I appreciate it's a minefield! Daughter is moving on nicely with lessons so done a quick check on the current bangernomics diesel a3 and it's about 6/700 quid dearer than a shiney new fiat 500, (she's currently got her own learner policy on it with us as main insurer) Mrs ws and I will be on as named drivers, I will be paying for it all!
The a3 was only bought as a learner motor and my dealer mate who I had it off will get shut of it for me.
TIA
When ever these threads come up general advice seems to fall into two camps
Cheap, Small engined, small cars
Or
Cars that are not normally driven by young drivers
But there’s so many more factors, mileage, postcode, extra drivers, blackbox etc
Best thing is to put quotes for loads of different ones through a comparison site to see what’s good for your situation
Sorry, no advice on particular models other than look at dull cars which young people wouldn't want to drive - they won't have the actuarial hit of the trendier models. And if I were you I'd consider the extra depreciation on a newer car vs the increased insurance on the bangernomics A3 and try to look at overall running costs. But that's the thinking of a boring old bloke and may not align with what your daughter wants!
IME (3 years ago), Kia Picanto cheaper than Fiesta/Corsa. Even the basic model (then) had bluetooth and all of the safety kit, lots of airbags, etc
Citroen c1, Toyota aygo, Peugeot 107.
For my 17yr old son last year was £1400 with his own policy. Just had renewal through, £500!
Panda with a black box. Job jobbed. Cheap to buy second hand too, just watch out for rusty back axles.
I looked at lots and ended up with a VW Up which was great for the 12 months we had it before a young lad pulled out into the side of my daughter and wrote it off.
Interestingly we got £15 more back from the insurance company than we paid for it!
Got a 1.0 Ecoboost Fiesta now which is better in pretty much every way - other than fuel consumption, which is a bit crap for a 1.0 engine.
I bet you'll not get change from £1000.
2010 Volvo V50 R-Design, 1.6TD, £1500 for a 17 yr old lad.
Last year my son bought a cheap 2004 1.2 Corsa.
3rd party Insurance is £1200 for the first year with no black box, 10k annual mileage and me a named driver (only because my van insurance doesn't allow me to drive other cars) with admiral.
My 17 year old lad went for a 2014 1.4 turbo Corsa (spoilers, 17” wheels, skirts, tints etc) fully comp £1650 with co-op young drivers with black box
1.9 non-turbo diesel 306. Estate version if she likes bikes.
LandRover SIII
Triumph Spitfire (yes, really)
.
All had by me or my mates when younger and all very cheap to insure. Not sure how good the Spitfire would be in a crash mind...
Saloon cars like Mondeo / Passat / Accord are often cheap to buy and insure.
My son is looking at Piccanto's - seem about the cheapest, and the 1.2 is pretty nippy.
The trick used to be a diesel estate. But then diesel estates got quick.
Do peugeot still do that just add fuel deal for young drivers? Might be worth a look!
Citigo.
You need to be 21 for that pug deal.
It's a tricky choice really - you want something small a cheap to run/insure, but at the same time this is the time they're most likely to be in an accident so you want them to have as much protection as possible .... which is why we didn't get a Fiat 500 in the end.
One thing I like about Fords is you can set one key up as 'mykey' which:
Ford MyKey ® technology helps parents encourage teenagers to drive responsibly. Program your key to a restricted driving mode setting that promotes good habits, such as increasing seat belt use, limiting vehicle top speeds and decreasing audio volume
My daughter hates using it as the car beeps at her whenever she goes over 72mph - I, therefore, love it 🙂
My lad’s V50 from my post above.
Really comfortable, safe, looks great, quite quick, fits 2 bikes in the back, cruise, aircon etc
My second year driving at 18/19 was also a 2.0D Volvo V50 - cheap as chips to insure (certainly when compared to the normal polo, corsa, saxo, fiesta, golf) I'm sure things have changed a bit now. As said previously, there are plenty of other factors; postcode, occupation, car storage at night/daytime, voluntary excess (I've found more isn't always best, so check), no additional drivers etc.
I would seconds looking for a granny car / saloon / un-desireable.
When mrs_oab passed her test things like 0.9lt Corsa and Fiesta were daft money on insurance - especially in black, as they seemed to be a boy racers insurance premium.
We bought a Mazda 5, the low coupe looking thing, with 1.5 engine in, body kit, spoiler etc, and it was much cheaper to insure in year 1.
I found that the Citroen C3 was pretty cheap to ensure for my son last year.
The 1.4 was certainly cheaper than a 1.0 Fiesta, Ka or Corsa.
As mentioned above, try and stay away from the obvious boy racer type cars.
My son got a 1979 Mini when he passed his test at 19/20.
£600 for the first year after he passed his test (with an 8000 mile mileage limit), dropped a fair bit since then.
Spitfire would be in a crash mind…
nearly got one when i was learning to drive years back. Saw a couple after accidents, not a good car to crash in...
Nothing of value to add but just glad I was in NZ when I was a young driver. I never recall my insurance being more than $400NZ! Car insurance in the UK is a rip off-I still dread the annual renewal dance!
I ended up with a VW FOx for my lad - small engine and very low insurance group - £1400 for the year just after passing at 17
The 107 / C1 and Aygo are good from a cost perspective but their driving experience leaves much to be desired
There are specialist young driver insurance brokers that can help - can be worth putting an older parent on as well to reduce the percieved risk.
Black boxes generally help reduce the price by around 300
Hope this helps!
Nothing of value to add but just glad I was in NZ when I was a young driver. I never recall my insurance being more than $400NZ! Car insurance in the UK is a rip off-I still dread the annual renewal dance!
Obvious comment to make is that it's a bonkers country where they've raised the minimum driving age to 16, and any insurance cover is optional, although personal injury claims are covered by the equivalent of road tax.
Is it any wonder the country is full of Impreza turbo driving teenage hooligans.
Son bought his car - a Renault Clio Extreme (unfortunately! We didn't check before he bought it, after all "it's a Clio, it's what teenagers drive")
Insurance bill, cheapest we could find, with black box, originally £2000 for 5000 miles, but we needed 2000 extra miles which cost £200. Extortion.
Micra... just worth looking around and then put the Reg on cars you are interested into compare the market or similar. Things are changing all the time, our apprentice first car in a Micra at 960, he was going to get a basic Fiesta but was 1400. When James was younger, his first car was an original Beatle at 750 for first year, all his mates were a k or more.
In the ‘good old days’ the odd car would slip through the net, A Volvo 850 T5 estate would be lower than a small engined hatch.
