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Eldest daughter, a few months off yet and she wants a 10yr old micra, so the low expectation suits me fine!
Just wondered what the car of choice or recommendation of the STW would be.
Low insurance group, low fuel consumption are primary factors.
Or, would you just throw the money at one of those, "just add fuel" deals that the likes of Peugeot do.
They come with free insurance for 18yo so that might save a hefty amount, offset against the depreciation/lease costs.
That's the budget for the insurance, right?
I've seen those free insurance for 18yo drivers deals, and I've wondered how/where they're absorbing the cost of the premiums, because just on its own the premium costs are eye-watering,
An old Micra might be a good option, it'll be worth looking at a bunch of insurance quotes, and seeing how the cheapest works out per month, compared to the lease costs, while avoiding the option to spread the cost over twelve months, 'cos they always cost more doing it that way.
I never paid more than £500 for a car, until I bought my Puma in 2001, and I'd been driving since the late 70's, so the Micra could be the most viable, plus there'll be fewer worries about knocks and dings, those have already happened.
I went the second hand route and ended up with a 2007 Toyota Aygo. Car choice came down to insurance cost.
Cheapest cars I could find to insure were Kia Picanto, Aygo, Citroen C1 - all around the £1500 mark once she passed. I did see a cheap Skoda Fabia which looked ideal, but would have been £3400 to insure!!! So get quotes first!
On the other hand 'free insurance' deals with lease cars can be equally cost effective just because insurance is so damn expensive!
Usual tradition of recommending what you know - one of our kids has a 2006 Toyota Aygo too which is one of the lowest insurance groups, £20 pa tax and really economical. Was worrried it wouldn't be as reliable as normal Toyotas as it's a joint venture with PSA group but seems fine so far, it's nice to drive and feels pretty nippy for a 1 litre engine. Can be had for a lot less than your budget too, paid a grand with years MOT, and great if she's not fussed about street cred etc.
She will almost certainly scrape it, so I'd go second hand.
I hired a Picanto on holiday and it was terrible, the slowest, most asthmatic thing I've ever driven. I used to have a 106, my gf had a 107 and now a Fiat 500 and all three of those feel loads more driveable than the Picanto, despite not having much/any more power on paper. But that might be what the OP wants. 107/Aygo/C1 is worth a look though.
Worth looking at slightly bigger cars too, apparently, as they're not the typical 'first car' so don't have the associated claims, they tend to have higher safety ratings too.
My three (in order of seniority) got a Ford Ka Sport, Fiat Punto 5dr and a Honda Civic 1.6 Sport.
All three cars cost less than the insurance...
There isn't a lot of difference between low insurance cars and higher ones (in percentage terms), so don't over pay for 'low insurance' cars.
And it goes without saying, but it's all about the location - youngest (rural Scotland) pays the same as the eldest (urban West Yorkshire) even though he's been driving 4 years more.
I've looked at insurance and with a back box, for a micra, it's around £1400.
Yes, a lot but hopefully after year one she might start gaining some NCD.
Got my daughter and step-daughter cars when they passed at 17. car budget was £3k-£3.5k with insurance £1k-£1.5k
One chose a 2010 Ford Ka, 30k miles, 1.0 engine, insurance year 1, black box from insurethecar.com = £1050, year 2 (no claims) -£550 on our admiral multi car
The other chose Renault Clio 1.2, 45k miles, year 1 = £1100 with Morethan black box policy, year 2=£600 on our admiral multi car (no claims).
What we found was you really need to shop around and black box makes a difference. Keep the engine size small and dont buy new. We expect to be able to sell them next year for £1k.
Yaris, thats what we got my kids. The car no longer has a panel without a dent after 3 of them had it over 10 years. Still going strong though
A safe one.
She will [s]almost certainly[/s] scrape it, so I'd go second hand.
FTFY.
