Safe Speed Forums

Well, having passed his test and saved like crazy my lad is now looking to buy his first car, he's got about £1250 to spend. We've hunted around, missed hatfuls of promising looking motors and laughed almost out loud at the money some folks think they can get for their 'shed'.
We're looking for insurance grp 5 maximum (and IMHO thats a bit high but am having probs getting this through ) and something that looks coolish...i.e. Rover...
We've seen..

Fiat Puntos
Vauxhall Corsas
Citroen Saxos
Peugeot 306s (Turbo diesels in particular... don't ask me )
Ford Fiestas (Just about acceptable, Ford Ka ...girlies car)
Suzuki Swift

Any other ideas?????

Devil's advocate possibly, but the small cars that AREN'T currently modified much might have lower insurance premiums? ditto slightly larger, but still slow, cars with a more 'mature' image? If he likes them, a classic car may fit the bill.

We inherited a Peugeot 206 from my father in law that was 'A' registration and continued to run it up to about 5 years ago when we sold it for 500 quid to somebody who ran it for a further 4 years until it got written off while parked.

Not sure whether they are cool or not but mechanically it was very reliable and 'didn't arf go' on the motorway.

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Shooting is good for you and too good for some people.

He could try a Citroen ZX. They're not the world's most exciting car but that makes them cheap! They are comfortable, reliable and not too expensive to run. The only unusual thing to watch for is rear suspension bushes, but they are not too expensive to fix.

Puntos have a dreadful reputation reliability-wise, they say.

You won't go far wrong with a Pug 306 TD.
They sport the very common 1.9 "Eurodiesel" engine, and servicing is very cheap and very simple.

The last car we had with that engine was a Xantia, and a full engine service used to cost me £22 inc VAT for the parts (Oil filter, Air filter, Fuel filter, and a gallon of oil).
Time taken to complete the service was in the sub 30 minute bracket for me.

I would personally steer clear of a Rover unless it was very cheap, nobody in their right mind wants a car that you cannot easily get parts for.

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What makes you think I'm drunk officer, have I got a fat bird with me?

Rover's aren't hard to get parts for???

Parts are made by Caterpillar and are distributed by Rimmer Bros. Phone them up, describe what you want and it arrives a day later if it's in stock, a few days later if it isn't!!

My first car was a 1.0 16v Nissan Micra on an R-plate. I felt slightly embarrassed driving it (only slightly), but with hindsight I honestly believe it poured water on any daft ideas to draw attention to myself the way the typical young male does. Of course I did a few silly things, but I'm sure I'd have done many more had I a car with street cred and a big exhaust.

The Micra had no ABS and no PAS. Extremely reliable - in fact my mother has it now, with 115,000 miles and still runs like a sewing machine. Not very fast, doesn't offer much grip in corners, but the handling is extremely forgiving and teaches youngsters how to drive at lowish speeds.

Only critisism is that they can be rusty. Would be a difficult sell getting a lad into one, but he'd learn a lot and as I said it does counter the temptation to prat about or show off.

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Just gone through the AGONY of trying to get my kid fixed up with a decent old car. Everthing any good is already snapped up. Now my 19 year old daughter has just bought a Seat Ibiza 1.4 sport from new on contact purchase. £140 per month and circa £600 fully comp. She works so she is funding it herself.

I have seen contract purchase cars available from that site from £75 a month.

Worth considering as an alternative to buying a banger. At a grand a year you don't have to worry about repairs, an MOT other "consumables". After 3 years you chip it in for another new one or sell it and pay off the balance.

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Speed camera policy Kills

try www.autotrader.co.uk
register
dont put a make in
age up to 10 years
milage up to 60,000
min price 1000
may 2000
price low to high

then look at what he might accept and what he can insure

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Speed limit sign radio interview. TV Snap Unhappy
“It has never been the rule in this country – I hope it never will be - that suspected criminal offences must automatically be the subject of prosecution” He added that there should be a prosecution: “wherever it appears that the offence or the circumstances of its commission is or are of such a character that a prosecution in respect thereof is required in the public interest”
This approach has been endorsed by Attorney General ever since 1951. CPS Code

Thanks for all the replies.

