Car loan for an 18 year old

Herzlos

How long is she planning on paying the car off over? That's likely to be a very long commitment and at 18, things are likely to be very different when it's done.

As said, you're much better off looking at something cheaper that, whilst still safe and reliable, she can afford to reverse into the occasional fence. After a year or 2 of driving a "banger" she'll be in a much better position to upgrade (and potentially have a few thousand saved up towards it).

When I started driving 11 years ago, everyone's first car was a total banger, but they were just to get 1 or 2 years NCB under our belt and collect dents. Then we all migrated up to cars about £5-10k

mambo69

there was an advert on the radio yesterday, brand new citroen C1 for 18 year old, with free insurance for 3 years

catwoman73

mambo69 wrote: »

there was an advert on the radio yesterday, brand new citroen C1 for 18 year old, with free insurance for 3 years

That might actually be a good idea - Some time ago someone I know bought his 17 YO son a brand new small car with free insurance because he worked out that it would be cheaper than paying for 3 years insurance for a young man that age.

I would however check the T+Cs carefully - for example, the insurance excess may be very high for younger drivers.

audigex

margaretclare wrote: »

2 stumbling-blocks:

1. the large amount and

2. the lack of any credit history.

Is it essential for her to have a new car? Many of us, at that age, went for a good second-hand.

I suspect when they say new they mean new to her because there aren't many "new" cars around for £8k.

While I don't necessarily agree with the "Why does an 18 year old need a car worth more than £1500?" type posts (depending where you live and your drive to work, you may need more reliability), but £8k does sound excessive. A reasonably new (~3-5 year old) car with sensible mileage and good maintenance record can be had for half that, and she'd have a lot more chance of getting a loan for that.

ChemistDude

I would say, it teaching her to get into debt something you really wanna do? It's a slippery slope....max out credit cards, multiple personal loans, etc etc.

Better to save and buy the car. Better not to have bad debt. Save debt for assets.

Ebe_Scrooge

LionelHardesty, I can't quite work out what you're trying to sell us, but we don't like American Spam over here.

iolanthe07

Ebe_Scrooge wrote: »

LionelHardesty, I can't quite work out what you're trying to sell us, but we don't like American Spam over here.

The word 'deductible' instead of UK English 'excess' indicates a US poster, but I don't think it's spam.

Ebe_Scrooge

iolanthe07 wrote: »

The word 'deductible' instead of UK English 'excess' indicates a US poster

As does the location of "New York"

matttye

I got an £18k car (well that was the total cost of the car + extras + finance interest, fees etc.) with a £4K deposit. I was 25 but had adverse credit history at the time, although my defaults were five years old.

Person_one

Having an old banger with some quirks for your first car is a rite of passage, its character building and something to reminisce about nostalgically 10-15 years down the line.

My first car was a 12 year old hatchback that cost £150 in 2002. Had no heating, no radio, a delightful smell of damp and not even a passenger side wing mirror, if you tried to go above 55mph the whole thing rattled alarmingly. I still look back fondly though.