Recommendations for a 17 year old

[EuropeanBob]

Hi, hope everyone had a good Christmas and happy new years! I am looking to buy my first car but I really don’t know where to start! I have a budget of up to around the 15k mark. I had my mind set on a 1 Series (118d or 116d) but even with the 116d I am getting quoted £2000 a year which would have been fine for me but that’s WITH a black box, which I would rather not have. Without a black box I am getting quotes from £6000 upwards! So I have been looking into alternatives. I am looking for something not too small nor too big, doesn’t have to be “fast” but I would like a nice looking car that has a good driving experience, although I do understand that people have different opinions on which cars look nice. I also liked the fact that the 1 Series is rwd. My insurance spending limit is around £2000 a year and preferably no black box but I do realise that insurance may be completely different for different people. Any help would be appreciated thanks!

Apologies in advanced if my sentences are all over the place hopefully they make sense.

[Hammersia]

I would be surprised if any normal sort of car, even much cheaper ones, would be much less than £2,000 a year for 17 year old to insure.

[Maracus]

My lad bought an Aygo 3 years ago. Insurance was £500 for the first year, then once he'd passed his test it was around £600.

This year it was £286 for 3000 miles a year with a black box.

It depends if you're happy to have a 'nicer' car and pay the insurance, or by a cheaper to insure car and pocket the insurance money.

[georgeyboy12345]

You need a sub-10 insurance group for a young new driver. 116ds are group 20. You have to remember 116ds are a 2 litre turbo diesel with 192 lb ft of torque and will remap up to 170 bhp. Also I’d forget about RWD for a 17 year old.

I’ll post some cars up later

[EuropeanBob]

Hammersia said:

I would be surprised if any normal sort of car, even much cheaper ones, would be much less than £2,000 a year for 17 year old to insure.

Yeah to be fair, I wouldn’t mind paying a bit more on insurance but I would prefer to not have a black box and £6000 is just a tad bit too much haha

[HJG]

15K budget?
Spend £5K including insurance on a ~2012 onwards Fiesta and save the £10K towards a house deposit.

[EuropeanBob]

georgeyboy12345 said:

You need a sub-10 insurance group for a young new driver. 116ds are group 20. You have to remember 116ds are a 2 litre turbo diesel with 192 lb ft of torque and will remap up to 170 bhp. Also I’d forget about RWD for a 17 year old.

I’ll post some cars up later

I think you are referring to the 118d, the 116d is a 1.5 litre. And yeah I do like diesels more as they have more torque low down which i’d put to use more than something like the 118i which is quicker from 60+.

[MorganFoth]

15K on a car you will most likely have a few accidents in, first car is always a learning curve!

I'd personally budget around £4-5k, keep the £10k towards your second car when your insurance drops considerably after your first year or two.

What about a NB MX5? Low power but very light weight and 50/50 weight balance, very good drivers car to learn in.

A diesel 1 series will be a very bland and boring experience.

[Bannock]

georgeyboy12345 said:

You need a sub-10 insurance group for a young new driver.

Exactly this. Go on Autotrader and set the Insurance Group filter to "up to 10". Then choose a Clio or Corsa at your leisure.



I went through this last year, and ended up getting a Corolla 1.4 for my lad. Mind you, my budget was £1.5k, not £15k.

[EuropeanBob]

MorganFoth said:

15K on a car you will most likely have a few accidents in, first car is always a learning curve!

I'd personally budget around £4-5k, keep the £10k towards your second car when your insurance drops considerably after your first year or two.

What about a NB MX5? Low power but very light weight and 50/50 weight balance, very good drivers car to learn in.

A diesel 1 series will be a very bland and boring experience.

That NB MX5 does look like a fun little motor, although ideally i’d have a bit more space for some extra curricular actives

[LankyFreak]

I was in the same boat, ended up in an Aygo. They are fine.

Get a mk2 Clio Campus or similar.

A Seicento would be a fun little pissabout.

[ARHarh]

HJG said:

15K budget?
Spend £5K including insurance on a ~2012 onwards Fiesta and save the £10K towards a house deposit.

There is not a single 17 year old lad who thinks I just save that cash for house deposit. That will be the last thing on his mind.

But good advice to buy something cheaper as chances are you will end up damaging it through being invincible as we all were as 17 years olds.

[HJG]

ARHarh said:

There is not a single 17 year old lad who thinks I just save that cash for house deposit. That will be the last thing on his mind.

But good advice to buy something cheaper as chances are you will end up damaging it through being invincible as we all were as 17 years olds.

This is very true. But not many who have 15K to spend on their first car.
OP, the money is best elsewhere as boring as it sounds.

[MorganFoth]

I got quoted like 3k for a Fiesta when I was 17 Y/O. Then quoted around £900 on a Jaguar XJ!

Honestly you would be surprised what gets cheap insurance, loads of Fiesta's and Clio's been binned by young drivers, not old Volvos or Saabs etc.

I'd just keep playing around with insurance putting different car regs into the search keeping same driver details.

Honda Civic Type S, mate had one when we all got cars and was definitely best car of the lot, was quick(ish), spacey and never ever went wrong compared to our fleet of Clios and Puntos etc

[EuropeanBob]

MorganFoth said:

I got quoted like 3k for a Fiesta when I was 17 Y/O. Then quoted around £900 on a Jaguar XJ!

Honestly you would be surprised what gets cheap insurance, loads of Fiesta's and Clio's been binned by young drivers, not old Volvos or Saabs etc.

I'd just keep playing around with insurance putting different car regs into the search keeping same driver details.

Honda Civic Type S, mate had one when we all got cars and was definitely best car of the lot, was quick(ish), spacey and never ever went wrong compared to our fleet of Clios and Puntos etc

Been trying loads of different cars ranging from 2 litres up to 4 litres get the same basically every time. 2-3k with a black box or smartphone driving app or 6k without it!

[alisdairm]

What is the issue having a black box fitted?
It stops you driving like a knob, and possibly injuring/killing yourself and or others?

[LankyFreak]

alisdairm said:

What is the issue having a black box fitted?
It stops you driving like a knob, and possibly injuring/killing yourself and or others?

He just doesn't want one. Nobody actually wants a blackbox.

[______]

One year with black box , get your ncb, then drive whatever at much more reasonable rates.

[alisdairm]

If someone offered me £4k a year to have a black box fitted, I'd take that.

[damianmkv]

Get a 500 Abarth. No 17 year old lad ( I assume ) wants to be seen in a fiat 500, so this makes the Abarth relatively low risk in the eyes of an insurer.

My eldest paid £6k for a 2014 ( you want this for the digital dash ) a couple of years ago. Insurance was £1780 on a provisional with no black box when he was just 17

135bhp, great car to learn how to drive and have fun with.

Just be careful what you buy as they break easily and are pricey to fix

Edited by damianmkv on Wednesday 11th January 17:52