Car for Teenager (New Driver)
Discussion
Evening all... need some advice! Have a 17yr old wanting to learn to drive (good girl)!
So, I need a little hatch, manual, petrol, perhaps 2010-on (needn't be bang on but not too old), with some good life left in it (<75k), small-ish engine (maybe <1.2) but, possibly most importantly; what's cheap to insure?
Are Peugeot 107s, Aygos, C1s and alike still the default choice? Or are they old hat now?
Probably needs to be reasonably cheap as well... <£2k?
ebay throws up a few possibilities, so my criteria doesn't seem too strict but... what's a simple go-to, to narrow it down?
She'd quite like a small engined VW Polo of ~2010 flavour but I think they hold their value too well and are presumably pricier to insure.
So, I need a little hatch, manual, petrol, perhaps 2010-on (needn't be bang on but not too old), with some good life left in it (<75k), small-ish engine (maybe <1.2) but, possibly most importantly; what's cheap to insure?
Are Peugeot 107s, Aygos, C1s and alike still the default choice? Or are they old hat now?
Probably needs to be reasonably cheap as well... <£2k?
ebay throws up a few possibilities, so my criteria doesn't seem too strict but... what's a simple go-to, to narrow it down?
She'd quite like a small engined VW Polo of ~2010 flavour but I think they hold their value too well and are presumably pricier to insure.
Theres a thread I follow on here called the joy of running an old shed that speaks highly of the reliability of the yaris and I'm sure the c1 or possibly the c3 cant remember.( also jap cars too and imo for looks it's the jazz and the colt) The only info I can give is I had a 02 ibiza 1.2s in 2019 as a stop gap and although it had a few known to me faults it drove like a dream and idled unbelievably quiet. If the newer shape is anything like it then that would be one to definitely consider for me.
With insurance I wouldn't be so quick to go for a 1.0 or a 1.2 as when I was picking my second car sometimes it was cheaper with a bigger engine depending on model and year.
With insurance I wouldn't be so quick to go for a 1.0 or a 1.2 as when I was picking my second car sometimes it was cheaper with a bigger engine depending on model and year.
There’s always someone who says “ I found cheaper insurance on a 1.6 Focus than a Citroen C1”, but when my son was learning ( and after), anything that wasn’t 1.0, had really silly insurance , I.e £3-4000 rather than £1000-1500. ( 17 yo just passed test, main driver).
Even a 1.0 Corsa was over £2k.
Same with old cars. Seen many articles saying old Land Rovers or Beetles are good first cars because of cheap insurance. Whenever I found anyone doing this, they were always fronting.
This was after spending hours and hours on internet or phone.
I’m not accusing anyone of lying, just saying, don’t expect to find the same easily.
However , insurance makes no sense anyway, we got cheaper premiums by registering the address as his uni one, in central Glasgow , rather than in our quiet rural home. No sense at all.
Even a 1.0 Corsa was over £2k.
Same with old cars. Seen many articles saying old Land Rovers or Beetles are good first cars because of cheap insurance. Whenever I found anyone doing this, they were always fronting.
This was after spending hours and hours on internet or phone.
I’m not accusing anyone of lying, just saying, don’t expect to find the same easily.
However , insurance makes no sense anyway, we got cheaper premiums by registering the address as his uni one, in central Glasgow , rather than in our quiet rural home. No sense at all.
dom9 said:
Thanks for the info!
Interetsing advice re. engine size. Is there a quick way to check Insurance on multiple models these days?
Probably not, there are all sorts of variables that affect insurance prices. Best advice I can give is run a few cars through the comparison sites, find what is cheapest to insure for your daughter and buy one of those. Interetsing advice re. engine size. Is there a quick way to check Insurance on multiple models these days?
https://www.carinsurancegroups.co.uk/groups-list/
Obviously this will depend on age , experience and a multitude of other factors but it’s worth a look anyway.
It may or may not be of use.
Obviously this will depend on age , experience and a multitude of other factors but it’s worth a look anyway.
It may or may not be of use.
Got my daughter a 2010 Polo but the 1.4 automatic version - insurance was pretty cheap - £400 when a learner and £500 fully comp once passed her test with a black box as part of multi-car policy.
Daughter decided she didn't want to learn a manual as everything is going EV and will therefore be automatics anyway. I will say that it was a great decision as it took so much stress out of teaching her to drive!
Daughter decided she didn't want to learn a manual as everything is going EV and will therefore be automatics anyway. I will say that it was a great decision as it took so much stress out of teaching her to drive!
