First car for son.

dalex · 20 Nov 2015 at 11:26

19 year old son has passed his test and is looking for his first car.
Looking for advice from anyone experienced this recently.
He wants a half decent motor, Astra sized.
Anyone point us in the right direction with insurance groups, companies best for new drivers etc.
Cars to avoid too.

Cheers for any help

Dave

GinG · 20 Nov 2015 at 11:33

Focus?

What is your budget?

Jim99 · 20 Nov 2015 at 11:38

When I compared insurance at similar age, make and model didn't seem to make a huge difference. The big change was at 1.6L - that and higher was ridiculous. 1.4 and below was all much of a muchness. Newer models didn't change much either.

I wound up with a 1.4L diesel fiesta.

GinG · 20 Nov 2015 at 11:51

Jim99 said:
When I compared insurance at similar age, make and model didn't seem to make a huge difference. The big change was at 1.6L - that and higher was ridiculous. 1.4 and below was all much of a muchness. Newer models didn't change much either.

I wound up with a 1.4L diesel fiesta.

Seems a bit of a flawed logic as you could now get a 1.4 peaking at almost 180bhp standard :cool:

grudas · 20 Nov 2015 at 11:57

I passed recently and went with mazda 3 sport

totally recommend them, really nice to drive and look quite good/come with good amount of kit. Might be a bit of kicker insurance wise if you go for the sport(2.0 petrol)

dalex · 20 Nov 2015 at 12:15

He is looking at 2-3 grand on a motor and 2 grand insurance
Cheers
Dave

Abyss · 20 Nov 2015 at 14:09

dalex said:
He is looking at 2-3 grand on a motor and 2 grand insurance
Cheers
Dave

Try running a few insurance quotes on less popular cars for 19 year olds and you might be very pleasantly suprised! Particularly when 1 year's insurance is almost the value of the car.

Astra/Focus/Fiesta/Corsa etc are all very popular first cars so can end up being expensive to insure.

Try cars like the 1.8/2.0 petrol Mondeo, Mazda 6, Seat Toledo etc.

PooKer · 20 Nov 2015 at 15:46

I don't understand why people "want" bigger cars as a first car. I started with a Ford KA then a Pug 107. Small but cheap to run and insure while I built up no claims. Then 1.6 Mitsubishi Lancer after that.

I mean you can pick up a Toyota Aygo for £1500. Then keep the other £1500 for later on. It'll be insurance group 1. And the little 3 cylinder engine is fine for getting around in on your own.

Randomface74 · 20 Nov 2015 at 15:47

Howard · 20 Nov 2015 at 15:47

PooKer said:
I don't understand why people "want" bigger cars as a first car. I started with a Ford KA then a Pug 107. Small but cheap to run and insure while I built up no claims. Then 1.6 Mitsubishi Lancer after that.

I mean you can pick up a Toyota Aygo for £1500. Then keep the other £1500 for later on. It'll be insurance group 1. And the little 3 cylinder engine is fine for getting around in on your own.

Some people might not want a nasty pokey little city car, and can afford to pay a little extra for something a bit bigger and nicer

.

Diddums · 20 Nov 2015 at 15:53

Buy him a used bicycle and tell him to get a bloody job just like the old days

MooMoo444 · 20 Nov 2015 at 15:55

Howard said:
Some people might not want a nasty pokey little city car, and can afford to pay a little extra for something a bit bigger and nicer .

Bigger and nicer doesn't usually go well with a new driver though. Probably gonna bump something. Like my examiner said, 'you learn to pass the test with me, then you learn to drive on the road after it'.

grudas · 20 Nov 2015 at 16:03

Howard said:
Some people might not want a nasty pokey little city car, and can afford to pay a little extra for something a bit bigger and nicer .

+1 buy what ever the hell you want really.. if you bump it you bump it, if not then hey no.. people have accidents all the time! it's perfectly normal.

I prefer having a car I actually like rather than driving something I don't like just because I'm a new driver.

tom_e · 20 Nov 2015 at 16:06

fiat cinquecento babe magnet right there.

dacads · 20 Nov 2015 at 16:11

grudas said:
+1 buy what ever the hell you want really.. if you bump it you bump it, if not then hey no.. people have accidents all the time! it's perfectly normal.

.

Do they? In general yes but you make it sound like every individual does on a regular basis

PooKer · 20 Nov 2015 at 16:12

grudas said:
+1 buy what ever the hell you want really.. if you bump it you bump it, if not then hey no.. people have accidents all the time! it's perfectly normal.

I prefer having a car I actually like rather than driving something I don't like just because I'm a new driver.

They'll appreciate a nicer car after they've gone via the route of saving money.

I don't understand why when you pass a bike test you get restricted but cars? nah you can buy anything you want.

grudas · 20 Nov 2015 at 16:15

dacads said:
Do they? In general yes but you make it sound like every individual does on a regular basis

I may have got my point across wrong, what I am saying is that you can crash a car at any age/experience level, yes there's a higher chance of bumping, scraping the car etc but if it's bought with your own money then hey, live and learn?

PooKer said:
They'll appreciate a nicer car after they've gone via the route of saving money.

I don't understand why when you pass a bike test you get restricted but cars? nah you can buy anything you want.

so you're assuming that every first car is bought by parents? I bought my own car from my own money that I've earned by going to work and saving, I appreciate and take more care of it than I would if I was to drive a cheap, slow city car.

yes you can but insurance will be above everything, no 17yo will be able to afford 5k/year to insure a 330i for example

unless their parents are loaded in which case cheap car is not even going to be considered.

tom_e · 20 Nov 2015 at 16:16

PooKer said:
They'll appreciate a nicer car after they've gone via the route of saving money.

I don't understand why when you pass a bike test you get restricted but cars? nah you can buy anything you want.

Money puts most high performance cars out of a brand new drivers reach, whereas you can pick up a bike that will smoke absolutely any run of the mill cars 0-60 for peanut, 3.5 secs for £1.5k and £500 insurance yes please!

At least that's the palatable reasoning for it and it's nothing to do with getting another load of test fees out of you when you're old enough to go unrestricted.

PooKer · 20 Nov 2015 at 16:22

grudas said:
so you're assuming that every first car is bought by parents? I bought my own car from my own money that I've earned by going to work and saving, I appreciate and take more care of it than I would if I was to drive a cheap, slow city car.

Not at all. I saved up for my own car and I'd like to think all other people do the same in order to respect their own car and other peoples. It was more aimed at people who get the first car on finance because they want something nicer. Then the trash it. Have to pay that car off for 3 years.

pugheaven · 20 Nov 2015 at 16:30

I bought my son his car (he's 22 May just gone) and it was my old mans Misubishi Charisma 1.6 Elegance, mint condition, solid as a rock, leather etc and cost £650 notes fully comp while he's learning to drive. Big enough he can get all his fishing gear in etc and will not break down... 54 plate. He's happy as a sand boy!