[Closed] 1st car for daughter

MK7 Fiestas are reliable, and much more substantial than C1's and the like.

Mine shared a Yaris. One of them still has it 12 years on. OP those small cars you suggested are good choices I think as is the Swift suggestion. With a bit of searching you can find a nice Mk1 Yaris for £2k, nice cars and ok image for your daughter.

Tiny cars are generally not as safe as larger ones, crumle zones, quality of construction, safety features.

@chew I am a Rav4 fan had one for years might buy another older one as a bike car, when we tried to add kids the insurance was nuts, 2L petrol I assume even thoigh the car was slow as ...

In my opinion the answer to this question is always Hyundai i10. A few in our family - never had any issues with them, easy to drive, cheap to insure. Friend recently chopped in a VW UP! for one and thought it a big improvement. My daughter turns 17 this year. Will be scouring the classifieds for one myself.

jambalaya - Member
@chew I am a Rav4 fan had one for years might buy another older one as a bike car, when we tried to add kids the insurance was nuts, 2L petrol I assume even thoigh the car was slow as ...

[url= http://www.manoroakcars.co.uk/used-cars/toyota-rav4-2-0-xt-r-5dr-atherstone-201705245781529?at_source=autotrader&at_medium=desktop&at_campaign=website-visit ]Like this one (not my site nor promotion) as I like the colour. [/url]Actually I prefer white colour but most car colours in the UK are dark in colour (we call that coffin dark in the far east).

I am more in into reliability workhorse type of car rather than speed. Therefore, anything that does not require much to maintain is good enough for me, and Toyota fits this bill so far ... 😛

[quote=Cougar ]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.

Agreed - was wondering if I was missing something and chewy would justify the suggestion, given he appears to have slipped out of the incoherent unable to form an English sentence persona for this thread.

aracer - Member

Cougar » 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.

Agreed - was wondering if I was missing something and chewy would justify the suggestion, given he appears to have slipped out of the incoherent unable to form an English sentence persona for this thread.

The short answer:
Buy another automatic gear car after passing driving test (with driving license now) and forever. If not just stick to manual. Simple. 😆

The long answer:
I did not reply because I see no issue with switching between automatic and manual gear system vice versa. It's a non-issue as far as I am concerned.

What do you mean post-test practice? If you have passed the test then you can drive so driving an automatic does not diminish that. (assuming you learn with manual gear which everyone does) In future if you wish to stick to automatic then buy another automatic gear car. If you wish to drive a manual gear one then just buy a manual gear car. By that time you would have enough experience on the road switching back to manual is not that difficult. 🙄

If you feel like you prefer a manual gear car after that then switch to manual gear car. I am sure what you have learned will not be forgotten in an instant. Also with more experience in driving, switching back to manual is really not that difficult.

The benefits of automatic gear are:

1. Driving an automatic is more relaxing.
2. Automatic gear system is reliable nowadays.
3. Less thing to mess with,like I said, unless you want to feel like you are doing something.
4. As long as you keep up with maintenance that should fine.

The downside:

1. Less involvement. i.e. you just drive.
2. Fuel consumption can be slightly more.
3. You need to change gear oil when you reach certain mileage for maintenance. (most people don't hence they got trouble with auto gear)
4. More expensive to buy.

In the words of Jeremy Clarkson "How hard can that be?" 😛

I overtook a Disco 4 on the M5 at 110mph in a Citigo

Swoon.

STR, my sister is selling a Kia Rio for about that. It's immaculate, and as a bonus for a new driver it's got parking sensors.

It is completely and utterly undesirable, which may make it cheaper to insure.

It is definitely worth looking at how much everything is to insure after she has passed, with my wife it skyrocketed once she actually had a licence.

There are schemes where you pay for a new car and insurance for a new driver together. I can't remember the name of the companies that offer them but the total monthly cost may well be less than an older car and insurance.

I'd offer you my 924 but sadly no classic insurers will do under 25s now.

CountZero - Member

The VAG cars are excellent fun, pretty spacious, very quick, (I overtook a Disco 4 on the M5 at 110mph in a Citigo)

The speedo may have read 110, but the official max speed of a Citigo is <110.

another vote for a Clio. great little cars for not a lot of cash.

Series 3 landrover!

What about the 1st shape smart car ? As she won't be able to fit loads of mates in and therefore less chance for silly driving ( possibly boys only problem)

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.

She's doing her A Levels and has a part time job in my mates hotel - not a chance she'll be able to afford her own car for a while and whilst she doesn't need one, well it worked like that in my day too - all a bit different now

[b]A seasonal bus ticket and/or a bicycle[/b], with rest of money in Help To Buy ISA

You don't have a teenage daughter, do you?

😉

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.

I only have auto's now - love them! They are rubbish in under-powered cars though, from my limited experience.

Also, she needs to learn to drive properly.

Good thing you're asking people who have, then, with a somewhat patronising attitude like that!

Oh, give over - thanks for the rest of your reply though
😉

What about the 1st shape smart car ?

Erm, just no - she wouldn't want one, I wouldn't particularly want her to have one and, erm, no.

As for the other replies - thanks all.

She won't be having a Volvo, or an easily rollable RAV4/Jimny/Suzuki/whatever.