In a similar situation, missus wanting a cheap runabout and with kids wanting to learn to drive in a couple of years, we couldn't look past the 107/C1/Aygo trio and found a clean 2010 107 last year for around 1500. While there seem to plenty of them about, check MOT histories aappear to have been used and abused.
One thing to note is that the ADI my other half used for refresher lessons (RED) had a torquey, easy to drive modern diesel and she struggled a bit to adjust to the 107 which requires old-skool using the accelerator and raising the revs to get going and not stall. Not sure what the ADI car of choice is these days, but may make practising more fun
Chris
One thing to note is that the ADI my other half used for refresher lessons (RED) had a torquey, easy to drive modern diesel and she struggled a bit to adjust to the 107 which requires old-skool using the accelerator and raising the revs to get going and not stall. Not sure what the ADI car of choice is these days, but may make practising more fun
Chris
Cliffe60 said:
There’s always someone who says “ I found cheaper insurance on a 1.6 Focus than a Citroen C1”, but when my son was learning ( and after), anything that wasn’t 1.0, had really silly insurance , I.e £3-4000 rather than £1000-1500. ( 17 yo just passed test, main driver).
Even a 1.0 Corsa was over £2k.
Same with old cars. Seen many articles saying old Land Rovers or Beetles are good first cars because of cheap insurance. Whenever I found anyone doing this, they were always fronting.
This was after spending hours and hours on internet or phone.
I’m not accusing anyone of lying, just saying, don’t expect to find the same easily.
However , insurance makes no sense anyway, we got cheaper premiums by registering the address as his uni one, in central Glasgow , rather than in our quiet rural home. No sense at all.
My daughter was, I think, 19 when she started driving and we genuinely found her insurance for a mk4 golf tdi match se, which was quite a high insurance group, cheaper than the usual corsa etc suspects. I think sometimes the fact rhat statistically young people don't crash higher insurance groups cars cancels out the fact of the higher group, but I may he wrong. I'm sure she was 900 quid on her provisional but rhat went to 1400 when she passed but again, memory may he failing here!! Even a 1.0 Corsa was over £2k.
Same with old cars. Seen many articles saying old Land Rovers or Beetles are good first cars because of cheap insurance. Whenever I found anyone doing this, they were always fronting.
This was after spending hours and hours on internet or phone.
I’m not accusing anyone of lying, just saying, don’t expect to find the same easily.
However , insurance makes no sense anyway, we got cheaper premiums by registering the address as his uni one, in central Glasgow , rather than in our quiet rural home. No sense at all.
My thinking was I'd rather she was in a solid car than a chappy tin box, although some of the modern 'tin boxes' have very good safety ncap ratings.
My daughter is 18 she was learning for just over a year. Learner insurance in her name on her brothers 2009 Panda was £320. She passed a few weeks ago and bought herself a 2009 Fiat 500. £570 fully comp with GoSkippy.
She found a one owner FSH car with 36k on the clock (bonnet and bumper need relaquering its red) for £1900 just had a service and mot.
She found a one owner FSH car with 36k on the clock (bonnet and bumper need relaquering its red) for £1900 just had a service and mot.
Ziplobb said:
My daughter is 18 she was learning for just over a year. Learner insurance in her name on her brothers 2009 Panda was £320. She passed a few weeks ago and bought herself a 2009 Fiat 500. £570 fully comp with GoSkippy.
She found a one owner FSH car with 36k on the clock (bonnet and bumper need relaquering its red) for £1900 just had a service and mot.
Great wee cars!! She found a one owner FSH car with 36k on the clock (bonnet and bumper need relaquering its red) for £1900 just had a service and mot.
Drawweight said:
https://www.carinsurancegroups.co.uk/groups-list/
Obviously this will depend on age , experience and a multitude of other factors but it’s worth a look anyway.
It may or may not be of use.
IME insurance groups bare no relation to the price I pay. Obviously this will depend on age , experience and a multitude of other factors but it’s worth a look anyway.
It may or may not be of use.
Ziplobb said:
My daughter is 18 she was learning for just over a year. Learner insurance in her name on her brothers 2009 Panda was £320. She passed a few weeks ago and bought herself a 2009 Fiat 500. £570 fully comp with GoSkippy.
She found a one owner FSH car with 36k on the clock (bonnet and bumper need relaquering its red) for £1900 just had a service and mot.
