beat 'average' cars from the lights, and was in great condition and perfectly reliable. Pretty good economy too. Power and economy were noticeably better when I started using Shell V-Power petrol too. The only things I did to it (besides 10,000km services) were add a MP3/WMA CD player and window tinting. The aircon worked great, but back when we had those hot summers the tinting helped a lot (darkest legal from Tint Professor). I remember driving from Melton to the city on Black Saturday with the a/c on and I was freezing inside (48 degrees C outside). Insurance was cheep too (roughly $400 comprehensive for age 18.

 

So something Japanese (preferably Toyota for reliability) that's been looked after is probably your safest bet.

 

 

[Ken]

Your best bet is probably going to be a Civic or something close to that, their parts are just about a dime a dozen and can be easy to fix and maintain. Or look around in your city and see how many of the same cars you are looking for that are on the streets.

[Lambo Llama]

I'd be going for an E30 BMW in that price range. Good little cars, plenty of info available on the net about doing work on them from home, they are pretty easy to work by all accounts.

[T0M722]

Thanks for the suggestions guys, keep 'em coming. I'm considering all but let's start with:

 

E30 tickles my fancy. But I hear from people all the time that servicing and insurance is a kick in the teeth, is this true?

[Ryzza5]

Ring a couple of mechanics and pretend you already own one and ask for a ball-park quote for servicing, etc. ;)

 

European cars will probably cost less to service in Europe compared to down here, so feedback from European members here might be a tad misleading. Different garages here will charge quite different amounts, but perhaps try to find an independent BMW specialist.

[Milli]

Peugeot 206 is a good car, not sure if you guys have it there, but the gear shift is near the steering wheel and the short ratio gives you a bit of rally feeling. My friend has one and it really seems to be a great car. Other point, it is small, cheap, small engine, which means it drinks only a little.

 

A bit girly? Well, look for a black one. Lol They look awesome in black.

 

Edit: It may not be fast as a BMW, but for same price, the Peugeot will be newer, at least.

:lol:

[PVieira]

buy this Ae86

old but gold and has style :cool:

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[DJdan]

you can buy my 2002 Ford Mondeo for 3.5K :D

 

anyway i would go for something like a Golf or a Polo Vw have great engines which dont use a lot of fuel.

 

i remember my polo doing 700km with 30 litres of petrol servicing isnt that expensive too. and i sold that for €2500

and it was a 2002 too.

but im not sure with the car market over there but a BMW can cost you a lot if you have bad luck.

but you can find E30 and E36 parts quite esily but watch out for BMW's that has been messed about.

 

the best BMW is the one which is completely standard :D

 

also avoid lowered cars.

 

you never know what they broke when they tried to go over a high speed bump.

 

i hope i helped :D

[gingervette]

A horse.

[T1M]

Mk3 Golf, perhaps?

 

[Yours Truly]

What he said. A Golf Mk3 that is used would be a cheap car to buy. In USD it would be around 4-7 grand. Pretty good choice, if you ask me.

[Ryzza5]

You won't hear me complaining with that choice :cheeky:

[Prophecy]

Completely agree with Ryzza. I picked up my AE94 Corolla hatch today, ahah.

 

Stick to Japanese or Australian manufacturers, european cars are expensive to get parts for and repair (anything where anyone has to touch your car...)

I payed 2800 aud for my corolla, 95000 km's, drives like new, theres A stain on the passenger seat, and the exterior has the standard 17 year old car marks (scratched bumpers, a bit rough, but actually... more like a 10 year old car), so dont think that you have to pay a lot to get something good, there are gems here and there.

Dont be looking for quick, reliable and cheap. You'll only ever get 2 of them, often with cheap cars you'll only get 1, and it wont be quick.

 

Just some stuff to think about. I really really want to make it clear that you do NOT want anything european for a first car. I know theyre cool, I really do, I was tempted to buy an Audi 80, nothin wrong with it, but when something DOES go wrong with it, it'll come off the road til I can afford to fix it. Just stick to something commonish (nothing wrong with old corollas, cressida's are cheap and they have a straight 6, pulsars are good, the list goes on and on- hell, go for a charade or a starlet, theyre freakin awesome, lightweight, good engines, just a lot are manual, and I only have an auto license til my green p's, so they were out of the question for me unfortunately)

 

edit: and as dan said, go for something stock. You just cant trust people to have done things properly. Especially lowering, you've got a fair chance that they just cut the springs instead of replacing the entire suspension setup.

[saar]

Hi,

 

You mentioned Pegeut 106. If you have there 106xsi, try it.

It is a fun little car, cheap to buy and maintain.

I think it is ideal as a first car.

306 xsi would be great too, little bigger, still fun to drive.

I don't like the Toyota.(sorry :) )

 

BMW etc, are much more expensive to maintain. (at least in my place)

Saar

[Baldy]

Can't go wrong with a Mazda, good build quality and reliability, but obviously depends on models and prices over there.

[Narwhal]

Can't go wrong with a Mazda, good build quality and reliability, but obviously depends on models and prices over there.

 

This.I've had exactly the same car as Baldy and it was perfect.Actually any Japanese car would do the job.

[Ryzza5]

I don't think that year would be below $5000 though. You'd be looking at 20th century cars I think.

[T0M722]

Yeah, dependent on which country I go for it'd be late 80's to early 90's (Euro) and then maybe late 90's to early 2000's (Small jap car)

 

 

I was disappointed that a really cool volvo 240 was taken off carsales.com . I think I would have loved that but it must have been sold!

 

The search goes on...

[Milli]

PEUGEOT 206!!! :lol:

[TDUFREAK500]

I would say you cant go wrong with an E36 really, there are so many of them around

[T0M722]

Yes, but servicing and insurance would be the killer, no?