General Looking for advice

[ashw90]

Hi all, just looking for some advice from you who know your stuff about fiats. Hope you can help me out here. I recently passed my driving test and im looking to buy my 1st car, a punto mk2 is what i have in mind. Been looking around in local dealers forecourts and private ads on the internet/newspapers etc and seen a few decent looking motors, but as im only 17 and inexperienced with cars, i was hoping someone can give me a few tips as to what i need to look out for, any common problems, that could be costly to rectify?
Also if anyone can point me in direction of a cheap and decent insurer, that would be great, so far the cheapest ive gotten is £2700 based on a mk2 1.2 3dr with NO modifications.
Thanks in advance
Ash

 

[Trist]

is that for a base model punto or a sporting?, i tried loads of insurers, cheapest i got was with endsleigh through uswitch.com which was £1800 for a sporting, if i were you for your first car get a crappy one because insurance is stupidly pricey and you're more likely to have a crash,

i learnt the hard way

 

[Steely]

have a look at quinn direct , a lot of people say they do cheap quotes,


www.Quinn-direct.com

going to have a look myself!

 

[oktopod]

As for the car, if you have the money, I think mk2b (mk3) has some flaws of mk2 fixed, so it will cost you less in a long run....I expect someone more experienced to back this up or not

And sporting is a nice thing, you get nice modifications so again in a long run...

 

[ashw90]

is that for a base model punto or a sporting?, i tried loads of insurers, cheapest i got was with endsleigh through uswitch.com which was £1800 for a sporting, if i were you for your first car get a crappy one because insurance is stupidly pricey and you're more likely to have a crash,

i learnt the hard way

gonna have to be a base model, it seems i cant get insured on the sporting, that 6th gear wouldve been nice but nvm.
Alot of people said the same, get a crappy car but i need something thats not gonna break down on me, as im starting my apprenticeship soon, and could be based anywhere in the country, so gonna need something to get me from A to B and then back again without costing me a fortune. I was leaning towards a clio, a they are the cheapest i can get insured on, but unfortunatly, im too tall to fit in one comfortably :S

Steely: I was also told to try quinn direct, but for somereason they are more expensive for me than most other insurers, which is the opposite for my friends who are with them. Cant understand why though :S

Think it would be worth doing pass plus? ive heard mixed rumours that you get around 30% off, but directline quoted me on the phone more with pass plus than without pass plus on the internet

Thanks for your tips so far, keep em coming!
Ash