My girlfriend is looking for her first car. She has been driving for 5 years but always in other people's cars.

So she has no NCB and is running on a tight budget. She's got about

 

imho , that is a huge error .

the Clio would be on my list of possibles

 

Clio's are a great little car - I had one as my first car

French cars are usually ok second hand - all the bits that are going to fall off them fall off in the first 6 months anyway

 

Fiesta

but not, under any circumstances, the auto

or an Astra

something different - Daihatsu Charade

 

VW Polo, fits the bill quite well.

There is a website around that tells you what car fall in to each insurance group.

That should give you a few ideas.

I'll see if I can find it for you

 

Ford Ka? Cheap to insure and run and popular with the fairer sex.

 

http://www.wisebuyers.co.uk/motoring/car-i...rance-Group/18/

Insurance group linky

 

nissan sunny
toyota corolla
watch out for a smokey festa (not looked after). they also tick a lot.
insurance grp is vital - any good car mag will tell you this or here:
http://www.abi.org.uk/carinsurance/search.asp

the old micra's are rust buckets. old corsa is horrid... astra is a pos, escorts in that price range are too.. focus too much i'd have thought.. should be lots to choose from though...

 

Citroen Saxo 1.1 would do the job. There's nothing on it to go wrong

 

Thanks for that website Dan.

List of possibles are a Fiesta 1.25, a Polo 1.2 or possibly an older shape Civic 1.4.

Ford Ka is a no, the 1.3 pushrod engine in them is awful and very dated. Newer 1.0 Ka is too expensive still.

No Corsa as the driving position is awful. Likewise Micra.

I would only consider French if there was no other options, and it looks like we have plenty at the moment. Two of my sisters have a 106/Saxo but they don't drive them much. Ruby will be doing a daily commute of around 30 miles so we need something that is not going to fall to bits.

The car really needs only be small, no need for 4 doors, and definately not auto. Can be petrol or diesel.

Any other info on the Charade Pete?