Best car for 18 year old?
Discussion
ferrariF50lover said:
DrDoofenshmirtz said:
Just nonsense.
What a beautifully constructed argument. What's your issue with the suggestion? Bearing in mind it comes from first hand experience on my part.
The OP is an apprentice looking for something a bit better - and you're suggesting he goes out and insures and runs a big thirsty V8?
Again, he's an apprentice. You know apprentices earn peanuts right?
As opposed to the many, many people on here suggesting things like the Fiesta Zetec S, which will cost a buggering fortune to insure but peanuts to run, I am suggesting a rebalancing in favour of the OP. He may as well pay peanuts to insure a big Jag and spend his hard earned on having a laugh in his well appointed, reasonably rapid and very comfortable car.
In some instances, he might well end up better off. 35mpg at £4.85/gallon is £1658 across 12000 miles. 20mpg in the same circumstances will cost £2910, an extra £1252. If the insurance on the Jag is £250 and the insurance on the Fiesta or whatever is £1500, the whole thing is cost neutral and, with respect to Fiesta owners everywhere, he can have a proper car for his money.
Of course, being an apprentice, if money does become tight, he always has the option of taking the bus/walking/not going out to save the money he would otherwise be spending on fuel. He can time his filling of the tank or just bunging in a fiver's worth to coincide with his situation. With the insurance, he can't do that. The annual will probably be beyond his reach, so the monthly will have to do. That will come out on DD for the same amount on the same day of the month every month, regardless of whether the OP can really afford it or not. All the while, the "loan" of the cost of the premium us attracting interest, making the whole thing even more expensive.
It's actually quite a long way from nonsense, you see?
In some instances, he might well end up better off. 35mpg at £4.85/gallon is £1658 across 12000 miles. 20mpg in the same circumstances will cost £2910, an extra £1252. If the insurance on the Jag is £250 and the insurance on the Fiesta or whatever is £1500, the whole thing is cost neutral and, with respect to Fiesta owners everywhere, he can have a proper car for his money.
Of course, being an apprentice, if money does become tight, he always has the option of taking the bus/walking/not going out to save the money he would otherwise be spending on fuel. He can time his filling of the tank or just bunging in a fiver's worth to coincide with his situation. With the insurance, he can't do that. The annual will probably be beyond his reach, so the monthly will have to do. That will come out on DD for the same amount on the same day of the month every month, regardless of whether the OP can really afford it or not. All the while, the "loan" of the cost of the premium us attracting interest, making the whole thing even more expensive.
It's actually quite a long way from nonsense, you see?
Edited by ferrariF50lover on Friday 4th December 09:37
WSome of the bigger, faster cars can work out to be cheap to insure, but only certain ones. I was in The exact same situation as the OP earlier in the year, just completed my first year of driving and wanted to upgrade to something better, some quotes are cheap for what they are, but still way too expensive for an apprentice. In the end I couldn't ignore the renewal offer on my Polo so I ended up keeping it, to satisfy the petrolhead part of me I bought a '76 MGB GT. I'm now paying less to insure the two cars combined than I would be if I had replaced the Polo with something slightly better. So now I have a reliable little car to drive about in and a semi reliable classic to have my fun in, win win 
If you can get around the logistics of having 2 cars (which wasn't easy at 19) then it's definitely the way to go IMO
If you can get around the logistics of having 2 cars (which wasn't easy at 19) then it's definitely the way to go IMO
I think people are forgetting that the OP is 18!
Regardless of budget, running costs, insurance etc image is a big thing when u are 18.
Can you honestly say when u were 18 u wanted to waft about in a big V8 euro barge?!?!
"Borrowed your dads car again mate" comments spring to mind.
When I was 18 I was more interested in something fun that could cock its inside rear wheel around the roundabout at the top of the road than crusing around in a 15 year old V8 Jag with a walnut dash.
I'm only just coming to terms with the fact I like the XF estate & im 37!
