First student car help

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Ghost02

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Next year I will be going to university and have to purchase my first car that will get me there and back everyday. Obviously things to look out for will be fuel economy and reliability. My budget is around R50k and have started looking at some pre owned cars. So far in my price range I have seen a opel corsa lite, renualt clio, citroen c2 and a fiat palio. Does anyone here have some words of wisdom for me?

Thanks :)
 
Anything Japanese from mid-late 90s to early 2000s. Corolla, Civic, Sentra - take your pick.
 
+ 1 @ mike

I have an opel corsa lite first car - clutch cable breaking is a common problem and is rather annoying with the opel corsa's , i would rather get a honda tbh
 
Maybe look at something that is going to be cheap to keep running.
Rather steer away from the French cars as they have expensive parts.
 
yea, i agree. Get yourself a honda. Its a very strong car, as well as light on petrol. Just be careful when buying second hand cars
 
Fuel consumption on the Corsa Lite isn't that good unless you drive it gently. Mid-90s on Corollas should be decent. Very boring cars, but usually quite reliable. For Honda I don't know about pre-2000 models, but the ones after that are typically reliable, however parts are expensive. Chances are the Fiat Palio would probably be the best value for money.

I do suggest you drive the cars and see which ones you prefer. It's all very well buying a car for fuel economy or because it has cheap parts, but hating driving the thing.
 
Avoid citis, rather go for a early 2000s tazz if you looking for something reliable with lower mileage, compared to the average late 90s corolla that is.
 
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Also stay away from polos, actually just avoid vw altogether :)
 
noxibox said:
Fuel consumption on the Corsa Lite isn't that good unless you drive it gently. Mid-90s on Corollas should be decent. Very boring cars, but usually quite reliable. For Honda I don't know about pre-2000 models, but the ones after that are typically reliable, however parts are expensive. Chances are the Fiat Palio would probably be the best value for money.

I do suggest you drive the cars and see which ones you prefer. It's all very well buying a car for fuel economy or because it has cheap parts, but hating driving the thing.
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eish i think a few guys will call you out on recommending the palio :p

Fader4 said:
Avoid citis, rather go for a early 2000s tazz if you looking for something with lower mileage.
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yeah i agree on the tazz idea

Fader4 said:
Also stay away from polos, actually just avoid vw altogether :)
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Roux is that you? :p
 
Got the GF a used Hyundai Atos GLS for 50k,fuel economy and cheap parts,but without skipping AC and electric windows. Ideal starter car
 
Thanks for the feedback so far, do you guys recommend I just go to secondhand dealers and have a look or check online? Any places online to reccomend?
 
Generally smaller dealers would try harder to pass you on financing for a vehicle than the bigger setups that are more interested in how much comm they can get on a vehicle. Always at least check out and drive the cars that interest you
 
I will be sure to test drive, you you guys reccomend an older Japanese car even if I could get like a 2008 pallio?
 
PsyWulf said:
Generally smaller dealers would try harder to pass you on financing for a vehicle than the bigger setups that are more interested in how much comm they can get on a vehicle. Always at least check out and drive the cars that interest you
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What you say amazes me. You obviously have the misconception that the bigger dealerships don't need sales, and that their salesmen don't give a stuff about their salaries. :wtf:

The dealers have NO sway over what the bank will pass or won't pass. :rolleyes:
 
I'm not to worried about getting the financing, I pretty much have the R50k secured so it doesn't bother me.
 
Fazda said:
What you say amazes me. You obviously have the misconception that the bigger dealerships don't need sales, and that their salesmen don't give a stuff about their salaries. :wtf:

The dealers have NO sway over what the bank will pass or won't pass. :rolleyes:
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Or you are unrealistically biased. Sorry mate,personal experience trumps superiority complexes ;) now run along

To qualify my earlier statement:
If a car is sold for far below what you'd expect,it's a guaranteed sale pretty much,so they don't have to spend the effort of jumping extra hoops.
Case in example:
Hyundai Edenvale offered an Atos at 50k. GF signed a offer-to-purchase and they applied for finance the saturday. Monday they phone back and say the financing has been declined "through all 4 banks" as she hasn't been working long enough,and deposits won't make a difference. After 2 days of phoning them and trying to get something sorted we gave up
Went to a smaller dealer,got a similar car on sale. After 2 weeks of poking and prodding different financers we got the car financing sorted finally - wesbank wanted a 5k deposit of which the dealership paid 3,serviced the car,handled the registration and got new headrests for the back.

Now thats ****ing service
 
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