First car

[Switch]

Get something Japanese.

[oi oi]

Originally Posted by Switch

Get something Japanese.

Aye, a few people have said that!

[Rodney]

love it when people slag off french cars and then recommend nissans.....guess who owns nissan.

[ravydavygravy]

Originally Posted by Rodney

(ideally a woman who is less likely to be trying to fuck you over)

Always love that on adverts..lady owner.

To me that means it will have chinese tyres, no oil and never been serviced.

[Rodney]

Originally Posted by ravydavygravy

Always love that on adverts..lady owner.

To me that means it will have chinese tyres, no oil and never been serviced.

but thats ok? you can see the tyres (and change them if you want) and check the oil level and the service history? if its empty and/or got no stamps just dont buy it...

[ravydavygravy]

Originally Posted by Rodney

but thats ok? you can see the tyres (and change them if you want) and check the oil level and the service history? if its empty and/or got no stamps just dont buy it...

True. I just don't know how a (probably) badly maintained car is more attractive.

[Rodney]

Originally Posted by ravydavygravy

True. I just don't know how a (probably) badly maintained car is more attractive.

i agree there will be some clueless female owners but for every one of those i bet there are several blokes shifting dodgy cars or ones they have thrashed.

[oi oi]

What should I ask for when I go to get a car?

MOT certificates, full service history? Anything else...

[Pancho]

Originally Posted by Rodney

love it when people slag off french cars and then recommend nissans.....guess who owns nissan.

Your first contribution to this thread was poorly thought out and you seem to be continuing in the same vein.

Yes, many of us know Renault now own Nissan, but in this particular case many posters are recommending that the op has a look at a K11 Micra and that particular model would have had very little, if any, French involvement.

The fact remains that, over the last couple of decades at least, vehicles with substantial Japanese influence in either design or manufacture have proven to be significantly more reliable than the products of other countries. In recent years the Koreans have started to produce some very competitively priced but still impressively reliable vehicles.

Check out these reliability surveys:

What Car

Which? Magazine

Warranty Direct


That being said, regardless of marque, buying with a budget of around a grand is a bit of a lottery. For example the pass criteria for even a genuine MOT test is pretty low, and a recent certificate is absolutely no guarantee that the vehicle is roadworthy.

My best advice to the op would be to take an assistant who knows what they are doing and try to get a look underneath the car. In the vehicle age range determined by the limited budget, under body corrosion is a real killer.

[ShieldsBlackCat]

Originally Posted by oi oi

Following on from my secondhand car thread, I entrust the SMB to find me my first car.

Small engine, 1.2 and under.
Will have about £800 to £1,000 to spend.

The problem for me is the budget. I was happy spending that much when I passed my test. I was even trawling the AutoTrader website for cars of a similar price. I even stated iirc that I don't have lots of money and spending in the thousands was out of the question, but was certainly rebuked by my mum who said for that price you are not going to get anything safe. And I sort of see a point. I ask myself why is it only available for £800 to £1000 which in today's money is nothing?

My Clio cost me what for me is a whacking and bind-boggling £2k. Yet people think that is nothing these days and looking around at other second hand cars that is pretty much the cheapest you are going to find.

Originally Posted by Pancho

Yes, many of us know Renault now own Nissan,...

How many is 'many' Pancho? News to me. Call me a "moron" and "slow on the uptake" after..and only after you have provided me with a recent link with words specifically mentioning Renault own Nissan.