A Jeffsy CF One or CF Pro. 8)
Look for cars that are less common, my son quoted over £1500 for 1l Vauxhall Corsa, ended up with Citroen C2 Code, same engine as VTR but insurance £1100. Insurance quotes are based on statistics, there are less than 3500 C2 Codes registered in the UK therefore statistically low risk, other examples were Golf GTi £16k to insure, Alfa Romeo with higher performance was £1600!! It seems the insurance is based on how many claims are made vs that vehicle more so than the performance of the car.
votchy - MemberLook for cars that are less common
V8 MX-5? 😀
998cc Picanto here
After 2009 new NCAP rating scheme applies
After 2012 will have more safety features as standard, e.g. TPMS, due to EU legislation
9 year old VW fox with £45k on the clock cost me £2400 for my son - ingenue insurance (full comp with a black box fitted) was £800 as a learner, then an extra £140 after he passed his test
Direct Line don't change the premium after the driving test is passed
Vw polo or golf
We just sold our 12 year old polo 1.2L to a first driver for £500, think her dad said insurance would be £1.5k. It's an ideal first car IMO, fairly solid for a small car, reliable and not too gutsy
Fiesta 1.0 popular.
40bhp.
One wing mirror.
4 gears.
What's not to like.
it was terrible, the slowest, most asthmatic thing I've ever driven
Not such a bad thing for a young driver.
That's the budget for the insurance, right?
I've seen those free insurance for 18yo drivers deals, and I've wondered how/where they're absorbing the cost of the premiums, because just on its own the premium costs are eye-watering,
Bought our son a new suzuki swift 1.2l in November, insurance was a reasonable £739, no black box.
Mrs-g is about to pass her test so we have been looking at what cheap, small car we could get on the assumption it may well take a few dents and I like the look of the "new" Minis.
They have been around for 15 odd years now so you can grab an old one for 1500-2k, the design hasn't really changed much in that time so they don't look obviously out of date in the way an old fiesta or whatever would, and I think they are cheap on insurance.
Have not driven one so would need to test that out, but the lack of a mention for them has me worried now, are they not any good?
it was terrible, the slowest, most asthmatic thing I've ever driven
Not such a bad thing for a young driver.
Oh yeah, as I said
But that might be what the OP wants.
It was just a shock having to put it into 1st gear to drive up a (Admittedly steep) hill. It might have had similar power on paper to my old 106 or my gf's 500, but it felt much less usable in the flesh.
But again, that might not be a bad thing for a new driver, they'll get plenty of gear change practice!
My sister had a (i think 03 plate) Cooper S, so I can't comment on the other engines but the car itself seemed very nice. The interior was a step up from the usual first car suggestions. They might be more expensive to keep running in 'old age' than a Yaris or C1 though.Have not driven one so would need to test that out, but the lack of a mention for them has me worried now, are they not any good?
Steve-g Mini's trade at a premium. I would imagine Mrs-G will be less likely to have a bump than a teenager so they may make sense. My eldest drove the Yaris into a Telegrapgh pole wire first day after passing her test. At least she didn't have a head on collision with the Landy coming the other way 😐
Insurance, long time ago now (12 years for my eldest) but we shopped around and best quote was £650, less than half next best. Worth looking at some "alternatives" like Farmers Union.
As above some gutless smallish car is ideal.
get an old style [url= http://www.motors.co.uk/car-44529111/?i=4&m=sp ]panda[/url]
4 doors, air con, 60mpg, cheap insurance, fine up to about 60mph (may struggle on the motorway!). Cheap and easy to fix
Honda Jazz?
I'm in exactly the same situation with my eldest (first lesson tomorrow).
We've nailed it down to:
Fiat 500 (probs too small)
VW Up! (good but she's not blown away by the looks)
Polo 1.2 (good on a number of fronts and will officially seat 5)
[curve ball] Alfa Romeo Mito (1.0, looks good but a bit over our budget and I'm not sure about the dealer network).
The insurance for all the above came in at £900-£1000 with daughter as the main driver and parents as named drivers.
Whatever we get needs to last as our other two daughters start driving in 2 years so we're looking at 2010MY and newer with a budget of about £3500.
And before anyone bleats on about kids being spoilt, blah, blah, we live in the sticks and need a car to get nearly anywhere. We have two cars already, one she cannot drive for a long, long time and the Golf which my wife will be taking into her new job 5 days a week. We're offsetting the insurance against the £800 it currently costs us for our daughter to get the bus to school.
Steve-g: it's all about engine size. A new driver can get away with a <1.2 engine but above that the insurance rockets. Not sure you'll find a 1.2 mini.
Obvs you could just pay more and get the Mini though but I'd be wary of a 15yo car. Less safety for starters.
Another Aygo owner here; purchased last month.
Would have liked a VW UP, but just too expensive. Fiat 500 not popular for the driver or her younger sister, who will use the car next year, and I'm not sold on reliability, so wasn't in the running.
Sharkbait, you don't need to justify yourself. Unfortunately, Its a sad reflection of how bad this forum has become.
Another vote for an old style Fiat Panda, 4WD for some off roading 
a panda is of course the same as a fiat 500. With a different top.
And slightly less street cred.
but they are half the price.
I bought my boy a VW fox, remember it only has 4 seats, this will be an insurance factor.
He has already creased the passenger side sill in a car park interface issue. it is a cracking little car, and I would happily drive it around, I picked up a new Croix in its box and managed to get that in the back, it was tight though, and headroom was a challenge!
I spotted a nice looking VW fox on trader, 60 plate for around the budget we have.
For whatever reason, however, she seems set on a micra.
Good shout on the aygo tho, might be one to look at.
Daughter number two will be in this position in two years and she wants a pink and silver smart four two.
We went with a 2nd hand Honda Jazz for my daughters first car and it's still going strong 8 years later (although with some cosmetic challenges) although it's now been relegated to a spare car. It was an excellent choice for a 1st car though.
Bought the misses a aygo in the summer, £3900 for a 63 plate with 23,000 miles, £0 tax and great fuel economy, and they drive really well, we are impressed so far
Insurance cost is the biggest factor.
For my daughter who passed last year at 17, we found the cheapest commonly available option was the C1 models from 62 plate onwards (the date after which they became zero tax). We paid about £3,400 for a low miles VTR model.
Multi car with Admiral was about £1000 for the first year based on 6k miles and no requirement for any black box.
*** Key though with the multi car policies is that they renew all vehicles at same date, which means that your new addition will fall due for renewal at something less than a year if you already have a policy running. This means you only pay the hefty premium pro-rata for that period, then benefit from early renewal with a year's NCB (so long as the policy has been running for >3 months).
Renewal was about £700 for the second year.
The big day is looming and this is back on topic.
She went on a young driver day at Oultn Park last week and had a spin in the minis they use, and she liked them.
The 10 year old micro was forgotten.
Toyota Yaris. Bullet proof reliability. Cheap insurance and good residuals.
18yr old boy got a £500 2005 1.6 Focus, £320 for a cambelt, service, couple of tyres and a valet. Insurance was £850 from memory.
Good post code, we are ok drivers and a blackbox. Model of car had little to do with it.
He's been a good driver tbh, the box readout helped to begin with but now he's just ok.
Toyota Yaris
Skids fabia
Lad (18) just got a suzuki swift 1.2 61 plate well under £3500. insurance from direct line was £900 with telematics. He's well pleased with it
Got a 2005 fiesta ST I can't shift. She can have that.
Toyota Yaris
Honda Jazz
Hyundai i20
Suzuki Swift
Mazda 2
Skids fabia
😛
Another vote for a Yaris. They feel a bit flimsy but they're tough as hell.
Mk1 MX5 + cash to spare
mini cooper 970s £325, insurance tpft £112 was in 1980 i earned £46 quid a week full time..
Got my son a 1989 'Classic' Mini last July.
Insurance was £550 for the first year as someone with no NCD and having passed his test the week before.
That's the budget for the insurance, right?
We bought our 19 year old son a new suzuki swift last November, insurance was £730, no black box.
Great wee car, nice to drive, around 50mpg.