Cars for a new Driver

My son hits 17 at the end of the month and has already got his provisional licence and keen to get his wheels, especially as we live in the middle of no where.

Next step is getting him a few lessons and then a car, first to practice in (as neither my wife not I have manual cars), and then for him to keep.

I have looked at all the usual suspects

Fiat 500
Hyundai 110
Ford Ka and Fiesta
VW Up/Polo, Skoda Citgo, Seat,
Toyota Aygo/IQ
Citroen C1, Peugeot 108 etc.

So far have found a nice little One Owner 2013 Fiat Panda 1.2 with 80k for £2.5k, but am interested in the forum's thoughts. Unsurprisingly there are quite a few Cat S/N that also look quite good value assuming they have been fixed correctly.

To be fair that’s a good selection right their. Will he think the 500 is a bit effeminate? What about a Micra, my Nephew has just started driving and has one of those. I actually like Fiats so the Panda would be a good choice.


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Up-owner for 6 years (almost). I am pretty chuffed with the car - for towns. It lacks 'oomph' for quick overtaking etc. Next on the scale: Polo or the other VAG products are perhaps a little better suited. Walk away from anything French. Lots of electrical problems. Even after all those years. Check the usual surveys for that.

Not on the list: Honda. You can't go wrong with a pre-used Honda. Honda has hardly any market share on the Continent, but I'm under the impression that it is different in the UK.

M

Panda is a nice choice, little yet with with enough space inside. Ford and VW are probably best for driving IMO

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Originally Posted by Andyg

Toyota Aygo/IQ
Citroen C1, Peugeot 108 etc.

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I'd avoid these if you live anywhere hilly, they are a bit under powered..

I had this issue last year

Where we live (north west) you have to work it backwards ie what will the insurance be ..... premiums for 3 year old Polo were £3k plus

In the end he got a degree apprenticeship in Warrington and had to do motorway drive each day. Wanted something reliable and as he has no uni fees, gets a salary and lives at home we could afford to justify a new car. Ended up with Peugeot 208 on their “just add fuel” scheme ..... it was the only way of getting affordable insurance

We looked at the 108 but the distance from the back bumper to the front seat headrest is not far at all so we dismissed that on safety. The 208 wasn’t much more on the scheme but you do have to be 18 on it and have their black box


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Get yourself onto an insurance website and see what the differences are on insurance costs for each of your suspects, as that could well be a significant factor too.

My nephew is now 19 YO, but his first insurance at 17 YO was around £1k, which was broadly what he paid for his Clio.

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Originally Posted by dandanthewatchman

I had this issue last year

Where we live (north west) you have to work it backwards ie what will the insurance be ..... premiums for 3 year old Polo were £3k plus

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^^^
You beat me to it.....

Definitely Polos. Well built, reliable and drive well. Both my children have them, though son (soon to be 21) is about to step into my 2018 Golf R as a replacement.

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Originally Posted by thieuster

Up-owner for 6 years (almost). I am pretty chuffed with the car - for towns. It lacks 'oomph' for quick overtaking etc. Next on the scale: Polo or the other VAG products are perhaps a little better suited. Walk away from anything French. Lots of electrical problems. Even after all those years. Check the usual surveys for that.

Not on the list: Honda. You can't go wrong with a pre-used Honda. Honda has hardly any market share on the Continent, but I'm under the impression that it is different in the UK.

M

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The UP, Polo, Fiesta, small French cars, Fiat 500 etc are generally seen as quite funky little run-arounds but the Jazz has always been viewed as a car for grannies for some reason. Most you see over here are in pastel shades.

Suzuki Swift 1.3 should do the job. A nice set of alloys and a spoiler should have the average 17yr old lad happy enough!

The ideal car is the Suzuki celerio,my wife has one ,so easy to drive,not tax runs on fumes,Suzuki engine,so reliable,just a cheap a simple car ,perfect for her needs ,take a look


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I love my Fiesta ST line - £20 tax, low insurance group and the 1.0l Ecoboost makes it go like a stabbed rat. Looks pretty decent too. Bought it with a view to giving it to my son when he hits 17...interestingly an older car is more to insure than a newer one; used to have a 2008 Fiesta before this one and it cost more to insure despite it being worth so much less.

I have an up! (note the correct use of exclamation mark) and it really is quite a brilliant car. Well put together, reliable, comfy and good to look at. My insurance is cheap, but I'm over 40 so you can't rely on this a yardstick. Test drive some of the base models and see what you think. VW doesn't make flimsy cars and he might be able to lease a new one for 130/month with some free insurnace.

Mine's a real hoot, but I have the hot one.

I'm sure most of us oldies went through the cheap POS as a first car, but saw recently that something around 40% of first cars are now brand new on cheap PCPs.

Pretty hard to argue against a couple hundred a month to get your precious spawn into something that's got 5-star safety, warranty and all the jazz to keep them happy for a few years and not "dad, need to upgrade to get Apple Carplay" :eagerness:

Our three girls have had a Ford Ka (latest model) Toyota Aygo and Fiat 500 as tatie first cars.

I can’t really criticise any of them although the Ka and 500 are basically the same car.

KIA Picanto or Hyundai i10 (effectively the same car).

Both are very capable & have long warranties so if it's not too old it may have some left on it.

Backwardpoint has been through all of this in the not so distant past, try him.

