Car Advice - Cheap Insurance and fun!

[GreatGranny]

We have 3 cars in the household after selling my E36 Touring last month.

X1 which is the family car
MINI EV, wife's work lease car and daughter also uses it (auto only licence)
Fiesta TDCi, 60 reg. workhorse, tip car etc. 125k miles, various issues but refuses to die.

Ideally I would buy a MK5 GTI or nice E46 Coupe to replace the E36 but 4 cars is too many with space an issue and cost to run them all.

Need a cheap car in the family for my son to learn in when he's 17 in December and for me to use when I feel like a thrash/something different to drive/commute etc.

So I want to get rid of the Fiesta and buy a car which is fun/interesting to drive and which is also not too expensive to insure.

Budget is £3k ish.

First thought was a MINI Cooper. I know there's issues with the gearbox but not too sure when or if it got sorted.
Panda 100HP was another thought
Audi A2 but getting on a bit and not sure if the are fun.
Swift?

BTW, he's 6'-7" but fits in the Fezza ad wife's MINI ok as long as no one wants to sit behind him

Suggestions welcome.

[culpz]

Swift Sport? Yaris T-Sport or 1.8 SR? Fiesta Zetec S? Twingo 133?

[GreatGranny]

culpz said:

Swift Sport? Yaris T-Sport or 1.8 SR? Fiesta Zetec S? Twingo 133?

Thanks for suggestions.
Swift is on the radar and looks good value.
Yaris is a no, just can't get over the looks. Fiesta Zetec S may be too expensive on insurance but will have a look.
Can't find a 133 in my budget on Atrader.

[culpz]

GreatGranny said:

Thanks for suggestions.
Swift is on the radar and looks good value.
Yaris is a no, just can't get over the looks. Fiesta Zetec S may be too expensive on insurance but will have a look.
Can't find a 133 in my budget on Atrader.

If you can get insurance on Swift Sport then the Fiesta should be no problem. Panda 100HP as you mentioned is a good one.

Trying to think of what else. EP2 Civic? (1.6 sport model which has Type R looks but obviously not the engine). MK1 Focus are great to drive but getting one that isn't rotten will be a challenge these days.

[GreatGranny]

Civic good shout.
Love the shape of the MK1 Focus but hard finding a good one as you say. Also they are getting on a bit, must be over 20 years old?

[culpz]

You may have to get insurance quotes on all of these. They're warm hatches but anything "sporty" for a new driver can be bad news. Was the case at least when I was 17/18. Could always look at the cooking models of these if it's a bit high.

[GreatGranny]

Yep, will run quotes.

1 series has just come up on my local Facebook car selling site.
116i Sport with 100k miles
2010
Full MOT
FSH
Looks tidy in red.
Basic spec, ie. A/C, cloth seats

I know it's a detuned 2.0 engine. I suspect insurance will be a killer.

[Silvanus]

Alfa MiTo 1.4 turbo, or possibly the twinair. A couple of other PH members have bought these for similar reasons. I used to have a MiTo and I was a great car, far better than the reviews would have you believe.

[GreatGranny]

Silvanus said:

Alfa MiTo 1.4 turbo, or possibly the twinair. A couple of other PH members have bought these for similar reasons. I used to have a MiTo and I was a great car, far better than the reviews would have you believe.

Good shout.

Nice change from the usual Fiestas, Corsas etc..

[culpz]

GreatGranny said:

Yep, will run quotes.

1 series has just come up on my local Facebook car selling site.
116i Sport with 100k miles
2010
Full MOT
FSH
Looks tidy in red.
Basic spec, ie. A/C, cloth seats

I know it's a detuned 2.0 engine. I suspect insurance will be a killer.

Insurance aside, will also be more expensive to fix/run and wouldn't class it as fun either, even if it is RWD (which I don't think is necessarily a pre-requisite).

I take it you're only looking at hatches? If not, an MX5 could be worth a look.

[GreatGranny]

It still needs to do similar duties as the fezza it's replacing apart from maybe tip runs.
However I need to be able to fit a bike in the back, can do that with wheel off in the Fiesta.
MX-5 would be fun but not exactly practical for someone who is 6'-7"

I know what you mean about 1 series not being fun.
Think I may be losing sight of that criteria (I have looked at Volvo C30s!)
However the Fiesta can be surprisingly fun on tight twisty roads.

[bodhi]

culpz said:

If you can get insurance on Swift Sport then the Fiesta should be no problem. Panda 100HP as you mentioned is a good one.

Trying to think of what else. EP2 Civic? (1.6 sport model which has Type R looks but obviously not the engine). MK1 Focus are great to drive but getting one that isn't rotten will be a challenge these days.

The generation of Civic after that might be a good shout as well - loads around so should be easy to find in budget. We've got a 1.8 ES so just the standard model, and it's not bad to drive at all. Handles/grips like a Golf but has a decent engine/transmission combo so can be fun to punt along a back road. Sub £300 insurance for me (albeit a 43 year old with 2 years NCB) and cheap as chips to run.

You might even find an Si which I believe is that model's version of the Sport. Not sure if it has any suspension upgrades though.

Only real negative is the A/C WILL be broken, and some are starting to show a bit of rust.

[Silvanus]

GreatGranny said:

Good shout.

Nice change from the usual Fiestas, Corsas etc..

Yep, they are great little cars. Reliable, and cheap and easy to fix if they go wrong as they used tried and tested mechanicals shared with the Grande Punto and Corsa of the time. Mine never went wrong in 3 years with over 90k on the clock.

Another quirky little Italian oddball is the Chrysler (Lancia) Ypsilon. They are basically a more grown up Fiat 500. There are lots of special editions and colour combos, the black & red edition is pretty cool. They are an absolute bargain and lots of fun to drive, plus they certainly stand out against other city cars and superminis.

[GreatGranny]

Silvanus said:

Another quirky little Italian oddball is the Chrysler (Lancia) Ypsilon. They are basically a more grown up Fiat 500. There are lots of special editions and colour combos, the black & red edition is pretty cool. They are an absolute bargain and lots of fun to drive, plus they certainly stand out against other city cars and superminis.

Errr, the face only a mother could love

Think I will pass thanks

[Silvanus]

GreatGranny said:

Silvanus said:

Another quirky little Italian oddball is the Chrysler (Lancia) Ypsilon. They are basically a more grown up Fiat 500. There are lots of special editions and colour combos, the black & red edition is pretty cool. They are an absolute bargain and lots of fun to drive, plus they certainly stand out against other city cars and superminis.

Errr, the face only a mother could love

Think I will pass thanks

As said, they are certainly distinctive, although that angle is a bit unfair. I personally quite like it, although I'm a bit of a fan of quirky cars. I think the Red & Black editions look pretty decent.

[GreatGranny]

I did choose the worse angle but even at it's best I'm not a fan.

However, it would be very boring if we all liked the same thing

[Silvanus]

GreatGranny said:

I did choose the worse angle but even at it's best I'm not a fan.

However, it would be very boring if we all liked the same thing

Indeed, when I looked at them I did end up with a Mito, although I was also looking at a Skoda Roomster Scout.

[ZX10R NIN]

GreatGranny said:

Good shout.

Nice change from the usual Fiestas, Corsas etc..

I got my son a Mito Veloce 1.4 N/A but the insurance numbers for the 1.4T 120 model was pretty reasonable:

96 bhp:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202306238...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202311023...

120:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202311063...

I also put this headunit in so he had Android Auto/Spotify mainly controlled on the steering wheel:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/314586341496?hash=item4...


I also got sensible numbers on the 1.6 C30 R Design but I couldn't find a decent one at the time:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202310042...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202311023...

[GreatGranny]

Thanks ZX, as always great advice and knowledge.

C30 is high up there but, as you say, not easy to find a decent one and the good ones seem to go for decent money.

Mito is good value and even the 95 bhp one will feel like a rocket ship compared to the 1.4 TDCi Fezza we have at present.

[anonymous-user]

culpz said:

Swift Sport? Yaris T-Sport or 1.8 SR? Fiesta Zetec S? Twingo 133?

Love to see what the insurance quote for a 17 year old who has just passed his test would be like.