Auris, 1 Series or Focus?

[Kentish]

I'm after a new car for driving school purposes and I'm wondering what your thoughts are on these?

The local BMW dealer appears disinterested in a sale (been in to discuss 3x now and not bothered to get back to me); Toyota are very good on customer service and could not be more helpful. Ford are not one I've approached just yet but the Focus is best in class so has to be on the list

The Auris isn't too high at the rear (as is the modern trend) so it appears to quite a good choice.

I'd be interested in your views for my comparisons.

Thanks

[GreatGranny]

Does it need to be that size?

Just wondering as most of the learner cars I see are smaller, ie. Fiat 500, Corsa, Mini

[Oilchange]

mito?

[mrslowly]

Golf? New mk7 on the road so possibly some good deals on the mk6. Or even a Cee'd? Now a nice looking motor, if a little high at the rear end.

Edited by mrslowly on Wednesday 6th February 16:21

[300bhp/ton]

Kentish said:

I'm after a new car for driving school purposes and I'm wondering what your thoughts are on these?

The local BMW dealer appears disinterested in a sale (been in to discuss 3x now and not bothered to get back to me); Toyota are very good on customer service and could not be more helpful. Ford are not one I've approached just yet but the Focus is best in class so has to be on the list

The Auris isn't too high at the rear (as is the modern trend) so it appears to quite a good choice.

I'd be interested in your views for my comparisons.

Thanks

By Driving school I assume you mean learning/teaching to drive in, rather than driving to school?

Guess it's a hard one, I know a smaller car is good for a person to take a test in. But I'm a believer people should learn to drive in big cars, as it gives them better respect for vehicle size and makes them less likely to be scared to drive other cars.

Is there any difference on dual control conversion costs?

[Lazygraduate]

Perhaps a BMW badge might be a bit intimidating to your average non driving god learner? I'd be steering towards the Focus myself - comfy seats, easy to drive and quite unassuming!

[valiant]

Are you using this car for your own use aswell? 1 series is a bit small inside compared to the Focus but has better residuals.

There are good deals on the Focus at the moment with the 1.0t engine and I imagine you'll secure a bigger discount on the Focus than the BMW.

[Benrad]

New focus 1l, shirley?

Good fuel economy and enough power to get out of trouble. Even better that engine is going into the fiesta soon

[Bjam99]

Was just about to add that the 1.0litre focus would make sense shurely too!

[Kentish]

Thanks for replies so far.

A few confirmations to suggestions and comments above:-

It is for learner driving school and not for private use (upto 20k miles p/a).

I may use it for short local trips but for everything else, I like my 5 series

The focus is probably a bit larger (externally) than the Auris. I've looked at the Auris and the build quality is pretty good; Toyota are also geared up to supply driving schools and even fit dual controls (currently with a £350 cashback on them too) and 0% finance if I wanted to do a PCP.

I'm not going to be too penny pinching about what I go for, I want the learner to feel that they are getting the best in their tuition and in the type of vehicle they train in. The BMW may in fact be the opposite of intimidating to most people, it may be an attractive car to learn in.

I like the suggestion of the new Cee'd; a really good car (I had the outgoing model a couple of years ago) but I still think there is a bit of a stigma attached to the name of Kia (quite unfounded IMHO) but I don't wish to put potential students off with the make of car.

As mentioned above, the new Focus has quite a high rear end to it which makes rear visibility more difficult for learners. I'm doing training in a new Fiesta at the moment and it's a good car but a little small. I'm also wondering about reliability of the new tech 1.0l turbo engines - a Focus is a big car and that turbo must be put to use most of the time hauling that weight. This also makes me wonder how economical they REALLY are in everyday use. I need to go and check out the Focus in more detail but it's not currently top of the list.

[welaye]

Mazda 2

[McWigglebum3rd]

It has to be the BMW due to it being an aspirational badge so you will get shallow idiots wanting to learn to drive in a BMW

[Kentish]

welaye said:

Mazda 2

Same car as the Fiesta I think; which is a little bit small IMHO.

[Kentish]

McWigglebum3rd said:

It has to be the BMW due to it being an aspirational badge so you will get shallow idiots wanting to learn to drive in a BMW

I think the BMW is a good choice from the perspective of wearing well and being a good car to drive and I also agree with what you said about being aspirational but I don't think it would necessarily be just down to badge snobbery. I'm a petrolhead and I would have been more attracted to the thought of learning in a RWD e30 318i than the FWD Toyota Corolla 1.3 I actually did learn to drive in

[maxdb]

I would go for the Focus as it a popular main stream car. The BMW may put students off with it being rear wheel drive.

[SuperHangOn]

maxdb said:

The BMW may put students off with it being rear wheel drive.

Most owners probably don't even know they are RWD, let alone a learner (not that it would matter anyway).

I guess the Toyota would stand up to the abuse well and have less down time?

Spreadsheet it.

[Johnnytheboy]

Focuses are fat old things for a learner car.

[Funk]

Benrad said:

New focus 1l, shirley?

Good fuel economy and enough power to get out of trouble. Even better that engine is going into the fiesta soon

Already in it - my brother's OH just took delivery of hers. Surprising little engine, that.

[Chrisw666]

Speak to other instructors, sit in the passenger seat of lots of cars, and speak to potential pupils.

By choosing a larger car you will put some people off learning with you, being a new driver is intimidating enough without trying to get used to the size of a focus.

A friend of mine used a couple of Peugeot 207s as driving school cars for about 6 years and thought they were great for the purpose, he's now in a fiesta on a short lease which he doesn't rate as peugeot couldn't quickly supply a 208. The passenger seat advice was from him, he didn't care that there were many better built, specced or more enjoyable to drive cars the Pug gave the right combo of cost, comfort (size) and was reliable.

[LongLiveTazio]

VW Up!

Stylish, will be easy to learn in due to how consistent/easy to modulate the controls are and is very economical for the type of driving you would do as a learner. Cheaper than these alternatives and you'd be very happy using it as a personal car.