|
|
|
|
|
|
BMW Garage | BMW Meets | Register | Search | Today's Posts | Mark Forums Read |
|
BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum
>
Daughter passed her test - this is what I got her
|
|
03-24-2013, 03:26 PM | #1 |
Lieutenant
44
Rep 565
Posts |
Daughter passed her test - this is what I got her
My daughter passed her test 3 weeks ago & have been looking for a car for her but as I am so busy work wise my time has been quite limited to just a few hours a week. It's not just for my Daughter but for all of us to use as I am soon to be in the market for another car that my Mrs probably wont drive it had to be half decent as the Mrs. will end up in it the most.
After looking at all the <1 litre micro cars & generally the group 1 cars that seem to have no boot I didn't fancy the thought of the family being in one if it were ever rear ended. These small cars are bigger inside than I anticipated but the seats being "in the boot" was starting to put me off. It's funny but Fiestas & the like are huge now so a Fiesta looked to big & more like a Focus in size. I quite fancied a small uber diesel (60mpg+ round town etc ) & went down the £0 road tax route & looked at the options but the price premium just didn't seem to be worth it. I tried a Skoda Fabia 1.4tdi Greenline & I didn't like it. It was very noisy & the turbo seemed either on or off & it was very flat at low speeds which is where it will spend most of its time (around town) It got to 70 on the open road really easily but around town I hated it. Also the Fabia felt very dated & low spec. Then I tried the petrol Fabia 1.2 & that was way better around town & maneuvering around junctions but I din't like it inside. Thought I would but I didn't. I then fancied a 1.5dci Clio as they got good reviews on the autotrader website & ticked most of the boxes but the insurance was coming out silly at £1700 a year for the Mrs. as the main driver. So then we looked at the 1.2 petrol clio & that was coming out at £1260 so that was better. We saw one in Derby at the Landrover Dealer & had a go in that & loved it. It was the top of the range Dynamique & looked well good for the type of car that I was after. It had 28k on the clock, 1 owner, history, 59 plate for less than £6k. Apart from needing 2 front tyres it was mint. I went home ( never make an impulse buy & always sleep on it which was doing my daughters head in as she just wants to be mobile) & spot another on Autotrader 12 miles from me but cheaper, less miles & looked the business (as much as a renault clio 1.2 can do). We go down for a look & whist the bonnet was up I spot what looks like a turbo charger sitting at the top of the engine at the back & there is some of that silver foil heat protection around it as well. Now I am confused. It's marked as a 1.2 renault clio Dynamiqe. Turns out it is a 1.2 TCE but with a turbo. Having looked into it we then found it was group 4 insurance ( same as the non turbo) & has same road tax, loads of torque & better on fuel. Win win win. Test drive was well good & left a chipped 335d owner impressed after a 4 adult test drive in it. Did a bit of haggling (serviced & 2 new tyres) & the deal was done. It's funny that all the things that they say like we can have it by the weekend go out the window once you have bought it. Don't get it till Tuesday & then they start will all the up selling of scotch guard & paint protection. When I said I wasn't happy with the tyres they said they were fine but had I took my car in for a service they would have insisted on changing them. Funny how their point of view changes when they are paying. So it's got 12 months MOT, full history, 12k miles on the clock, one owner, 59 plate, air con, aux connection, trip computer & a turbo for £5950. Happy days. Felt great driving it too. Road tax is the only downside at something like 130 odd quid. Insurance will be £1260 a year (not bad for a 20 year old) with my mrs as the main driver with no NCB's so all in all quite happy. Hopefully the lad will be in it in a few years when he passes his test as well & should hopefully have a car that will see us good for the next 5 years. Here are the pics. You might be surprised. I was.......... |
03-24-2013, 03:31 PM | #2 |
Brigadier General
676
Rep 4,260
Posts |
Very nice, bet she will love it.
