Teenager - 1st car recomendations/experience
Discussion
Hi,
my daughter soon turns 17 - and we're keen for her to learn to drive sooner rather than later (neighbours daughter is 23 and still not bothered to learn) I'm also a firm believer that been able to drive while not the necessity it used to be - is a good life skill to have.
Man maths says we buy 1st car/insure for 1st year - then after that it's part time job to pay her second year insurance onwards etc.
Criteria are :
1. 3 door (making it not become a taxi for friends (wishful thinking I know) But it will be her paying for the petrol/servicing so that can act as a deterrent.
2. Manual (as both other cars are automatics and been able to drive a manual while a disappearing necessity means you have more options) She will however have drving lessons as I think murder will be on the cards given current attitude of knowing everything)
3. Approx 1 litre engine (< 100 hp)
4. Insurance with a Black box
or I buy a manual banger for her to practice in/extra time on the road scaring the bejesus out her mum and I .... And then when she passes her test we buy/trade in said banger against one of the cars below and then could be either automatic/maual depending upon preference.
Current thoughts are:
Car: Fiat 500 (approx 4-5 yrs old), Aygo 1ltr vvti (from dealer 2015 plate), VW UP (around 14 plate), Seat MII (15 plate)
So sensible ideads/suggestions gratefully received (but being PH I acknowledge there will be some completely left field/V8 suggestions in the mix) ....
Cheers,
my daughter soon turns 17 - and we're keen for her to learn to drive sooner rather than later (neighbours daughter is 23 and still not bothered to learn) I'm also a firm believer that been able to drive while not the necessity it used to be - is a good life skill to have.
Man maths says we buy 1st car/insure for 1st year - then after that it's part time job to pay her second year insurance onwards etc.
Criteria are :
1. 3 door (making it not become a taxi for friends (wishful thinking I know) But it will be her paying for the petrol/servicing so that can act as a deterrent.
2. Manual (as both other cars are automatics and been able to drive a manual while a disappearing necessity means you have more options) She will however have drving lessons as I think murder will be on the cards given current attitude of knowing everything)
3. Approx 1 litre engine (< 100 hp)
4. Insurance with a Black box
or I buy a manual banger for her to practice in/extra time on the road scaring the bejesus out her mum and I .... And then when she passes her test we buy/trade in said banger against one of the cars below and then could be either automatic/maual depending upon preference.
Current thoughts are:
Car: Fiat 500 (approx 4-5 yrs old), Aygo 1ltr vvti (from dealer 2015 plate), VW UP (around 14 plate), Seat MII (15 plate)
So sensible ideads/suggestions gratefully received (but being PH I acknowledge there will be some completely left field/V8 suggestions in the mix) ....
Cheers,
Personally, I'd challenge the "Must be a 3 door" rule. It'll still have 5 seats, and still end up being a mate taxi if that's what she is going to do with it - Just a more cramped and unpleasant one.
I'd say take it up a class size to 5 door hatchbacks; You'll find insurance is no different or even cheaper, Especially ones with advanced safety features often only found on bigger models - Automatic braking, parking sensors / reversing cameras, and a wider / lower frame which should handle more securely.
I'll throw in what I ended up with:- A nice 1.4 Civic. 100HP Flat; Good economy, extremely cheap insurance. On the Facelift (2015 On), there is a plethora of active safety features, like CTBA (Collision mitigation braking), parking sensors, reversing cameras etc.
Plenty of room in the front seats to be comfortable, and a massive boot. The back seats are fine, and can fold up for doubleplus practicality.
I'd say take it up a class size to 5 door hatchbacks; You'll find insurance is no different or even cheaper, Especially ones with advanced safety features often only found on bigger models - Automatic braking, parking sensors / reversing cameras, and a wider / lower frame which should handle more securely.
I'll throw in what I ended up with:- A nice 1.4 Civic. 100HP Flat; Good economy, extremely cheap insurance. On the Facelift (2015 On), there is a plethora of active safety features, like CTBA (Collision mitigation braking), parking sensors, reversing cameras etc.
Plenty of room in the front seats to be comfortable, and a massive boot. The back seats are fine, and can fold up for doubleplus practicality.
All of the suggestions, other than the really daft ones, are a bit too fashionable, so will be more costly to buy and insure.
I bought my son a Vauxhall Agila, which was much cheaper to insure than we were expecting. As the typical Agila driver is older, low mileage and wears a hat, the accident rates are very low. It fails your two door test, but I don't see it as much of a deterrent.
Look at one; there are lots about and they are modern(ish) and cheap.
I bought my son a Vauxhall Agila, which was much cheaper to insure than we were expecting. As the typical Agila driver is older, low mileage and wears a hat, the accident rates are very low. It fails your two door test, but I don't see it as much of a deterrent.
Look at one; there are lots about and they are modern(ish) and cheap.
I bought my daughter a 2015 VW UP 3 door last year with 1,200 miles - for just under £5k.
Added the sat nav pod (£250), Bluetooth, DAB etc
A nice simple square design (Roomy yet easy to park), nice to drive approx 55bhp, and comes with hill start assist (holds brake for a second).
