Young drivers Car advice

[sleeping giant]

The 17 year old boy is hoping to pass his driving test soon and will be looking for a semi decent reliable car for getting him to work and uni.

We've been pricing up motors and insurance.:greengrin:

Anyone have any advice on the subject?

I'm trying to temper his expectations as I'll be paying for it up front although he will be paying me back monthly.

I think the insurance is cheaper if I am a named driver on his policy.

[speedy_gonzales]

A few colleagues in similar situations have opted for 1 litre Corsas, relatively cheap to buy & insure apparently.
They're not the worst specc'd car either for a young lad!

[lord bunberry]

Get him a vw golf with the small engine. They're cool wee cars, they're well built and reliable.
A few insurance companies will insure young drivers for cheap if they agree to having a box fitted that monitors their driving.

[Jack]

The Fiat 500 appears to have a good following by young drivers.

In some circumstances fully comprehensive insurance works out cheaper than other covers.

[Jay]

1.2 or below will keep insurance down. Admiral and endsleigh were our cheapest. We founds corsas to be a bit higher to insure, seems to be a boy car thing. Put as many experienced drivers on the insurance as possible. The excess will be high anyway but think about the minimum you would claim for, if you wouldnt claim under £500 because his premiums would rocket then set your excess at £500, can bring the premium down a fair bit. We avoided the ones who wanted to put a box on the car because some of them had a lot of restrictions on them that didnt work with our sons shifts. There's an app that tells you roughly your insurance and road tax, handy to have when shopping. Ill try and find out what it is. We are currently car shopping too!

[calumhibee1]

Get him a vw golf with the small engine. They're cool wee cars, they're well built and reliable.
A few insurance companies will insure young drivers for cheap if they agree to having a box fitted that monitors their driving.

A VW Golf is a bit big for a new driver IMO. Would be much better served with a Polo.

[bingo70]

A VW Golf is a bit big for a new driver IMO. Would be much better served with a Polo.

I know nothing about cars but when I was buying my seat Leon everyone made the point that seats were basically golf engines with a seat design and were subsequently much cheaper because of it.

If that's the case a seat Ibiza may be worth considering? I love my seat Leon, been a terrific car so far, although that's not been too long.

[frazeHFC]

The 17 year old boy is hoping to pass his driving test soon and will be looking for a semi decent reliable car for getting him to work and uni.

We've been pricing up motors and insurance.:greengrin:

Anyone have any advice on the subject?

I'm trying to temper his expectations as I'll be paying for it up front although he will be paying me back monthly.

I think the insurance is cheaper if I am a named driver on his policy.

Regarding the bottom bit it definitely is. I've been driving 6 years with no claims and still put my parents on the insurance to keep costs down.

[lord bunberry]

A VW Golf is a bit big for a new driver IMO. Would be much better served with a Polo.
There's not much difference size wise between the two. The golf offers a bit of street cred, while being a safe car to drive. Admittedly it's been a while since I was a new driver. I started with a Fiat Punto, I then got a golf which I totalled on the way up to tannadice :greengrin
Im probably not the best judge on these matters.

[McD]

I know nothing about cars but when I was buying my seat Leon everyone made the point that seats were basically golf engines with a seat design and were subsequently much cheaper because of it.

If that's the case a seat Ibiza may be worth considering? I love my seat Leon, been a terrific car so far, although that's not been too long.


They are are much cheaper than Golfs as Golfs are seen as boy-racer cars (not judging, that's how it is).

Had a mate who was married, 37 years old with 2 kids, driver for 18 years, who changed his car to a second hand golf, and when insuring it, asked how much cheaper his insurance would be if he took his wife off the policy (had her own car and rarely drove his). The answer - £50 MORE expensive not to have her on it.

[ColinNish]

Seats are seen as boy racer cars now too

[TRC]

Skoda Fabia 1.2 great wee run around. Also built with VW tech but cheaper I know a lot of people that are against Skoda because of their old reputation they are much better now.

