Left field first car with cheaper insurance - 17yr old
Discussion
Well the boy turns 17 soon so my attention has been taken away from looking at cars I lusted after as a child and I can remember wanting in my yoof. I am now one of the many fathers trawling the classifieds, PH, Autotrader and da'bay looking for a first car for my son to learn to drive in and then take on as his first set of 'wheels'.
I know that the first car is considered a 'right of passage' and that some form of beater will allow him to grind every wheel against the kerbs outside his college without issue, but when you look at the cost of insuring the average 100 owner Fiesta/Polo/Corsa/206 etc. then it does grate a little that it is so expensive. That coupled with the over protective parent not wanting him to be in something that crumples like a coke can when looked at and more importantly break down in the middle of the night causing me a lack of sleep when called on to rescue stranded son.
I have looked at upping the budget, which is fine, but before I get too deep into the world of the 1.2 Fiesta/Skoda CitiGo (yes really!!!), I wondered if anyone has found a left field car that offers a bit more performance than the 1.0/1.2L cars that fall into the £1.3k insurance (my god, that looks bad when you write it) that offer a bit more for your money.
I just want something that is what I would say is a proper car and not a a little box on wheels that offers a bit more power as he will be driving c.30 miles to college every day once he passes his test.
Cheers
I know that the first car is considered a 'right of passage' and that some form of beater will allow him to grind every wheel against the kerbs outside his college without issue, but when you look at the cost of insuring the average 100 owner Fiesta/Polo/Corsa/206 etc. then it does grate a little that it is so expensive. That coupled with the over protective parent not wanting him to be in something that crumples like a coke can when looked at and more importantly break down in the middle of the night causing me a lack of sleep when called on to rescue stranded son.
I have looked at upping the budget, which is fine, but before I get too deep into the world of the 1.2 Fiesta/Skoda CitiGo (yes really!!!), I wondered if anyone has found a left field car that offers a bit more performance than the 1.0/1.2L cars that fall into the £1.3k insurance (my god, that looks bad when you write it) that offer a bit more for your money.
I just want something that is what I would say is a proper car and not a a little box on wheels that offers a bit more power as he will be driving c.30 miles to college every day once he passes his test.
Cheers
Not sure about 17, but when I was looking for my sister (who's just turned 18), then I found that generally the more powerful 1.4/1.6 engines weren't always that much more to insure, although it was very much car specific.
For example a 1.2 Polo that made a miserly 60hp would be £1050 to insure with a black box. If I then put in a 1.4 TSI Golf that makes 140hp, that quote rockets up to £1120.
For example a 1.2 Polo that made a miserly 60hp would be £1050 to insure with a black box. If I then put in a 1.4 TSI Golf that makes 140hp, that quote rockets up to £1120.
A couple of years ago when my younger brother passed his driving test he was getting quotes circa £2k for the usual suspects. So we bought him a 1.9 Vw caddy van which was £800 per year to insure. Spent another £250 on some leather seats from a golf, some alloys & a decent stereo and it was a nice little hack!
What you are after OP, is the Holy Grail of first cars. When I was 17 (25 years ago 
) I somehow managed to come to the conclusion that car was a Renault 11TXE 1.7. 
Remember the PH My First Car articles? This was mine....
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
I have heard mention that older Landies used to be cheap to insure for kids. Not sure if it's still the case.
) I somehow managed to come to the conclusion that car was a Renault 11TXE 1.7. Remember the PH My First Car articles? This was mine....
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
I have heard mention that older Landies used to be cheap to insure for kids. Not sure if it's still the case.
Toonshorty said:
Not sure about 17, but when I was looking for my sister (who's just turned 18), then I found that generally the more powerful 1.4/1.6 engines weren't always that much more to insure, although it was very much car specific.
For example a 1.2 Polo that made a miserly 60hp would be £1050 to insure with a black box. If I then put in a 1.4 TSI Golf that makes 140hp, that quote rockets up to £1120.
Yes, I've heard that's the case too. Makes sense if you consider all the statistics will show that a 17 year old in a Corsa is likely to wrap it round a tree. They won't have the same numbers to support that view in respect of the next class up. For example a 1.2 Polo that made a miserly 60hp would be £1050 to insure with a black box. If I then put in a 1.4 TSI Golf that makes 140hp, that quote rockets up to £1120.
My first car was a fiesta non turbo diesel (group2 or 3), I sold it quickly and moved to an alfa 147 2.0 (group13) and the difference in premium was in the region of £100 on a £1,200 policy over the year. Its the person driving that they are insuring, the car makes only small % difference in the price imo.
Celica could be a good bet, gen7 vvti is group 11, very reliable, would be a cracking first car and easy to work on if your son is so inclined. When you fill in your insurance details for a quote never put the value at less than £3k as cheaper cars crash more so premium is loaded.
(ETA: these are the old insurance groups when there were 20)
Celica could be a good bet, gen7 vvti is group 11, very reliable, would be a cracking first car and easy to work on if your son is so inclined. When you fill in your insurance details for a quote never put the value at less than £3k as cheaper cars crash more so premium is loaded.
(ETA: these are the old insurance groups when there were 20)
diluculophile said:
Very left field, but how about something like a GTM libra with a 1.4 K series engine.
Via specialist insurer...
Would probably break down/blow the head gasket pretty quickly, and I'm not sure about the crash protection...
Via specialist insurer...
Would probably break down/blow the head gasket pretty quickly, and I'm not sure about the crash protection...
It's quite probable that any builder will have taken precautions with cooling system to minimise the risk of HGF. Reliability as any other used car, really. Give it a thorough looking at. Required repairs could get interesting if you need to figure out where the parts came from!
Another option might be a Quantum saloon, if you can find one - basically Mk2 Fiesta mechanicals in a GRP shell.
Kit car insurance does tend to be cheap, classic insurance possibly the same, especially if you could limit the mileage.
The van option seemed like an interesting one!
Frankthered said:
It's quite probable that any builder will have taken precautions with cooling system to minimise the risk of HGF. Reliability as any other used car, really. Give it a thorough looking at. Required repairs could get interesting if you need to figure out where the parts came from!
Another option might be a Quantum saloon, if you can find one - basically Mk2 Fiesta mechanicals in a GRP shell.
Kit car insurance does tend to be cheap, classic insurance possibly the same, especially if you could limit the mileage.
The van option seemed like an interesting one!
Most classic policies insist you at least have access to another vehicle and that that classic is essentially a toy.
Not sure about the commercial option, either, as commercial vehicle insurance always looks very steep for non-commercial use (and can be hard to get, too).
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