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!

The only car I've really disliked was a Toyota. It was just so bland. Best cars, Minis (old and new) a fun drive and my Nissan Note, reliable and also fun with an inside like the Tardis.

I'm from the north east too, and Nissan is definitely on my shortlist

I forgot about the Fiat 500 I had for a week! I bought it online so could thankfully return it. It felt nippy but that was pretty much the only good thing about it. The inside looks and feels cheap. The outside wasn't much better. I think a lot of people are realising that other than looking reasonably "pretty" they're not very good cars, they were everywhere a few years ago. They're still about but not quite as much anymore. It's up there with the Picanto for me, in the shittiness scale.

Worst cars I’ve owned have been an older style micra, a fiesta and zafira.

best was my beautiful Tiguan.

If you're mainly doing short trips, DON'T BUY A DIESEL 2009 ONWARDS!!

It completely depends what you want and need from a car.

I have a second hand Passat that pulled like a train and wasn't overly expensive for repairs. I sold it with 250k on the clock and it's still being used.

Audi's are great cars but not always the cheapest for repairs.

Many cars have the same engines as others Kia and Hyundai for example. Hyundai are expensive for repairs as it Hyundai parts only and they don't come cheap.

I'd keep away from fiat, Peugeot and Vauxhall.

When buying secondhand look at all the history including number of owners

I adored my Tiguan. I wish I didn’t have to get rid of it and would have another in a heartbeat!

Worst- Alfa Romeo.
Most unreliable- Land Rover.

Ive also had a mini and audi a3, both nice enough!

Best - Mini hatchback or Countryman - excellent quality
Worst by a country mile - Renault Megane - drank oil and then the engine blew up.

Currently have a Honda Jazz, which is great. Previously had a Ford Fusion, which was also great but a bit less reliable than the Honda. Only other car I'd consider would be a Nissan Note. I want a car to have plenty of space to carry stuff for DIY, helping kids move flats, etc.

Sorry, but Japanese cars are boring and ugly. European cars have more style.

I have no need at all for my car to be stylish, sexy or anything other than sturdy and reliable. One of my top criteria now is having a timing chain instead of a belt, as a broken timing belt means either a very expensive repair (which has happened to me twice) or a total write-off, and avoiding broken belts means an expensive replacement every 10 years or 100,000 miles.

Where do you plan to put your dog OP as a lot of the smaller ones won't have a big enough space in the boot area.

I loved my VW High Up - lots of internal space & they have nice shaped alloys.

I've had my Skoda Citigo [same as VW but cheaper] for 6 years without any problems - it's a 2016 model so no tax to pay & I love the heated seats.

He sits on the back seat (with a seatbelt etc)which is why I'm discounting things that are really tiny like the fiat 500. We need to be able to get in there with him easily enough

I have a 12 year old BMW 1 series and it’s a great car never had a problem with it. I’ve not sold it even though I’ve bought a newer car.

Worst car…my last couple of Renaults had some electric problems. Not terrible but annoying, one needed a new dashboard and the other none of the windows would open or close.

@HunterHearstHelmsley I usually get my cars serviced by the main dealer. They are supposed to be experts in the brand after all. The dealership and head office response to dealing with problems and issues reflects how I view a brand. A good reliable company will reflect that in the service they provide.

I'm from the North East too, my ex said he'd never have a Nissan because he knew too many people that worked there.

I find quite the opposite. If you want it looked after properly find a good marque specialist. They’ll often know how to actually fix issues. A good friend of mine is a high end marque specialist, cars often come to him after the owner has spent ££££ at a main dealer with the fault remaining. The stories are eye watering.

Maybe look at Fleet News?
Toyota number 1, with the remain top 5 places filled by German cars, BMW was no1 for the last 8 years! VW is now no2.

Anecdotally, we ve had company cars from Toyota, Ford and Skoda (300 plus) the Fords and Skodas were the most reliable and nicer to driver.

Anyway, with 2nd hand, how the car has been serviced, driven etc is far more important than surveys on from new cars.

OP needs to take an experienced car with her for the test drive.

A lot depends on the type of driving, short city journeys, long rural ones. We live rurally so a diesel is much better for us.

we have a Honda crv - never had any issues, its roomy for the dogs & can get the kids stuff in it. 7 years old now and still as good as new, I refuse to get rid of it…it’s diesel and regularly get over 60mph

we had a run of really rubbish Audi’s, the a6 spent more time being fixed, the a3 was just as bad! My a4 was amazing tho which is why we stuck with Audi! Big costly mistake that.

loved my polo, it was old and diesel but never died it kept going and going wish I’d never part exchanged it and I borrowed my dads Skoda which I have to admit I loved - he never had any issues with it ever.

I do love my Porsche cayenne but it’s petrol and expensive on fuel, it’s also been great with all the floods and bad weather, handles amazingly in snow and ice, nothing it hasn’t handled at all. It is expensive to maintain a service is nearly double that of the crv, and not an ideal 1st car for a new driver (unless you have buckets of cash)

Only buy German or Japanese cars. They are the best engineers in the world and hence make the most reliable cars. I currently have a Volkswagen Polo which I brought brand new in 2014. 83k on the clock and never had a problem with it.

Best first car - VW Polo. We’ve had several of those.
favourite car - Golf GTD. Had a couple of Golfs, loved them.
current car - VW Tiguan, love it, could be new favourite.
Reliability - DH’s ancient Seat Ibiza - that thing has done 130 000 miles and will never die.
Absolute worst car ever by a country mile - Vauxhall Corsa.

VW t-roc - love it, good driving position

Astra - had for ten years, now needs replacing, not the most exciting of cars but sturdy workhorse

Toyota Yaris - nice car, kept it for over ten years, would have got another one but too small for my tall sons to sit in,

Dh - had a Rover 75, looked nice, loved the dashboard, but uncomfortable and unreliable.

Same, I really like my i10.

Loved my Peugeot 206 - had loads of niggles with it.

Love our current yeti. An 11 plate with 108,000 miles on the clock. We've had it since 2015 - loads of problems with the electrics. Which sadly are quite common. Right now we can't open the boot (second time that's happened). Had a period of not being able to able to open either passenger side door (had to climb over). Basically every common problem a yeti can get, we've had. Annoyingly we look after it well so it's not through rough treatment! Still love it though.

Best car ever had (cheap to get through many MOTs) was a Ford fusion. It was roomy inside too.

If you're still considering other brands, OP, I've only had two cars (only learned to drive in my 50s!) - a Honda CRV and a 2004 Toyota Corolla. Bought the second when the ignition on the Honda died, and I learned that Honda don't make parts for their older cars - but Toyota do. I'm not a car devotee by any means, but I'm very happy with my Toyota. It's small enough to fit in car parking spaces, but big enough that with the back seat folded down I can fit a folding wheelchair and a walking frame in it, or two dining chairs. Its fuel economy isn't bad, either. It's a much zippier little car than the Honda was (that thing would start rolling backward the moment I took my foot off the brake if I was at a red light on a hill - I'm in Australia, almost all cars here are automatics). Everyone I asked had nothing but praise for the Corolla, apart from a few years where they did dodgy models (2000-2003 iirc). "They just keep going, don't they?" was the enthusiastic comment of someone at my insurance agency recently.

I've had 3 skodas over the years and loved them all. Reliable and easy enough to get parts for.
I have a volkswagen now and like it too, same reasons.

Hated a fiat I had.

Any Vauxhall 4 wheel drive. My Mokka needs a new prop shaft, the part is "on back order", still no sign of it after nearly 6M. As the repair is free under the warranty I am stuck. Avoid avoid avoid......