Tried that Anton. As Gizmo says, all the best ones get snapped up and you have to be damned sharpish to get in.
Will keep looking...

What he wants and can afford to insure are to different things. Citroen always have some deals on new cars that come with insurance and I think ford do too with new Ka's. Might be worth a look if he's working and can make the payments.

It's bloody hard for young drivers to get going and build up some no claims.

I'd probably avoid the Saxo. I've heard a few bad tales about their build quality and most of the ones in that price range have probably been abused by now since they tend to be chav owned.

What sort of age range are you looking at, if you're looking at older cars and a Suzuki Swift is on the list of acceptable cars then take a look at the Subaru Justy. They're basically a rebadged Swift, complete with Suzuki engine, but the six stars badge gives it an increase in cool factor and the 1.3GX version came with AWD.

Insurance group isn't the be all and end all of how much you're going to pay, especially these days when they have more statistics than you could possibly imagine. I would get quotes for each individual car that you're interested in rather than just relying on the insurance

direct line are giving no claims to additional drivers on your policy.
I also noted that for £1450 there was a 5 year old daewoo matiz. Slightly under powered but a good first car with extra low insurance. I had one when my car got nicked, I was impressed with how much car you got for the money. Old toyotas are usualy a good buy because nothing goes wrong. just check the insurance costs first. If he could push up to £2000 I would get a yaris. starlets come in budget, not very exciting though.

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Speed limit sign radio interview. TV Snap Unhappy
“It has never been the rule in this country – I hope it never will be - that suspected criminal offences must automatically be the subject of prosecution” He added that there should be a prosecution: “wherever it appears that the offence or the circumstances of its commission is or are of such a character that a prosecution in respect thereof is required in the public interest”
This approach has been endorsed by Attorney General ever since 1951. CPS Code

Avoid the Punto like the plague. I got one as a courticy car when my Golf was hit and it was the most god awful thing I've ever driven. Huge blind-spots thanks to the rediculously small mirrors and not a nice drive at all.

The 306TD IS a nice motor, but my rover 418SLD (same engine as the 1.8TD 306) is insurance group 10.

I would also be wary of using these 'specifically for young drivers' insurers as I've found them to be much more expensive than the larger mainstreem insurers. Try someone like Highway or a local broker.

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Science won over religion when they started installing lightning rods on churches.

A bit of a different suggestion but has he thought about a classic car? Anything sub 1500cc should be cheap enough to insure if he rings round and perhaps tries some of the specialist insurers. If chosen carefully he should be able to at least get his money back when he decides to sell it. He migth even enjoy driving something a bit different which could be a bit of a talking point?

I don't know if classic car insurance works the same, but you have to be over 25 to get classic insurance on a bike. That reminds me, I'll be 25 this year...

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Science won over religion when they started installing lightning rods on churches.

Having had and used a couple of classic cars you can indeed save on the depreciation but they can also be a bottomless pit to keep on the road. There are also a huge number of so called 'restored' cars on the road that look magnificant on the surface.

If you consider the classic route and some really are quite cheap and different, I have fond memories of my MGA, I would strongly advise joing the owners club first.

It also helps to have a bootful of spares and a comprehensive tool kit.

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Shooting is good for you and too good for some people.

This may make your son spit. But Skoda Felicias are in budget, low miles, VW engines in some, tough, rally bred. Saw X reg one local to us, 20k one owner, £950. You might even have enough change for set of bigger wheels from ebay, CD player... etc

With motors like the Fabia & Octavia VRs around, I think they're acceptable in terms of image

Mk 3 Golf 1.4 may fit the bill, plenty of choice out there, although insurance may or may not be OK. Get one for a grand and that may offset the extra insurance...

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"Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts."

All those listed except the Punto and the Swift are risky cars for insurers - *however* I did recently read about somebody who bought a 306 van (ie. no rear windows or seats) and the insurance was half that of the car version.

You can check out the insurance groups here:

http://www.abi.org.uk/carinsurance

Gareth

Yes, they should be bought with care, but in the last 12 months I think I've spent about £100 on mine(£70 MOT and £30 service) so it's quite possible to get a good 'un that will run and run.

There is also scope to learn some practical car mechanics, but that is entirely optional.