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Covenant
07-05-2009, 18:48
My son is 18 in June and has already passed his driving test. He doesnt know it but we have a little saving plan for him so he will get about £3k. I will stomp up the insurance which I guess could be about £1200 if we are lucky:doh: and we pick the right vehicle. It needs to be very low powered and economical.
Any suggestions?

The Grand Wazoo
07-05-2009, 18:55
The roads are far too dangerous for a young man like that.

Get him a hula hoop & a stick - keep the change. You can use some of it to buy him his first legal pint & he won't lose his licence if he gets stopped when he's driving you home!

Ali Tait
07-05-2009, 18:59
I'd look out for something like a 1.3 diesel corsa or astra.These are quite pokey,not a lot of HP but good torque, but very economical.

Beechwoods
07-05-2009, 19:05
My wife drives a Toyota Aigo, the Citroen C1 and Peugeot 106 are all from the same design. It's a great little car, not sure if it falls into your price aspirations, but the Toyota finish and build is the best of the 3. Mrs B has owned a Triumph Spitfire, a Honda CR-X and a late production classic Mini and the Aigo is her favourite. Completely reliable. Lowest tax band for a IC engine too :)

Puffin
07-05-2009, 19:34
1.2 Clio. My son has had 2. They are fast enough, cheap to run and insure and fairly reliable. An 02/52 perhaps 03 plate would be about £3,000. If you are taking the insurance off then maybe a Y reg for £2,000.

Covenant
07-05-2009, 19:39
Some good suggestions there chaps. Puffin, whats going on with your avatar? It looks like you coughed as you took the photo and the camera moved.:lol:

Mike Reed
07-05-2009, 19:45
My fifteen year old Renault is for sale. Extremely economical on fuel as it only does about ten miles before conking out.

Seriously, I'd have thought street cred would have had a bearing at his age. Especially with petrol 10 pence or more than diesel (and likely to remain so), I wouldn't worry about the propellant, as it widens your choice of car.

What does limit your choice is the insurance group, as you've no doubt gathered. Fiestas, Corsas and Micras have a fairly ggod history and are not too expensive to service/repair. I'm sure there are others in that price bracket, though.

Covenant
07-05-2009, 19:54
Insurance is the big issue-yes I will cough up the money on top of his birthday dosh so no sports car I'm afraid. Just as an experiment I entered his details on an insurance website and put the car as my wifes-a Suzuki Grand Vitara. The quote was £7200!

Mike
07-05-2009, 20:57
Toyota Yaris, cheap as chips to run, tax and insurance dead cheap. And bloody nippy too. No way an 18 year old lad would go for one though... :lol:

Corsa's and Saxo's seem to be the current faves...

DSJR
07-05-2009, 21:46
I was going to say Toyota, as they have a reputation for running on and on and on.... I wouldn't have thought a Yaris would have been cheap enough though and I doubt any young fella would wish to be seen dead in an early noughties Fiat Siecento ('scuse spelling), even though a two tone one on 52 plates actually looks ok and a fellow Dad uses one as the school-mobile (he's 6' 4" tall as well and fits perfectly inside).

My thoughts are with an old Corolla, or Peugeot 306TD or Focus TDI Ghia or even a Golf diesel, as the latter also run for ever and last forever too.......

P.S. Early to mid noughties Corsa's are great, fun little screamers, but if your lad is tall he may find the insides cramped. I'm a short-a*se 5' 8" and my left knee was always "resting" on the gear lever when cruising in 5th.....

Spectral Morn
07-05-2009, 22:26
If I had a Son and I don't have children...I would not allow him to have or buy him a car until he was at least 21...and maybe older. Young men, and to a lesser extent young women, seem to loose any sense they have when they get behind the wheel of a car. Having seen the devastation of a family who have lost a daughter (not her fault or the driver...it was poorly maintained country road and rain) because of a car crash I would not wish that on any one...very sad and such a waste of a fantastic young life.:(:(:(:(:(:(:(

IMHO I would think again...sorry to be so negative.


Regards D S D L

Marco
08-05-2009, 05:56
Cov,

Here's a slightly more 'left-field' suggestion...

Why not buy him a classic car? For £3k you'd get something in seriously good nick as far as a small car is concerned and youngsters think they are really cool!

Best of all, over a certain age the road tax is FREE and the insurance cheap as chips! Good ones go really well (pretty nippy), but of course high top speeds aren't an option in smaller classic cars, so you'd have no worries on that score.

There are loads of different types of classics you could go for and your son could customise it to make it really smart and totally different to anything his mates were driving.

My wife has a little Morris Minor and the kids at the school where she teaches think it *SO* cool! :smoking:

Just a thought...

Marco.

Beechwoods
08-05-2009, 06:02
Old Mini's are fantastic cars, but you need to watch out for rust. It's amazing how much room there is in them, they're nippy but economical, and very cool. I wish I'd had one as my first car (I had a £500 Fiesta 'Popular', very uncool :))

Puffin
08-05-2009, 06:30
Covenant. My avatar is a "can you guess what it is yet?"

Covenant
08-05-2009, 06:34
If I had a Son and I don't have children...I would not allow him to have or buy him a car until he was at least 21...and maybe older. Young men, and to a lesser extent young women, seem to loose any sense they have when they get behind the wheel of a car. Having seen the devastation of a family who have lost a daughter (not her fault or the driver...it was poorly maintained country road and rain) because of a car crash I would not wish that on any one...very sad and such a waste of a fantastic young life.:(:(:(:(:(:(:(

IMHO I would think again...sorry to be so negative.


Regards D S D L

Neil, if you dont mind me saying, you have a very simplistic view of parenting.
Legally I couldn't stop him owning a car and if I tried the heavy handed routine-'Your not parking that on my drive' he would leave and go stay at a friends house or something.
I want him to have a car. It will help him learn about saving, give him self esteem and be practical as his college is an hour away by train.
I had a car at eighteen, a clapped out mini and it was my pride and joy.
I am going to pay for Pass Plus lessons which will help him be a better driver and lower his insurance.

Covenant
08-05-2009, 06:37
Covenant. My avatar is a "can you guess what it is yet?"

Groan. I will be thinking about this all day now :doh:. Its not something stupid like the back of a chair is it?
Give us a clue.

Mike Reed
08-05-2009, 09:13
Following on from NEIL's thoughts (fears) of driving at eighteen, which, having three girls, I do share, have you thought of, maybe, a HUMVEE?

Not cheap as chips but certainly safe as houses, and cooooooooooooooool!!!!!!!!

Spectral Morn
08-05-2009, 09:30
Neil, if you dont mind me saying, you have a very simplistic view of parenting.
Legally I couldn't stop him owning a car and if I tried the heavy handed routine-'Your not parking that on my drive' he would leave and go stay at a friends house or something.
I want him to have a car. It will help him learn about saving, give him self esteem and be practical as his college is an hour away by train.
I had a car at eighteen, a clapped out mini and it was my pride and joy.
I am going to pay for Pass Plus lessons which will help him be a better driver and lower his insurance.

Hi ...No you have a fair point....I am not a parent and of course you are right all the things you say will go towards building character etc. I didn't learn to drive until I was in my mid twenties. Driving terrified me and it still does. Its not my skill I doubt but the tens of thousands of loonies on the roads.

Having seen what can happen...to a very dear friends daughter....I guess I am more sensitive about this. Enough said.


Regards D S D L

Spectral Morn
08-05-2009, 09:36
Following on from NEIL's thoughts (fears) of driving at eighteen, which, having three girls, I do share, have you thought of, maybe, a HUMVEE?

Not cheap as chips but certainly safe as houses, and cooooooooooooooool!!!!!!!!

Or an old Volvo....built like a tank. A guy I worked along with years ago had two cars a Volvo and a small light car. He offered me a lift home from work (when I was a Saturday boy in an audio shop)...I said no I would get the train(and use my return ticket). Monday I heard how a drunk driver in a lorry had run a light and hit them. If they had not been in the Volvo they would be dead...Mark, his wife and their unborn child.

I saw the Volvo weeks later the massive engine block had saved them. The lorry had only managed to push it sideways rather than push it back into the passenger driver area...or tear it off.


Regards D S D L

Tom472
08-05-2009, 10:40
I'm a strong advocate of the classic car, but for a young driver as his only car its probably not the best idea - the crash protection is pretty much non-existant compared to modern cars (it's his choice to take that risk as I do but passengers/friends/girls! may not be too happy with it).

