That was my first car… and fuck, I hated It. Dont get me wrong, I dont regret having it. As such… It held me back which is a good thing for a new driver. Being a young lad, I thought I was louis Hamilton when I passed my test.

Got alot of problems with mine though. HUGE problems. Would take forever to explain though, and isnt really relevant lol.

More on topic, dont get one. Its not nice to drive. The gear stick is 3m long, the interior is well basic, and the saftey is… minimal lol. No mod cons, not even an air bag.

I managed to get it on 2 wheels doing an average speed around a roundabout many times. Dangerous imo. Not to mention they have no grip with their shitty sized push bike wheels, which is not nice either. Not to mention the obvious lack of space. You will struggle to get a coat In the boat, haha. Not quite… but it is tight. Dont expect to have anyone wanting to be seen with you, or anyone wanting to actually spend more than 2 mins in the rear seats.

Id consider cars being my kinda thing. Well, an interest anyway, im not a mechanic or anything like that, but after spending huge amounts of time researching cars on the net for myself and my other part part time job, id say I could reccomend some good choices… Im no expert or anything though.

So what exactly do you need in a car? Being 24, and although Its your first year, insurance is going to be cheap really, as far as it goes when comparing a young drivers first year insurance. This leaves you with loads of choice.

If your after something in the middle of sporty, and practical, while not being a peformance car; I would say MK4 Astra. I know you wrote you heard a mate slate Vauxhall, but I dont know why really. My MK3 was really reliable, and was really nice to drive for a £500 car. It was the 5dr 1.4 version btw too, 1995. Yeah It wasnt fast, or even nippy, but It was good on fuel, and was nice sat at 60-70 on the motorways. Anyway, the MK4 is loads better, even the 3drs have loads of space for a hatchback.

They are quite common, which puts people off, but because of this, theyre cheap. At the moment Im selling my Saxo VTR. Im expecting around 2k for it. Im selling to get a 1.8 16v SRi Astra, for aorund the same price. Now with the Astra SRi I will get heated mirrors, Air con, sport seats, nice interior. Whereas the Saxo practically had the Wing Mirror as an added optional … Very basic, but fast nonetheless. Over all the Astras give alot more car for £ imo. Also, being typical family cars, insruance is good for even me, at 18. So at 24 you will be paying pennies.

I saw your after a 306… Now Imo mate, I wouldn’t go French. I know Its a cliche, but in all honest French cars aren’t the most reliable. They make cheap cars for the cheap market, using cheap parts… 306’s, being discontinued around 01, are definitely getting on now, and most are worn to fuck. No doubt their are nice examples though, but just be careful 🙂 Also, imo, I think they are looking a bit dated now… And you can get similar category cars, that are alot nicer all round for the same prices…

I can try and come up with a few more Ideas if you want, just tell me what your criteria is though.

I’m not a mechanic so I can’t comment on the whole “French car” thing, but Peugeot’s are nice cars, and I’ve not known one to be unreliable (many of my mates or family friends have got them).

I’m driving a 206 not 106, I got it wrong up there. 1.1 – handy lil thing.

yeh its small, yeah its awful, yeh its grosly unsafe, yeah it break every 15 and a half minutes, BUT ITS FUN! CINQUECENTO!

get a mitzi or a nissan

I wanna get a decent vehicle that i can take off road with ease, Maybe something like a landrover. See if i can get an Ex-Army one or something!raaa

apparently its a much better idea going for the 1.9 and 1.8 turbo diesel models, there meant to go pretty well and are much more reliable which you want when going french, plus youll save a shit load in fuel after a year of driving one,

though dont quote me fully on this, ive only got this from the reviews i read wheh looking for one .

got me a y reg 1.4 rover 25 for 1200 instead! feckin bargain

FIAT = Fix It Again Tomorrow

and my good god is it true, iv had to make 3 seperate repairs in 1008 alone

2008* (wouldnt let me edit post?)

Well not sure about the extra reliability… but the D Turbo 306s are quite nippy for an old TD. Group 5 or there abouts I believe too. 50mpg at least.

If you ever fancied modding it, a TD would be loads easier to do. Just upgrade every part of the Turbo system for your mods, and get a cheap 100 remap. The remap alone gives 30bhp in some cases. But of course MPG will suffer.

Landy’s cost a bomb, even old ones with 1,000,000 miles on the clock

http://www.pablanchard.co.uk/forsale.asp

see!