When you first start driving a car, it is often in a drab Corsa or Fiesta. But for that same money, you could have something much, much better. But to stop the insurance skyrocketing, there are a few rules:
No Convertibles
No Large Engines
VW Scirocco
Credit - VW
The Scirocco looks cool and coupe, even though it's based on a Golf. It's the best of both worlds, because the insurance will be low but it will still look good. £5k will buy you a manual petrol 3-door with 65,000 miles, and this car looks particularly nice in green. It will be around a 2011 model, with tidy a 9 second 0-60 and a 4 seats + a large boot.
Ford Probe
Credit - Motor1
The Ford Probe is a bit of a rarity, and examples are scarce, but if you can find one then you may as well go ahead and buy it. Like the Scirocco, you get a 4cyl 2.0 Petrol Engine propelling you to 60mph in 10.5 seconds up to 128mph, not bad for a 1996 car. The looks are what you would buy this car for though, it looks like a spaceship. Somehow it still looks modern, despite pop up headlights. Once again, you get 4 seats and a big boot, and the interior doesn't seem to have aged that badly.
Abarth Punto Evo
Credit - Parkers
The Punto Evo was a high powered zippy hot hatch tuned by Abarth, and is available for under £5,000 in some cases. It has a tiny 1.4 litre engine, but squeezed to produce 165bhp and 0-60 in under 8 seconds, making it a properly fast hot hatch even today. What's more, it will be a modern car, around 2013.
Peugeot RCZ
Credit - CarGuide
The RCZ was always an oddball, sort of like a french MX-5. And now it comes below the £5000 mark, with 2012 models available with 80,000 miles. This is the first diesel on the list, which will help with fuel costs, but it still has alright performance - 163bhp, 137mph, 8.7 seconds. Despite looks, it still has 4 seats and so can be justified as practical.
Saab 9-3
Credit - Wikipedia
The final car on this list is probably the most sensible. A 2007 saloon, with a fairly small engine, 40,000 miles and 5 seats. This is definitely a worth while buy if it is a car that will be used for practical tasks, and because it's a Saab, it's massively over-engineered in every way.
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