Help with cheap car for 17 year old ?

[IceBoy]

Hi All,

Baby Icicle is now 16 and already look for his first car.

So what cheap second hand car sub £1000 has the cheapest insurance?

I want him to get his bumps and scrapes on a cheap runabout to cut his teeth on.

So over to you.

IceBoy

[Dr Doofenshmirtz]

VW Polo

[gshughes]

IceBoy said:

Hi All,

Baby Icicle is now 16 and already look for his first car.

So what cheap second hand car sub £1000 has the cheapest insurance?

I want him to get his bumps and scrapes on a cheap runabout to cut his teeth on.

So over to you.

IceBoy

Aygo/C1/108 - my brother had one which he put 189,000 miles on with no major mechanical issues. I had one for a while and it was practical, reliable and quite fun to drive. There are loads about so easy and cheap to fine secondhand.

[kiethton]

Hyundai i10/Kia Picanto normally the cheapest but would rather the Aygo/clones to be seen in - choclate clutches though.

Step up are things like the Ford Fiesta/Skoda Fabia/Seat Ibiza but all a bit more £££ to insure and run.

[T3LLIOTT]

Lupo, Corsa, Micra, Aygo, Yaris, Polo, Fiesta etc. Anything with a small engine over 10 years old. All these should have low maintenance and running costs too. Also consider the safety rating if it concerns you.

Them just stick them into a comparison website and see which is the cheapest, as different areas will yield different results. Pretty straightforward really.

[thiscocks]

Citroen AX 14

[Old Merc]

Insurance companies work in mysterious ways?
I would pick a few small engine cars,Polo.Micra,206 etc and run each one through one of the comparison sites. I bet you will get loads of different quotes from about £750 to £2000 ?? Make sure he is the policy holder and down as the main driver. I think I`m right in saying that if you are an additional driver it can reduce the cost? There are so many things that can affect a premium, post code,overnight parking, commuting for work,etc etc.

[IceBoy]

Thanks All,

Will try the comparison website idea.... I should have thought of that... Lol

Doh!

Iceboy

[Piersman2]

My lads were in this boat over the last few years.

One got a Corsa 1.2 Sxi as his first, the other went for a 1.6 Sport KA. These gave the lowest possible insurance premiums of around 900-1000.

Most other equivalent cars seemed to start at 1100 and head up from there.

[Martin30]

My 17 year old recently insured his first car - a 2009 Peugeot 207 1.4 . That, and a Volvo C30 diesel seemed to be the standout cars insurance wise. He also said that a relatively recent ecoboost Fiesta was good too, but they are much more to buy.

Martin.

[Gio G]

IceBoy said:

Thanks All,

Will try the comparison website idea.... I should have thought of that... Lol

Doh!

Iceboy

Did this with my son when he passed his first test. You really need to dedicate allot of time to it. Putting in reg numbers from auto trader and putting parents on as additional drivers, as brings the premiums down. None of this fronting business, as that can land you in a world of pain..

It seems everything is geared towards black box when they pass..unless you want to pay more without..

Good luck..

G

[Nigel_O]

thiscocks said:

Citroen AX 14

Both of my lads drove an AX - I really wasn't happy, as they not going to come off very well in an accident - check out the Youtube videos for a Saxo NCAP crash test - the AX is basically the same underpinnings as the Saxo, but without pansy stuff like soft plastics and airbags

I wouldn't....

For a grand, you could be into rather more robust (and reliable) stuff like a Grande Punto, Panda, Fabia, Micra or Polo

[thiscocks]

Nigel_O said:

thiscocks said:

Citroen AX 14

Both of my lads drove an AX - I really wasn't happy, as they not going to come off very well in an accident - check out the Youtube videos for a Saxo NCAP crash test - the AX is basically the same underpinnings as the Saxo, but without pansy stuff like soft plastics and airbags

I wouldn't....

For a grand, you could be into rather more robust (and reliable) stuff like a Grande Punto, Panda, Fabia, Micra or Polo

True and actually good nic Axs arn't that cheap thinking about it.

[thiscocks]

Piersman2 said:

My lads were in this boat over the last few years.

One got a Corsa 1.2 Sxi as his first, the other went for a 1.6 Sport KA. These gave the lowest possible insurance premiums of around 900-1000.

Most other equivalent cars seemed to start at 1100 and head up from there.

Sport Ka is a good shout. I had one for a bit and it was a fun little thing to pedal along. Not as good on fuel as they should be though and can rust quite badly, so worth giving a good rust check before purchase.

[Fuzzarr]

No Fiat Panda mentioned yet.

There's a healthy supply of them on the used market. They're pretty solid motors and mechanically pretty robust. I think more tired examples have some corrosion issues at the back end suspension area, so worth having a dig around the Fiat Forum for that.

Mitsubishi Colts seem to be cheap as chips and the 1.3 even has some poke. Yaris is always worth a sniff, too.

As well as the obvious hatches etc it can be worth trying some wildcards such as a Volvo S60 or something, you never know what the insurance lottery algorithm will come up with.

Cheers

[ElectricSoup]

Mk 1 Ford Focus 1.4 is cheaper to insure than you might imagine. I know a teenager who has one in a pretty bad postcode. Anything more than the 1.4 though is off the charts.

[dickbastardly]

We are going through just that.
He ended up with a 1.2 Runault Twingo.
As been said there are a few tips re insurance.
Add another person to the policy as a named driver not the main driver.
Look at getting the insurance 2-3 weeks before he needs it and we found the cheapest way is to not pay monthly.
The paying monthly part is a big part as a lot of the big companies wont allow monthly payments so you are left with the other lesser known companies.
We have had quotes with a black box just passed test at £777 for the first year and about £100 more without the box which we will probably go with.
Paying monthly the cheapest we could get was £1200.

[Dodsy]

Skoda fabia 1.2 was about half the price to insure vs anything else when my son passed his test 2 years ago. Oddly the only other cheap to insure car was a classic mini

My sons is an 04 plate does 50mpg and has aircon - hes about to px it for £500 so you should get a decent one for £800 ish .

[thel33ter]

It's worth trying multiples of the 'same' car if you set your mind on something. My first car (but insured a few years after 17) was a MK1 Focus Estate 1.6, and was ~£760 or so in a moderately expensive postcode. I looked at a few and the one I went for was £300-400 cheaper than others.

Make sure you put a female parent or equivalent on the policy, and try two parents as well.

Only cheaper quote I found was for some kind of Nissan Almera/Primera thingy. The Primera is dirt cheap and has loads of kit but awful to drive, so it'll make his next car feel like an amazing upgrade. The below example has heated seats, cameras, sensors, some kind of TV screen with 18 year out of date nav, and a clean MOT with stuff fixed throughout.
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2019...

Panda is a good shout. MK1 Smart is also very cheap to insure, but I seem to think like exploding their engines at around 90k miles.

Edited by thel33ter on Friday 5th April 14:05

[thebigmacmoomin]

ElectricSoup said:

Mk 1 Ford Focus 1.4 is cheaper to insure than you might imagine. I know a teenager who has one in a pretty bad postcode. Anything more than the 1.4 though is off the charts.

A 1.4 in a Mk1 Focus is a bit under powered. I had a 1.6 Mk1 Focus as my 1st car at 18 & that was cheap to insure but that was 2004.

The Toyota Aygo (inc clones) seem to be popular. My friends son passed last year and has a Skoda Citigo (VW Up clone) & thats cheaper than I expected to insure.