Best car wanted for safety, low insurance and economy for new 17 year old driver ?

juan_kerr_3

I'm asking you experts in economy to let me know what the safest, lowest insurance, economical and reliable car we should be looking for, for a 17 year old new driver.
Our budget with a bit of HP will probably be between £3000-£3500. But any suggestions will be grately received on higher and lower priced vehicles, so we can start our search.
We have about six weeks to look around.
We'd be grateful for what to avoid also.
Thanks for your help

bill

spalding

For your budget you better off looking at the mass produce small cars Corsa's, Fiesta's etc

wazza

If you have a look at a magazine such as parkers guide it will tell you about the reliabilty and safety ratings of all cars. As a rule of thumb japanese cars tend to be more reliable. However the likes of skoda fabia has been getting good reviews.

have a look at
http://www.parkers.co.uk/choosing/carreviews/manufacturer_list.aspx

happy hunting

wazza

If you have a look at a magazine such as parkers guide it will tell you about the reliabilty and safety ratings of all cars. As a rule of thumb japanese cars tend to be more reliable. However the likes of skoda fabia has been getting good reviews.

have a look at
http://www.parkers.co.uk/choosing/carreviews/manufacturer_list.aspx

happy hunting

Savvy_Sue

If you look in the Back Room bit of Honest John you will find this question asked and answered - you may need to do a search to find a recent thread but it will be there! If you register you can post your own question. Truly, for all things car it has to be HJ!

carly

I agree about Japanese cars being reliable, and to be honest you really want peace of mind when seeing your 17 yr old drive off, dont you?. You want to be certain that the car isnt going to pack up on them miles from home, because you know who will have to sort them out if anything breaks !

You wont go far wrong with a Toyota yaris.
They are rock solid reliable. Very cheap to run, you get easily 50mpg on average in the 1 litre model, and more depending on type of roads and driving style. low insurance group. Because of all this though, they do hold their price well, and a second hand one wont be as cheap as some other cars. However there are some beauties around for £3000 and they tend not to have been raced or rallied!
Might not have the street cred a 17 year old is looking for though, but if they are lucky enough to have a car bought for them well...................

Swiss_Toni

I know this is a little "off-the-wall", but I stumbled across the best "First Car" and want to share my reasons....

Buy a Land Rover.

A short wheel base, as old as possible and ideally a Station Wagon.

Beats anything else your mate buy in the "Cool" stakes, they are very cheap to insure, don't go very fast, are built like brick out-houses, parts are cheaper than anything (solid metal girder front bumper? £20!), and there is room in the back for 6 mates.

I got one for my kid brother after he rolled his Peugeot 106 into a field, and he hasn't looked back (?!).

Their peers recognise it as an anti-fashion statement, in the winter everybody wants to know you, and in the summer you unbolt the roof for the ultimate convertible.

And there are hundreds of them about.

All the best....


Swiss

wazza

also with land rovers you can get back what u paid for. paint it and kit it to look like the one laura croft had.

flea72

i would say fiesta, with an engine no bigger than a 1.1

cheap parts, easy to maintain

just be aware that insurance is going to cost somewhere in the region of £1k, so allow for this within your £3k budget

wazza

i found that corsa were lower groups than fiesta a few years back. that might change now cos corsa r popular with young racers and might push the premium up as it might be on the hot list for cars that are stolen frequently for parts.

Swiss_Toni

flea72 wrote:

i would say fiesta, with an engine no bigger than a 1.1

cheap parts, easy to maintain

just be aware that insurance is going to cost somewhere in the region of £1k, so allow for this within your £3k budget

Yup - that sounds about right - £1k for insurance.

BUY A LAND ROVER!!! Pay £400 for insurance as a 17 year old with 0 ncb, and save £600.

That £600 buys a heck of a lot of fuel (more than the extra a Landie uses over a Festa...!!!!!).

Depreciation = Nil
Insurance = Half that of a Corsa
Cool Factore = Jolly Large