Buying
Your first car: what actually matters
6 min read
With a first car, the purchase price is the smallest of the numbers involved. Insurance, consumption, reliability and parts prices decide whether the first year is a pleasure or empties the account.
Insurance first, then the car
For new drivers, insurance is often the largest running cost — larger than fuel. It depends on the car's rating class, and that differs considerably between two outwardly similar cars. Get a non-binding quote for two or three models before you decide. It takes twenty minutes and over a year can matter more than the entire price difference at purchase.
Two further levers help: being named as a second driver on a parent's policy, and a higher excess. Both are negotiable and both cut the premium noticeably.
Which cars fit
You are not looking for the most exciting car but for the one with the fewest surprises. Three characteristics help more than any equipment list.
- A volume model. What was built in numbers has cheap parts and every workshop knows it — in a breakdown that is the difference between two days and two weeks.
- Simple engineering. No air suspension, no dual-clutch gearbox, no panoramic roof. Each of those is a potential four-figure item.
- Moderate power. It cuts the premium, the consumption and the tyre wear at once — and on a probationary licence is the more sensible choice anyway.
When you buy
Take someone who has bought cars before, and have the car inspected by an independent workshop first. On a car in this price bracket the inspection costs a small fraction of the price and is the best insurance against a mistake there is.
Pay particular attention to two things: a valid inspection with enough time left on it, and the condition of the tyres. Both can fall due immediately after purchase and together quickly reach a four-figure sum.
Splitting the budget realistically
A split that works: at most four-fifths of the available sum for the car, the rest stays untouched. Registration, the first set of tyres and the first unexpected bill come out of that remainder. Anyone who puts the whole sum into the car has no room to manoeuvre at the first repair.