What car for a mate?

[v1paul]

My mates looking for a first car. 17 years old. Budget of a grand. Cheap insurance. Fairly straightforward what car, 106's saxo's but which is the best choice out of the obvious one?

[Benjybh]

Old Mini. <£600 classic insurance.

/thread

[43034]

Budget of a grand including insurance? Or £1k for the car?

Don't go for 106s/Saxo etc etc as they're typical 17 y/o cars that are crashed. Think out of the box. Landrover seems to be popular here! What about a classic car?

[balders118]

306 1.6/1.8... Still cheap to insure (was 5 years ago when I was 17), and handles great. Had two in the family, and both been bomb proof.

[AMST09]

Struggle to get classic insurance at younger than 21

Best to get something random for a young person like a skoda or volvo to keep insurance down

[v1paul]

Budget for just the car, insurance is getting insanely expensive now though.

[The Hitman]

I would suggest an early 90's supermini like a 205/AX.

Loved my AX when I first started driving. Handled great and the engine was nippy enough for what I needed. Mine even had electric windows!

Also, if he'll be a dick on the road it wouldn't take much to remove him from the gene pool

[43034]

AMST09 said:

Struggle to get classic insurance at younger than 21

Best to get something random for a young person like a skoda or volvo to keep insurance down

Seems both Footman James and Peter James offer it for 17 y/o, you need to phone though.

S/he may not be interested in a classic car though. I agree with the above though, Skoda/Volvo could be an idea.

[Benjybh]

AMST09 said:

Struggle to get classic insurance at younger than 21

I managed

[jkracing]

You can find classic insurance, a friend of mine has a proper beetle at 18...

Definitely avoid the typical chav wagons.... saxo, 106, fiesta etc. I had a 306 for my first car, a mighty 1.4, but it was actually very un to drive.

KA's are also worth a look, girly i know, but great fun to drive, you'd be impressed with the cornering abilities of something seemingly so terrible!