Next car for son after writing off old one
Discussion
Got a conundrum regarding next motor for my son. After he passed his test we got him a used Ford Fiesta 1.0 ltr titanium. Fantastic wee car, provided connectivity for the 'yoof', lots of safety kit for the wife, enjoyable for me. Unfortunately he wrote the thing off a couple of weeks ago.......Now looking for replacement.
In my head I am beginning to wonder if the decent handling may have contributed to the accident. There is no doubt its a very enjoyable car to nip about in but might encourage quicker driving than is safe for a young driver.
My only gripe with the car was that it was woefully underpowered. Beginning to think a hyundai i20 or toyota yaris would be the best option. Not great to drive but safe and dependable with loads of kit. He's also 6' 4" so rules out loads of small cars
Thoughts please?
In my head I am beginning to wonder if the decent handling may have contributed to the accident. There is no doubt its a very enjoyable car to nip about in but might encourage quicker driving than is safe for a young driver.
My only gripe with the car was that it was woefully underpowered. Beginning to think a hyundai i20 or toyota yaris would be the best option. Not great to drive but safe and dependable with loads of kit. He's also 6' 4" so rules out loads of small cars
Thoughts please?
I would suggest the replacement be whatever he picks having earned the money and bought it himself (and insured and taxed it himself). My experiences are that all the people I knew who had cars bought for them crashed them and almost none of those who actually worked and bought them themselves did, presumably because having to graft for it showed them the value of money and instilled some appreciation and care into them.
Between owning a couple of cars after I passed my test, I was lucky enough to use my parents cars (Golf Mk4 TD red I and A3 8P 1.8T Quattro). I looked after them very carefully. Maybe drove them a tad quick but never road racing like many many friends did and wrote their cars off.
Assuming the accident was 100% is fault - If he is foolish enough to be borrowing a car and then write it off he doesn't deserve to use one.....
If you feel it's appropriate to give him access to another good car, a Yaris is not it. It'll fit him in it (I'm 6' 5"). However, the 1.33 litre 4 cylinder VVTi engine is only 100 bhp as well and requires a damn good thrashing to make it move. 1.5 spec doesn't much better (110 bhp). Ecoboost engines have the mid range torque so at least they pick up nicely. Just my experience though.
Assuming the accident was 100% is fault - If he is foolish enough to be borrowing a car and then write it off he doesn't deserve to use one.....
If you feel it's appropriate to give him access to another good car, a Yaris is not it. It'll fit him in it (I'm 6' 5"). However, the 1.33 litre 4 cylinder VVTi engine is only 100 bhp as well and requires a damn good thrashing to make it move. 1.5 spec doesn't much better (110 bhp). Ecoboost engines have the mid range torque so at least they pick up nicely. Just my experience though.
Edited by ACB85 on Thursday 18th October 10:20
TurboHatchback said:
I would suggest the replacement be whatever he picks having earned the money and bought it himself (and insured and taxed it himself). My experiences are that all the people I knew who had cars bought for them crashed them and almost none of those who actually worked and bought them themselves did, presumably because having to graft for it showed them the value of money and instilled some appreciation and care into them.
+1 Certainly appeared to follow the same trend when I was that age.Missus kept letting her door bash on the lamp post outside the house when she parked up. Showed her how much it will cost her to repair a busted door. She's treating it very nicely now.
GGR said:
Got a conundrum regarding next motor for my son. After he passed his test we got him a used Ford Fiesta 1.0 ltr titanium.
He wrote it off
Thoughts please?
If it was a non avoidable accident , then a similar replacement would seem fine. He wrote it off
Thoughts please?
If it was misadventure and lack of talent
in less he fancies paying towards something better
GGR said:
In my head I am beginning to wonder if the decent handling may have contributed to the accident. There is no doubt its a very enjoyable car to nip about in but might encourage quicker driving than is safe for a young driver.
My only gripe with the car was that it was woefully under powered.
Anything that you can realistically insure for a young driver with a write off on the record is going to be woefully under powered - IMO, It's better to have something with a large handling envelope (And good ESC!) to ensure that any overzealous cornering doesn't just fling you off the road.My only gripe with the car was that it was woefully under powered.
Others making comments re. 100BHP, but realistically, 100BHP Is both adequate and insurable for a young person - Anything tepid, lukewarm, cooking or hot will be extortionately expensive to insure.
I'm 19, and have a Civic 1.4 (9G)- Handles nicely; It isn't a dragster by any means, but it's NA and you can certainly have fun and complete overtakes provided it's driven correctly (Above 5000 RPM!
