First car for daughter

jaybeetoo

My son had a used Nissan Micra. Never let him down. Insurance was good.

silverwhistle

It was some years after university that I had enough money to buy a car, but I took the advice from a friend to get something that wasn't popular as it would be cheaper both to buy and, as mentioned above, cheaper to insure as not regarded as a typical first time driver's car.

I bought an old banger which cost me £30 depreciation for 10 months motoring before moving on to another (slightly) better car. I was worried about hitting other people but had no worries about my own car!

Do not let the street cred argument have any sway if you are contributing; if it's all their own money they can risk it. Would a Yaris be a reasonable choice? Possibly a bit too popular by my own criterion! ;-)

n15h

I remember my first car - a 2004 Vauxhall Astra 1.6L petrol that I bought in 2016. I set myself a £2K budget for the cost of the car and the insurance. It was a decent looking car, had done 75K miles, had a manual gearbox, full service history, and didn't have any glaring issues. The car and insurance totalled £1900 and I negotiated the dealer to also include a new MOT and cover the road tax in the price.

From my experience, it was an older car that wasn't flashy and it was a popular car model. So that gave me peace of mind from worrying about it getting nicked or the non-availability of spare parts. It also helped teach me about the other hidden costs that come with owning a car e.g., fuelling, cleaning and maintenance, services, breakdown cover, depreciation etc.

I'd certainly suggest a Vauxhall Astra as a first car, or something similar in the hatchback or small car categories.

Goudy

I'd choose a Fiat Panda over a Fiat 500, but whichever stick to the 1.2L 69hp engine. There's little that goes wrong with them, just check the rear axle for rust.

The Panda is more practical, it should be a chunk cheaper like for like and the 500 was noted for the front end panels being stolen, which I would presume effects insurance premiums over the Panda.

There are some other good suggestions but I'm not a fan of the Aygo/C1/107-108 cars. For a new driver the clutches are iffy, more like a switch with very little feel.

For a Ford Fiesta, stick to the 1.25L engines. The later 1.0 Ecoboost and 1.1 ti vct engines are wet belts, the former is noted for causing problems. Nearly all Fiesta drive really well and the feel of them on the road will outweigh any lack of power.

The plain old 1.2L Corsa and Adam tended to be cheap to insure when new/nearly new, not sure now they've got older, but running costs should be very cheap.

The VW Up isn't a bad little car. Earlier ones tend to suffer gearbox lash and can be noisy but the later ones came with some kit like lane assist and any modern safety kit will only help when it comes to insurance, they also drive nicely but can feel a bit out of depth on the motorway if that's important. Also the Skoda Citigo and Seat Mii are the same cars but usually a little cheaper.

The 1.33 Toyota Yaris is worth considering. Quite reliable but listen out for the rear wheel bearings, they can wear quite quickly. Some came with Toyota Safety Sense (TSS) Dual Camera system (though I think is was an option on all but the top model at the time) which again should help insurance premiums.

There are a couple of other cars I would list as maybe's, depending on condition/price. The Skoda Fabia is a more budget version of the VW Polo. The Roomster might not be a bad shout if more space is important.

The Suzuki Swift is a very good car but check the premiums as some models have a much higher category than others.

There are some not so obvious first car choices that might be worth checking out, like the Roomster, Meriva, Clio estate and B Max, They could be cheaper to insure than the main cars they are based on.

Jemma01

My first car (and still surviving 😆) is vauxhall corsa 2008 model, 1.2 engine, it is a small car, you can get 1ltr engine too, cheaper road tax. Manual gear. It fits a small person, some cars you can tell are designed for bigger ppl.

Please edit the post and include budget, manual/automatic, and whether it is for in city travel or cross country. I use mine cross country even though it is on the smaller size

daveyjp

My daughter has been very happy with her Suzuki Swift which she has now had for a year. Its just over 10 years old, no issues with MOT, just had a service and no significant problems found. She did want an auto which limited choices.

She is also happy she went for a slightly larger car over the usual smaller city cars because over the last year her life has changed significantly and the car has become an important part of her life. She thought she'd do about 5,000 a year, she actually did closer to 10,000. She has been on numerous trips for her work, she has a boyfriend who can't drive so they are out and about a lot, a new group of friends, visiting family 50 miles away, weekends away etc etc.

The only money she has spent over usual costs was a head unit upgrade so it now has Apple car play and a touch screen. That one change took years off the car.

discountmuffin77

Hi

For a first car i'd go for something reliable and easy to drive and not expensive

Maybe Toyota, Honda, Hyundai and Ford will be solid choices

lr1277

About 30 years ago my first car was a VW Polo with a 1.8 engine, but no ABS. Whilst I was no boy racer, it certainly led to some bottom clenching moments.

Just saying be careful buying a big engined car without decent brakes. But then your daughter might be an eminently sensible driver.