For those who saw my review about passing your driving test (it got a diamond last month, any excuse to throw that out there) will know that I am now behind the wheel, so everybody in the Cambridgeshire area better watch out. I've never really had that much of an interest in cars, hardly knowing my Fords from my Peugeots, but being able to drive offers fantastic freedom. I was not interested in getting anything flash for my first car and customizing it, so my uncle offered me a Rover 200 for £800. Thought I might as well, hopefully the money this review raises will help cover the cost.

As I mentioned, I'm not really one to 'soup' up my car although I did want a CD player because I love my music. My uncle had already taken the radio player out before he sold it to me, knowing my plans for a CD player.. plus I'm sure that gave him a few extra bop selling that on. I struggle to decide if I got a good deal or not. The Rover 200 is a dark green, with 5 doors (easy mistake is to say 4 doors, but don't forget the boot) and a 1.1 litre engine. Probably about as fast starting up as a childs Thomas The Tank Engine toy.

My car does have a rev counter, I thought that was a must-have really, although I've driven my friends car and he doesn't have one yet it doesn't make a difference. Oh well, it's good to have one. The speedometre is the right dial, reading up to 130mph. There is also a temperature and petrol gage on the dashboard, both indicated on a vertical scale. The typical warning lights and lights showing if the handbreak/full beams are on also come included.

As far as the handbreak goes, I've got the monster of one. Really long and like all handbreaks it can be on at different levels. I typically only put it on one click if any, but sometimes if you're on a steep hill it can roll back so if I'm just waiting for someone I'll apply the break as well. When I was taught to drive I was always told I should hold the button when I apply the handbreak as well as when I remove it, so that it doesn't wear out the break, and thus I still do that. I really hate it when people tear the handbreak up really high because it makes me imagine the breaks ripping, so if I ever let anyone have a spin in my car for old times sake I try and hold the anger in if they do that.

You can probably find more modern interior, but you can't go wrong with the classic dark colours. It doesn't seem to attract dirt easy, but maybe that's just the people I have in my car. I've been told space in the back is generally not as cramped as other cars, and it seems pretty spacious. Could probably just about get away with it as a family car. I'm not sure the space in the boot could class it as a family car though, but it is big enough for me.

My heating dial is really stiff, although I don't really need to change it as I hardly ever get cold in my car. Only time I ever really need to use that is to clear the back window, or maybe even the rest of the windows on a really steamy day. I absolutely hate not being able to see out of windows on my car. Speaking of seeing things, the mirrors are manually changeable (not this fancy electric stuff you get nowadays). One of my mirrors is actually cracked, although it doesn't change my vision at all.

I'm really unsure about my petrol gage on my car, and according to my mum it wouldn't be the first time my uncle has sold a member of the family a dud car. It seemed to go up and down a lot when I first started driving, although I've got used to it a bit. It's still not doing the 90 miles to £10's worth of petrol my dad said it should though. I try to limit myself to only spending £10 a week on petrol, as I just don't have enough money to use anymore than that. My car can make an awful squeaking noise sometimes as well, and I think the conclusion is that it's the breaks going, but I don't plan on getting it checked just yet. It's still not that bad for a car that's done over 60,000 miles and is an S reg.

Overall, as far as first cars go I'm not complaining that mine set me back £800 and may have a few things wrong with it. I'm still planning on keeping it in best condition as I can and I love the independance that comes with driving. It's not much more than a first car though. My insurance on it set me back £1,300 as well because I'm a 17 year old in my first year of driving, hopefully it goes down loads next year as I'm not planning on doing Pass Plus. I hope you all enjoyed my first ever car review (it's getting to a stage where there's few things I can say that about on Ciao) because it will probably be the last car review I do for a while. Touch wood.