Second Hand Car for Learner Drive

Franticandtrying

I want to buy a second hand car for my son so that I can teach him to drive.  I've looked on carwow, autotrader, etc. and cant find anything at a reasonable price.  I don't really want to spend more than £2,500 and the car needs to be ULEZ compliant.  Any tips re cheap cars and where to find one??

cymruchris

Franticandtrying said:

I want to buy a second hand car for my son so that I can teach him to drive.  I've looked on carwow, autotrader, etc. and cant find anything at a reasonable price.  I don't really want to spend more than £2,500 and the car needs to be ULEZ compliant.  Any tips re cheap cars and where to find one??

Bear in mind the cost of insurance. It's possible that the 'cheap car' you find at £2500 needs £2500 to insure it, whereas a car at £3k may only need £1500 to insure it. Cars in this price bracket might also need more maintenance, and you'll need to be sure they are rust and rot free. Don't go just by the price of the car alone.

Saying that - there seem to be quite a few options in my quick scan of cars that a first time learner driver might choose.

£2500 seems to get you Citroen C1's, Mini's, Fiestas,Clios and quite a few more.

 

daveyjp

No reason to spend more than £1500.  Neighbour's 18 year old son just bought his first car, a 58 reg C1 for £1200.

Trawl small ads, Facebook marketplace, Gumtree etc.

If you insure it your son can have standalone learner insurance which isn't that expensive.

fatbelly

There are plenty of sound cars available for £2500. I sold my friend a Citigo for less than that, though it was during the pandemic and i did do him a bit of a deal. You might not find decent Up/Citigo/Mii but if you do, they are great cars. However you may find a Hyundai i10/Kia Picanto which have a lot going for them.

I'd be looking at Chevrolet Spark and Suzuki Alto but be open to anything good that came up in a low insurance group

The 2008 Ford ka was a big improvement over its predecessor and you might see some 10-12 year old models that have been well cared for

A couple of other cars in low insurance group, that you may find nice specimens of, are VW Fox, made to 2011, and Kia Rio, which is slightly bigger than the others i have mentioned but still ok on insurance