Car for young driver

Ettenna

My eldest daughter is going to be learning to drive soon :eek: and we are starting to look for cars for her. I have done a quick search on here but nothing leapt out at me.

Has anyone any experience of the best car to look for in terms of safety, insurance cost, reliability, etc. we are looking to spend about £800-£1000.

Unfortunately she can't drive my vehicle (minibus) nor my DH (we think it is too powerful for a learner - VW Passat 2.0)

TIA

geordie458

My 18 year old son passed his test in February and we found him a 1999 Skoda Felicia for £725. It had been owned by the same elderly gent from new and was in great condition. There's enough room for 5 adults, it's reliable and ecconomical according to all the reviews and seemed to be a fair bit cheaper than the usual fiestas corsas 106s et al that were even older. Insurance was a little more but because of the amount he was paying anyway, it wasnt too bad. If your daughter has palpitations at the thought of driving a Skoda, fair enough, its keeps prices down for the rest of us lol. Overall, its a great liitle car for a new driver.

MX5huggy

Don't rule out the Passat certainly not for learning (esp if she has lessons as well) there is no reason why the power should be a problem. Enough teenagers kill themselves in 1.1 fiestas. I had L plates on my dads 2 liter BMW.

And as it is your car you can offically ad her as a second driver.

onthecase

My son's first car when he was 20 was a corsa and it was brilliant. It had 90k miles on the clock and he put a further 30k on in 2 years. It never broke down, was cheap on insurance and service and when he sold it his mate bought it off him for £800, my son bought it for £1000.

We still see the car now and it still looks good (N reg), I'd highly recommend the corsa.

My step-daughter, now 18, has a Ford Ka, good on insurance, petrol etc, but we have had problems with it (W reg).

rednose66

MX5huggy wrote: »

Don't rule out the Passat certainly not for learning (esp if she has lessons as well) there is no reason why the power should be a problem. Enough teenagers kill themselves in 1.1 fiestas. I had L plates on my dads 2 liter BMW.

And as it is your car you can offically ad her as a second driver.

Good point, well made. Plus if she learns to drive in the Passat - lets face it a 2.0 is hardly an F1 car - she will be able to handle a larger car and should she then get a small car will find it a doddle to park etc.

When my daughter wants to learn to drive I wouldnt have any qualms letting her learn in my 2.0 Alfa.

AdrianHi

rednose66 wrote: »

Good point, well made. Plus if she learns to drive in the Passat - lets face it a 2.0 is hardly an F1 car - she will be able to handle a larger car and should she then get a small car will find it a doddle to park etc.

When my daughter wants to learn to drive I wouldnt have any qualms letting her learn in my 2.0 Alfa.

Insurance of the Passat 2.0 could be prohibitive.
For an 18 year old insurance is going to be thr problem and could cost more than the 800-1000 car you are looking for.

For the car, Nissan Micra 1.0 springs to mind, nice and easy to drive, economical and reliable.

pinkneonmartini

My first car was a Seat Marbella (rebadged Fiat Panda) K reg, 30k miles, 900cc!!! £500 And absolutely fantastic!!!!!!!!!!! It's not possible for it to break because it doesn't have any moving parts, top speed 55mph maybe 60 downhill, and 0-60 in about 3 years lol.

But it was great!!!!!!!!! because it was sooooo basic my dad was able to teach me how to look after a car, he took all the wheels off and got me to put them back on so if i got a puncture i could change the wheel myself, and no need for space saving tyres, full size 14 incher under the bonnet with the engine hee hee, i changed the air filter, petrol filter, fitted my own stereo and speakers (didn't have to take the car to bits as it has no carpet or dash board, just a bar with a sort of hammock in the front and the floor was clip on lyno!!!! soooo easy to keep clean as a teenager!)

As my dad said "you'll crash it, all kids crash their cars, but atleast in this you'll get out in one piece, and you can just leave it!" lol. And you know what, i loved that car so much i treasured for 2 years, sold it to my auntie ........ and SHE crashed it!!!!!!!

Oh and i was a 17 yr old girl insurance on a first car was gonna be a big selling point ..... £600 3rd part fire and theft with privilege, all in my name so i got to earn some NCB. Absolute bargain of a car, and now almost 10 years later i still love them so much i'm trying to find one to do up lol, not exactly "pimp my ride" but they are just so much fun!

bob_a_builder

When my daughter wants to learn to drive I wouldnt have any qualms letting her learn in my 2.0 Alfa.

I bet the quote for insurance will indicate that they have qualms even if you don't

mcjordi

her first car should be something that is low insurance group, i personally wouldnt get something new as its bound the get a few scrapes or dings on it, i know my first car did lol

the best bet is to go with a corsa/fiesta/ka/micra

andyman2303

Get a clio. Mine was a 1.2 R reg with 63k on the clock. I added 25k in 2 years, and didn't have a single problem with it. Easy to work on, air filter easy to get to. Service only cost £120 inc parts and labour.

Do not underestimate french engineering!

Inactive

andyman2303 wrote: »

Do not underestimate french engineering!

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Best laugh I've had all day...Thanks.. :rotfl: