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STR jnr turns 17 in August and has every intention of passing her test as soon as possible.
So, looking at Peugeot 107, Citroen C1, maybe Fiat 500 (might be a bit spendy). Any good or bad reports and anything else we should be looking at for around £1500-2000? She doesn't seem to fancy a mini for some reason.
I've no experience of any of the horrible little things
Suzuki swift? We bought the youth one when he passed his test, he's very happy with it. 1.2 petrol, 3 door tinted windows, spolier, black alloys, looks the part for a young man but insurance was around £730 with no black box. That was a new car though.
At that price I would be looking for anything small that looked in good condition with a decent service history. Check insurance costs on whatever you buy first.
I don't have a lot of experience of little cars either, but our Fiesta mk6 is a fantastic car.
Nice to drive, comfy and very reliable. Should get a nice one for your budget.
At that price I would be looking for anything small that looked in good condition with a decent service history. Check insurance costs on whatever you buy first.
Smallest engine and car is not always cheapest to insure. Also, owner and history over a specific model.
Bit over the budget skoda citigo, rebadged vw up very low insurance (£380 for 18yr old learner) good Ncap etc if you shop about they sometimes come with city emergency braking (rare option as most buyers wanted alloys....)
Yaris
Yaris
Pirates car of choice.
Apparently vw polos are cheap to insure.. or so we were told when we sold our old one to the dad of a 17 year old. Nice and solid for a small car too
Unless you want the insurance to cost more than the car you're looking at entry-level (but not old) Fiestas and Corsas. From the insurance POV it has to be safe, undesirable, and cheap to repair
The alternative is to buy something unusual that isn't on the insurance good/bad risk radar
Anything mainstream/desirable is going to cost many £k to insure e.g. miss rocket 18 £2000 for a 62-plate Fiat 500
Don't get a Fiat 500 for that price range, you'll find them to be spendy each time the MOT comes round. My GF had one from new and whilst she loved it (must admit I did too, was like a go-kart compared to my Golf), it cost a lot to keep running. The last 3 MOTs cost upwards of £500 each time to get through, one coming up to £1200. It was coming up to its MOT last summer and was ready for another big bill and she decided to get rid, this was an 09 plate with 40k on it.
Not main dealer either, trusted friend of family mechanic, he even tried to dissuade her from buying it when she got it!
Bought my daughter a 107 6 years ago and apart from the clutch going a couple of years ago, its still going well.
Look at what the youth in your area are driving. Don't pick the most popular make/model as these will have a loading due to more young people having accidents in them. Something in grandad beige with steel wheels should help to keep the insurance cost down.
Don't fall into the trap of buying based solely on what's cheap to insure as a learner. Look at the cost to insure when she's passed and buy based on that.
C1 fitted the bill for our daughter. For some reason they were considerably cheaper to insure for models after mid-2012, which coincided with the zero tax rating.
I believe they also increased the diameter of the clutch plate around about the same time.
(edit - correction - clutch plate was 2009-onwards)
The last 3 MOTs cost upwards of £500 each time to get through, one coming up to £1200. It was coming up to its MOT last summer and was ready for another big bill and she decided to get rid, this was an 09 plate with 40k on it.
😯
I'd be nervous about putting my daughter (if I had one) in a tiny little car like that.
Maybe it's unreasonable, but I like the idea of a bit more steel between my offspring and the lunatics out on the road.
Whichever one you don't mind walking away from when she writes it off - she WILL write it off at some point.
[quote=oldnpastit ]I'd be nervous about putting my daughter (if I had one) in a tiny little car like that.
Maybe it's unreasonable, but I like the idea of a bit more steel between my offspring and the lunatics out on the road.
Wow!
[quote=hammyuk ]Whichever one you don't mind walking away from when she writes it off - she WILL write it off at some point.
And wow again!
So in summary. Buy her an...erm...tank?
Buy her an...erm...tank?
I bet an early one could almost be on classic insurance now..
[img] 
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insurance is about putting people into pigeon holes isn't it, so old people are more of a insurance risk with a garage than without, and some older cars are more expensive than new ones to insure.
I would honestly take her to available car and get her to sit as many as possible and see what she reckons, if she feels she can't see out properly or if it doesn't feel right... tbh its going to be a small engine something or other.
Does she actually need a car?
Sctoroutes - member
Wow!
Not sure why you think it's wrong to want my children to stay alive?
Or are you saying that tiny cars are just as safe as larger ones?
Citroen ax
Fiat panda original
Fiesta 1.1 popular.
I can confirm that they will all traverse a field with beer stacked up in the back and that's what counts at 17.
Won't she buy herself a car as and when she needs and can afford it? I'm sure that's how it worked (mumble) years ago when I started.
FWIW my Focus C-max is/was cheap to insure with no NCB when I first got it 7 years ago and has just failed it's MOT for the first* time at 100,000 miles for worn suspension bushings, not bad for an 11 year old car! It'd now be well within budget.
And you can fit a camping matress in the back, important if you have a "not under my roof" rule 😆
*excluding minor crap like a dim number plate bulb, which was replaced with an advisory "number plate bulb still dim after replacement"
And wow again!
Statistical likelihood. Something daft like 40% have a crash within 6months of passing!