I just bought my youngest son a three year old Fiesta Zeetec 82 bhp, it’s is a very good car, I can see why the press love them

I have just gone through the same process for my daughters car.
Super reliable, great engine, six gears, roomy and clever sliding bench seat at the back giving loads of room.
There are plenty about as well, so not too expensive.
Love it. 👍

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Originally Posted by The Doc

I have an up! (note the correct use of exclamation mark) and it really is quite a brilliant car. Well put together, reliable, comfy and good to look at. My insurance is cheap, but I'm over 40 so you can't rely on this a yardstick. Test drive some of the base models and see what you think. VW doesn't make flimsy cars and he might be able to lease a new one for 130/month with some free insurnace.

Mine's a real hoot, but I have the hot one.

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We’ve got one of these as a runabout, although not a hot one, and I completely agree. Fabulous little cars and great fun to drive.

It’s often worth going up a model or two from the base model for cheaper insurance.

The logic (from an insurance perspective) bring that base models are usually driven by younger drivers so are more likely to be involved in an accident. More mature drivers go for the higher specifications and are less likely to have a claim.

The higher spec models are therefore a lower risk for the insurance companies so the premiums are lower.

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Originally Posted by Foxy100

Backwardpoint has been through all of this in the not so distant past, try him.

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I have indeed. We bought my son a very mow mileage Seat Arosa when he was learning to drive, because it was something that he could afford to run and insure, and my daughter has a 1.4l Polo.

You need to search around, find something on Autotrader, and then get an insurance quote. Sometimes it pays to go left-field, and try to get something which doesn't have a reputation of being crashed by teenagers, like a Volvo, so even if/when they do crash it, they've got a good chance of walking away.

A first car is for making (hopefully small) mistakes in, and racking up some no-claims bonus.

Thanks for all your input chaps. The cheapest UP I have seen is over £4k and it looked a POS, where as I can get a 2013 Chevy Spark for around 2.2k.

To be honest they are all dull and boring and difficult to get excited about.

Talking to a very nice lady from LV, it seems to make sense for me to be the policy holder for first 6 months until he at least passes his test and them put the policy in his name once he has a few months under his belt. I also found out that 3 doors are cheaper to insure that 5 doors. Odd!

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Originally Posted by Andyg

I also found out that 3 doors are cheaper to insure that 5 doors. Odd!

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It's easier for rowdy drunk teenagers to escape from the scene of a crash with 5 doors, or something like that. There'll be a completely illogical reason for it.

What about a Skoda Fabia? The basic models are cheap as chips but well built. The insurance will cost as much as the car on anything less than 5 years old anyway.

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Originally Posted by Onelasttime

It's easier for rowdy drunk teenagers to escape from the scene of a crash with 5 doors, or something like that. There'll be a completely illogical reason for it.

What about a Skoda Fabia? The basic models are cheap as chips but well built. The insurance will cost as much as the car on anything less than 5 years old anyway.

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My wife said it was mostly likely less to go wrong. Two less doors, two less window to leave open, cheaper to fix?

Funnily enough I was looking at a 1.4 Fabia on AutoTrader. Looks a bit more substantial than some of the other "city" cars.

Corsa or a Polo.

Vauxhall Corsas are popular with young lads as they have small engines but special editions add sporty plastic bits to provide bragging rights.

Another choice which is a little left field is a Vauxhall Adam. Highly customisable with insurance friendly engines.

The general rule from an insurance perspective is to look for cars with 100bhp or less.

Die someone called ‘Civic’ already?

Just a quick update for those interested.

After weeks of looking at Autotrader and EBay, I finally found a car for my son. A shinny red 3 door 2014 Skoda Citigo (75 bhp) Greentech SE edition with 40k miles on the clock. The car was Cat N, having had a minor prang on the offside rear bumper/light, which had been fixed to a high standard - i would have never known without the seller providing before and after pictures.

The car had lost its service book, but did came complete with 3 clean MOT certificates and a recent service (last week) which included replacing the front brake pads and rotors.

The car is really nice and comes with Heated seats, GPS, Bluetooth, DAB, AC, rear parking sensors, electric mirrors/windows, alloys and a proper spare wheel and complete tool kit.

In respect to insurance, my son got a quote from AdrianFlux for £398 fully comp (on his provisional licence) with me as a named driver - he will however carry a £600 excess. His premium will go up to about £800 once he passes (hopefully) and starts commuting to school - but no black box required, but I will be fitting a dash cam. :smug:
Also interesting was
A) the fact that it was Cat S/N makes Zero difference.
B) full comp was no more expensive than 3rd party F&T
C) the 75bhp was no more expensive than the 60bhp
D) the £3400 Skoda was no more expensive to insure than a £2500 Ford Ka - when I asked about this the logic seems that they are not to bothered about my son car (it's peanuts in the scheme of things), they are more worried about the car(s) he might hit. If he hits a £35k car, then that's 10 times more expensive than his.

Its been an education.

Got the daughter and 09 Aygo paid £1k for it and then £1100 for insurance [emoji23][emoji23](first insurance after passing test at 17 and a half )
Just had renewal and was £560 this year..£600 excess,12k miles a year fully comp and no black box last year or this year.


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Originally Posted by Dm1672

Got the daughter and 09 Aygo paid £1k for it and then £1100 for insurance [emoji23][emoji23](first insurance after passing test at 17 and a half )
Just had renewal and was £560 this year..£600 excess,12k miles a year fully comp and no black box last year or this year.


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Who do you use for insurance?

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Originally Posted by Andyg

Who do you use for insurance?

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Last year was Adrian flux this year was Hastings direct on go compare.

Were in probably on of the cheapest postcode areas in uk.

I avoided the black box like the plague as it played havoc with the nephews insurance when he had it ..they wanted £1300 for first year with black box and when I said don't want one they said they would shop around and found it at £1100 without...go figure....they are a scam those black box policies.

Another 18months then through it all again for the son [emoji849]

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