I’ve been taking driving lessons for a while. It’s been an eyeopening experience for me so far, especially during the very first practical where I had to drive straight on the road after a 10 minutes introduction 
The interesting thing about learning to drive in Italy is that you could drive your own vehicle before getting your license. Learners are given a foglia rosa (like in the picture below) from the driving school which allows you to practice your driving for six months.
Lately, I’ve been looking around for a second hand car for my own practice session. A small 4-seater which is affordable but still look relatively decent.
Doing a bit of research online, it seems that the Ford Ka seems to be a good option as it fits all the categories. The mind-boggling thing about it is though, Ford is American. Why is an imported car cheaper than an Italian car?
Anyway I found this car online. Do you think we should get it?
Cute yes? This is a 2002 Ford Ka 1.3
Cart and I viewed it in person this evening. It has some bits of chips and dents but its not overt so I could live with that. In fact, it’s even preferable that way so I don’t feel too much heartache if I damage it.
The important thing is that the most important part of the car, the engine has been serviced by the previous owner and that it runs well.
My dilemma is that while the car isn’t expensive, it still is an expenditure – the car, the obligatory insurance and other expenses … this makes me nervous.
In the end, the car will be used for travelling during work. Nevertheless, I prefer to have some constant income flow before deciding such a big decision. Not sure what to do 
I noticed it doesn’t have air con. In case you buy it, you’d better park it away from the sun during summer.
Btw i don’t know if anyone as told you already, but in Italy second hand cars have always run more kilometers than they declare. The most important is that it is a dealer that you can trust, better if someone knows them already and bought already from them…
We didn’t get it in the end. I didn’t know much about cars but I know that anything that is close to ten years is sure to have a number of issues with the engine. And yeah, the aircon was the serious deterrent for me, it’ll be a pain during the extremely hot or the extremely cold days :p
The price was really attractive though.
Thanks for the advice, Emanuele! I didn’t know that second hand cars have more kilometers … :\
http://www.video.mediaset.it/video/iene/puntata/251981/toffa-truffa-auto-usate.html
Buona visione!
Oh mio dio … Ho visto ma non ci credo! Come si fa cosi?!
Fortunatamente, questo negozio non è a Roma.
Yeah, hopefully no one is going to attack you inside the shop in Rome..but they reduce the kilometers EVERYWHERE in this country :-(
If the UK is any indicator for the rest of Europe, I suspect there is a lively second hand market, and it’s probably possible to find some relatively good deals around. But generally speaking I do agree with you that cars that are more than 10 years or thereabouts would have issues. However there are some famous 2nd hand cars that are highly recommended and last forever. whatcar.co.uk is the site that most people trust for European second hand recommendations. Good luck dear Marina!
I’m searching through subito.it – it seems like a very popular website for people to sell, private as well as shops :-)