First car for Son
Discussion
My son turns 17 in January and I also need a station car for the winter. Going to sell my 9-3 Aero Coupe which I have had for 7 years and could never find anything better for under 20K worth replacing it for. So going to P/X it, probably for pennies to what its actually worth and how much enjoyment it gives me (abbott tuned), and kill 2 birds with one stone and get a runaround my son can use for learning in, then give it to him when he passes his test, and I probably get a V8 M3.
So my list for the car, based highly on insurance premiums and some sort of safety for him (so no classics) is either a Twingo, Ford Mk1 KA, or a Nissan Pixo(cheapest insurance so far by a lot).
Can you think of any models I might have missed which may better these? Looking for under 4K, under 40K miles and something cheap to fix and reliable. If there is some sort of driver enjoyment in there too, that would be great but I am accepting this may not be there, although I know a KA is fun to chuck around.
Cheers
So my list for the car, based highly on insurance premiums and some sort of safety for him (so no classics) is either a Twingo, Ford Mk1 KA, or a Nissan Pixo(cheapest insurance so far by a lot).
Can you think of any models I might have missed which may better these? Looking for under 4K, under 40K miles and something cheap to fix and reliable. If there is some sort of driver enjoyment in there too, that would be great but I am accepting this may not be there, although I know a KA is fun to chuck around.
Cheers
Kia Picanto
No, really, stop laughing. Same kind of money as a Pixo/Twingo, screwed together a bit better (certainly better than the Twingo) and despite the overly light controls it's actually quite fun to chuck around in a "like a go kart" way.
Before people jump in with their couple of hours in a courtesy car experiences, I owned one for 18mo/21,000mi. Insurance was cheap too.
Unstoppable in snow (in a go-anywhere way, not a unable to brake way) on it's skinny little wheels too, on standard tyres.
No, really, stop laughing. Same kind of money as a Pixo/Twingo, screwed together a bit better (certainly better than the Twingo) and despite the overly light controls it's actually quite fun to chuck around in a "like a go kart" way.
Before people jump in with their couple of hours in a courtesy car experiences, I owned one for 18mo/21,000mi. Insurance was cheap too.
Unstoppable in snow (in a go-anywhere way, not a unable to brake way) on it's skinny little wheels too, on standard tyres.
Aygo/C1/107 are good bets. Just don't go for the base specs as they won't have side airbags. He'll be able to do the teenage thing of revving the nuts off it and it will take the abuse, but he'll never manage to go that fast. Reasonable economy, cheap parts, 14" wheels so tyres are cheap.
MK1 Focus or a MK4 Astra (just not with a 1.6 16v). A grand will get you a good one, and parts are very cheap.
In my experience they are cheaper to insure for younger drivers if you get the right model and get a bunch of quotes. Also much nicer to drive and not to mention safer.
Admiral, 9 month accelerator policy so he gets a years no claims, limit mileage, keep car on drive not garage, and add older drivers to the policy. This should get you a reasonable premium, and once he has a years no claims it will make life much easier!
In my experience they are cheaper to insure for younger drivers if you get the right model and get a bunch of quotes. Also much nicer to drive and not to mention safer.
Admiral, 9 month accelerator policy so he gets a years no claims, limit mileage, keep car on drive not garage, and add older drivers to the policy. This should get you a reasonable premium, and once he has a years no claims it will make life much easier!
BlueEyedBoy said:
My son turns 17 in January and I also need a station car for the winter. Going to sell my 9-3 Aero Coupe which I have had for 7 years and could never find anything better for under 20K worth replacing it for. So going to P/X it, [b]probably for pennies to what its actually worth and how much enjoyment it gives me[b] (abbott tuned), and kill 2 birds with one stone and get a runaround my son can use for learning in, then give it to him when he passes his test, and I probably get a V8 M3.
So my list for the car, based highly on insurance premiums and some sort of safety for him (so no classics) is either a Twingo, Ford Mk1 KA, or a Nissan Pixo(cheapest insurance so far by a lot).
Can you think of any models I might have missed which may better these? Looking for under 4K, under 40K miles and something cheap to fix and reliable. If there is some sort of driver enjoyment in there too, that would be great but I am accepting this may not be there, although I know a KA is fun to chuck around.