Regardless of budget, running costs, insurance etc image is a big thing when u are 18.
Can you honestly say when u were 18 u wanted to waft about in a big V8 euro barge?!?!
"Borrowed your dads car again mate" comments spring to mind.
When I was 18 I was more interested in something fun that could cock its inside rear wheel around the roundabout at the top of the road than crusing around in a 15 year old V8 Jag with a walnut dash.
I'm only just coming to terms with the fact I like the XF estate & im 37!
Edited by Chris V6 255 on Friday 4th December 22:23
Chris V6 255 said:
I think people are forgetting that the OP is 18!
Regardless of running costs, insurance etc image is a big thing when u are 18.
Can you honestly say when u were 18 u wanted to waft about in a big V8 euro barge?!?!
"Borrowed your dads car again mate" comments spring to mind.
When I was 18 I was more interested in something fun that could cock its inside rear wheel around the roundabout at the top of the road than crusing around in a 15 year old V8 Jag with a walnut dash.
I'm only just coming to terms with the fact I like the XF estate & im 37!
I was more concerned in what was good to have a shag in....my 1st car, a VW Beetle was a total fail but the 2nd, a Morris Minor Traveller was a god send.Regardless of running costs, insurance etc image is a big thing when u are 18.
Can you honestly say when u were 18 u wanted to waft about in a big V8 euro barge?!?!
"Borrowed your dads car again mate" comments spring to mind.
When I was 18 I was more interested in something fun that could cock its inside rear wheel around the roundabout at the top of the road than crusing around in a 15 year old V8 Jag with a walnut dash.
I'm only just coming to terms with the fact I like the XF estate & im 37!
Chris V6 255 said:
I think people are forgetting that the OP is 18!
Regardless of budget, running costs, insurance etc image is a big thing when u are 18.
Can you honestly say when u were 18 u wanted to waft about in a big V8 euro barge?!?!
Exactly.Regardless of budget, running costs, insurance etc image is a big thing when u are 18.
Can you honestly say when u were 18 u wanted to waft about in a big V8 euro barge?!?!
No 18 year old wants to be driving around in some 80s flasher Mac paedo Jaguar
Chris V6 255 said:
I think people are forgetting that the OP is 18!
Regardless of budget, running costs, insurance etc image is a big thing when u are 18.
Can you honestly say when u were 18 u wanted to waft about in a big V8 euro barge?!?!
"Borrowed your dads car again mate" comments spring to mind.
When I was 18 I was more interested in something fun that could cock its inside rear wheel around the roundabout at the top of the road than crusing around in a 15 year old V8 Jag with a walnut dash.
I'm only just coming to terms with the fact I like the XF estate & im 37!
bRegardless of budget, running costs, insurance etc image is a big thing when u are 18.
Can you honestly say when u were 18 u wanted to waft about in a big V8 euro barge?!?!
"Borrowed your dads car again mate" comments spring to mind.
When I was 18 I was more interested in something fun that could cock its inside rear wheel around the roundabout at the top of the road than crusing around in a 15 year old V8 Jag with a walnut dash.
I'm only just coming to terms with the fact I like the XF estate & im 37!
Edited by Chris V6 255 on Friday 4th December 22:23
ks... my first car was a barge and everyone loved it.RWD was always fun as well
ferrariF50lover said:
The OP asked for a £2500-£3000 car that was hopefully faster than his Punto and reasonably inexpensive to insure.
In four pages, I seem to be basically the only person to offer that
Really? In four pages, I seem to be basically the only person to offer that
Just putting my 18 year old hat back on "backwards"
Lupo Gti - Yes please!
Twingo 133 - Yes Please!
Swift Sport - Yes Please!
Mini Cooper - Yes Please!
Jag V8 - Thanks Dad but I'll take the bus!