__________________
OG M2 7sp DCT Masata FMIC - Masata Boost Pipe - Cobra Catless DP - Powervalve Exhaust - Devilsown Methanol Injection BM3 Stage 2
|
Appreciate
0
|
03-24-2013, 05:08 PM | #3 |
Private First Class
7
Rep 189
Posts |
Next 5 years....you haven't a clue what you've just bought then give it 6 months before things start falling off/dodgy electrics/things stop working.....
|
Appreciate
0
|
03-24-2013, 05:10 PM | #4 | |
Brigadier General
676
Rep 4,260
Posts |
Quote:
They are far better than they were 10 years ago, a lot more reliable.
__________________
OG M2 7sp DCT Masata FMIC - Masata Boost Pipe - Cobra Catless DP - Powervalve Exhaust - Devilsown Methanol Injection BM3 Stage 2
|
|
Appreciate
0
|
03-24-2013, 05:40 PM | #5 |
Lieutenant
44
Rep 565
Posts |
Joking aside about the reliability, the reviews on autotrader were very good overall. Very few bad ones. Any car is a gamble reliability wise. Even a BM
cracked alloys, cloned keys, coils, fuel pumps, leaking red turbo pipes, main thermostats ( just had mine done) dpf's, run flats, actuators, vaccum pipes & swirl flaps . . . . I have a mate who has had a polo from new that has had it's fair share of issues and it's probably done 20k miles max. Best go and park my van in front of my bm otherwise it may get nicked. |
Appreciate
0
|
03-24-2013, 05:50 PM | #6 | |
Brigadier General
676
Rep 4,260
Posts |
Quote:
__________________
OG M2 7sp DCT Masata FMIC - Masata Boost Pipe - Cobra Catless DP - Powervalve Exhaust - Devilsown Methanol Injection BM3 Stage 2
|
|
Appreciate
0
|
03-24-2013, 06:09 PM | #7 |
Lieutenant Colonel
328
Rep 1,654
Posts |
JimmyLad, if you've got a reasonable driving record, put yourself on the insurance too, it will reduce it.
Think about putting daughter as main driver, so she can earn some NCB in her own name so when she becomes financially independant of you, she has a head start (do they EVER become financially indepandant??). That is if your wife has another car for her NCB!! Old Clio unreliability. Tell me about it. Daughter's 1994 Clio 1.4 has now done about 60k (she bought it at 26ish). It's had a new rad expansion tank and rad fan (fan siezed, engine boiled and split the expansion tank). New pads and discs (twice, due to rust). New rear brake cylinder and shoes. 4 new tyres as the original ones looked perished. Rear silencer. Oils. Filters. Plugs. Wipers. She's now doing about 12k a year in it and I fully expect it to explode every day. Cheap motoring as she didn't pay 6 grand for it, but 6 hundred. Bonus for her is that in the hospital multi storey car par where she is a student, nobody wants the narrow spaces next to the pillars, and she can slide the Clio into them and is never looking for a parking spot. Can't do that with a new Clio! Mind you, I couldn't get into the door - luckily she is somewhat slimmer than me!! Mike Last edited by AlwynMike; 03-24-2013 at 06:09 PM.. Reason: Spelchek |
Appreciate
0
|
03-24-2013, 06:38 PM | #8 |
Lieutenant
44
Rep 565
Posts |
We will all be on the insurance. Only i have no claims which i need for my 335d & it's replacement which then the Clio will end up being the main car as I am having a GTR when i can get round to it. My mrs will probably only use the Clio at that point. Also i have a van that i dont mind driving that makes my bm feel special if i havent drove it for a while.
With my daughter as the main driver it was £2k a year so not worth it just yet. Insurance is with LV and will be a multi car. I will pay the insurance up front and she will pay me back monthly her share of the insurance which is a rip off monthly. |
Appreciate
0
|
03-24-2013, 06:39 PM | #9 |
Brigadier General
111
Rep 4,021
Posts |
Small turbo petrol engines are the way forward.
