GarnetFox

And I also want to be able to drive it so must take lessons some day soon.

Cos I am a midget, am looking for a teeni tiny one litre thing, so I can reach the pedals. As it will be my first car, not looking to spend more than £1,500 on it.

Possibilities so far are:
-Ford Ka & Fiesta
-VW Lupo
-Peugeot 106
-Rover Metro 100
-Fiat Cinquecento & Seicento

Can you recommend any others?

Ta,

Foxy

uncle buck

bubble car?

sebastian

lancia Y10 turbo.

great handling tiny nippy and dirt cheap.

logiclee

Forget the Metro/Rover 100's total dogs, better off with a proper Mini

Maybe strugling to get a lupo for that money but Seat Arosa, Skoda Felcia or older VW Polo maybe alternatives.

You could always try a non Max Powered Corsa.

Lee

rr_ww

Most of the cars on your list will cost more than 1 and a half grand. Prob best to just do the Fiat Uno, Mk 2 fiesta, 205 thing for a first car. You'll probably end up hitting a post, not cos ur a girl, just cos most inexperienced drivers do. and you'll be crestfallen if its a minter to start with.

IMO

GarnetFox

Ta all.

Don't like the Corsa for some reason. Did look at a Scooby Justy but thought 'naaaaah'

Have actually seen some private sales for under £2000, but don't know how good they will be. Am taking my mechanically minded other half with me to check them out, and will get AA too.

logiclee

Dont forget about some of the free insurance offers.

My Cousin got a brand new Ford Ka on 0% PCP with two years free insurance. It was cheaper for her than paying monthly insurance payments on her £1000 Astra.

She was 18 though.

Lee

[Edited by logiclee - 8/21/2002 9:44:46 PM]

[Edited by logiclee - 8/21/2002 9:45:43 PM]

scoobyster

You could get a dog of an Impreza 1.6 for not much more than that. That's what I got when I passed in November (mine's not a dog though!) I wouldnt change it for the world (except the engine to a turbo!), but not a very sensible first car really. Or a Justy... ok now I'm just being too patriotic.
If I had my time over I'd look at a Punto or a Clio for that sort of money. But I'd still have my Scooby really - even with only 88 ponies! Or look at classics perhaps - cheap(er) insurance, and easier DIY maintenance.
Let us know what you decide. And take it easy in your first weeks of freedom I reckon about 80% of my peers who have their own car have crashed in their first 6 months.
Good luck!

Just how midget-esque are you by the way? My g/f is 5'4" and can drive mine no trouble - not that she's allowed

[Edited by scoobyster - 8/21/2002 9:52:42 PM]

Swift Nick

Nissan Micra

Japanese quality for peanuts

Nick

GarnetFox

5foot so nerrrr!

Micras look like lego cars though.

Maddriver

I drive a Skoda Felicia, handles reasonably well, and goes quite well (for a 1.3).

Drove the Micra as a curtosey car, 1.3 hardly any power compared to my Skoda, and as for handling - I don't even wanna talk bout that it was so bad. I was backing off so much cornering compared to my Skoda.

adamm

You need a Smart Car mate - a proper little "Spunk Bubble" type car..

Scooby Dooby Blue

I'll second the Nissan Micra post.

The looks of a pitbull chewin' a wasp but bullet-proof reliability for minimal outlay.

Try to find one that's not ex-Mobility thought

You could get a 3/4yr old Daewoo Matiz for £1500 as well. Pretty low on street cred but you might even get air-con/alloys/PAS for your dough

Paul

Mr evolution

How about my beetle convertable yours for 1500 hundred quid.

Markus

OMG! another muppet gonna be on the road! (only joking Katie! )

My ideas above and beyond yours would be

Nissan Micra
Citroen Saxo
Mini (classic one of course)
VW Beetle (classic one of course)
Subaru Justy
Diahatsui (sp?) Charade (GTti is very funky )
Honda Beat
Suzzki Cappacino (tres cool!)

Dunno if many of those fall in the price backet you are looking at.

Dirty_Den

Another vote for a Micra, got one myself as a runaround. Don't really care about street cred as it wasn't bought for that.

Buy one, run it for a year - two years, and you'll have little trouble selling it on to someone in the same situation that you are in now. Some of the adverts on autotrader are people living in their own little worlds as to the money that they are asking for them - evidence I suppose of the fact that they are good cars and in demand. I'd rather have a Micra than a Fiesta, Nova or any other such car.

They are cheap on parts, servicing (even main dealer servicing isn't mental), insurance and very economical (reckon 45mpg from my 1 litre petrol car)

IIRC, the electrics on the older ones can be a little 'iffy' so check them over, but aside from that, the comments about Jap reliability are very true. Other things to look out for in general are non-driving school cars (but I suspect that won't be a problem, given the amount of money you have to spend) and regular oil changes (as with any car!)

Den

[Edited by Dirty_Den - 8/22/2002 12:58:44 PM]

Alas

You can have any car you want.
500 for some one to steal it.
leaves you a 1000 for a respray and new plates.
No probs
Only kidding officer!!
Alasdair