Suggestions for a small car for new teenage driver?

Nasher · 4 Sep 2020 at 21:03

Uncle_Gravy said:
Renault Twingo 1.2tce

I have one as my commuting car, they are great. Only £30 tax and a tank of petrol lasts forever.

Good handling compared to the alternatives and the engine felt more responsive (the Aygo was awful, I don't think they are actually made by Toyota). But the driving position is a bit odd.

But insurance wise... small cars aren't any cheaper really. Lots get bumped I guess.

Hades · 5 Sep 2020 at 09:48

Thanks all. The small size is due to my wife refusing to drive anything big.

ericmcn · 5 Sep 2020 at 11:35

Hades said:
My daughter will be old enough to start driving soon. My son will be too in a few years. We currently have a few cars including Peugeot 206 diesel which I inherited last year and my wife and I use as a shed car which we can park anywhere. But the 206 is really on its last legs. So I am thinking of replacing it with something else which my wife and daughter would use and my son could in the future.

So I'm looking for:

Small. It won't need to fit the whole family
2 or 4 door
Manual
Petrol preferred
Cheap to service and maintain
Likely to be cheaper to insure for my daughter (I appreciate nothing will be cheap)
£3k to £5k

I'm open to suggestions. My daughter would love a Mini but when I was looking at them a few years ago they seemed a little unreliable and expensive to maintain, especially at this price point. Again I appreciate that not much at this price point will be guaranteed reliable.

Thank you.

I would get a Honda Civic, I like cars to be reliable and if you get EX trim you get all the toys

This is a million times more reliable than any French car or a Vauxhall, cars that tend to be bought in this price range.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-de...IC&postcode=l44el&aggregatedTrim=EX GT&page=1

ericmcn · 5 Sep 2020 at 11:36

Diddums said:
Aygo for days. Cheap as chips to run, very low on the insurance scale too.

just don't be involved in a crash and forget about attempting an overtake

Uncle_Gravy · 5 Sep 2020 at 14:08

Nasher said:
I have one as my commuting car, they are great. Only £30 tax and a tank of petrol lasts forever.

Good handling compared to the alternatives and the engine felt more responsive (the Aygo was awful, I don't think they are actually made by Toyota). But the driving position is a bit odd.

But insurance wise... small cars aren't any cheaper really. Lots get bumped I guess.

Never driven one, but I envision its like an "updated" version of a mk2 ph2 clio before it turned fat in the mk3. If I was after a cheap car to run i'd be seriously looking at a twingo.

tom_nieto · 5 Sep 2020 at 15:17

Worth looking at insurance quotes for Slightly more unlikely things like an MX-5 or MG-TF. Often small hatchbacks are crazy money to insure because they’re popular to crash with young drivers.

Meaker · 5 Sep 2020 at 23:43

If you want small and practical then the i10 is a good look. Pretty efficient and you can actually get 4 people in there.

It's in the cheapest insurance band and tends to be dirt cheap on tax too.

Akagi · 6 Sep 2020 at 00:45

WoodyUK said:
Vauxhall Corsa
Peugeot 108
Citreon C1
Toyota Aygo
Ford Ka

All under 25,000 Miles, less than 5 years old and under £5000.

Thats a depressing list. Surely a Fiesta, a Fabia, a Polo, etc, would be a better buy than any of those.

ivrytwr3 · 6 Sep 2020 at 09:08

Aygo or Ka - no. They are like coke cans and crumple on impact. They will offer zero protection if involved in an accident.

Small car on a budget, i'd be looking at:

Yaris - built like a tank and just keep going.
Fiesta/Corsa

skaif · 6 Sep 2020 at 13:10

Honda Jazz.

You might need to fettle the suspension in order to take it on the motorway though.

And ensure its the wind deflector edition with inverse camber and an engine choon n zorst.

Seriously though a Jazz is a decent runabout.

OldKitMan · 6 Sep 2020 at 13:58

yellow Fiat Cinquecento

Akagi · 6 Sep 2020 at 14:35

OldKitMan said:
yellow Fiat Cinquecento

With a red door.

ericmcn · 9 Sep 2020 at 16:33

some of the cars on here are appalling, i would rather use a push bike - the Honda Civic EX wipes the floor of anything mentioned and i cant see it being too bad to insure - a Jazz is 2nd best option...

MrRockliffe · 9 Sep 2020 at 17:22

1L Ecoboost Fiesta hands down - I’ve offered this to other members previously but always willing to take someone out in one for a drive (to drive and be driven) as a longer test drive.

I think it’s an excellent motor for a first time driver

Nasher · 9 Sep 2020 at 17:31

The Fiesta isn't really that small anymore. It's almost as big as the mk1 Focus.

The ST is great but the standard models aren't as punchy or cheap to run as the small, sub 1 ton cars like the Twingo or VW UP etc.

Akagi · 9 Sep 2020 at 20:33

Nasher said:
The Fiesta isn't really that small anymore. It's almost as big as the mk1 Focus.

The ST is great but the standard models aren't as punchy or cheap to run as the small, sub 1 ton cars like the Twingo or VW UP etc.

It isn't as small as cars like the Twingo, no. But It is small by modern standards.

The MK1 Focus went out of production 16 years ago.

Cars get bigger as time goes on. My 1990 3 series Touring looks small next to a Mini... :eek:

Diddums · 9 Sep 2020 at 20:38

I'd rather be in the Mini in a crash though

Nasher · 9 Sep 2020 at 20:38

Like Gordon Murray said. The packaging on most cars is sloppy, so they have got fat

The Mini isn't really a Mini anymore though. It's a BMW 1 series in a British disguise.

Akagi · 9 Sep 2020 at 20:47

Nasher said:
Like Gordon Murray said. The packaging on most cars is sloppy, so they have got fat

The Mini isn't really a Mini anymore though. It's a BMW 1 series in a British disguise.

Is that right? I know the newest Mini Countryman shares a lot of drivetrain with the new 1 series. Wasn't sure about more generally though.

Unfortunately cars have had to get bigger for safety reasons. A crash that would register as a "mildly uncomfortable" in the Mini, could very well be fatal in my BMW.

Rroff · 9 Sep 2020 at 20:53

Acme said:
Is that right? I know the newest Mini Countryman shares a lot of drivetrain with the new 1 series. Wasn't sure about more generally though.

Unfortunately cars have had to get bigger for safety reasons. A crash that would register as a "mildly uncomfortable" in the Mini, could very well be fatal in my BMW.

Something that does make me lean towards SUVs and pickups actually - I see so much poor driving, especially tailgating, and see so many serious accidents in the news that could almost certainly have been avoided by a bit of defensive driving by both parties that I want to protect myself from other people's idiocy as much as possible. Though my Navara doesn't have the best safety rating ever at least there is ~2.5m of steel ladder frame between me and the idiot glued to my number plate behind.