New car vs 2nd hand?

anewman

Leanne1812 wrote: »

and he wants to impress them and of course the girls too!:rotfl:

Any girl impressed by a car is shallow and only worth a 1 nighter tho :rotfl:, if u know what I mean

goldspanners

anewman wrote: »

Any girl impressed by a car is shallow and only worth a 1 nighter tho :rotfl:, if u know what I mean

your right, i used to pull the burds in my works van no problem when i was younger.usually they were only one nighters aswell
any girl who wants him for his car isnt worth the hassle,when she sees a guy in a better car she will be off with him.
the money he is spending on that corsa is hardly going to be the top of the range,so not too impressive.
he should get something older for a year or so until he really knows what he wants from a car.

CFC

Bangers are best for new drivers. Please try to persuade him to buy something older.

tomstickland

You should be able to find a tidy car for £1.5K. Go for low insurance group and avoid the boy racer cars (Saxo, Corsa etc).

ailuro2

here's what I tell the apprentices at work -

instead of getting a car loan and paying interest on car loans, buy a runaround that will get you from A to B and get you your first year's no claims bonus under your belt. Put the money away every month that you would have paid out in a car loan. After the first year you'll have enough money put aside to buy a better car, but you won't be paying anyone any interest on it, so you end up getting much more car for your money. After a year that little runaround wont have depreciated much, so you can sell it on for not much less than you paid for it.

Now keep putting the car loan money away, then when the next high-cost thing comes along you can pay for it, again without incurring interest charges.

This applies really well to your young lad, newish cars are money down the drain, not such a great move when you're young and can't afford it.;)

p.s. tell him his mates might have shinier new cars, but they won't have enough money left to take the nicer girls out for a McDonalds, never mind a romantic sit-down dinner.

roddydogs

Buy an old banger now---itll soon be worth £2000 if your buying new.

bob_kirby_kirkby

If you type findanengine into any search engine you will see what I mean. aka KIRKBY CAR BREAKERS

Many, many people have lost money!

custardy

bob_kirby_kirkby wrote: »

If you type findanengine into any search engine you will see what I mean. aka KIRKBY CAR BREAKERS

Many, many people have lost money!

huh?

AdrianHi

Getting an affordable insurance quote for your son as the main driver in his name is going to be high priority here.
Some cars new in the last few years have been designed to reduce repair costs and so meet the requirements of insurance group 1 where many older "bangers" with small engines are not. For example, more modern cars are design to have damaged body panels removed and replaced, which is cheaper than repairing a damaged panel or replacing a panel on an older car with a less accomodating design.
http://www.carpages.co.uk/car-insurance/car-insurance-group-1-1.asp
I've driven a couple of cars in that list and those 3 cylinder engines (e.g. Vauxhall Corsa Life 1.0i 12v 3dr) are quite nasty and noisey so I wouldn't want to blow years of savings on a new car this nasty and be stuck with it for 3+ years.
I would pick a car off that list and spend as little money as possible on it with a view to changing it for something easier to live with after 2 years.
6 points on your license for speeding is enough to loose it in the first 2 years after passing, another good reason to have something slow for the first 2 years.
Corsa not a bad option.
See if you can talk your son into being the sort of person with a completely clean driving record who can get reasonable insurance on something much more interesting (that he can afford with years of savings) when he is 21 to take that special lady out to dinner
Also get him to research how to get the best returns on his savings.

Shoshannah

Definitely definitely definitely 101% SECOND-HAND CAR!

A new car is only new for six months until the next registration plate comes out, and the value that drops off it as soon as you drive off the forecourt is shocking.

Even the best drivers will prang and bump their first cars, I know I did. My first car was a golden oldie and really cheap and easy to repair myself when I damaged it! No need to rush off for expensive body repairs at the dealer, and no need to make a claim on already expensive insurance.

How much does it cost to replace the entire plastic front end of a Corsa if the bumper gets slightly cracked? I'm not sure personally, but I would willing to bet money that it would cost a darn sight more than the £20 I paid to replace my cracked bumper on my first car.

Personally I think the old bangers are much easier to learn CAR MAINTENANCE on, something that is sadly forgotten about and neglected by many people today. Learn to do your own oil changes and replace your own spark plugs, save £££ on garage services. I service my old car myself but I know I would struggle with one of these more modern plastic-covered engines, I would be lost.

I know your son has saved hard (good on him!) for his first car but I think buying new would be unecessary and it would be a great shame to get himself into debt so early on, especially after saving so hard.

If he really doesn't want an old banger then I'm sure one of the older small cars (Corsa, Clio, Saxo, 106, 206 etc etc etc) would be a cheaper alternative than a new car. There are plenty of really nice 3-4 year old cars out there that will be cheaper to buy and cheaper to insure.

Insurance will drop after the first year if he does not claim, but the newer the car the more expensive it will be and if all the £2000 is gone on a deposit then where will the cash for insurance year 2 come from?

Sorry for my two pence worth but I am a really old car enthusiast. I am now 24 and have been driving for 6 years but there is no way my next car will be younger than 10 years old.