A friend in Luton, his 18yrs old son recently passed and has bought a 2013 Ford Ka and that was only £700ish to insure with only himself named on the policy (SDP+C, fully comp) - I was really surprised at how reasonable it was!She found a one owner FSH car with 36k on the clock (bonnet and bumper need relaquering its red) for £1900 just had a service and mot.
When comparing insurance costs, tick the box to say cannot provide the driver number and try the same car both with a provisional licence and immediately after passing the test for the same driver. You may find that the company which was the lowest for the provisional licence is no longer the lowest after getting the full licence and suddenly you have to stump up a massive amount for the difference for the remainder of the term or cancel and get a new policy immediately. Also, the full licence insurance costs may well be much more different than the provisional licence insurance costs, and that's where the 1.0L 107/Aygo/C1 shine, they're cheaper to insure in both instances.
We got an 11 reg Peugeot 107 Urban with the 1.0L engine nearly 6 years ago when Little QQ1 was 17. Since then, it's been through all the abuse 2 teenage boys (Little QQs 1+2) can throw at it and, although Little QQ3 is a bit too young, it's still going strong enough to be passed along to the 3rd member of the extended family. Soon after buying the 107, I went past an accident nearby, a head-on collision between a 107 of a similar vintage and small van of some description. I was very relieved to see that the passenger compartment of the 107 was totally intact and the driver was out looking absolutely fine. Made me feel a lot better!
We got an 11 reg Peugeot 107 Urban with the 1.0L engine nearly 6 years ago when Little QQ1 was 17. Since then, it's been through all the abuse 2 teenage boys (Little QQs 1+2) can throw at it and, although Little QQ3 is a bit too young, it's still going strong enough to be passed along to the 3rd member of the extended family. Soon after buying the 107, I went past an accident nearby, a head-on collision between a 107 of a similar vintage and small van of some description. I was very relieved to see that the passenger compartment of the 107 was totally intact and the driver was out looking absolutely fine. Made me feel a lot better!
Great chat around insurance, all - especially same car pre/post test. Some good advice there.
She would be quite happy learning on an auto but I am having none of it (even though I think her reasoning re. electric cars is arguably sound).
She's seen a few Corsas on AT she thinks she quite likes, at reasonable money, so the next step is insurance checks as one is a 1.0 and a couple 1.2s.
Let's see if they are at all reasonable and make any difference pre/post test!
She would be quite happy learning on an auto but I am having none of it (even though I think her reasoning re. electric cars is arguably sound).
She's seen a few Corsas on AT she thinks she quite likes, at reasonable money, so the next step is insurance checks as one is a 1.0 and a couple 1.2s.
Let's see if they are at all reasonable and make any difference pre/post test!
dom9 said:
Great chat around insurance, all - especially same car pre/post test. Some good advice there.
She would be quite happy learning on an auto but I am having none of it (even though I think her reasoning re. electric cars is arguably sound).
She's seen a few Corsas on AT she thinks she quite likes, at reasonable money, so the next step is insurance checks as one is a 1.0 and a couple 1.2s.
Let's see if they are at all reasonable and make any difference pre/post test!
Why make her learn in a manual? She would probably be better of just learning to drive in an automatic. She would be quite happy learning on an auto but I am having none of it (even though I think her reasoning re. electric cars is arguably sound).
She's seen a few Corsas on AT she thinks she quite likes, at reasonable money, so the next step is insurance checks as one is a 1.0 and a couple 1.2s.
Let's see if they are at all reasonable and make any difference pre/post test!
dom9 said:
Great chat around insurance, all - especially same car pre/post test. Some good advice there.
She would be quite happy learning on an auto but I am having none of it (even though I think her reasoning re. electric cars is arguably sound).
She's seen a few Corsas on AT she thinks she quite likes, at reasonable money, so the next step is insurance checks as one is a 1.0 and a couple 1.2s.
Let's see if they are at all reasonable and make any difference pre/post test!
Alternatively, put her in a nearly new Panda, Picanto, C1 or the like for what, £130 a month and have peace of mind? She would be quite happy learning on an auto but I am having none of it (even though I think her reasoning re. electric cars is arguably sound).
She's seen a few Corsas on AT she thinks she quite likes, at reasonable money, so the next step is insurance checks as one is a 1.0 and a couple 1.2s.
Let's see if they are at all reasonable and make any difference pre/post test!
Edited by biggbn on Tuesday 29th June 14:44
Gassing Station | Car Buying | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff