Car blog edited the following
Question: What are good common car brands for a first car?
The pictures have nothing to do with the content!!

I’m a 17 y.o driver looking for a safe and reliable first car? What would you recommend? Hopefully something that costs 5k or under. I’m not quite sure what to look for.

Q&A:

Answer by Ms.Honest.Advice
go to a used car dealership lot that certifies their cars
do not buy the ones that are “as is” listed because anything that fails or breaks is not their responsibility.

Certified cars are checked, inspected and fixed before they are sold and therefore have some sort of warranty.

A lot of domestic cars are good reliable but domestic car vaues go down fast so you can buy a 2005 domestic for example for 5 grand and still in great condition. shop around. dont settle

Answer by James
Don’t just look at cars known as cheap.
That is where you get caught out. I was looking in a jaguar garage the other day, and saw a 4 Year old Jaguar x-type, going for £4,850.
You may think – Well there must be something wrong with it? But this was a garage owned by Jaguar, and they check almost every instrument on the car before putting it out for resale. The Age? It’s a jaguar, you see 15-20 year old ones on the road still.

I’m not directing you head onto jaguar of course. This is most probably the same for ANY middle/high end cars. BMW, Mercedes, and beyond are looking to get rid of their older cars, shop around ^_^

Answer by Joey
The only “certification” that’s worth a damn from a dealership is if they’re a new car dealership, with a used lot. They all have ‘em, and ideally you’d buy a car of their brand, because the techs know what problems to look for.

Other than that, the best thing you’ll find is a private owner with a stack of receipts from a dealership for maintenance and repairs. The brand is more important than some would have you believe. DO NOT buy a GM car with a V-6. DO NOT buy a Hyundai with an automatic transmission. DO NOT buy any European car, because parts are ridiculously expensive.

It’s hard to go wrong with any Japanese four-cylinder car in that price range. DO expect to spend at least a grand in the first year on repairs, so you should probably keep some of the 5k aside (unless you’re financing, of course). And for goodness’ sake, take your time! When you get rushed, you get screwed.

If a salesman is giving you the hard sell, tell them you’d like to go home and think about it. To them, you’re just a commission. If they start yapping about selling it to someone else, don’t worry about it. There are plenty of fish in the sea, and plenty of “clunkers” in the pipeline. Good luck.

Answer by Nick
It should be 4-door, 4-cyls, not sporty. I would prefer Honda or Toyota… First time drivers usually have much more expensive car insurance, and it depends from car. You should compare insurance rates while choosing the car – for example here – carquotes.fateback.com

Answer by JOHN B
A Skoda Fabia,Toyota Yaris, Renault Clio, Ford Fiesta or Citroen C1/Peugeot 107/Toyota Aygo would all fit the bill pretty well.

The link below should help you decide what’s right for you.

What do you think? Answer below!