Looking to buy a first car

I'm looking to finally buy my first car, but I'm in no great rush - I have almost full use of a car for the next four months should I need it, so I can afford to wait for the right one.My budget is up to around $3500, but that could be somewhat flexible if it pays off.I'm looking for an economical manual, with good safety features.I'm not going to regularly have more than one other person in the car, so the rear seats don't need to be too roomy, but I would still like four-door access.What recommendations do people have!
Thanks :)

primera

Where's Jazz!

jazz is late, so il save some time, go look up fiat punto's
he should be along shortly to give you the complete run down on them.

someone give that man a job at Fiat!

Just make sure you get the twin cam version. Both single cam and twin cam motors are 1.2 litres so its an easy trap. The vast majority are the twin cam model which is called the 80 ELX as opposed to the 60. Generally the only 60's around are Kiwi new 3 door models and there are not that many.

With the Punto I would suggest you just drive it as is and replace the panels as and when you have some spare cash. Its the sort of thing that if you are a bit handy some or all of it may be able to be sorted with bondy filler and then its just off to the painters for a spray.
The thing with that Punto is that its probably worth close to 7K in repaired condition given the year and km's so you could afford to throw some money at it at some point if you wanted.
Otherwise you might get something nearly as good for around $5500 if you watch turners etc. The thing is you want 4 door and manual so you will be looking at the slightly dearer Punto's.

The Polo's are not a terrible car but they are nothing special and don't offer the economy of the Punto. They are also a little bit behind the Punto on safety and features. A good one might be worth some consideration.

The Barina's in your price range are really Opal Corsa's. Safety ratings are not that great but improve a bit from 2000 and then further later, the 2001 or newer like you were mentioning are good for safety but nothing special in other areas. But in your price range probably not so good. They are better than some of the other small Opal vehicles of the age which despite being German didn't really seem built to last. Overall year perhaps O.K but not in the league of the Punto.

Having had a bit more look at that Polo, it does look to be a really good example. Perhaps check it out and throw them an offer.
Just remember they are not as good on gas as you would think.

I knew jazz would be here

Honestly I'm not too worried about air conditioning - I spent the summer in Napier and didn't turn it on once.Also, fuel economy is important, but it doesn't have to be a total miser - I'm happy enough in a '93 1.6 Ford Laser at the moment, and that's not exactly the most efficient of cars.The Brava looks good, I'll definitely keep an eye on it.Repair costs aren't going to be too much of a problem, I like to tinker a bit and one of my closest friends is a qualified mechanic who is always happy to look things over/not make me pay an arm and a leg.

Last model toyota starlet, mines done 260,000 ks with no problems, all thats been done is the cambelt and waterpump changes, still on original clutch and gearbox, cant go wrong with those things, got to tauraunga from palmy on 25 dollars

In general smaller cars of that vintage with an automatic are pretty awful (lack of gears + power sapping torque converter = a sapping away of the precious few HP they have.

However the CVT Punto is the exception to the rule. The manual is slightly quicker and had slightly better economy but its really pretty negligible.

The CVT is a real cracker in that it has a power economy mode that will let you set it to hold peak torque or peak HP when you put your foot down.

What that means is that in economy mode you can fly up the Ngauranga gorge with your foot down without having to listen to a struggling engine rev its guts out.

It also has the 6 speed tiptronic mode which is a fun novelty at first but realistically the CVT mode gets the best out of the engine. That said the tiptronic function does come in handy for a spirited run in the twisty stuff where you can set up the revs for optimum pulling out of the corners without any delay.

So yes, if you like the idea of CVT, they are a cracker unit.

However. while these are about as reliable as you can get in a CVT you do need to make sure they have been serviced on time every time and continue that yourself without fail to ensure you have no prolems.

CVT servicing is done every 40'000km and the fluid and filter will cost you around $200 - $400 (can't remember exactly but like all CVT's the fluid is not cheap). Compared to a regular auto though its still great value as normal auto's still need servicing and the bit extra you pay on the service is recovered many times over with the increased economy vs pretty much any other auto on the market.

I would expect that Punto will likely go for a bit more than $3500 but keep an eye on it. If you really like it and want to have a bid I could likely give it a quick look over for you if that helped you out.

Sweet, its potentially really good buying for that money. You see them on here for twice that fairly regularly.
The Fiats don't tend to give much trouble mechanically and are quite straight forward to deal with if you need to. I was more thinking about whether doing the bodywork repairs on that Auckland one was something you could potter at yourself.

Hey jazz, can I get your opinion on my 1996 Honda Accord VTi four door automatic !

It's done 287,000 kms. Lol. Got it for $1700. Drives okay, I think transmission has only got a few years left in it though. What is the general consensus on Honda Accords of my year and model !

Hi michael,
Hmm to be straight up Honda's of that vintage are not my strong point. There is a poster on here vtecintegra that might be able to shed more light on things for you.

In general though for that sort of money if its going and you can get some milage out of it without spending a fortune it will be hard to go wrong. However an auto transmission problem could set you back more than the car is worth.

It might pay to post the details of exactly what the transmission is doing so someone can give you an idea of how terminal it is.

In general if it was me in your position I would be tucking a few hundred aside and trading up a to something lower km's without any known major issues on the horizon when a suitable bargain comes up.

If you compare your Honda to the likes of the Brava mentioned in this thread its pretty easy to see that just a few extra hundred could get you into something with a lot less km's with better reliability and long term prospects.

Don't stress though, we are not talking about massive amounts of money here and economy wise you should be doing O.K. Those Honda's were a great car in their time but I do think some thinking ahead now could get you into something better.

Good luck with it all!

I was actually thinking more along the lines of trade up in a year or so =P

It sounds silly, but I like my car to look cool. The accord looks decent, which I like.

Hmm, the transmission. Basically it slips every now and then during changes. Pretty much it.