First car under €10,000

For a first car, under €10,000 is a realistic budget. You'll mostly find city cars and compacts a few years old, often with a fair number of kilometres already. What matters isn't the most expensive model you can afford, but a sound car that's cheap to insure.

Start with insurance. Get a quote before you buy: for a young driver, a powerful or sporty car costs a lot more to cover. Add the registration tax and annual road tax, which depend on your region.

Traps to avoid

• Scams. Never pay a deposit remotely. Pay by bank transfer, with a contract signed in two copies.
• The Car-Pass. It must be under two months old. Check it with its QR code and compare the mileage with the odometer.
• Older diesels. In Brussels, diesels rated Euro 5 or older are banned from the low emission zone. Antwerp and Ghent have their own rules. Check on lez.brussels.
• Imported cars. Mileage history from abroad may be missing from the Car-Pass.

Inspect the car with a cold engine and take a test drive of at least 20 minutes. A dealer gives you one to two years of warranty. A private seller only covers serious hidden defects. A bargain can quickly turn into a bad car, so take your time.