), but more importantly, it's a nice large car (For a new driver) - I can fit all ~6.1ft of myself in quite nicely, and there is more room to move the seat back, adjustable steering wheel etc., and plentiful safety features.All round parking sensors, reversing camera, ABS, ESC, Agile Handling assist (essentially automatic trail braking for sharper turn in), brake assist and CTBA (Automatic forward collision prevention) - I can think of occasions where these have saved me from an embarrassing mishap, both when I'd just started, and now as I continue to develop, meaning I have learnt from mistakes without actually coming to tears - Just a stern telling off from dash lights
How did he manage to write off the last one, Something dramatic I hope?
Thanks for the replies, all very useful.
Bank of Mum & Dad I'm afraid (well, more Mum than Dad really). 100% his fault, smacked a parked car ffs!! Anything over 100bhp a no go given insurance costs. Like the sound of the civic though, whats the visibility like out of them? given the boys inability to see large objects....
Bank of Mum & Dad I'm afraid (well, more Mum than Dad really). 100% his fault, smacked a parked car ffs!! Anything over 100bhp a no go given insurance costs. Like the sound of the civic though, whats the visibility like out of them? given the boys inability to see large objects....
Sorry I think bankrolling it for him scott free is daft.
Perhaps lend him the money and enforce regular and realistic payments to make him appreciate it etc etc.
He has to learn the advantages of driving sensibly and safely.. Does he actually need to drive?
6 months of cycling and shanks pony whilst saving might help.
I assume he will have telematics in any new car? Did he have it in the old one? Can you access the data?
My first car/s had about 30/50bhp, those scoffing at anything under 100bhp are into the realms of fantasy i'm afraid..
The height thing is also a red herring, i'm 6.4 and have owned and driven imps, minis, reliant robins, citroen ax's, micras.
If he wants a car badly enough he will fit himself into it.
Perhaps lend him the money and enforce regular and realistic payments to make him appreciate it etc etc.
He has to learn the advantages of driving sensibly and safely.. Does he actually need to drive?
6 months of cycling and shanks pony whilst saving might help.
I assume he will have telematics in any new car? Did he have it in the old one? Can you access the data?
My first car/s had about 30/50bhp, those scoffing at anything under 100bhp are into the realms of fantasy i'm afraid..
The height thing is also a red herring, i'm 6.4 and have owned and driven imps, minis, reliant robins, citroen ax's, micras.
If he wants a car badly enough he will fit himself into it.
Edited by peterperkins on Thursday 18th October 10:52
Visibility is OK - There's good and bad!
The Windscreen is fine; front windows and wing mirrors are huge. Whilst some complain about rear visibility, there is only a very small patch where the spoiler crosses - This can block out headlights at night, but if you're checking mirrors regularly you'll see them on approach - It's also a good guide to see how close people are behind you, to adjust your gaps accordingly.
My big visibility gripe is the A pillar, though I feel it's going to be a common theme on most recent cars - It's positioned perfectly so that some corners / roundabouts leave you dancing your head back and forth between the side and windscreen to get any vis.
As for hitting a parked car, The parking sensors and CTBA Should help with that - It will slam on for you if you're going to hit something, and in the vast majority of instances, it will stop you in good time (It's never failed to stop me!)
It saved me from a classic rearender a few weeks after I'd started driving; Looking at the roundabout rather than the car in front. Stopped me, and gives a nice visible / audio warning - I've not made that mistake again (Yet! )
As for purchasing one, as the 9G is now replaced by the 10G, and the lack of favour for the 1.4 engine, they should be quite cheap to come by. I have mine in top spec for the 1.4, SE+ Navi, and it was 15K brand new, and has everything one could want - Auto lights, wipers, Aforementioned safety features, cruise control, variable speed limiting, Dual zone climate control, Android head unit with satnav, good speakers, and a wonderfully designed cabin.
Further to that, it sips at the fuel - On a recent holiday to wales, dedicated to hooning around nice roads, I didn't drop below 37MPG Tank to tank (Wow!), and I usually get 47 for a steady motorway run.
The Windscreen is fine; front windows and wing mirrors are huge. Whilst some complain about rear visibility, there is only a very small patch where the spoiler crosses - This can block out headlights at night, but if you're checking mirrors regularly you'll see them on approach - It's also a good guide to see how close people are behind you, to adjust your gaps accordingly.
My big visibility gripe is the A pillar, though I feel it's going to be a common theme on most recent cars - It's positioned perfectly so that some corners / roundabouts leave you dancing your head back and forth between the side and windscreen to get any vis.
As for hitting a parked car, The parking sensors and CTBA Should help with that - It will slam on for you if you're going to hit something, and in the vast majority of instances, it will stop you in good time (It's never failed to stop me!)
It saved me from a classic rearender a few weeks after I'd started driving; Looking at the roundabout rather than the car in front. Stopped me, and gives a nice visible / audio warning - I've not made that mistake again (Yet!
