2nd hand car for 18 year old

Frenzy

Frenzy

Frenzy

Soldato
Joined
11 Sep 2009
Posts
6,291
Location
Limbo
Last edited:
A small hatchback.

Fiesta would do the job. With it being a first car, anything you pick is going to be reasonably cheap to maintain.

I’d focus more on what they want.
 
Personal experience with my eldest girl who is currently learning, a 2010-2014 'Suzuki splash is dirt cheap to fuel and plenty big for four adults, tiny boot and slower than boxing day but for an 18 year old, them not going fast enough to kill themselves is the biggest point.
Ideally though a diesel if it's their first year though as the bitepoint of a manual small engined clutch can be daunting for newbs.
 
JonRGV250 said:
Avoid anything French like the plague for your price point.
If you want something that she can just drive and not have to worry about the thing breaking down or costing a fortune to repair, then..
Hyundai i10
Honda Jazz
Toyota yaris
Click to expand...

Agree with this. The Korean/Japanese cars offer superior reliability.
 
VW Polo as well, although might have to push the budget a bit for lower mileage.

Skoda Citigo might be worth considering, but not many examples at this budget.
 
I'd go Fiesta, Suzuki Swift, Toyota Yaris, plenty about for that kinda money.

All would be pretty reliable, sufficiently slow, cheap to maintain and airbags should the worst happen. Will be fine for a few years building up no claims :)
 
radderfire said:
Agree with this. The Korean/Japanese cars offer superior reliability.
Click to expand...

Not been my uncles experience with Kia sadly. Him and some other driving instructors he works with swapped their cars to Kias this year and they've all had no end of trouble (largely alternator/electronics related) - ironically swapping from Citroen C3s which they had pretty much no problems with. I believe my uncle is on his 4th now.
 
Last edited:
brendy said:
Ideally though a diesel if it's their first year though as the bitepoint of a manual small engined clutch can be daunting for newbs.
Click to expand...

However on this age of car a diesel engine is likely to be much less robust. It will probably have a turbo, high pressure fuel injection and if you're really lucky a dpf.

Also if you have a nearby city with a clean air zone it's more likely a deisel car will have a charge. Soon I will have to pay £9 to drive into the centre of bristol in my diesel Astra. A petrol vehicle of the same age would be exempt.
 
Frenzy said:
Anyone got an opinon on the 2010ish toyota aygos?
Click to expand...
Toyota Aygo
Citroen C1
Peugeot 107

Same car wearing different clothes. Great car for a first time driver. Cheap to buy, cheap to insure and cheap to tax.

The Mrs purchased an Aygo for her first car, to run for a year before she got something 'Nicer'. Three years later, the Aygo is still here, as it costs so little to run and maintain.

The main common issue you'll see online is often clutch wear - Earlier models had a smaller clutch plate that was really required, luckily enough if there was to be any issues, any replacement clutch will be the larger clutch plate that's fitted, for a total cost of ~£300 at an independent.
 
Nothing at all wrong with Citroen, the ones I have owned have been more reliable than the over rated VWs I have owned.
Obviously condition and how it’s been cared for is a major thing to consider.
Check for service history, interior wear & tear / damage.
Also front sub frames can corrode.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom