Most comfortable car for me that 17year old can learn in

[Biglips]

Looking for suggestions for the most comfortable car on the market that can be used by a learner.

My daughter turns 17 next month and we need something for her to learn in. However we have very tight parking and cannot get an additional car in the household. So the plan is for me to sell my e class estate barge and get something more appropriate that she can learn in. I will share the car with her. I have a Mint NA MX5 that I can use for weekend fun and I don’t want to let go of for sentimental reasons. I will use the new car for daily duties but I walk to work and don’t do a large mileage.

However I am a big guy and have a dodgy back and cannot face the usual aygo/108/c1 type of cars and love big barges. Any suggestions that I will like and won’t be ridiculous insurance quotes for my daughter? Budget not a major factor for the right car.

To give some idea of what I am thinking of, I am taking a mini clubman for a 48 hour test drive as this is on my list

TLDR most comfortable car for me that can be insured for a learner. Small capacity petrol and 4 seats and can get a surfboard on the roof. Low mileage and lots of town driving.

Thanks for any suggestions!

[clockworks]

Keep your car and pay for driving lessons.

[Martin30]

Is there a reason why you are not suggesting your daughter learns in the MX5?

From my recent experience, insuring my 17 year old son on any of the family cars as a learner was a real non-issue - Dayinsure (amongst others) will happily insure a learner on a car in addition to, and without impacting on, the existing insurance policy on the car. It was around £50 a month on my wife's Fiesta ST, and you can insure month by month, even week by week. They will also happily insure the learner on a borrowed car, i.e. grandparent/friend's car.

Insuring them post test pass is a whole different ball game however.

Martin.

[Biglips]

clockworks said:

Keep your car and pay for driving lessons.

Agree, and that is the initial plan but she will need a car once she has passed too.

[Biglips]

Martin30 said:

Is there a reason why you are not suggesting your daughter learns in the MX5?

From my recent experience, insuring my 17 year old son on any of the family cars as a learner was a real non-issue - Dayinsure (amongst others) will happily insure a learner on a car in addition to, and without impacting on, the existing insurance policy on the car. It was around £50 a month on my wife's Fiesta ST, and you can insure month by month, even week by week. They will also happily insure the learner on a borrowed car, i.e. grandparent/friend's car.

Insuring them post test pass is a whole different ball game however.

Martin.

Thanks Martin

I am happy for her to use the Mx5 and did contemplate this but it won’t offer any sort of crash protection and so I think this Is not a good starter car.

My car is a 5 litre auto so no good for her and wife’s car is a cooper s convertible . Too fast and rubbish visibility. No relatives nearby that would be able to lend us a car. I may just have to suck it up and get a 1 litre stty car for a while but my back won’t like it which is why I was seeing if there is anything I hadn’t thought of. Also working on a garage solution but some way off at present

[kieranblenk]

A mid size hatch/estate or small crossover with one of the low capacity 1.0/1.2 turbo petrols should be fairly reasonable to insure but still decent to drive and comfortable.

Audi A3
Ford Focus EcoBoost
Seat Leon/Arona/Ateca
VW Golf/T Cross
Skoda Octavia/Yeti/Karoq
Renault Megane/Captur/Kadjar
Peugeot 308/3008
Citroen C3 Aircross/C4 Cactus
Kia Ceed/Stonic
Suzuki SX4 S Cross/Vitara

There will be more I haven't thought of but that's a decent sample size for different scales of budget.

[Biglips]

kieranblenk said:

A mid size hatch/estate or small crossover with one of the low capacity 1.0/1.2 turbo petrols should be fairly reasonable to insure but still decent to drive and comfortable.

Audi A3
Ford Focus EcoBoost
Seat Leon/Arona/Ateca
VW Golf/T Cross
Skoda Octavia/Yeti/Karoq
Renault Megane/Captur/Kadjar
Peugeot 308/3008
Citroen C3 Aircross/C4 Cactus
Kia Ceed/Stonic
Suzuki SX4 S Cross/Vitara

There will be more I haven't thought of but that's a decent sample size for different scales of budget.

