Son's 1st car - R56 Mini 1.4 One
Discussion
With my son turning 17 in a couple of weeks I've been searching for a suitable first car that won't sting me too much on insurance, be reliable and safe. budget set up to £3,500 which I thought should be easy to find a decent car. Looked at quite a few dogs and cars with questionable history before finding this one on one of the facebay selling sites.
Viewed this morning, a nice seller who cleaned the car before we arrived, described honestly, with a full service history and receipts for work including recent new pads and discs. Couple of minor marks as to be expected from an 8year old car but everything else checked out.
Deal was done and after sorting the paperwork and insurance it was an hour's journey back home. ( why are the cars I want never close by? )
Car performed well, no nasty knocks or noises and surprisingly quick for a 1.4
Only one photo so far after getting it home, looking forward to giving it a good clean and polish tomorrow before taking some better pics.
Need to fix the stripes on the boot as the corners have started to lift (owner gave me some spare striping) and the vanity mirror cover on the drivers side needs securing as it looks like the pins are broken/missing. Will need new front tyres in a couple of thousand miles but good for now (matching set of Falkens)
Next job will be a visit to Halfords to buy some L plates and the joy of teaching him to driv can begin!!
Viewed this morning, a nice seller who cleaned the car before we arrived, described honestly, with a full service history and receipts for work including recent new pads and discs. Couple of minor marks as to be expected from an 8year old car but everything else checked out.
Deal was done and after sorting the paperwork and insurance it was an hour's journey back home. ( why are the cars I want never close by? )
Car performed well, no nasty knocks or noises and surprisingly quick for a 1.4
Only one photo so far after getting it home, looking forward to giving it a good clean and polish tomorrow before taking some better pics.
Need to fix the stripes on the boot as the corners have started to lift (owner gave me some spare striping) and the vanity mirror cover on the drivers side needs securing as it looks like the pins are broken/missing. Will need new front tyres in a couple of thousand miles but good for now (matching set of Falkens)
Next job will be a visit to Halfords to buy some L plates and the joy of teaching him to driv can begin!!
keekodog said:
How much is the insurance for your son?
Mine turns 17 shortly and i am dreading it!
It's a nightmare - the mini is £380 a year with a provisional licence and about £1200 a year once he passes his test (black box needed after pass)Mine turns 17 shortly and i am dreading it!
Went all around the houses trying to find a good price and the mini was one of the cheaper we could find. The C1/Aygo type cars were a bit cheaper but they felt really flimsy to me and I wouldn't want to have a crash in one.
The mini seemed to be the best of all cases and he liked it too which helped
Fantastic 1st car - Mrs Tidy bought an R53 Mini One in 2003 so got invited to the R56 launch event.
So of course she ordered an R56 Cooper with full leather, Xenons and goodness knows what else that arrived just in time for Christmas 2006, and she still has it!
I've only driven it a few times when she wasn't in it, but I love it.
So of course she ordered an R56 Cooper with full leather, Xenons and goodness knows what else that arrived just in time for Christmas 2006, and she still has it!
I've only driven it a few times when she wasn't in it, but I love it.
Fantastic first car. I’d have been utterly delighted if my old man had turned up in that for me. Good on you for sorting your lad a sound car to start him off.
£1200 is also a very good price for insurance all told. I paid that in 2000 for my first car, a 9 year old Rover Metro 1.1s. Allowing for inflation, that’s a lot more expensive than this.
I hope he enjoys it, and he’ll remember it forever.
£1200 is also a very good price for insurance all told. I paid that in 2000 for my first car, a 9 year old Rover Metro 1.1s. Allowing for inflation, that’s a lot more expensive than this.
I hope he enjoys it, and he’ll remember it forever.
It's a lot better than my 1st car as well - 1983 Talbot Samba! I'm hoping it will give him a good start and if he avoids putting it through a hedge won't depreciate too heavily. I couldn't find anything of the same standard at a dealer for the £2500 we gave for this one.
On the plus side, all his original plans of modifiying it have been put on hold as he loves the car as it is. Amazing that the USB/AUX/Bluetooth is the most important feature for him, where as I wanted aircon and alloys
On the plus side, all his original plans of modifiying it have been put on hold as he loves the car as it is. Amazing that the USB/AUX/Bluetooth is the most important feature for him, where as I wanted aircon and alloys
Lucky son!
I remember my dad quite enjoyed borrowing my first car which was a Fiat Uno.
One morning I was ill and did not go to school and was blocking his car in the garage so he took my car and left his then new Jaguar in the garage...
At around lunchtime he called to tell me a car spun in front of his work and hit my stationary Uno and completely wrote it off! We were all pretty relieved it wasnt the Jag but equally relieved that he wasn't actually in the Uno at the time!
In hindsight I wish it had been the Jag as it was the most unreliable car we ever owned and lost boatloads of cash and went onto be involved in three accidents..nightmare car
I remember my dad quite enjoyed borrowing my first car which was a Fiat Uno.
One morning I was ill and did not go to school and was blocking his car in the garage so he took my car and left his then new Jaguar in the garage...
At around lunchtime he called to tell me a car spun in front of his work and hit my stationary Uno and completely wrote it off! We were all pretty relieved it wasnt the Jag but equally relieved that he wasn't actually in the Uno at the time!
In hindsight I wish it had been the Jag as it was the most unreliable car we ever owned and lost boatloads of cash and went onto be involved in three accidents..nightmare car
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