# Help me buy my first (and cheap) car **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 20, 2009, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-buy-my-first-and-cheap-car/514510 "2009-10-20T18:15:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![typhoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ed8c4c/32.png) [@typhoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typhoon)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-buy-my-first-and-cheap-car/514510/21 "2009-10-22T06:35:35Z")
If you can find one used in your price range, I recommend a Ford Focus. You can find them in pretty much every body style—3-door hatchback, 5-door hatchback, sedan/saloon, wagon/estate, even convertible coupe. They get excellent fuel economy (particularly if you get a diesel). They have spirited handling and are fun to drive. You can get them with 6-speed manual transmissions too (probably not used, though). Reliability is [generally good](http://www.edmunds.com/new/2009/ford/focus/101033164/reliability.html) (that link is for the North American version, but they should be similar; compare to the [Honda Civic](http://www.edmunds.com/new/2009/honda/civic/101061057/reliability.html)). As far as safety goes, [Wookiepedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Focus_(international)#Mk_2_.282004-present.29) says the European version gets “the best ever EuroNCAP ratings for its class (5 stars for adult protection, 4 of 5 for child protection and 2 of 5 for pedestrian protection), beating such contenders as the Renault Mégane and Volkswagen Golf, including full (16/16) marks for the front impact test.” The Mazda 3 and Volvo C30/S40 are on the same platform and are also pretty good (hell, here’s a [Volvo S40](http://www.buyyourcar.co.uk/used-car/volvo/s40/jtk_9819_416220.aspx), for £3,000 with 40,000 miles, somewhere in the UK, that I would totally cruise). And they’ve all got a lot more style and personality than a Toyota or Honda. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-buy-my-first-and-cheap-car/514510/22 "2009-10-22T08:29:13Z")
> [@Mr.Kobayashi](#): > > Thanks for the advice **bengangmo** (and everyone else, you’re helping combat my ignorance most handily), if it helps, you answers to your questions; > > 1. One. Maybe two every now and again. > 2. Mostly motorway/city. > 3. Right now I’m slow in urban areas and sporty when the road opens up a bit. > 4. None that I can think of. > 5. If I can fit my bike in there it’d be a bonus, but just getting from A-B safely and cheaply is my main focus. > > Spending in Stirling, not Dollars; so my upper limit would be $3,324.82. I have no illusions about getting a brilliant car on my budget, rather I perhaps should have asked for the safest, most reliable and efficient car for that budget (obviously these qualities become greater with the most money you put in…but that’s how everything works!) - an area I’m pretty clueless about. > > Oh, I should have expanded on my rider question above - I meant Ka, as in the Ford Ka, not a Kia - I could acquire one fairly cheaply, but I’m not sure if it’d be a good punt. I don’t live in the UK so I’m really not in a position so as to advise any particular model or whatever - just wanted to provide some guides as to what I think about when looking at cars… ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2009, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-buy-my-first-and-cheap-car/514510/23 "2009-10-25T08:21:58Z")
> [@The\_Lurker\_Above](#): > > I have no experiences with a Kia; but I really don’t think anything you can buy for a grand or two (pounds I assume) could really be called reliable. Unless the UK used car market is very different than the Canadian one. I bought my Kia at 2 years old for £3K (maybe £2.5K - I don’t recall precisely). No reliability issues at all (apart from a self-inflicted dead battery). That was 5 years ago. Edit: it was a Kia Shuma, and I purchased it from a dealer. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-buy-my-first-and-cheap-car/514510.md?page=1)