Looking like Aygo, Yaris, 107, C1 is probs the way to go and hopefully I can put her off a Fiat 500 - well, I will...

i had an automatic 998cc mini 1984, was amazing, so under powered, but it beat lots of stuff off the line. was a great car.

Ref the poster earlier who said that the Toyota is better finished with reference to the Aygo/C1/107, how can it be? They are all made on the same production line in the Czech republic.

What do you mean post-test practice?

You spend a few days / months learning something, then don't touch it for several years, that's going to be a challenge when you go back.

The benefits of automatic gear are:
...
The downside:

The benefit is that it's easier to drive (modern auto boxes are great). The downside is that in the UK automatics - especially cheap new-driver-friendly runabout autos rather than ex-repmobile barges - are thin on the ground.

Cougar - Moderator
You spend a few days / months learning something, then don't touch it for several years, that's going to be a challenge when you go back.

The downside is that in the UK automatics - especially cheap new-driver-friendly runabout autos rather than ex-repmobile barges - are thin on the ground.

Why does she need a car while she's learning? I believe instructors have their own cars. Not tempted to line her up some job interviews instead? I bought and insured my own car at 18, insurance was £800.

Spoiled kids

Don't know whereabouts in the country you are, OP, but here in N Yorks I've just put our Jazz up for sale. It's served us well from brand new, will give you a fair slice of change out of a grand and will cost a lot less to keep on the road than anything french!

[url= https://www.gumtree.com/p/honda/honda-jazz-14-idsi-fam-owned-since-new-12-months-mot-new-tyres-and-exhaust-no-smoke-or-pets/1249067447 ]Honda Jazz[/url]

Only you know your daughter; if she's a fusssy bugger than she's not gonna want to be seen in a Nissan Micra. But that's the sort of car I'd suggest; small and reliable. Afterall, you're probably gonna be the one paying to fix it if/when it breaks.

Two grand, fair one; if you've got that much to spend then go for it. I bought a £400 Fiesta mk3 for my first car (14 years ago). It was perfect, no power steering though! My dad was a car mechanic so he used to sort the bare minimum to get it through it's MOT every year, it never broke down though and I didn't spend much on it. It was insured in my dads name with me as a named driver, so was about £500 per year. This is seen as dodgy/illegal these days though, so look at insurance costs. If you max out your budget on the car then you'll probably be looking at somewhere near three and a half grand with insurance/tax/mot etc.

I'd deffo get her a car now though. I used to practice driving before I was old enough to drive, in a supermarket car park after it'd closed, just practising clutch control, reversing into parking spaces etc. Helped alot when I came to start lessons; meant I didn't have to spend loads doing them. Passed first time with two minors. I know people that took 6/7/8 attempts to pass; dread to think how much they spent altogether.

Our eldest got herself a Fiat 500 as a first car at 19. Was about hte cheapest to insure by a fair amount. Had a few problems with the car since but, it has basically been sound.

The youngest got a Fiesta mk6 £150 banger, made it her own with seat covers and mats then passsed her test and went straight into it. Insurance was £2000 as a just passed 17 yr old and the car cost £250 to get it through 2 MOTs.

Just sold it for £150.

All in all very cheap motoring if the expected high insurance is taken out of the equation.

edit. Missed the main point.

I think that the youngest having a noisy, no gadgets, slow (ish) car as her first one has made her more aware of her surroundings and speed etc.

For me, new ish cars cossett their owners a little too much and instil too much confidence.

Safety is of course a big concern but something like a mk6 fiesta isn't that bad as long as it has good tyres , brakes etc.

Now the youngest has just bought herself a lovely little 6 month old Fabia. Great car with loads of toys and a pleasure to drive. First thing she did was say how she had to check her speed every so often as it was so easy to drive.

I wonder if she would have that knowledge if she'd have gone straight into such a car.

Once you have driven auto you (most people) will stick to auto than going back to manual.

Hire cars, her partner's car, friends' cars; it's far easier if she's happy driving a manual. Get a few years experience driving a manual, then get an auto next time if she really wants one.

Why does she need a car while she's learning? I believe instructors have their own cars. Not tempted to line her up some job interviews instead? I bought and insured my own car at 18, insurance was £800.

Spoiled kids

Of course she doesn't 'need' a car, but we all have lots of things we don't need.

She's got another year of A Levels left and as yet is undecided on Uni/getting a full time job/gap year. If she can find her direction, then possibly we'll help set her up with her own business - got a couple of little ideas bubbling.

Bravo - I bought and insured my first car at 17 (a death trap of a mini), but I was working, albeit as a very low paid electrical apprentice.

Only you know your daughter; if she's a fusssy bugger than she's not gonna want to be seen in a Nissan Micra

Unfortunately/fortunately? She's way trendier than I was at that age and some cars just aren't going to cut it. I even suggested a nice Corsa, but apparently they are associated with 18yr old chavs hanging round 14yr old girls in McDonalds car park, so that's out

A family I know went down the Volvo route and it worked well. Big safe car cheap to insure.

I am biased though as I have two Volvos.

Bought a S/H Aygo (penultimate model) earlier in the year for my 17 y.o. and it's been fine, The only "issue" so far has been when she picked me and Mrs Lex up from a party, and had to deny a lift to another couple, as it only seats 4.
Choice determined by budget, spec. and attitude of garage salesman. Balance of the 5 year manufacturer's warranty helped. Had there been more money to spend, an UP/citigo would have been the purchase.