1st Car for Son

BOWFER

On your very limited budget, look at the Nissan Micra.
Not as 'trendy' as the Corsa or Fiat 500, but if he's willing to drive a Fiat 500 then he's clearly not that bothered about his image (it's not a car a lad would normally be happy to drive).
My mother's 2006 Micra is worth two balloons and a windmill, but it's so reliable and drives great.

strawb_shortcake

BOWFER said:

On your very limited budget, look at the Nissan Micra.
Not as 'trendy' as the Corsa or Fiat 500, but if he's willing to drive a Fiat 500 then he's clearly not that bothered about his image (it's not a car a lad would normally be happy to drive).
My mother's 2006 Micra is worth two balloons and a windmill, but it's so reliable and drives great.

I had a little Micra, loved it was a great little car until some scrote tried to steal it.

We can increase the budget, we aren't limited, just happened to be the cost of the cars we went to look at.

We never told him it was a Fiat 500...

strawb_shortcake

We did go back to have a better look at the Fiat 500, it was horrible to drive and the boot was full of water so it was a definite no and back to looking for something more suitable 

facade

Hyundai i10 if you can get one at a good price. These used to be a good buy as they are overlooked by younger drivers, but people are wising up now and actively searching them out as good value reliable runabouts.

Goudy

We went for a Panda for our lads first car, basically a more practical 500 without some of the 500's wonky bits (broken tailgate wiring, snapping door handles etc)

It did him 4 years without anything too major going wrong and he was pretty sad to see it go but it took us a while to find something that drove similar to what he leant in.

One thing you will need to consider, if your son has learnt to drive in a fairly new/modern car, they tend to drive a little differently to some older cars.

Most cars made over the last 8 or so years will virtually set the rpm themselves when the clutch pedal starts to lift to aid a smooth take off and new drivers of these don't really learn too well about setting rpm to the clutch bite point like all us older drivers did back in the day.

Add that to some older cars, particularly those small French ones that tend to have clutches that don't have a great feel and work like a switch and things soon start turning ugly.

It might sound like a fairly small thing, but it's surprising how things like this can throw a new driver.

BOWFER

VW Fox is another one to think about on the budget.
No denying small VAG cars are better put together than many of the others mentioned here.

castle96

this was my first 'car'. Practical ah. £250 in 1968. Insurance the same as Morris Minor.2838cc Rolls Royce engine.12mpg

Goudy

An Austin Champ?
My Dad "learnt" to drive in one of those when he did his national service.
He always cracked on he drove one half way across Germany on just the hand throttle with his feet up!

strawb_shortcake

castle96 said:

this was my first 'car'. Practical ah. £250 in 1968. Insurance the same as Morris Minor.2838cc Rolls Royce engine.12mpg

He would love that! 

castle96

Yeah. Snorkel on, haND THROTTLE OUT, STAND on steering wheel... off you go