"[i]Don't get a Fiat 500 for that price range...[/i]"
+1
A colleague had one, constant problems. It got written off one night, while parked, when a drunk-drive hit it.
Colleague was not upset.
Or are you saying that tiny cars are just as safe as larger ones?
Well they are. More steel doesn't make it safer.
A seasonal bus ticket and/or a bicycle, with rest of money in Help To Buy ISA (unless there are now non-risky Lifetime ISA accounts). 😉
Tiny new car FAR better than big old car!
(we got my daughter a Panda - its been great and cost next to nothing to run for last 3 years)
[quote=thisisnotaspoon ]Statistical likelihood. Something daft like 40% have a crash within 6months of passing!
Which isn't quite what hammyuk was claiming. It was probably a little longer than that before my first crash, but not a lot. The first crash I had which resulted in an insurance claim wasn't until I was over 30 though.
I bet an early one could almost be on classic insurance now..
Friend's dad bought her one of these when she passed:
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it was ace.
Got my lad a VW Fox. He seems happy...
<blatant plug>
I've got an 11-plate Fiat Panda Dynamic with 55k on the clock I'll be putting up for sale at the start of August. £30 VED. It's got alloys so it'll be cool enough for your daughter 8) . Would be just at the top of your price range...
</blatant plug>
These are medium size cars.
Get the petrol version with automatic gear.
Honda Civic
Toyota Auris
Suzuki Swift
Mazda 3
Hyundai i30
🙂
Why automatic?
matt_outandabout - Member
Buy her an...erm...tank?
I bet an early one could almost be on classic insurance now..
Unless my family car history is all wrong thats not a tank, engine points the wrong and it weights about half of a 242 estate.
aracer - Member
Why automatic?
More relaxing drive. 🙂
One less thing to consider or to be distracted by if that is important.
However, if you feel driving a manual gear car gives you more engagement with driving then so be it.
She is best learning in a manual.
Been wondering about this with my nephew. He comes to live with use this winter for his A levels.
Thinking a Suzuki Jimny, nice and narrow for country lanes, high so he can see over hedges and he can drive it round our fields.
Also should scare the crap out him if he tries to drive it too fast 😀
Daughter is getting her brothers old clio . I was really impressed the way his first clio held its shape after being put through a hedge. That said after I seen the mess of the roof the second clio was bought because it didn't have a sunroof .Roof caved in on passenger side so if someones head wasthrown back then thrown forward I reckon it could have taken the top of their head off like a boiled egg.
andyl - Member
Thinking a Suzuki Jimny, ...
Or a Toyota RAV4 if you can fine one within your budget.
😛
But a Jimny has a 1.3 engine so should be slower and better on fuel. Also nice and narrow so easy to park.
So, looking at Peugeot 107, Citroen C1, maybe Fiat 500 (might be a bit spendy). Any good or bad reports and anything else we should be looking at for around £1500-2000? She doesn't seem to fancy a mini for some reason.[b]I've no experience of any of the horrible little things[/b]
Good thing you're asking people who have, then, with a somewhat patronising attitude like that!
I've got experience driving the 107, C1 and Aygo, all three of the VAG cars; the Up!, Citigo and Mii, Smart fourtwo, Fiat 500, Mini One, and there may be others I've forgotten.
The VAG cars are excellent fun, pretty spacious, very quick, (I overtook a Disco 4 on the M5 at 110mph in a Citigo), the fourtwo is like a tardis, extraordinary amount of space, and excellent visibility, also remarkably quick, but susceptible to strong crosswinds on motorways, although all small cars are to an extent.
The C1/107/Aygo are all identical inside, semi-auto with paddles in manual mode, rather noisy due to the little engine, the Toyota, unsurprisingly, is the best finished, and acceleration isn't all that, but that may be an advantage for a new driver, the VAG cars could get a new, inexperienced driver into trouble, because they can accelerate pretty quickly and are much faster than one might expect.
The Smart doesn't accelerate that quickly, but they can get up to higher speeds than you'd think, I've had 95 out of one uphill on the M4...
I know a young lass whose just passed her test, she learned on a C1, and her folks have just bought her one, and she's overjoyed with it, being used to the car, and it's cheap enough to afford for her as we'll.
Hers has only done 1400 miles per year, and is only about four years old.
I used to dismiss auto boxes, but I've revised my opinion over the year I've been doing car logistics, there are certain cars where the clutch is so heavy in slow traffic I've been almost reduced to tears with the pain in my left knee, auto boxes have been a godsend, they've improved dramatically.
The Mini One is a fun car, the 500 is beautifully set out inside, but isn't really an ideal car for a beginner, as others have pointed out.
On balance, while I couldn't live with the C1/107/Aygo, I can't really think of a better little car for a new driver.
andyl - MemberBut a Jimny has a 1.3 engine so should be slower and better on fuel. Also nice and narrow so easy to park.
That one on your link looks like a bit used ... 😆 Try Autotrader instead.
Yes, Jimny is slower and better on fuel but may struggle a little on motorway. However, if you drive at a relaxing pace then it should be fine. 🙂
edit: for max £2,500 budget if you search Autotrader you will find so many nice RAV4.
I wouldn't recommend an auto as a first car. She'll be screwed when she comes to replace it and hasn't had any post-test practice with gears in years.