Car for learner driver

[FnG]magnolia

[FnG]magnolia

[FnG]magnolia

Caporegime
Joined
29 Aug 2007
Posts
28,672
Location
Auckland
Folks,

Yes, I've googled but looking for opinions on a good first car for a new driver. Eldest daughter is 16 in January so I'd like to get this organised pre-Christmas. Current contenders:
  • VW Polo
  • Suzuki Swift
  • Toyota Yaris
  • Mazda 3
We're upside down over here so anything European has stalks back to front - not a deal breaker but potentially confusing if our car is different to the Instructor's car.

Anything obvious I'm missing?
 
Yaris or swift would be most ideal, cheap enough not to get annoyed when the inevitable orang happens, cheap.to.run, reliable, cheap to insure.

Polos are ok, but they aren't as reliable as the adverts leave you to believe, a Mazda 3 is a glorified fiesta, it's ok, but parts are dearer than the Yaris and swift
 
BMW are probably off the list anyway, but avoid Ford and Vauxhall.

Get something pretty large, reliable and cheap to insure.
I found the early Škoda Octavia models surprisingly cheap on the insurance compared to smaller cars (favoured by boy racers?), and being a VAG PD it was pretty solid anyway, but the parts were also cheap for when things did wear out.
With smaller cars people seem to think it's small and so should fit into/through more space than is actually available. With larger cars they seem to err on the side of caution and allow more safety space... plus they actually are larger, which means more room for passengers, more boot space when shopping at IKEA for their first home, etc...
 
shifty_uk said:
Its a 16 year old girl, no matter how sensible she is, she’ll want a ‘cute’ little car and not an old Octavia :D
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At that age my wife's first car was an old Mercedes. Proper old-man car with wood panels and all that... but her primary thought was "I own a ******* MERCEDES!!!!"
My youngest wants a Mini, which is odd as she's the least into 'girly-girl cute' stuff, while my eldest is adamant that she'll have an Audi...
 
JonRGV250 said:
They don’t have Hyundai in NZ?
My bad if not.
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Yes they do, they are quite big out their along with Kia.

However there was class action lawsuit against Hyundai/ Kia Australia due to the number of engine failures they had with the 1.6 engine that was fitted in virtually every model, it possibly affected the 1.4 engine aswell from memory.

But alas, I wouldn't recommend them.
 
ttaskmaster said:
At that age my wife's first car was an old Mercedes. Proper old-man car with wood panels and all that... but her primary thought was "I own a ******* MERCEDES!!!!"
My youngest wants a Mini, which is odd as she's the least into 'girly-girl cute' stuff, while my eldest is adamant that she'll have an Audi...
Click to expand...

Champagne tastes, though tbh they are nice cars and having owned German I'm finding it very difficult running a non German vehicle they are just very nice places to be, road noise, drivability just overall quality feel.
 
sx_turbo said:
Champagne tastes, though tbh they are nice cars and having owned German I'm finding it very difficult running a non German vehicle they are just very nice places to be, road noise, drivability just overall quality feel.
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Old Mercs are cheap to buy and cheap to insure. They don't go badly wrong that often, but parts and maintenance are expensive!
 
Just don't let her fall for the Fiat 500 fad. Having owned an Abarth (which is the stronger built one), they are a PITA. Every month it needed something fixing, things just fall off, wiring breaks, they like to eat rear wheel bearings and control arms for some reason.

sx_turbo said:
Yes they do, they are quite big out their along with Kia.

However there was class action lawsuit against Hyundai/ Kia Australia due to the number of engine failures they had with the 1.6 engine that was fitted in virtually every model, it possibly affected the 1.4 engine aswell from memory.

But alas, I wouldn't recommend them.
Click to expand...

The old second generation Kias seem to be solid engine wise (the pre-DPF engines). But they suffer from rust as they didn't bother to galvanise them.
 
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