first car help

Post by **stephenlovesminis** » Sat Feb 10, 2007 10:39 pm

hi,
ive forced myself to relise that my mini isnt going to be done when im 17

so could people suggest some good first cars to learn to drive in

cheers stephen

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Feb 10, 2007 11:32 pm

Well Stephen.
It all depends on your budget, the cost of insurance and how much mileage you'd be putting on the car. If you're looking at spending less than €3000, I'd recommend a '96-'99 VW Polo. They're pretty easy to come by, they're reliable and most of all, especially as it's a "learning car" they're pretty solid and will hold up better than most in the unfortunate event of an accident. 2 cars I have to strongly recommend staying away from are the Fiat Punto and Nissan Micra. Puntos notoriously give problems with electrics, clutches, bodywork, engines.... You know what. They're basically a piece of crap! The Nissan is a good enough car but genuine parts are expensive and they're not exactly built like a tank either.
Sure let me know what you're in the market for and I'll try to help otherwise I'd be typing away all night.

Post by **stephenlovesminis** » Sat Feb 10, 2007 11:42 pm

well its about 5/6 grand. i was thinking of something a bit nicer than a polo or a micra.... i was looking in the auto trader and a 1.3 civic is 5200, what you think?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Feb 11, 2007 3:50 am

Honda Civics are pretty good cars. But as soon as you mention Honda Civic to an insurance company they actually say "ching ching €€€"... Mostly because they used to be the most saught after car for the little toe-rags that roam the streets looking to "borrow"our pride and joys for an auld joy ride and also beacuse they're usually the car of choice for the sticker wielding, spoiler attaching, neon fitting, 90 degree baseball cap wearing, foot to the floor, revs to the limit, sewer pipe for an exhaust boy racers...As you can see in the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mSLrNDcN1k

Looking on the carzone.ie website, €5250 will get you a '97 Civic 1.3 3dr in Dublin fresh off the boat from Japan.
http://www.usedcars.ie/usedcars/index.c ... rID=545542

For a little less money you can get a '99 Toyota Corolla 1.3 3dr in Dublin
http://www.usedcars.ie/usedcars/index.c ... rID=574639

Happy car shopping

Post by **Billy** » Sun Feb 11, 2007 10:37 am

Stephen,

If you've got 5-6 grand to play with, why not just buy a Mini that's ready to go? The Jap-import ones for sale in Bray are coming in at that price.

Worth considering.

Billy

Post by **stephenlovesminis** » Sun Feb 11, 2007 7:23 pm

ya you are right about civics but they are good cars and then when your done with them you can sell it on to one of them boy racers for the same price you got it for

and they wont no the difference haha

Post by **stephenlovesminis** » Sun Feb 11, 2007 7:24 pm

i would get a mini but then the insurance would be high because of my age

Post by **Billy** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 9:25 am

Stephen,

It sounds like you need to check out insurance on a few different cars. I'd be very surprised if a 1-litre Mini would be more expensive to insure than a 1.4 litre Honda Civic considering the whole "boy-racer" image that Civics have.

Most of us older lads started off with a basic 1-litre for a few years just to build up a no claims bonus.

Billy

Post by **Merlin** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 11:07 am

stephen i only came of L plates a number of weeks ago but my insurance with quinn direct was only 700 euros i am 22 and only got driving at 20. yours will be a good bit higher due to your age but still should be under the 2 G mark for a mini.

Stevo · Post by **Stevo** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 6:52 pm

[quote="earthwormjay"]Honda Civics are pretty good cars. But as soon as you mention Honda Civic to an insurance company they actually say "ching ching €€€"... Mostly because they used to be the most saught after car for the little toe-rags that roam the streets looking to "borrow"our pride and joys for an auld joy ride and also beacuse they're usually the car of choice for the sticker wielding, spoiler attaching, neon fitting, 90 degree baseball cap wearing, foot to the floor, revs to the limit, sewer pipe for an exhaust boy racers...[/quote]

Honda civics are good cars,
On a positive note their unbeatable reliability will be hard to match.
"earthwormjay" I own a honda civic and i have no intention of doing all those things you mentioned. Some of us ARE LAW ABIDDING DRIVERS.
Not all of us want to go for an "auld joy ride"

It your narrow mindness that makes the rest of us decent people go down with those irresponsible scum-bags.

On a negative note:
As you can see, you might easily get discrimanted against by all members of the public.

Insurance may be costly, If you mention V-TEC insurance gets a lot dearer

I bought 3 minis, bought them cheap,bought £1000's pounds worth of parts.But the cars required so much work i had to sell them.Since then i lost all faith in them

THIS IS MY ADIVCE TO YOU:

If you really want a mini so badly.Buy a DECENT one, Don't work your way up.It's very costly and time consuming.

Do whatever you want to do.....

Don't make the same mistake i did.

Post by **Merlin** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 7:35 pm

Stevo
Little word of advice this is a Mini owners club forum.

The man you just called ...[/quote] it your narrow mindness [/quote]
has been a long standing member of the club and has owned a lot of minis so he is defiantly talking from experience.

it is very unfortunate that you managed to buy three dud minis but some times you get what you pay for. I have fully restored over 14 cars in the last 11 years and by far the cheeps car I have ever restored was the mini. But of course it depends on what parts you are buying ???

Honda Civics are good cars but so are BMW 320 still way out side a young fellows insurance budget.

...[/quote] If you really want a mini so badly. Buy a DECENT one; don’t work your way up. It’s very costly and time consuming....[/quote]

Minis are a labour of love but so is any car the rewards of starting at the bottom and working up are.

*Learning new skills
*Feeling of self worth and conference
*Some ting to be proud of and most of all
*You will meet wonderful people who will help and guide you trough many problems.

At this point I could start going on about the youth today and there want for every ting handed to them on a plate but that is a generalisation and is not trough just look at the ardguillian run there was people from 16 years old to 70 yeas old and every one of them there for one reason enjoyment and most of all fun.

So Stephen if you are one of those, which I think, we have gathered you are than more power to you.
Regards,
Paul.

Post by **Ciaran** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 10:36 am

God, ones post count and lenght of being a club member doesnt make everything they say beyond reproach when they make incorrect sweeping generalisations.

Back to the subject at hand, Hondas are the most reliable engine builders in the world and they make as near to "bullit proof" cars as you can get. I drive a Honda Integra and I'm not a boy racer. I need a car that I can rely on and a honda fits that bill. Civics are absolutly great cars. They handle well and go forever. The eralier 90's 1.3 carb models are cheap to run and insure and will go forever.

Post by **Billy** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 11:06 am

Lads,

Before we turn this into a Honda-bashing session, let's keep in mind the original post. Stephen who is 17 wants to get his 1st car on the road. The Irish Mini Owners Club provides this forum with a view to promoting the use of Minis and if positive use of the forum encourages new members to join the club then that's a bonus.

Anyone who is considering their first car and already has expressed an interest in Minis should be encouraged to keep that interest.

Billy

Irish Mini Owners Club

first car help

first car help

thanks

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