That’s a great list thank you. I had the golf and the cactus on my list but a few I hadn’t considered. This segment has changed so much since I was sat in it pre children!

I will go and sit in a few to see how I fit. Any owners able to comment on seat comfort in any of those or any others to add to the list gratefully received.

[WCNFSL117]

I'm 6'4" and found both the Focus (2006-) and the Golf (2004-) deceptively rooms and comfy on long drives. The insurance should be reasonable for first time drivers provided you look at <1799cc variants.

[RSTurboPaul]

Insurance might be a killer, but I found the seats in the last version of the Fiesta ST very supporting - I'm not sure if the same seats are in the ST-line, which IIRC comes with the 1.0 120bhp engine as one of the variants?

[Pica-Pica]

Try a Skoda Fabia. The previous 1.2 TSI 4 cyl. engine is very good, has a slick gear-change, comfortable, should fit a tall person, can seat 4 adults.

[Biglips]

Thanks for the further suggestions. I am leaning towards a golf. Had a mk2 GTi back in the day and have fond memories of it

I have just discovered marmalade car insurance too. Specifically set up for young drivers. They do a scheme where you can buy or lease a car with insurance for the youngster included. I will need to do the maths on this vs stand-alone insurance but is an interesting model.

[aka_kerrly]

You should really get insurance quotes for Before an After she passes her test.

Many many parents have insured cars at very reasonable rates for a learner which become astronomical once they have passed, hence why very small engine low insurance group cars litre Cit C1 /aygo an so on a the current popular choices.

Personally, I'd pay for her lessons an then she can buy her own car and insure it when she passes as I am generally against learners out in their parents cars.

[Biglips]

aka_kerrly said:

You should really get insurance quotes for Before an After she passes her test.

Many many parents have insured cars at very reasonable rates for a learner which become astronomical once they have passed, hence why very small engine low insurance group cars litre Cit C1 /aygo an so on a the current popular choices.

Personally, I'd pay for her lessons an then she can buy her own car and insure it when she passes as I am generally against learners out in their parents cars.

Yes I agree in principal but we cannot have an additional car in the household and so we will have to share a car.
I don’t think I will be able to manage a car from the C1/ aygo class because of my seating needs

[keith333]

I just bought a Kia Rio for my 17 year old daughter to learn in. Insurance group 3, Road tax £30 and seems a reasonable size inside.

[Biglips]

keith333 said:

I just bought a Kia Rio for my 17 year old daughter to learn in. Insurance group 3, Road tax £30 and seems a reasonable size inside.

That’s helpful thanks as I have never even sat in a Kia. I will add to the list

[quinny100]

The previous generation Hyundai i30 is well worth a look if your priorities are comfort. I used one as a pool car at work and often took it in preference to an Insignia as I found the seats and ergonomics were better. Plenty of room in the back too.

I recommended it to my parents and they bought one for my Mum a couple of years ago. My Dad has chronic back problems and would rarely drive my Mum’s old Focus because he didn’t like the seats but he rarely uses his own car now as he finds the i30 comfortable and it’s a lot more economical.

[Biglips]

quinny100 said:

The previous generation Hyundai i30 is well worth a look if your priorities are comfort. I used one as a pool car at work and often took it in preference to an Insignia as I found the seats and ergonomics were better. Plenty of room in the back too.

I recommended it to my parents and they bought one for my Mum a couple of years ago. My Dad has chronic back problems and would rarely drive my Mum’s old Focus because he didn’t like the seats but he rarely uses his own car now as he finds the i30 comfortable and it’s a lot more economical.

Thank you will also put on the shortlist

[Shiv_P]

Learning provisional insurance is not prohibitively expensive. Once a 17 year old has passed however it is

[M4cruiser]

Biglips said:

I don’t think I will be able to manage a car from the C1/ aygo class because of my seating needs

Have you actually sat in any of these small things? You'd be surprised. Choose one that has a higher seating position and they're not too bad for a big person.
My current favourite is the Hyundai i10 (old model). Don't laugh until you've tried it.

[ZX10R NIN]

I'd say a Vauxhall Astra or Kia Ceed/Pro Ceed.