Any advice on buying a car? :)

New or used? Petrol or diesel?

Personally I would look at crash test ratings. Some cars are no better than a drinks can when crushed! Very worrying. After that, just go and drive as many as you can, to see what you actually like. Have fun!

The weather we've been having I'd be getting a 4 x 4! Good luck in your search.

Don't ask me, I'm rubbish. I picked my car because I liked the colour and thought it was a reliable make (VW Polo)

This guide might be more useful

I've got a Car driving licence, but I am still yet to get a car, all I say is go with your gut instinct good luck.

I just bought one today (well part ex'd my old one - booooo!). I'd spent about a month researching what car we required, and which was most suitable.. eventually decided on a Honda CRV - mainly as it can be 4x4 if need be, it was reasonably priced, the running costs were better than my old car and the boot is huge.

We are lucky that we have two cars (need two), either end of the scale though - we have a mini for a cheap run-around, and then this as the 'family' car.

Still very sour about having to give up my pride and joy though!

So anyway, once we'd decided what car we liked we had a look around, and test drove quite a few so I could pickup what seemed right and didn't. Looked on whatcar.com, parkers.co.uk, autotrader.co.uk, and pistonheads.com for reviews, and used cars.. Found one just outside of Bristol after missing out to an extremely cheap deal by minutes! The mileage bothered me on this one, but modern engines are more tolerant than you'd expect if serviced at the correct intervals, etc.

The "average" mileage per year, depending where you read is between 10,000 and 12,000 miles/year, this one worked out at 14k/year, which isn't too bad but more than I'd planned on looking for.

If you're going for a new/pre registered car, there's some good small, cheap to run cars out there (VW Fox, for example - is 6k new - pre reg I'd guess you'd be looking at 4.5-5k depending on dealer, location, etc, and used even cheaper I'd have thought).

Now is a good time, you can be cheeky with bartering - they've targets to reach month end, and it's so close to xmas that not many people are buying cars... that's the way I played it today, and on top of the already discounted price, I shaved almost another grand off it - but the part ex value of my car was in my favour due to the spec of it. Still, if you don't ask, you don't get.

If you're looking for a loan, I'd suggest going to your bank rather than going on a HP plan - you'll find they're cheaper and also not tied to the car (so you can flog it if you need to, to repay the loan) - but I'm sure you already know that!

Petrol is going up in the new year (surprise, surprise!) - and around here it's almost the same cost of a diesel. Depending on how many miles you plan to do a year could mean that if you keep the car, then you'd be better off with a diesel (higher initial price, but more economic (car dependant - oh and driving style ). Parkers.co.uk have a calculator on there that shows the break even point of the purchase.

I went petrol, as I know we'll not be doing that many miles to justify the increased cost even though the diesels were almost twice as high on the quoted MPG figures.

Hope that helps a bit - parkers and whatcar I found great for reviews, autotrader, parkers and pistonheads is where I looked for mine - eventually found it on pistonheads, but you'll probably notice they're across all those sites and the other, smaller ones too).

Good point, as is the pedestrian safety too, that was a concern of mine and one reason why we chose what we did in the end.

You can also buy HPI car checks to see if it's reported lost, stolen or damaged.

I've just seen the prices of car

Think it will be used and I'm guessing now cheap as chips as OH bought a new-ish car last year.

Anyone bought a banger and any clues to how long they last? If I bought an 02 reg, could I get another 3 years use from that?

i would suggest you go for something with a small engine with the way fuel prices are going and if you are going for something older then its best to go for something like a ford or vauxhall as the parts and repairs are cheaper than say a japanese or german or french car.

hope it helps

Oh, didn't realise TS already linked to parkers.

Have a look for the reviews, BK.. I'd guess it really depends on what you're buying and also how the car was treated individually. I.e. you may find an 02 plate vw polo with 120,000 miles on the clock that runs sweet. Then you'd find an 02 plate seat ibiza with 60,000 miles on the clock that's been flogged constantly as some little baseball cap wearing youth had it previously. Not being stereotypical at all, just judging from the local population here hehe.

A honda jazz may be a good bet too, it's a small car - but it also has a small petrol tank, so that's a consideration to bear in mind too.

oooo...I like TS's link.

Just been asking autotrader to list cars up to £1k near me and seeing what's there. I need someone who's a tinkerer to just shove me towards one and I'll get that one :lol:

I believe you can still get the AA or RAC to do a check-up on the one you like (last I looked it was affordable for members, but that was ages ago) failing which, find a pal who knows what to look for and listen to the advice given!
Go for one you like, but get a knowledgeable person and let them have the veto!

don't get a silver one - much harder to see them coming at junctions when they haven't got any lights on when they should have them on - they merge in with the road colour. Apparently yellow is the safest colour to be seen in!

Oh and don't get a mondeo as I have hated mine with an absolute pasison since the day I got it. In fact I often leave in unlocked in the hope someone will come and pinch it - if I give you my address you can cree over later and get one for free (and the way the children have been behaving lately I will leave them in it too, so you get 2 extra added bonuses!) LOL

don't buy a saab. I had two die with engine problems within a year