first car recommendation for 17yr old
Discussion
Hi all, been looking at insurance groups for replacement 2nd / 17yr learner car.
Looking at 2002 onwards so budget end - so far come up with Fiat Panda & Punto, 02-09 Polo1.2, Citroen C1/C2 1.1, Yaris 1.0.
Have seen other post for learner insurance @ approx. £70 per month so may do that till pass, then recommend advance driving test.
Any other real world experience of cheap to insure cars for 17 yr learner ?
Thanks in advance
Looking at 2002 onwards so budget end - so far come up with Fiat Panda & Punto, 02-09 Polo1.2, Citroen C1/C2 1.1, Yaris 1.0.
Have seen other post for learner insurance @ approx. £70 per month so may do that till pass, then recommend advance driving test.
Any other real world experience of cheap to insure cars for 17 yr learner ?
Thanks in advance
I had this recent exercise and basically, it was dictated by what was available.
Came down to these, really:
Citroen C3 - headlights usually yellow or full of water and they take an age to replace. Otherwise drive well.
Nissan Micra - Honest John said they had ABS issues and the Sport I went to see had ABS issues. Nice to drive otherwise.
Fiat Punto (old model) - astronomical insurance - must be easy to steal so ruled out.
Hyundai Getz - these seem to be a good car as all the ones advertised were all sold by the time I got there. One guy said he could have sold it ten times over and sellers had good reports about them.
Other kei cars like Atoz etc seem expensive to insure.
We bought: A 2007 Fiat Panda for under a grand.
Why? Had at least 3 as hire cars abroad and they have character, four doors, go well and do almost 60mpg.
What went wrong: Tracking was out so front tyres needed replacing. Washer pump failed - £10, easy job. New wipers needed. May need drop links (cheap)
There were signs it may have been letting in water but clearing the blocked drain vents under the bonnet seems to have cured that.
Overall: Great cars. Cheapest to insure that I could find (ingenie)
For people who think they are "too slow", I am afraid that black box insurance makes any sort of 'speed machine' rather pointless as the box feeds back any harsh acceleration, hard cornering and less than smooth driving. Ingenie give you a small refund if you drive well although i think the soft suspension of the Panda may give a worse impression. Still had £22 back after the first quarter.
A key tip for reducing the premium is to have a parent with a clean licence/ decent occupation as the second driver, even if they never drive it. Knocked a few hundred off.
the second tip is to insure the car several days in advance. I had a quote and bought the car on a Friday. I tried to insure it for the Saturday or Sunday and the premium leapt £120 (near had a heart attack). Starting it on the Monday saved me that £120.
Came down to these, really:
Citroen C3 - headlights usually yellow or full of water and they take an age to replace. Otherwise drive well.
Nissan Micra - Honest John said they had ABS issues and the Sport I went to see had ABS issues. Nice to drive otherwise.
Fiat Punto (old model) - astronomical insurance - must be easy to steal so ruled out.
Hyundai Getz - these seem to be a good car as all the ones advertised were all sold by the time I got there. One guy said he could have sold it ten times over and sellers had good reports about them.
Other kei cars like Atoz etc seem expensive to insure.
We bought: A 2007 Fiat Panda for under a grand.
Why? Had at least 3 as hire cars abroad and they have character, four doors, go well and do almost 60mpg.
What went wrong: Tracking was out so front tyres needed replacing. Washer pump failed - £10, easy job. New wipers needed. May need drop links (cheap)
There were signs it may have been letting in water but clearing the blocked drain vents under the bonnet seems to have cured that.
Overall: Great cars. Cheapest to insure that I could find (ingenie)
For people who think they are "too slow", I am afraid that black box insurance makes any sort of 'speed machine' rather pointless as the box feeds back any harsh acceleration, hard cornering and less than smooth driving. Ingenie give you a small refund if you drive well although i think the soft suspension of the Panda may give a worse impression. Still had £22 back after the first quarter.
A key tip for reducing the premium is to have a parent with a clean licence/ decent occupation as the second driver, even if they never drive it. Knocked a few hundred off.
the second tip is to insure the car several days in advance. I had a quote and bought the car on a Friday. I tried to insure it for the Saturday or Sunday and the premium leapt £120 (near had a heart attack). Starting it on the Monday saved me that £120.
Edited by LuS1fer on Sunday 23 July 13:06
Low-powered, slow cars require more skill to drive than most cars because of the amount of forward-planning required. They also tend to be small and lightly built which won't help when they crash it or get crashed into due to being too slow to stay out of trouble.
One of our neighbours recently bought their 18-year-old girl a 1-litre 60HP Kia Picanto (0-60 = 16.4s!) and another neighbour bought their 19-year-old son a 1.4-litre 100BHP Corsa (0-60 = 11.3s).
Of the two, I think the 1.4 Corsa is more suitable for a new young inexperienced driver.
I should add that I don't dislike small 1-litre town cars, we have one in our household and we find it very useful.
One of our neighbours recently bought their 18-year-old girl a 1-litre 60HP Kia Picanto (0-60 = 16.4s!) and another neighbour bought their 19-year-old son a 1.4-litre 100BHP Corsa (0-60 = 11.3s).
