Car Advice - Two Kids

KarachiKid

Hi all,

Thanks for the many replies. There's a few on here which I hadn't considered. The Meriva crops up a few times and wasn't on my radar. It definitely appears to be the logical choice on first glance. Looking on Parkers, it seems that it's the same length (give or take a few millimeters) as our Corsa, which is great! However, the insurance group on the 1.7 CDTi (AC) is 14! That seems very high. Even the 1.3 CDTi is group 8, compared to the Corsa with the same engine being only 3. The tax also goes up from £30 a year to £125, despite being what I assume is exactly the same engine.

Another option which has since sprung up since my first post was lease hire. This is uncharted territory for me. And I know that I'll never own the car which I hire, but by the time I've finished paying off the Corsa or equivalent then it'll be worth about £1,000 anyway.
I've had a (very) brief shop around, looking into this and it seems that I'd be able to get something like a Ford Focus 1.6 TDCi for around £130 or a Nissan Juke for around £150 (including VAT) which isn't much more than I am paying now. Though the insurance group on the latter is around 15.

Does this seem like a viable option? It's completely new to me, so I don't want to take everything at face value. I am unsure if there's any hidden costs to be wary of, or anything I don't have to worry about as I don't own the car (breakdown etc?). If anyone could add their two cents on that front I'd like to know.

Sorry for moving the goalposts. Your posts so far have given me some insight so I really do appreciate it.

AdrianC

KarachiKid wrote: »

Thanks for the many replies. There's a few on here which I hadn't considered. The Meriva crops up a few times and wasn't on my radar. It definitely appears to be the logical choice on first glance. Looking on Parkers, it seems that it's the same length (give or take a few millimeters) as our Corsa, which is great!

That's because it is a Corsa. Everything underneath is Corsa - it's only the relatively superficial stuff that's changed.

However, the insurance group on the 1.7 CDTi (AC) is 14! That seems very high. Even the 1.3 CDTi is group 8, compared to the Corsa with the same engine being only 3.

Get quotes. It's not quite as simple as just group - group shows repair costs, but they also take into account the likelihood of them being stuffed in the first place - and if there's any car that'll have premiums higher than the group would suggest, it's a Corsa.

The tax also goes up from £30 a year to £125, despite being what I assume is exactly the same engine.

It's taller, so higher wind resistance. It's probably heavier. All that pushes the efficiency down, so higher CO2, which is what tax is based on. But are you comparing apples-with-apples? A quick look at Parkers shows that a 2009 Corsa 1.3CDTi is group 5, 119g (band C), whilst a 2009 Meriva 1.3CDTi is group 8, 135g (band E). Relatively small difference in absolute emissions, but a two-band jump because of the way the VED works.