[bobbyhibs1983]

hi

as above advice , i would maybe add is it maybe worth while if he passes his test to get extra training-i think it was pass plus or somethin. tohugh the names escapes me !
also unsure about prices though-sorry

use some comparision websites also for comparing the insurance- tohugh not all compaies are on them

hope this helps some

[Pretty Boy]

hi

as above advice , i would maybe add is it maybe worth while if he passes his test to get extra training-i think it was pass plus or somethin. tohugh the names escapes me !
also unsure about prices though-sorry

use some comparision websites also for comparing the insurance- tohugh not all compaies are on them

hope this helps some

Very few insurance companies recognise pass plus now. It's a decent option for additional experience and knowledge but it's unlikely to save you anything on insurance. I passed my test recently and asked my instructor about PP. He knew it was only about getting my insurance down so advised me to check an insurer would recohnise it. I phoned upwards of 15 companies and only 2 recognised and any saving was considerably less than a fiver a month.

I ended up going as a named driver on my partners car. As a learner the insurance stayed the same and when I passed it only jumped by £70 a year, age is on my side though as I'm 31. I also made sure I could build up my own no claims on the policy.

I started sharing a Ford Ka with my girlfriend which was a dcent wee runaround but not really paractical with a baby (on the way at the time, now arrived). We recently bought a Peugeot 208 1.4 and it's perfect for me just now. A young lad in my work has the 1.2 version and his insurance is very reasonable. I'd avoid Golfs, Seats and some Corsas as a lot of them attract higher insurance because of the reputation that goes with some of the drivers of some of the higher spec models. Look at things like the Citroen C1, Hyundai i10, Toyota Aygo, VW Polo or a Ka or Fiesta.

[bobbyhibs1983]

hi

maybe avoid my advice in regards what prettyboy has said !

i always assumed( wrongly) that it would help in regards loweiring the insurance,
but will only help give some experince which may be of some use

[sleeping giant]

Cheapest insurance quote I can find so far is £1500 with the wee black box.
That's for a Renault Clio 1 litre Eco thing.

Does it come down much in the second year if there are no claims made ?

I can't honestly remember the last time my own insurance went down.

Thank for the responses .

[ColinNish]

Citroen C1 is a good shout. Most reliable car I've ever had and I've had a fair few. Did nearly 100k in mine before i sold it and needed nout but the regular stuff.

[McD]

Cheapest insurance quote I can find so far is £1500 with the wee black box.
That's for a Renault Clio 1 litre Eco thing.

Does it come down much in the second year if there are no claims made ?

I can't honestly remember the last time my own insurance went down.

Thank for the responses .


His age will be a factor as well SG. Something like 80% of car accidents involve drivers aged 17-20.

theres also age weighting on insurance, he'll see a drop at 21 and 25, especially if his no claims is increasing.


I was 20 when I passed, with a 1litre 10 year old mini, and my insurance then was £1000.

[Alfiembra]

My only advice would be unless you are a diy guru/amateur mechanic or have a mate that is, then bite the bullet and buy the best car you can afford i.e. Don't go for the cheap option, you will be constantly shelling out for repairs.

[Stick]

Many years ago a lad I worked beside bought a new car that had a free insurance offer. He calculated that the overall cost until he was 25, (when the premiums plummet), wouldn't be much more than a half descent used car. Maybe you could estimate the costs of insurance, mot's, repairs etc, and see if it makes any sense.
Had a quick Google and there seems to be loads of companies offering this at the moment.

[Andy Bee]

I'm in the same boat, I'm looking for something for my son for around Christmas. Mini One seems to be a bit cheaper to insure than others at around £1000. I really wanted to get a Mini Cooper S JCW so I could erm borrow it sometimes but they're after £5700 to insure it. :greengrin. It's absolutely mental what they're asking to insure young drivers, they should penalise them if they have an accident not presume they're all going to have one. I pay £220 a year fully comp for a BMW 335i M Sport convertible and that's actually risen from £180 last year.

[HappyAsHellas]

If you're after a reliable smallish car then you can do a lot worse than the Honda Jazz. Mostly owned by pensioners, and in 14 years at breakdown and recovery I never came across one needing more than a jump start (owner been for hip replacement maybe?) or a puncture. According to Green flag data the top 3 for breaking down are Renault, Peugeot and Citroen. These figures are different if you're buying new. We all used to say that if everyone drove Honda or VW we'd be out a job.

[jonty]

Just tell them they can pass their test anytime. but they're not getting a car until they're 25+ :greengrin