)As for purchasing one, as the 9G is now replaced by the 10G, and the lack of favour for the 1.4 engine, they should be quite cheap to come by. I have mine in top spec for the 1.4, SE+ Navi, and it was 15K brand new, and has everything one could want - Auto lights, wipers, Aforementioned safety features, cruise control, variable speed limiting, Dual zone climate control, Android head unit with satnav, good speakers, and a wonderfully designed cabin.
Further to that, it sips at the fuel - On a recent holiday to wales, dedicated to hooning around nice roads, I didn't drop below 37MPG Tank to tank (Wow!), and I usually get 47 for a steady motorway run.
peterperkins said:
Sorry I think bankrolling it for him scott free is daft.
Perhaps lend him the money and enforce regular and realistic payments to make him appreciate it etc etc.
He has to learn the advantages of driving sensibly and safely.. Does he actually need to drive?
6 months of cycling and shanks pony whilst saving might help.
Yes, think of it as protecting him rather than punishing. Perhaps lend him the money and enforce regular and realistic payments to make him appreciate it etc etc.
He has to learn the advantages of driving sensibly and safely.. Does he actually need to drive?
6 months of cycling and shanks pony whilst saving might help.
Edited by peterperkins on Thursday 18th October 10:52
Give then he's driven into a large stationary object, perhaps a car without the distractions of a phone/media interface.
Haltamer said:
As for hitting a parked car, The parking sensors and CTBA Should help with that - It will slam on for you if you're going to hit something, and in the vast majority of instances, it will stop you in good time (It's never failed to stop me!)
It saved me from a classic rearender a few weeks after I'd started driving; Looking at the roundabout rather than the car in front. Stopped me, and gives a nice visible / audio warning - I've not made that mistake again (Yet! )
.
Appreciate new drivers can make mistakes but the thought of a person smashing into my rear bumper because they relied on a warning on the dash to tell them to keep the appropriate distance is scary. It saved me from a classic rearender a few weeks after I'd started driving; Looking at the roundabout rather than the car in front. Stopped me, and gives a nice visible / audio warning - I've not made that mistake again (Yet!
).
Tell him to walk, get the bus or cycle until he realises he is an idiot and can afford his own car / tax / insurance.
You buy him a car, he crashes it and you immediately offer to buy him another? Screams idiot to me. See if he can learn a lesson from this or next time it'll be a tree or another car or ...
You buy him a car, he crashes it and you immediately offer to buy him another? Screams idiot to me. See if he can learn a lesson from this or next time it'll be a tree or another car or ...
It's probably safe to say that we all did some bloody stupid things when we were a lad and have been lucky enough to get away with it (hence still being able to contribute here).
Sounds like he was completely distracted - likely by his phone or the radio or some fittie walking by (who hasn't been?). If you or he do buy another car, don't get one with all this connectivity nonsense - perhaps even take the radio out or fit a 'dumb' unit that doesn't have all this Bluetooth stuff.
Get him enrolled in the local RoSPA or IAM advanced driving courses, and join yourself at the same time - he will learn hazard perception, planning ahead and the importance of proper focus and concentration (especially if he has to do commentary) and you doing it will improve your driving while also meaning 'you are in it together', and are both therefore more likely to complete the course, due to competitiveness to do well, piss-taking if you don't go one week, and/or supporting each other.
Yes, it might be about £150 each for IAM but you can transfer those skills to any other vehicle you drive, in any part of the world - alternatively put that £300 towards a car and then watch it get totaled again / rust into the ground / become a money-pit...
95% of accidents (collisions... whatever...) are down to driver error, so rather than relying on an ever increasing raft of bloody in-vehicle gadgets to stop us being retards and crashing into each other, fix the problem itself rather than just keep applying plasters to it in the hope it will magically get better.
IMO, FWIW, YMMV, etc...
Sounds like he was completely distracted - likely by his phone or the radio or some fittie walking by (who hasn't been?). If you or he do buy another car, don't get one with all this connectivity nonsense - perhaps even take the radio out or fit a 'dumb' unit that doesn't have all this Bluetooth stuff.
Get him enrolled in the local RoSPA or IAM advanced driving courses, and join yourself at the same time - he will learn hazard perception, planning ahead and the importance of proper focus and concentration (especially if he has to do commentary) and you doing it will improve your driving while also meaning 'you are in it together', and are both therefore more likely to complete the course, due to competitiveness to do well, piss-taking if you don't go one week, and/or supporting each other.
Yes, it might be about £150 each for IAM but you can transfer those skills to any other vehicle you drive, in any part of the world - alternatively put that £300 towards a car and then watch it get totaled again / rust into the ground / become a money-pit...
95% of accidents (collisions... whatever...) are down to driver error, so rather than relying on an ever increasing raft of bloody in-vehicle gadgets to stop us being retards and crashing into each other, fix the problem itself rather than just keep applying plasters to it in the hope it will magically get better.
IMO, FWIW, YMMV, etc...
Edited by RSTurboPaul on Thursday 18th October 19:14
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