Buying first car. Tell me the best and worst cars you've owned

[MyRabbit79]

As the title says, I need to buy my first ever car. But I'm clueless.

So to give me a start, please share what the best car you've ever owned is and also if there's been a car you've hated.

Particularly if they've been good or bad in terms of reliability and ease of use.

Thank you!

Love my Mazda 3. Mazda cars are some of the most reliable on the road.

I had a Citroen c1. Yes, it was a tin can on wheels that howled every time I went above 60, but it was cheap to run, zippy, and never needed any help apart from a new battery once and new tyres when necessary. My current Corsa is smarter and shinier but has failed every MOT on stupid little details! But is otherwise a good car and a little roomier!

We had a Jeep Compass which had so many issues. A Peugeot 1007 with loads of issues. We had to get so many repairs on them. Had a Mercedes CLA I really didn’t enjoy. Just boring.

We loved a Honda CRZ we had. It was so fancy and felt like a sports car. Only small so when pregnant had to get rid. Loved my Mercedes B class electric as it felt like I had my own car after years driving dh’s.

My favourite is my one now. Jeep Grand Cherokee. She’s perfect. She had everything I could want and she’s massive so lots of space. I’ll run it until it literally falls apart.

In fact the only things I've replaced on my Mazda are the tyres (third party anyway) the battery (which isn't made by them ) and a set of brake pads needed at 50k miles. Dd has an old Mazda 2 which is cheap to insure

Best car is my Golf Tdi 1.9l 14 years old and I've only ever had to replace 1 hose, 2 sets of brakes, and tyres.

My previous car was also a Golf GTI

Worst car I've driven was a Honda civic as it was a box on wheels and cornered like a bus

I've also owned a Ford escort, BMW alpine & 1 series, Vw polo, Fiat pinto. All fine just old second hand cars in my youth

My worst car ever, by far, was a brand new Peugeot. Riddled with build and electrical problems. Never, ever again.

I've got a Hyundai i10 and it's easily the best car I've owned. I drive miles everyday on rough roads (dog walker) and it's never once let me down mechanically.

Flies through its' MOT's and the only issue it's ever had is a lightbulb needing to be replaced.

Advice:
buy a Japanese car.
Avoid all French cars.

I love my Fiat. Have had VW Nisan mini (original) Renault Ford in the past

The Fiat 500is cheap to run pretty looking inside and out and easy to drive and park. However I will say now at 65k. Stuff is starting to go wrong so I'm looking at changing it next year.

Get lowest mileage you can with fiat.

Best for reliability was a golf. Bloody thing would not die.

My next car will be another fiat. It's so fun to drive and pretty even if I've had a few issues since mileage got high.

We have a Seat Ibiza. It is starting to need bits replaced like brake pads/discs but everything we’ve done has been under what I’d consider to be reasonable maintenance. Not a bad size boot for that size of car. Goes forever on half a tank of petrol. We’ve been really pleased with it (had it for five years or so, not from new).

For the next size of car up, I’d be looking seriously at Seat and Skoda. Two relatives of mine have Golfs and really rate them.

Worst was a Peugeot 106, but that was years ago and I possibly didn't look after it very well. Last couple of cars have been Astras, and I love my new one! We've also had Mazda (loved it) and DP drives a seat - which is fine but not very exciting

Toyota Cynos Juno (1994), lasted me 20+ years, no issues and was still going strong when I traded it in. I still see some around today!

One car i did forget to mention was a Peugeot 306 hdi it was brilliant, i had it for 18months and i loved it.

I think the dislike of French cars is mainly historical, my DD C1 has been hammered but still going strong and dead easy to service repair with its TOyota engine

I learnt to drive on a Austin Maxi - loved it, built like a tank, and was really heavy, but it had character.

Best car - had a Renault Scenic when the DCs were small - it was fantastic for space etc. Loved driving it, but after 12 years was starting to need major repairs so decided to get rid (still regret it!).

Worst - Nissan Qashqai (14 plate) - hated it. Severely lacked power, the gear ratios were all wrong, poor visibility, random warning lights coming on for no reason, poor turning circle, really cramped inside and the boot was small.

Currently have a Seat Ateca which so far I am liking but only had it 7 months.

Best - current Skoda Karoq. Great for me and the kids, easy to drive, reasonable boot.

Worst - Renault Clio, extremely unreliable and costly to fix, got rid of it as soon as I could.

I also liked the VW Polo and Vauxhall Corsa, nice reliable cheery little cars 😊

This is good advice 😂
I'd personally swap German for Japanese as I have no personal experience of Japanese cars but have/do own VW and by proxy, Skoda.
VW are well made and reliable.
Best car for size and fuel economy was a Citroen but became a total money pit.
Favourite car was my 2nd Fiesta. Still sad it had to go - twenty years later!
Favourite car for fun and just impressive driving and handling - Saab.

For those saying to avoid Renault - I drive a 2009 Clio and it drives as well as when I first got it new and is one of the best cars I’ve ever had. Maybe I got lucky! I will honestly cry if/when it ever dies on me. It’s been with me longer than I’ve known my husband 😆

I’ve always liked Vauxhalls, especially Corsa’s for a first car but wouldn’t recommend them anymore as I had a very bad experience when I took it for a service. It was my son’s car which had a black box and the mechanics were speeding in it. We found out when insurance company threatened to cancel his insurance as it was caught on the black box (one of the advantages of it). They had to write to the insurance company and admit it was them, but my son was still lost his good driving reward because of it. Previously good reward. The car went to service fine and came back with a fault and they tried to deny liability. Managed to get it sorted in the end but was a hassle.

You've all been so helpful! Now to figure out where to buy one from and get over my fear of doing a test drive!

Most German brands score way down the reliability tables these days, they’re not in same league as the usual Japanese suspects. For example, the 2023 What Car reliability index lists VW 22nd out of 32 brands and the tale is the same no matter what reliability survey/index you choose.

Worst- Peugeot 206. Pretty horrible in every way. Sounded like a lawnmower, horrendous gearbox and clutch, leaky roof and windows, horrible plastic insides that seemed to fall apart by just looking at it.

Best- Honda Civic 2013. Nice and smooth, far better engineered than the Focus (forever going wrong) it replaced. Massive boot too. 82k at the moment and not a single fault yet. <touches lots of wood >

I don't understand why that would stop you recommending a car? That sounds like a shitty garage, not a shitty car?

Best a Fiesta
Worst is a tie between a Fiat Punto, Vauxhall Corsa and Peugeot 208
Favourite was my MX-5, my big regret is getting rid of it

Best- Renault Clio 172. Bounced it off rev limiter daily and never failed me in 185,000 miles.
Worst- VW Polo- Gearbox died and had me stranded.
Pretty Bad- brand new Seat Cupra in which the turbo turned itself off every now and then.
Most surprising- New VW T-ROC R (300). Build quality dreadful. User GUI on ICE shocking. Ride and handling appalling. Fast as f**k though.