Ok need a little help pleasee?

Question

Right I'm a 20 year old female and need to buy a car (used one) and i dont wanna spend much i just wanta run a round car and I've got 1,300 to spend.....ok i'll go through what i do not want....a saxo or nova or pug!! My boyfriend works for ford so that might help if i had something from ford lol plus cheap on insurance ...i'm so crap at this trying to get a car thing I've been looking and recently i said to my boyfriend i liked the mondeos he just went No way!! women like u cant drive them too big for u :( so someone plz help me find a car I'm in the UK by the way :P x

Answer 1

To be honest, any of the supermini's these days are fine. As you're looking at a new or nearly new, most will be reliable and shouldnt cause headaches.

In my exerience and several of my friends, you simply can't beat the Ford KA. Early models had the 1.3 Endura engine, which despite being a clattery old 8 valve pushrod engine, was bombproof and could be fixed by anyne with even a basic knowledge of engines. All maintanence is cheap as you like, and spares are as cheap as you'll ever get. They are fairly basic spec cars and refinement isn't the greatest, but this translates into fantastic reliability. There simply isn't much to go wrong on them.

Later models got the 16 valve duratec engine, which helped with refinement and fuel economy, servicing becomes a little pricier but all other parts, tyres, exhaust etc, remain as daftly cheap.

Styling is subjective I guess, but it's a very feminine little car, most of the KA's I see are driven by young women and it's the only car to have been shown at the new york exhibition of modern art, very vogue!

It's only a 4 seater, as the rear bench is split into two seats, and space in the back is cramped, but there's loads up front even for a 6 foot lummox like me.

As anyone who's driven one will tell you, they are far to much fun to drive for their own good! The (fully mechanical) steering is light on the move, crisp and direct, in fact it's more fun to sling through corners than many of these larger sports saloons because of it's low weight.

I'd certainly take one over it's bigger brother, the Fiesta, although it trades some practicality for cheapness of ownership.

If you're not sold on the KA, then take a look at the Smart car. Not particularly cheap to buy, but solid residuals and cheap servicing combined with a genuine 60mpg and semi-auto gearbox make it a very easy car to live with. It is of course only a 2 seater which may or may not be an issue. Despite what people say about them, they really make sense. I had one for 4 weeks whilst working in cambridge, and in traffic it's brilliant, nice high driving position make seeing things easy, and they can be parked nose in to kerbs, so there's never a problem finding a parking space.

Since it's for your a laydee, I should probably mention that you can change the main four panels easily, they just pop off with half a dozen fasteners and in half an hour you can have a different colour car (handy if you want to colour co ordinate your shoes)!!!! They're about £200 for a set, less than a pair of Jimmy Choo's, and only marginally more than a radley handbag! Bargain.

Forget the rubbish about them falling over and being unstable, they're fine. I used to rattle about at 85mph and it never once felt unsteady. Not a car for conservative people though.

If you need something with space for 5, then take a look at the out going model corsa. With the introduction of the new funky looking model, the exiting model can be snapped up for some silly money, and as they're last of line you get higher spec models for bargain prices. In particular, you might like the 1.2 SXi, which has sports seats, air con, small bodykit ,alloys and shiny exhaust, but with a tiddly 1.2, so insurance is still cheap.

As for what your boyfriend said, well, there's no reason why women can't drive mondeos. Although being entirely honest, 90% of the girls / women I know don't like driving big cars. If you like them then great, they make a good used buy, get one thats 3 years old and it'll have lost most of its money, meaning that you can drive round in a 3 yeard old car for very little money. And being a family / rep car, they go forever and a day.

Best of luck with it.

Answer 2

Have a look on eBay. Most listings have a picture and you can maybe see something you like the look of.

A Mondeo is a big car and not great on mpg if you're just using it as a runaround. A smaller car, like a Fiesta or a Ka would be better.

Once you've seen what you're after, buy a local Auto Trader or a lot of local newspapers do a Motors guide one day a week, pick one of them up for more local choices.

Answer 3

You have lots of options...
Firstly check out the insurance before you go and buy, most brokers will help you with this (the call centres aren't so good for an indication)
If you are looking for a run around car, then the mondeo will kill you on fuel and you have to park it (although the shopping space in the boot is going to be better.
Make sure that you go to a reputable trader and get a warranty, then if something major goes wrong it will get fixed, alternatively if your chap is able to get something cheap then look at that, but make sure if it goes wrong you have someone who can fix it.
Do what all traders hate, drive the car before you buy and make sure that you don't just take it round the block!! You need to be happy that it is comfortable and you can park/manoeuvre it properly.
And remember - its your car, your boyfriend isn't paying for it!

Answer 4

You go for what you like, there's no reason why women can't drive a Mondeo! However, the Mondeo is a family-sized car and a bit pointless unless you really need the extra space. Plus it'll be dearer to insure and costlier to run than a smaller car like a Fiesta, Corsa, 106 etc.
Get your b/f to put his money where his mouth is by checking over any prospective purchase for you, if he's technically competent.

Answer 5

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Answer 6

A Volvo 240. They're solid as hell, so they're safe. The engines last forever. And they're totally retro-cool. And you're in Europe, so there should be an abundance of them. As long as you can find one with less than 150,000 miles (you'll have do the the km conversion on that), you're good to go. Pending a test drive of course. 1993 was the last year for them in the U.S. I don't know about over there. Good luck.

Answer 7

So your boyfriend works for Ford - well ask him why they are known in the industry as Dagenham Dustbins to start with! Outside of Ford garages they are widely regarded as Dagenham Dustbins by real mechanics - the one's that have dirty hands from fixing them.

You want something like a small Honda or Nissan - reliable!

Answer 8

Why not a fiesta or a corsa. they are cheap insurance and easy to get parts for.

If its your first car then start of with a wee one and aim for the mondeo later.
If only to prove to your boyfriend that women can drive them

Answer 9

Get a classic car!
Free road tax and cheap insurance!

I have a great little MG midget, that's fast, fun and convertible and only costs £80 a year fully comprhensive!

And they hold their value too!

Answer 10

dont let him tell u what you can and cant have. get what you want but make sure it has a full service history and an mot. also check similar cars so you know you are getting a good price. good luck x