Of the two, I think the 1.4 Corsa is more suitable for a new young inexperienced driver.
I should add that I don't dislike small 1-litre town cars, we have one in our household and we find it very useful.
Interested to watch this post as my 16YO is 17 in November so looking at whats best as a first car for him.
Keep your experiences and tips coming, this is really helpful to people about to start the process.
We have a decent budget but don't want to use a lot up on the first years insurance.
Keep your experiences and tips coming, this is really helpful to people about to start the process.
We have a decent budget but don't want to use a lot up on the first years insurance.
My son, 18 next month, has a 2013 Fiesta 1.0 EcoBoost (99). Great little car. Zero tax. All my kids are on Mrs V8's Admiral MultiCar policy, but in their own names so they get the NCB.
Eldest daughter has a MINI First from when she was 17. Middle daughter has a Polo. All good cars. All very different. MINI is probably the hardest to learn in due to the size of the pillars.
Eldest daughter has a MINI First from when she was 17. Middle daughter has a Polo. All good cars. All very different. MINI is probably the hardest to learn in due to the size of the pillars.
Edited by V8LM on Sunday 23 July 15:32
2010 Ford Fiesta for my lad, low insurance group and not stupidly slow. I trawled parkers to check insurance groups but it appears certain cars didn't make a difference as since then he has a 2015 Corsa turbo as mentioned above which was the same insurance as the non turbo, go figure
The fiesta turned out to be a rather good purchase as he was side swiped at a junction and he and his 3 mates walked away with minor glass cuts post a roll:
The fiesta turned out to be a rather good purchase as he was side swiped at a junction and he and his 3 mates walked away with minor glass cuts post a roll:
In the same boat with my son who refuses to consider anything that doesn't have 'street cred'. - I have a petrol head in the making so nothing korean, no 4/5 doors and nothing that could be considered a shopping trolley (107, aygo)
Now looking at mini new model and classic
My thought is that a classic mini is unlikely to depreciate,but will of course not be as reliable or have the mod cons such as electric windows and ac
Now looking at mini new model and classic
My thought is that a classic mini is unlikely to depreciate,but will of course not be as reliable or have the mod cons such as electric windows and ac
I've just gone through this for my daughter. It was relatively straightforward in the end - she really wanted a Polo and having looked at a few they seemed decent cars. My brothers kids had them a few years ago and they were pretty reliable.
I looked at the Aygo's/107 cars and they were fine but felt fairly flimsy in comparison - newer and lower mileage for the same money though.
We went for a 2007 Polo 1.2 S. There are loads around and they either seem to be in really decent condition or utter sheds. Ours has done 108,000 miles but has FSH and is a nice little car. The S has elec windows, air con (ice cold) and alloys. The E model has no a/c and wind ups and appears to be no lower in price. There are a couple of different power outputs of the 1.2 but I don't think they affect insurance. Ours is 55hp and pretty damn slow but as she has a black box fitted it doesn't matter too much.
Insurance was £950 via Insure the Box with me as a named driver. We live in rural Wiltshire so fairly low risk I guess. Overall, she's delighted with it although it's only a stop gap and will be for sale again in October
Good luck and as someone said to me, it's their first car and despite any car being better than no car, getting something they want will make those memories even better!
I looked at the Aygo's/107 cars and they were fine but felt fairly flimsy in comparison - newer and lower mileage for the same money though.
We went for a 2007 Polo 1.2 S. There are loads around and they either seem to be in really decent condition or utter sheds. Ours has done 108,000 miles but has FSH and is a nice little car. The S has elec windows, air con (ice cold) and alloys. The E model has no a/c and wind ups and appears to be no lower in price. There are a couple of different power outputs of the 1.2 but I don't think they affect insurance. Ours is 55hp and pretty damn slow but as she has a black box fitted it doesn't matter too much.
Insurance was £950 via Insure the Box with me as a named driver. We live in rural Wiltshire so fairly low risk I guess. Overall, she's delighted with it although it's only a stop gap and will be for sale again in October
Good luck and as someone said to me, it's their first car and despite any car being better than no car, getting something they want will make those memories even better!
Ron99 said:
Low-powered, slow cars require more skill to drive than most cars because of the amount of forward-planning required.
yeah......if you want to get a shift on but for regular daily grinds i dont know what youre talking about. thats less the cars fault and more the driver thinking their 1.1 can get away like a Ferrari. 99.99% of folk are only too well aware what their under powered machine is or isnt capable of so would expect them to simply not go for the optimistic move-forward planning or not.Thanks for views all so far.
Heard that need to have parent names on policy from someone else.
Interesting about the day before insurance - I had that last renewal - quote week few days before then on the day it was quite a bit more.
Panda or Polo 1.2 looking favourite, then maybe C2 / 107 if find decent one.
Will prob do limited mileage & black box.
Heard that need to have parent names on policy from someone else.
Interesting about the day before insurance - I had that last renewal - quote week few days before then on the day it was quite a bit more.
Panda or Polo 1.2 looking favourite, then maybe C2 / 107 if find decent one.
Will prob do limited mileage & black box.
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