Car to learn / 17 year old girl / general help
Discussion
Both my daughters started on a Renault Clio 1.2 8v Dynamique I bought from a neighbour for £250. It's 2006 with 6500o miles and has just gone through it's second MOT with little expense. The 8v is low insurance and has a pretty good safety record (I discounted early Yaris for that). The car was cheap becuse she had let it lie up during an illness and the alternator seized wringing the fan belt. Half an hour fettling and back in action. Now lots of wee scrapes and scratches from two years abuse but who cares?
Anyone got experience of learning or teaching the kids in something Golf size, Mk5 or 6?
We've currently got 4 vehicles in the household, none of which are suitable for learning duties (2 autos, a van and a too expensive to insure soft top).
I could get rid of one of the autos and use the Golf, thus avoiding the cost of vehicle no 5 being added to the fleet. Yes, I could do the same with something smaller as a learner vehicle but don't really want to be driving a Yaris/Micra/Aygo or similar for my occasional 60 mile round trip office commute.
We've currently got 4 vehicles in the household, none of which are suitable for learning duties (2 autos, a van and a too expensive to insure soft top).
I could get rid of one of the autos and use the Golf, thus avoiding the cost of vehicle no 5 being added to the fleet. Yes, I could do the same with something smaller as a learner vehicle but don't really want to be driving a Yaris/Micra/Aygo or similar for my occasional 60 mile round trip office commute.
boxst said:
Goodness me -- it's been a LONG time since I've bought a second-hand cheap-ish car. Most of the adverts appear to be from traders, I thought there would be more private advertisers -- I'm in East Sussex / Kent though so perhaps that makes a difference.
I've always found it a tough area to buy cars, possibly because a big chunk of the '20 mile radius' covers the English Channel.Very few people bother with the hassle of selling cars privately now as there are so many clowns who offer half the asking price and waste your time. For stuff like this though, you may get lucky with a private sale as frugal people like to maximise their returns, and you're after a frugal person's car here.
It's also worth checking the Friday Ad, some people still use it around there.
These threads pop up every now and again and the answer always is:
Micra K11.
Bought one for little Miss H67 when she was 17. 60odd thousand miler for £800. She learnt in it and passed her test in it.
Nearly 5 years later she's still got it, now on 107K miles and still going strong. Sails through MOTs, I change the oil and plugs once a year and stick the odd tyre on it now and again.
It takes everything thrown at it in its stride, nothing ever seems to goes wrong with it, it has never let her down and owes us nothing.
There`s still loads of low milers around for under a grand.
Micra K11.
Bought one for little Miss H67 when she was 17. 60odd thousand miler for £800. She learnt in it and passed her test in it.
Nearly 5 years later she's still got it, now on 107K miles and still going strong. Sails through MOTs, I change the oil and plugs once a year and stick the odd tyre on it now and again.
It takes everything thrown at it in its stride, nothing ever seems to goes wrong with it, it has never let her down and owes us nothing.
There`s still loads of low milers around for under a grand.
Looking at this http://www.motorline.co.uk/toyota/used-car-details...
Seems reasonably priced and at least a main dealer (where we bought a family car from). Should be able to negotiate down a few hundred hopefully.
Seems reasonably priced and at least a main dealer (where we bought a family car from). Should be able to negotiate down a few hundred hopefully.
boxst said:
Looking at this http://www.motorline.co.uk/toyota/used-car-details...
Seems reasonably priced and at least a main dealer (where we bought a family car from). Should be able to negotiate down a few hundred hopefully.
That's the previous generation model, which were nasty to drive. The new shape Aygo is nicer to pedal, but not yet within budget.Seems reasonably priced and at least a main dealer (where we bought a family car from). Should be able to negotiate down a few hundred hopefully.
Also, the paintwork on the one advertised above looks mint... Do you REALLY want to give a minter to a 17 year old?
Prevailing opinion here suggests you should get a low mileage K11 Micra with a few "usage marks" on the bodywork. Which actually sounds like a good shout.
boxst said:
Looking at this http://www.motorline.co.uk/toyota/used-car-details...
Seems reasonably priced and at least a main dealer (where we bought a family car from). Should be able to negotiate down a few hundred hopefully.
Looks ideal, no a/c though if that matters (unless I'm missing something).Seems reasonably priced and at least a main dealer (where we bought a family car from). Should be able to negotiate down a few hundred hopefully.
Other than that I'd say it's perfect.
Thank you for the comments. It's a slippery slope as you go "mmmm, for only £1000 more ....". For example this http://used.hyundai.co.uk/model-search/Hyundai/i10... has 3 years warranty left and only one owner.
(And I take the point about the pre-dented, but hopefully this car will last her through University)
(And I take the point about the pre-dented, but hopefully this car will last her through University)
boxst said:
Thank you for the comments. It's a slippery slope as you go "mmmm, for only £1000 more ....". For example this http://used.hyundai.co.uk/model-search/Hyundai/i10... has 3 years warranty left and only one owner.
(And I take the point about the pre-dented, but hopefully this car will last her through University)
That kind of budget creep is perfectly fine when you're buying a car for you - not when it's for a 17 year old! (And I take the point about the pre-dented, but hopefully this car will last her through University)
boxst said:
Thank you for the comments. It's a slippery slope as you go "mmmm, for only £1000 more ....". For example this http://used.hyundai.co.uk/model-search/Hyundai/i10... has 3 years warranty left and only one owner.
(And I take the point about the pre-dented, but hopefully this car will last her through University)
Have you checked that her Unis will have parking at the Halls and at the Uni itself? Most do not for under grads. I wanted to get something decent for my two as I thought it would last through Uni but gave up when I saw that the Unis they wanted to go to had no parking either at the Halls or Uni unless they had a blue badge.(And I take the point about the pre-dented, but hopefully this car will last her through University)
I'm going with something really cheap and binning it if needed when they go to Uni.
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