Something small and cool looking is always a good bet - try a Corsa SXi (looks sporty but has 1.2l engine and therefore bottom insurance band).
Cheers
Tom

DSJR
08-05-2009, 20:28
Small nippy cars can be lethal, even to an experienced driver.

My wife had a Peugeot 106 XRD (diesel) and it had no performance at all, yet was very comfortable and lovely to drive and be driven in. I had a 106 XT 1.4 and up to 40 - 50 it was very nippy indeed. I had countless bumps in it and lost my protected NCB - this, and an IAM driver too......... :(

The worst "classic" nippy tin box was the old Peugeot 205GTI 1.9. beloved of the press and boy racers, this thing was an accident/death trap waiting to happen. The nail of the 1.9 engine (same as one on the Citroen BX1.9GTI I had) shunted badly in slow traffic, there was no suspension as it had been tied down too much and two experienced driver/friends of mine had nearly fatal accidents in them when damp roads caused them both to lose roadholding completely. of these two, one had "upgraded" from a GTI 1,6 which he loved and the other was an ex Porsche/Alpha driver on a holiday from his favourite brands...

Puffin
08-05-2009, 20:56
Covenant. Barry Manilow

Covenant
08-05-2009, 21:52
Rio de Janeiro-copacabana

Haselsh1
08-05-2009, 23:29
In his mind it's just gotta be a TVR Cerbera... Ya know it makes sense...!!! Go on Dad... Pleeeeeeeeeeease...???

Haselsh1
08-05-2009, 23:30
That is just sooooooo unfair... Dad...!!!

kalozois100
09-05-2009, 05:37
a great little car has got to be the toyota ist (japanese import name) don't know the english version name. Its large for a small car, reliable, fun,economical , 1300cc, has alot of extras eg. aircon. I had one for a week when my opel astra was in for repairs. loved it. was automatic too(automatics tend to slow down eager drivers too I noticed unless its a bmw 750i !!) . Yep there all over the place in Cyprus and very popular. As long as you find a good dealer that imports you should be onto a winner. Even my father in law thats a mechanic strongly approves of them.
Do a google and check it out.

Puffin
09-05-2009, 07:20
Covenant. I don't want to muddy this thread with my warped sense of humour. You have PM

StanleyB
09-05-2009, 08:07
I just got a Hayundai Getz 1.1 Sport for my 21 year old. Does close to 50MPG and it doesn't dip below 15 sec to 60MPH. Fully loaded with everything except leather seats. Well worth looking into.

STan

spendorman
14-06-2009, 13:48
A lot of young lads smash or write off their first car. I think I was an exception! So I would not spend much. Perhaps save the money for car number 2!

A nice strong old banger is the Volvo 340 range, cost peanuts to buy, run and even insure.

I am close to my 60's and have many cars over the years. In the late 60s early 70s I used to work for Janspeed and got to drive many exotic cars. In various jobs I have had new company cars and many cars of my own.

About 8 years ago I bought a Volvo 340 1.7GLE, only because it had my initials on the plate (intented to put that on another car). After putting it through the MOT, I was very suprized how comfortable, smooth, reliable and economical this car was.

It still is all those things, on a long run can I get close to 50 MPG and comprehensive classic car insurance (inc free breakdow recovery) was about £80 !!! last year. Yes £80.

I have back problems and most cars, I tire after about 100 Miles, not in this one, seat just suits me, have done 500 miles in a day and still OK.

Covenant
15-06-2009, 21:21
Well it was his birthday today and you should have seen his face when he opened the envelope. He is busy getting insurance quotes at the moment. It looks like a 1 litre car will be insurable-he wants a Corsa or Clio.

Its a funny thing that as you get older you get much more pleasure out of giving rather than receiving.

Covenant
13-09-2009, 15:57
A postscript to this story.
He got a Renault Clio from a garage in Preston. It had been in a crash and had been repaired-resprayed etc.
My son drove it out of the garage and five miles down the round it broke down. Its all sorted now, turned out to be an electrical fault.
He is after a CD/radio for it next.

DSJR
13-09-2009, 16:56
Clio's are very ok, but may be costly on spares. i knew of a mk1 1.4 which had done 140K miles and was still running very sweetly and looking good after ten years with no major problems other than standard replacements of tyres, brake pads etc