What is a good car?

Hey all I preparing to get my license and I would like to buy a car once I pass.
Anyone know what is a decent brand to look at?
I will be buying second hand, so I am just wondering if I am looking at something that has been kept in reasonable good condition which car would be a good one to buy. Upkeep would cheap (meaning if it should need any parts they wouldn't break the bank), and may be insured cheapish.


Thanks

We've had trouble free car ownership with Toyota, Honda and Suzuki. You haven't given any indication of what size car you want, or what you are thinking of spending so its a bit difficult to help further.

Sorry.

1000 pounds is my limit. Though I would want to stay under that as much as possible.

size… a small 2 door is okay. I do not need anything big since it will be just me. I am a phd student so I just really want something to run me about on occasion…and when i take trips because the train is wearing me down. (when i say trips i mean 2-3 hour drive max)

I agree with Toyota and Honda.  (Nothing against Suzuki - just never owned one.)

which.co.uk is a good non-biased resource for used car info (they're like Consumer Reports in the US).  They have monthly subscriptions, so you can subscribe for a month to look up cars you're interested in, and then bail on the subscription when you're done.

I just bought a second-hand Citroen C3 and I love it!

Thanks all
I have spent the last couple of days going to the sites yall suggested and just looking around.

Right now the only car that will be under 1000 pounds for me to insure seems to be the Ford KA.

I looked at the ones that were named here and they would all be over that amount for me to insure. I also looked at one of those comparison sites for quotes. This is going on that I would be considered a first year driver here. I am hoping that someone will take my NO Claims from America.

I never knew how much insurance cost would factor into my purchase choices until I started to actually compare prices. lol I think at this point low insurance is my focus.

Well low insurance and still a decent run around car.

Nissan Micra?

Nissan Micra?

When I priced that one on moneysupermarket that would had been 1700 pounds to insure!

Try talking to an independent insurance broker, the online comparison sites often don't give good prices for a first year driver. Also the topic of car insurance comes up often so a search on here might pull up some alternative insurers.

Try talking to an independent insurance broker, the online comparison sites often don't give good prices for a first year driver. Also the topic of car insurance comes up often so a search on here might pull up some alternative insurers.

Thanks for the tip. I did call up direct line because I saw somewhere on here that someone said they accept NO claims from America..however they told me they would not do that. I will check others.

Try talking to an independent insurance broker, the online comparison sites often don't give good prices for a first year driver. Also the topic of car insurance comes up often so a search on here might pull up some alternative insurers.

Good suggestion. Checking online just gives you a 'computer says no' answer. Talking to a real person, preferably one local to you, is best.

Insurance in most cases will be high for you as, as you've said, you're considered a first year driver. But it does go down drastically and quickly after the first year.

I have been driving for 35 years, had no claims bonus from both the USA and Malaysia (we had cars and insurance in both countries at the same time), but my broker could not find a company that would recognize my no claims bonus.

We insured with Toyota last April for the first year back in the UK, and have just moved to Admiral for our second year's insurance, using their multi car discount - just in case that helps anyone else reading. 

I called Geico for an insurance quote and was pleasantly surprised at how inexpensive it was. We had Geico back in the US and to insure a VW Polo here (used, but barely - 2013, 2k miles) it's costing us about $600/year (that's USD not GBP) - way cheaper than anyone else we could find. I have a US license and a UK provisional license and my husband only has a US license (hasn't gotten his UK one yet). If you haven't tried them yet, it might be worth it. There seem to be certain restrictions on who they will insure (they asked us what type of visa we were on before they would send us the application), but it's probably worth the call. Good luck!