I've driven that 1.2TCE and it was a nice little engine. Probably best to have avoided a diesel car. I know when I was younger the car went everywhere with me. Even the shortest of journeys the car had to come. We all know how diesels and their DPFs don't like all those small trips. |
Appreciate
0
|
03-24-2013, 07:06 PM | #10 |
Ben
62
Rep 1,992
Posts |
Don't knock Clio's - I bought the old shape as my first car 13 years ago now. It never missed a beat, hardly needed anything doing to it, treated it terribly. It's little 1.4 petrol engine was a hoot. Only time it let me down was getting stuck In a farmers field after trying to show off to mates doing handbrake turns. Stuck in a bog and they had to push me out!
Very lucky girl, sure she will love it. My insurance was about £1,300 too, dropped to £800 after a year. Maybe that's the true test, to stay accident free. |
Appreciate
0
|
03-25-2013, 04:15 AM | #11 |
Major
227
Rep 1,489
Posts |
jimmy, fret not.
we bought near enough the same car (but in red) in Feb 2012 for the other half, and its been perfect. we've done near on 15k miles in it and bar a service and a set of brake pads its been faultless. surprinsingly big inside as well, hence using it way more than we thought we would. we do need something a bit bigger now we have pushchairs and car seats etc, but i like it enough to get rid of the BM and use the clio, and let the mrs have something bigger to use during the week. |
Appreciate
0
|
03-25-2013, 06:59 AM | #12 |
Private First Class
1
Rep 123
Posts
Drives: e90 330 d
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: manchester
|
get her to do pass plus - its not as bad as it used to be.
No2, who passed in December, did it and has got an extra 5% off the premium with direct line, who were the cheapest for a 17.5 years male in a pug 107 |
Appreciate
0
|
03-25-2013, 09:07 AM | #14 |
Lieutenant General
1867
Rep 13,043
Posts
Drives: BMW M340I G20
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: UK
|
Wish my old man had bought me something like that. I had a £30 Mk2 Cortina.Which need £15 worth of welding. I bet/hope she'll be over the moon. Happy days
|
Appreciate
0
|
03-25-2013, 10:27 AM | #16 |
Lieutenant
12
Rep 444
Posts |
You weren't happy with the tyres at 12k miles?!? Who's been driving it, Lewis Hamilton??
Nice car, and purchase btw, bet she's thrilled.
__________________
E46 M3 SMG titanium silver, with grey leather. 335d now longgg gone.
|
Appreciate
0
|
03-25-2013, 11:08 AM | #17 | |
Lieutenant
44
Rep 565
Posts |
Quote:
Got a call to pick it up at half 5. Hopefully it wont break down or fall to bits Be interesting to see what wins MPG wise on the 20mile (mainly dual carriageway / motorway) trip home. The 340 bhp 3 litre twin turbo diesel or the 100bhp 1.2 litre petrol turbo. Thanks for comments. Daughter not happy as she has to go to work & cant come |
|
Appreciate
0
|
03-25-2013, 02:56 PM | #19 | |
Lieutenant
44
Rep 565
Posts |
Quote:
I was looking at older cars initially & the cheaper older cars cost just as much insurance wise & £1300 insurance for a £6k car doesn't seem good value but I suppose they can cause some damage to others in terms of insurance bills. |
|
Appreciate
0
|
03-26-2013, 01:59 PM | #20 |
Zummerzet Zyder Drinker!
111
Rep 5,541
Posts
Drives: '06 330D Le Mans Blue
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Somerset
|
Good god some kids have some really generous parents!!
1978 Mini 850 here for me.....all funded by myself
__________________
|
Appreciate
0
|
03-26-2013, 04:31 PM | #21 |
Lieutenant
10
Rep 436
Posts |
|
Appreciate
0
|
03-26-2013, 06:47 PM | #22 |
Major
65
Rep 1,377
Posts
Drives: M235i
Join Date: May 2010
Location: buckinghamshire
|
You can still put yourself on the insurance. If you are not the main driver it will have nothing to do with your NCB and is likely to reduce the premium as there will be another experienced driver on the policy.
|
Appreciate
0
|
Bookmarks |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
|
|