New Car

[Robie]

I'm going to buy a car in January and hoping to get a second hand MX-5 1.8/1.6 for around £4,000.

I'm 21 with 3 points so looking to get a nice handling car that wont hurt the insurance too much.

Definitely not interested in an import because they are difficult to insure if under 25.

Do you think the MX5 is the best car for me? Am I discounting anything, especially if Jap. I like the fact it is well balanced, rwd and in all honesty convertible. Looking to get some fun out of driving before I have to worry about things like boot space.

To be honest I'm more interested in fun handling than power though motorway driving dictates it must do 90+mph

Would prefer ABS but please let me know if you have any suggestions. The budget is around 5k including insurance. Last year my insurance fully comp was 700£ on the yaris 1.3 worth 5.5k so I think the lower value of the MX-5 would offset the increased power.

[Gnome]

If it's any help, the Vectra I now have, is £640 F/C

23, 0 points, 1yr NCB, 2yr's driving experience, 1 claim, parked on drive, in OX17 postcode (one that insurer's actually like!).

That's a 2.5 V6 167bhp shed as well. ;)

[Special Red]

Yes, but they pull well gnome me old mucker!

[daktari]

Yes, but they pull well gnome me old mucker!

So does a Yak.

[Gnome]

lol - I was trying to put across my message about insurance.

The Vectra is a group 15 car, and the insurance isn't too bad. ;)

Oh, that's with Elephant as well...

[Robie]

Yeap I don't think insurance should be too costly providing the car is worth less than the Yaris.

Are there any other cars I should be looking at though?

[Gnome]

Celica springs to mind.

MR2?

[Robie]

Yeah I'm thinking Celica also.

I can't explain why but I don't like MR2's

[kimi]

How about a nissan 200sx s14a ?

rwd, fully loaded,powerfull, great looking car , loads of fun :D

kimi x

[Fizz]

How about a nissan 200sx s14a ?

rwd, fully loaded,powerfull, great looking car , loads of fun :D

kimi x

Bit of a barge compared to the Yaris and the MX-5 he is now considering.. :P

MX5 sounds like a wise choice mate. I was in the same boat in the sense of wanting a 2 seater while i still could before getting married etc and now bogged down with a mortgage etc (soon).

Enjoy a car that you wont be able to later on.. Thats my bit of advice...

[Robie]

Yeah thanks for the input Kimi but the nissan is fully loaded with IG 19 and according to parkers a reputation for boy racers so I think insurance would cripple me on that.

[kimi]

Yeah thanks for the input Kimi but the nissan is fully loaded with IG 19 and according to parkers a reputation for boy racers so I think insurance would cripple me on that.

not sure where parkers get the boyracer from to be honest,

i've been to a few sxoc meets and the guys are great, grown up

like you say group 19 insurance.

however some s13's and early s14's are now very affordable,

so younger guys can afford to buy them.

but we all have a little kid boy racer in us,,,,turn up the boost

[Tom.B]

:) Id go celica ...but a word of warning do do shop around on insurance as they can be high. I got quoted for a gen 6 2litre renewal £798 fully comp protected no claims. Managed to get it for £216 all in. Thats with me being 31 and having 11 years no claims.

Good luck matey .

(Oh and if you decide on a mx5 buy early in year as price rockets when the weather gets better, I know as I was looking at one before I bought my gen5 ages back)

[Calisto]

Dare I say it, but go Celica all the way.

[Demonic Angel]

You can pick up a good condition MX-5 at a very reasonable price.... plus with it being winter the prices will be going down - I hate to be a Toyota traitor but go for the '5!

[Karma Supra]

MX5

[Ken N]

I have just changed from a Celica (Gen 7) to a MX-5.

The MX-5 is more fun to drive than the Celica and it is in a lower insurance group. The Celica is more practical in terms of security and carrying stuff around though. The MX-5 is more fuel efficient than the Celica (comparing specs with a similar performance). Neither in my mind are especially good motorway cruisers and tend to be noisy.

A lot of people (especially new drivers) seem to struggle with the MX-5's rear wheel drive in less than perfect road conditions. This comes from the tendency to oversteer which is more difficult to correct than the understeer which is a characteristic of front wheel drive cars. I can't say that I have noticed this, although I am very used to driving rear wheel drive cars.

At the age of car you are talking about, you need to keep an eye on likely repair costs. I don't have a feel for what this might be, but I imagine neither are going to be especially cheap to fix. Before you do anything, you should get an insurance quote. In your position, I would prefer to minimise it. That said, if you continue driving at over 90+mph, it might not be long before you lose your licence anyway ;)

[Robie]

Thanks for your advice.

I think MX5 is definately the car for me and I will get it in January as I'm in no rush.

I will be taking it extremely carefully to start off with as I do alot of countryside driving (not at 90mph) but I would like to do some advanced driving courses at some stage.

I don't mind a bit of noise on the motorway as I am used to it with the Yaris.

Cheers for your help guys and girls

[chris202]

i just saw a crackin silver 91 mx5 in last weeks autotrader bargain buy section for £950 ono , thats a steal :o