Edited by Chris V6 255 on Friday 4th December 23:21
Edited by Chris V6 255 on Friday 4th December 23:25
Not what you wanna hear, but hold on until you're 19/20. Insurance falls down by a crazy amount and you can go out and get any hot hatch of your choice! If you're desperate something likea 1.4 punto/ Panda 100hp will be a lot more entertaining but still fairly cheap to insure. Just so you have some reference for figures, one of my friends paid £2300 for his first years insurance on a Corsa 1.0, kept it for two years and earnt his NCB, he now drives a 172 Cup and it's insured for "only" £1200.
Stick with the Punto for a bit, save up some more cash and buy something decent next year.
I ruined my finances at 18-20ish with a succession of 'fast' cars, none of which were actually that fast (looking back now..) but cost me a bomb to insure. I didn't get that much more enjoyment out of them because frankly I was a bad driver then. You learn A LOT in your first few years of driving. If you learn to drive that Punto fast & smooth, but safely, you'll be in a good position to drive something more interesting in a year or two. Plus you'll have more to spend and the insurance will be considerably cheaper.
Any car can be fast on the road if you know how to drive it. I was driving the balls out of my car on a narrow country lane this evening, only just keeping up with a Yaris (!!) round the corners ... in my MK7 Fiesta ST... not sure what was going on but the chap in the Yaris obviously knew what he was doing and I guess knew the road better than me or had more balls.
I ruined my finances at 18-20ish with a succession of 'fast' cars, none of which were actually that fast (looking back now..) but cost me a bomb to insure. I didn't get that much more enjoyment out of them because frankly I was a bad driver then. You learn A LOT in your first few years of driving. If you learn to drive that Punto fast & smooth, but safely, you'll be in a good position to drive something more interesting in a year or two. Plus you'll have more to spend and the insurance will be considerably cheaper.
Any car can be fast on the road if you know how to drive it. I was driving the balls out of my car on a narrow country lane this evening, only just keeping up with a Yaris (!!) round the corners ... in my MK7 Fiesta ST... not sure what was going on but the chap in the Yaris obviously knew what he was doing and I guess knew the road better than me or had more balls.
mx5ian said:
This is true I had an 850 T5 when I was 19 and it was cheaper to insure than a Saxo VTR! If you stay away from the hot hatches etc and go for something like a Volvo S60 (All the earlier petrol engines in your budget are turbo) Saab 9-3 turbo or similar.
This.Aged 18 I wanted a Vectra GSi. Insurance was stupid (I'd had to claim after my Cav Turbo 4x4 was stolen so I'd lost what little NCB I had) so I bought the 3.0 V6 Vauxhall Omega instead. Quicker car, loads more toys, more comfort, old man looks but decent enough handling, half the cost of insurance. Just have to think outside the box a little.
Chris, I'm bored with trying to make you see the point of the OP and where it differs from your continued insistence that his car must be "cool".
Otolith, I'm equally bored with repeating that the Jag (or any other car of that type) suggestion comes from personal experience. At 18, I chopped a Corsa for an XJ and got a four-figure insurance rebate.
This is becoming a chore, I shall bow out and leave the OP to sort the wheat from the chaff as he sees fit.
Otolith, I'm equally bored with repeating that the Jag (or any other car of that type) suggestion comes from personal experience. At 18, I chopped a Corsa for an XJ and got a four-figure insurance rebate.
This is becoming a chore, I shall bow out and leave the OP to sort the wheat from the chaff as he sees fit.
Edited by ferrariF50lover on Saturday 5th December 11:36
anonymous said:
[redacted]
At the same time, while you have fewer responsibilities and more expendable cash when you're not having to pay rent and utilities e.t.c. Why not indulge in a nice car 
I'd draw the line at what can I afford without having to worsen my quality of life. It wouldn't make sense to spend ALL of your money on a car and insurance. But if you have enough of a buffer after you've spent the money, then why not!
The real issue is that at 18, it's going to be ridiculously hard to get insured on something worth paying through the nose for. I'd guess that something like a Saxo VTR would be north of 1500 quid, and if you've already got a car, I don't really see that being a worthwhile move.
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