Good car to learn to drive in?

Good car to learn to drive in?

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Discussion

michael_JCWS

Original Poster:

848 posts

263 months

Saturday 5th October
quotequote all
Hi all

Looking for some recommendations. I need to get a second car for my 17 year old to learn to drive in. Key considerations

1) cheap insurance/low insurance group
2) something made between 2020-2024
3) manual
4) safe and slow

I was thinking maybe a mini one or a fiesta

Cheers

Michael

wyson

2,699 posts

111 months

Saturday 5th October
quotequote all
Isn’t the mini one insurance group 11+? I remember they were Golf like in the past, not cheap for a new driver.

I’d be looking at the insurance group first and doing a short list of cars in the lowest groups.

The Fiesta looks better, group 2 in 70bhp Style trim.
https://www.parkers.co.uk/ford/fiesta/hatchback-20...

Edited by wyson on Saturday 5th October 22:42

tamore

7,888 posts

291 months

Saturday 5th October
quotequote all
manual? why?

Blakewater

4,369 posts

164 months

Saturday 5th October
quotequote all
tamore said:
manual? why?
Keeps options open. Not everyone wants to put the bare minimum into getting a driving licence and assume they'll be driving an electric car from the outset of their motoring life.

A Volkswagen Up! is small and square and easy to see all four corners of from the driving seat.

Also, typical young driver cars that teenage drivers commonly crash can cost more to insure for a new driver than more left field choices.

Mr Tidy

24,313 posts

134 months

Saturday 5th October
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Probably so they won't be limited to Autos all their driving life!

I took lessons in a MK2 Escort so not recently, but maybe a Corsa, the VAG Up family, Toyota Aygo/Peugeot 107/Citroen C1 or Fiat 500 might be options?

Snow and Rocks

2,432 posts

34 months

Saturday 5th October
quotequote all
tamore said:
manual? why?
Ignore this nonsense - the small extra effort needed to learn how to drive a manual should be trivial for all but the most ham-fisted 17 year old.

Why on earth would you subject them to a lifetime of limitation for the sake of an hour or two extra learning.

tamore

7,888 posts

291 months

Saturday 5th October
quotequote all
Snow and Rocks said:
tamore said:
manual? why?
Ignore this nonsense - the small extra effort needed to learn how to drive a manual should be trivial for all but the most ham-fisted 17 year old.

Why on earth would you subject them to a lifetime of limitation for the sake of an hour or two extra learning.
lifetime for a 17 year old? ner. i reckon by 2035 only, a manual test will be an extra after taking a standard test.

bloomen

7,448 posts

166 months

Saturday 5th October
quotequote all
tamore said:
lifetime for a 17 year old? ner. i reckon by 2035 only, a manual test will be an extra after taking a standard test.
My nephew is learning at the moment. He'll wind up as a conservationist type which means decades of manual jalopies to look forward to in exotic countries.

Not that they'll ever bother checking the licence of course.

Learning manual opens up every hire car, classic cars, bangers.

I don't recall getting a brain bleed making a tiny amount of extra effort.

tamore

7,888 posts

291 months

Saturday 5th October
quotequote all
bloomen said:
My nephew is learning at the moment. He'll wind up as a conservationist type which means decades of manual jalopies to look forward to in exotic countries.

Not that they'll ever bother checking the licence of course.

Learning manual opens up every hire car, classic cars, bangers.

I don't recall getting a brain bleed making a tiny amount of extra effort.
probably true at the moment. but come 2030 getting a new car with a manual will be tricky at best. i'm banging on the door of 50 so well out of touch with learning to drive, but aren't most driving school cars fairly new/

bloomen

7,448 posts

166 months

Saturday 5th October
quotequote all
tamore said:
i'm banging on the door of 50 so well out of touch with learning to drive, but aren't most driving school cars fairly new/
Yes. I do wonder about that. The choices will become ever narrower.

According to What Car 24% of new cars have manual gearboxes this year.

They'll either have to let it slide at some point, or keep a fleet of strange manual buggies to putter around car parks in.

Edited by bloomen on Saturday 5th October 23:19

Blakewater

4,369 posts

164 months

Saturday 5th October
quotequote all
Yes but will a new driver be buying a brand new car or a 10 year old Fiesta or Corsa or similar?

I once did a charity day for work and got handed the keys to a knackered Transit to haul stuff around charity shops.

When people ask if you've got a driving licence and you say yes, they don't expect it to come with the caveat that you can't drive a manual vehicle.

Edited by Blakewater on Saturday 5th October 23:21

Dingu

4,359 posts

37 months

Saturday 5th October
quotequote all
tamore said:
probably true at the moment. but come 2030 getting a new car with a manual will be tricky at best. i'm banging on the door of 50 so well out of touch with learning to drive, but aren't most driving school cars fairly new/
But irrelevant to the fact that in the current world a test taken in an auto gives an auto only licence.

Snow and Rocks

2,432 posts

34 months

Saturday 5th October
quotequote all
tamore said:
lifetime for a 17 year old? ner. i reckon by 2035 only, a manual test will be an extra after taking a standard test.
By 2035? Only 11 years away?! They'll be 28 by then and still not able to drive a manual. I'm young (ish) and over the last few years have hired a manual Fiat 500 in Tuscany for a wedding (where some Americans were protesting about the lack of autos while the rest of us sped off to get pissed in the sunshine), have hired a manual Dacia Duster to tour around the Atlas Mountains in Morocco and have hired a manual motor home to trundle around the North Coast 500.

Like I said, only the most incompetent 17 year olds will have even the slightest issue so why restrict them. I don't have kids, but when I do, I plan on doing my absolute best to make them as well rounded as I possibly can. My parents taught me to swim, cycle, ride a horse, ski and drive a manual and I'm eternally grateful.

Way off topic, OP, apologies, a manual Yaris or Aygo would be my choice although I did teach my girlfriend in an 80 series Land Cruiser!

Edited by Snow and Rocks on Saturday 5th October 23:26

Smint

1,984 posts

42 months

Sunday 6th October
quotequote all
Aygo and its clones, easy drive and almost impossible to stall having a suprisingly tractable engine.
One of the best choices of small car if their own car is on the cards for the new driver.

michael_JCWS

Original Poster:

848 posts

263 months

Sunday 6th October
quotequote all
Thanks for all the responses and debates around manual.

Personally I think manual is a must have skill in driving, opens options helps you understand the car a bit more, lowers insurance cost.

Looks like the are some really good deals on Aygo-X’s at the moment!

jimmytheone

1,553 posts

225 months

Sunday 6th October
quotequote all
Is this “a car to learn to drive in” or “a car to learn to drive and keep having passed their test”?

For the former, I’m teaching my 14yo son in my mx5, because manual, easy to drive and cheap to fix.
(Thanks to whoever on here recommended https://drivecardrome.com/ )

I’m sure the insurance on a newly qualified 17yo would be pricey on a mx5 so would echo the Aygo/c1 suggestion. Or a left field insurance beater eg a Passat

michael_JCWS

Original Poster:

848 posts

263 months

Sunday 6th October
quotequote all
It’s a car to teach and keep as a second run around car (general purpose family use)

Insurance on my car is not a option and it’s DSG

I was wondering if 1.0 polo’s have vaguely sensible insurance

Marquezs Stabilisers

1,577 posts

68 months

Sunday 6th October
quotequote all
Taught my wife in a 2006 1.4 Fiesta. Loads about, so usually <£1k ( I paid £700 for ours). Very tough, don't really rust, cheap parts and ULEZ compliant everywhere.

The 1.4 has enough grunt that you can get away with the odd wrong gear but isn't so fast it's bananas on fuel or insurance. Much easier to drive than a gutless 1.0 and clutches aren't a switch like VAG stuff. 4 star EuroNCAP IIRC.

To top it all, they're fun to drive. If I didn't need a five door I'd probably still have ours.

Deerfoot

4,980 posts

191 months

Sunday 6th October
quotequote all
My son has a Skoda Citigo.

It's remarkably refined for the class of car, appears to be reasonable to insure and it's 60bhp 3 cylinder even sounds half decent.

The Up! and Mii obviously are just as suitable.

Jimjimhim

1,530 posts

7 months

Sunday 6th October
quotequote all
Manual cars are certainly a dying breed, I would say an auto licence would be fine if they aren't into cars.

I think the bigger question is why does the car need to be so new?