She passed her test within a few months of turning 17, and now drives herself and younger sister to school every day- she has done about 5k miles in the past year.
No black box, I think the insurance is about £1,500 (we have a muti car policy), she gets her own NCB.
She is likely to be going to a London Uni, so little need to drive, hence why it was useful for her to pass and get a year of driving out the way before she went.
We have a waiting list of local parents that want to buy the car for their own children, pretty much at what I paid.
Added the sat nav pod (£250), Bluetooth, DAB etc
A nice simple square design (Roomy yet easy to park), nice to drive approx 55bhp, and comes with hill start assist (holds brake for a second).
She passed her test within a few months of turning 17, and now drives herself and younger sister to school every day- she has done about 5k miles in the past year.
No black box, I think the insurance is about £1,500 (we have a muti car policy), she gets her own NCB.
She is likely to be going to a London Uni, so little need to drive, hence why it was useful for her to pass and get a year of driving out the way before she went.
We have a waiting list of local parents that want to buy the car for their own children, pretty much at what I paid.
I went through this with my 17 yr old daughter last year. My deal with her was, I'll pay for all her lessons etc, she pays for the car and insurance. She worked her ass off for a few years to save up and we started looking around for cars last July, with her being 17 in August. She went through the "I want a Fiat 500, I want a Mini" thing. I tried to dissuade her, and look for a more sensible and reliable option. We looked and many many cars, I made her do the talking with salesmen etc, and talked her through what to look out for. She happened upon a Mini Cooper, which she fell in love with. All looked okay, I asked for the car for half an hour to test drive and took it to mechanic mate who put it on his ramp, had a look over it, and put it through an 'MOT test' . It was utterly f
ked. he couldn't get the emissions anywhere near legal, suspected the pistion rings were burnt out as it was burning oil at an alarming rate. There was also a catalogue of nasties he uncovered from having it on the ramp. He guessed it had never ever been serviced, and the history in the service book (also the garage which supposedly did the last MOT) was completely made up.
The whole thing took the wind out of her sails, and she turned away form Mini's, Fiat 500's etc etc. We found a lovely little Suzuki Swift in the main dealer in Shrewsbury, a few hundred over her budget, which I topped up.
She loves the car, treats it like the prized posession it is to her, having worked so hard for it. It's also comparatively cheap to insure with a black box fitted.
ked. he couldn't get the emissions anywhere near legal, suspected the pistion rings were burnt out as it was burning oil at an alarming rate. There was also a catalogue of nasties he uncovered from having it on the ramp. He guessed it had never ever been serviced, and the history in the service book (also the garage which supposedly did the last MOT) was completely made up. The whole thing took the wind out of her sails, and she turned away form Mini's, Fiat 500's etc etc. We found a lovely little Suzuki Swift in the main dealer in Shrewsbury, a few hundred over her budget, which I topped up.
She loves the car, treats it like the prized posession it is to her, having worked so hard for it. It's also comparatively cheap to insure with a black box fitted.
Edited by Jinba Ittai on Wednesday 27th March 14:20
My first car back in 1993 was an old VW Polo with 80k miles on it I bought for 200 quid. I scraped a few lamp-posts, cones, car park bollards etc. but didnt care too much. It was also a 3 door, the idea that it wont be a taxi just because it has two doors is just bonkers if I am honest, if it has back seats its as fair game as a mates taxi as Range Rover would be I am afraid.
There is a reason why C1/107/Aygo are very popular with young drivers.
Cheap to insure, easy on fuel, £20/free tax.
Eldest had a C1 that was sold on after 2 years. She curses how much fuel her new car uses. I tell her her newer car is simply average whereas the C1 was excellent on fuel.
For a young driver insurance is the killer so run some cars through a quote and see the damage
Cheap to insure, easy on fuel, £20/free tax.
Eldest had a C1 that was sold on after 2 years. She curses how much fuel her new car uses. I tell her her newer car is simply average whereas the C1 was excellent on fuel.
For a young driver insurance is the killer so run some cars through a quote and see the damage
I'd suggest getting a bunch of insurance quotes and buying that way.
Went went with a Honda Jazz, it was ~£1500 for our (17 year old) twins to be insured while learning and dropped to ~£1000 for both of them once they had passed. Was significantly cheaper than the usual suspects like a Fiat 500 or a Fiesta and better put together than them as well when comparing the same age of car (ours will be 10 years old this year).
Obviously far from an exciting drive but it still makes reasonable progress as its ~100BHP and ~1100kg. Big glass house in the car, great for visibility.
Went went with a Honda Jazz, it was ~£1500 for our (17 year old) twins to be insured while learning and dropped to ~£1000 for both of them once they had passed. Was significantly cheaper than the usual suspects like a Fiat 500 or a Fiesta and better put together than them as well when comparing the same age of car (ours will be 10 years old this year).
Obviously far from an exciting drive but it still makes reasonable progress as its ~100BHP and ~1100kg. Big glass house in the car, great for visibility.
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