Cheers
May I ask, why are you getting rid if that's the case? Why not use the Saab as the station car?So my list for the car, based highly on insurance premiums and some sort of safety for him (so no classics) is either a Twingo, Ford Mk1 KA, or a Nissan Pixo(cheapest insurance so far by a lot).
Can you think of any models I might have missed which may better these? Looking for under 4K, under 40K miles and something cheap to fix and reliable. If there is some sort of driver enjoyment in there too, that would be great but I am accepting this may not be there, although I know a KA is fun to chuck around.
Cheers
chrissull said:
Look up insurance for a 1.6 mk1 focus. You'll be surprised.
I'm 22 and learning to drive and the focus is £400 cheaper for me to insure than a 1.25 fiesta.
I had a 1.8 TDDI mk1 focus and was the cheapest about. I'm 22 and learning to drive and the focus is £400 cheaper for me to insure than a 1.25 fiesta.
17,good postcode,12k miles was £2700 as me as the only person on the policy. Only learnt afterward adding parents was cheaper.
If you buy a mk1 focus also buy him a radio, it comes with a tape player.....
The key with young driver insurance is that it's really not directly related to engine size or even performance, it's just about the risk calculated by insurers on the basis of the number of claims they get from drivers of that particular model.
I'm not surprised to learn that a Focus could be cheaper than a Fiesta - my first car (five years ago) was a two-litre Mondeo that was absolutely no more to insure than the s
tboxes my mates had, so think outside the box a bit. This also has obvious safety and purchase price advantages too!
I'm not surprised to learn that a Focus could be cheaper than a Fiesta - my first car (five years ago) was a two-litre Mondeo that was absolutely no more to insure than the s
tboxes my mates had, so think outside the box a bit. This also has obvious safety and purchase price advantages too!sleep envy said:
May I ask, why are you getting rid if that's the case? Why not use the Saab as the station car?
Because as soon as I have my new garage built it was going to be going to be replaced by something a bit quicker. I have a motorbike for most of the year.I bought it 7 years ago as a stepping stone car to replace my Cerbera as my little girl's car seat couldn't fit in it. 7 years later and still here. This gives me the ability to P/X it against something else as I can't be bothered to sell it privately even though I know I won't get what its worth. I am barely ever at home so its very difficuly to sell cars myself.
BlueEyedBoy said:
Because as soon as I have my new garage built it was going to be going to be replaced by something a bit quicker. I have a motorbike for most of the year.
I bought it 7 years ago as a stepping stone car to replace my Cerbera as my little girl's car seat couldn't fit in it. 7 years later and still here. This gives me the ability to P/X it against something else as I can't be bothered to sell it privately even though I know I won't get what its worth. I am barely ever at home so its very difficuly to sell cars myself.
In that case I'll give you pennies for it I bought it 7 years ago as a stepping stone car to replace my Cerbera as my little girl's car seat couldn't fit in it. 7 years later and still here. This gives me the ability to P/X it against something else as I can't be bothered to sell it privately even though I know I won't get what its worth. I am barely ever at home so its very difficuly to sell cars myself.
I'm probably going to go through the same 'what car shall I get' for my daughter next year. Another way to approch it, is to pop into local insurance broker, and find the 10 cheapest cars to insure. Then pick from the list. Hopefully, something acceptable will be on it. Plus the parent on the insurance as well.
BorkFactor said:
MK1 Focus or a MK4 Astra (just not with a 1.6 16v). A grand will get you a good one, and parts are very cheap.
In my experience they are cheaper to insure for younger drivers if you get the right model and get a bunch of quotes. Also much nicer to drive and not to mention safer.
Admiral, 9 month accelerator policy so he gets a years no claims, limit mileage, keep car on drive not garage, and add older drivers to the policy. This should get you a reasonable premium, and once he has a years no claims it will make life much easier!
Just tried a 1.6 Diesel 90bhp focus, not too bad, 600 more than the nissan, but similar to the Twingo.In my experience they are cheaper to insure for younger drivers if you get the right model and get a bunch of quotes. Also much nicer to drive and not to mention safer.
Admiral, 9 month accelerator policy so he gets a years no claims, limit mileage, keep car on drive not garage, and add older drivers to the policy. This should get you a reasonable premium, and once he has a years no claims it will make life much easier!
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