1st car for my brother
Discussion
I seem to be doing a lot of what car threads recently,but here goes.
Last year I promised my brother (just turned 19) that as a reward,when he passes his test,I will buy him his 1st car as a bit of an incentive for him. He passed last week and after a chat with him he wants something different from the corsa,fiesta etc stuff you'd expect. He's a down to earth lad,not really arsed what you think of him,too into his studies to care about that,but like I said he wants something different. We had a look at a Volvo estate (V40 I think it was) and he liked it,and just having a look through the classifieds Volvos seems to be great value for money in terms of looks and kit. What do you think to a volvo being 1st car? And any suggestions which 1? Budget I've said he can go upto 2k.
Last year I promised my brother (just turned 19) that as a reward,when he passes his test,I will buy him his 1st car as a bit of an incentive for him. He passed last week and after a chat with him he wants something different from the corsa,fiesta etc stuff you'd expect. He's a down to earth lad,not really arsed what you think of him,too into his studies to care about that,but like I said he wants something different. We had a look at a Volvo estate (V40 I think it was) and he liked it,and just having a look through the classifieds Volvos seems to be great value for money in terms of looks and kit. What do you think to a volvo being 1st car? And any suggestions which 1? Budget I've said he can go upto 2k.
I'm a 19 year old whos been driving since 17, I recently purchased a 2001 volvo S60 2.4 Auto for my self and the reasonable price of £650
full kitted out, 6 months tax and no MOT but it passed with no fails!
I love it, how ever I find the mirrors on this car to be useless most of time when parking especialy when reversing somthing to consider if hes just passed?
I'd realy recomend looking for one in decent nick 51-54 plate in your budget as aposed to the v40 Just my opinion though
full kitted out, 6 months tax and no MOT but it passed with no fails!
I love it, how ever I find the mirrors on this car to be useless most of time when parking especialy when reversing somthing to consider if hes just passed?
I'd realy recomend looking for one in decent nick 51-54 plate in your budget as aposed to the v40 Just my opinion though
Volvo would be a great 1st car. Much better than all the basic poverty spec corsa's etc you'll usually see. I had a Volvo 480 for my 3rd car when I was 19.
You could also be pleasantly surprised with insurance costs too (comparitively!) which lets face it it whats it's all about if you've just passed yout test!
V or S40 would be best bet in terms of what you can get and running one as a first car. I have a 2002 V40 T4 at the mo which is great, no chance of insuring a T4 if you've just passed your test though!
Personally I would aim to spend a £1000, tops, on the car and put the rest towards either insurance or a better car once insurance costs start to come down with NCB. IMHO its pointless spending large amounts on a first car that will inevitably pick up a few knocks here and there.
Plenty of choise of genuinely good, looked after S & V40's for that money, and often a lot less. A really nice condition 1998 S40 1.8 CD (all the toys - leather, full electrics, sunroof, heated seats, computer etc etc) went last night on ebay for just £580.
Avoid the turbo's as insurance will likely be loads. 1.8 and 2.0 Volvo units are bombproof and pretty economical too without feeling slow. the later 1.8 GDI (Mitsubishi) unit, from 2000ish onwards is ok but less reliable than the Volvo one. 1.6 feels underpowered so unless it make insurance significalntly cheaper (which I doubt) it's best avoided.
Facelift ones (2000/2001 onwards) are generally better in most ways (nicer dash, better suspension, few nice little touches) but obviously come at a higher price and often less well specced.
Let us know how you get on!
You could also be pleasantly surprised with insurance costs too (comparitively!) which lets face it it whats it's all about if you've just passed yout test!
V or S40 would be best bet in terms of what you can get and running one as a first car. I have a 2002 V40 T4 at the mo which is great, no chance of insuring a T4 if you've just passed your test though!
Personally I would aim to spend a £1000, tops, on the car and put the rest towards either insurance or a better car once insurance costs start to come down with NCB. IMHO its pointless spending large amounts on a first car that will inevitably pick up a few knocks here and there.
Plenty of choise of genuinely good, looked after S & V40's for that money, and often a lot less. A really nice condition 1998 S40 1.8 CD (all the toys - leather, full electrics, sunroof, heated seats, computer etc etc) went last night on ebay for just £580.
Avoid the turbo's as insurance will likely be loads. 1.8 and 2.0 Volvo units are bombproof and pretty economical too without feeling slow. the later 1.8 GDI (Mitsubishi) unit, from 2000ish onwards is ok but less reliable than the Volvo one. 1.6 feels underpowered so unless it make insurance significalntly cheaper (which I doubt) it's best avoided.
Facelift ones (2000/2001 onwards) are generally better in most ways (nicer dash, better suspension, few nice little touches) but obviously come at a higher price and often less well specced.
Let us know how you get on!
Edited by RP1 on Monday 25th June 15:01
I'd be pretty chuffed with an S/V40 as a first car. However, does your budget have to cover insurance, or is that his problem? It could be a lot more expensive than a little eco-can, insurers have got wise to people buying old, anonymous cars that aren't normal young lad fayre, so the premiums for them have shot up.
I'm 19 and drive an '03 Volvo S60 T5. Wanted something brisk with 4 or 5 doors and these seemed to fit the bill. They are a 'different' choice for a 19 year old and people are bemused by it, but then again I really don't care what other people think when I know it's a better car than the Corsa/Fiesta brigade. Insurance wise, I'm paying £1600 as the main driver but I do have 2 years NCD. I think it would be difficult to get insured on the T5 version with no driving experience.
I recently bought the first car I have to get personally covered for insurance.
A Megane coupe 1.6 16v off ebay, usefully above average for the power say a 1.6 16v Astra sxi and the sort have, got it on a classic policy for about a monkey (half a bag of sand) as a technically 1st time driver. I know alot of cars can be covered on a classic policy, confused.com sorted me out.
It all depends what hes after and if he can do any mechanical work (unless working full time a garage is not an option really). I'd be looking at what Ford has to offer, but fords of the focus generation, not escort, solid eninges and easy to do basic maintainance on (bar exhausts on focus's) but best of all cheap if they do need work.
Volvos are nice cars to be in, especially of he V40 generation, heated seats and electric everything on alot of them. Its a good place to be looking, slightly oddball and being more of a family car should be cheaper to insure than a 1.2 corsa.
(I did stacks of research into insurance when I was 17, and found small family cars such as the focus to be cheaper to insure in higher spec, say a 1.8 millenium, than 1.0 micras etc, I also found that if your brother were to volunteer at a library the preiums can drop quite significantly)
A Megane coupe 1.6 16v off ebay, usefully above average for the power say a 1.6 16v Astra sxi and the sort have, got it on a classic policy for about a monkey (half a bag of sand) as a technically 1st time driver. I know alot of cars can be covered on a classic policy, confused.com sorted me out.
It all depends what hes after and if he can do any mechanical work (unless working full time a garage is not an option really). I'd be looking at what Ford has to offer, but fords of the focus generation, not escort, solid eninges and easy to do basic maintainance on (bar exhausts on focus's) but best of all cheap if they do need work.
Volvos are nice cars to be in, especially of he V40 generation, heated seats and electric everything on alot of them. Its a good place to be looking, slightly oddball and being more of a family car should be cheaper to insure than a 1.2 corsa.
(I did stacks of research into insurance when I was 17, and found small family cars such as the focus to be cheaper to insure in higher spec, say a 1.8 millenium, than 1.0 micras etc, I also found that if your brother were to volunteer at a library the preiums can drop quite significantly)
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