what car for a 17 year old ?

hot66 · Post by **hot66** » Mon Aug 01, 2016 4:39 pm

My niece is going to be 17 in sept and asked me to help her find a car

I know a few of you have been through this .. so these days , what cars are the insuarance companies looking favorably at and what cars would you deem safe enough to send a family member out in ?

911hillclimber · Post by **911hillclimber** » Mon Aug 01, 2016 5:00 pm

Toyota iQ
Zero tax, low insurance and now cheap to buy.
Can get 4 in there, esp if all young girls!

Had ours for 6 years and have taken 4 adults out in it a few times.
Cheap to fuel, 55 mpg is a reality.
Dead easy to drive anywhere.

Gary71 · Post by **Gary71** » Mon Aug 01, 2016 5:02 pm

hot66 wrote:what cars are the insurance companies looking favorably at

1. Slow cars
2. Cars not driven by lots of other 17 year olds!

hot66 wrote:what cars would you deem safe enough to send a family member out in ?

1. Anything built within the last 5 years
2. Heavier the better
3. ESP and ABS

Hope that helps

Mick Cliff · Post by **Mick Cliff** » Mon Aug 01, 2016 5:08 pm

No car is "safe enough"!

I bought my son an old 2CV when he was 17 - slowest and cheapest to insure - and just gave him just one bit of advice (Fer Chrissake don't hit anything cos you might not survive!). Thankfully he never hit anything but did manage to chuck it into a ditch one night. Shook him up a bit but both he and the car survived, with a further 9 years of ownership

. All his college mates thought it was a 'cool' car.
So, cheapest insurance could be with an old, slow, car (classic policy, limited mileage, etc) Certainly not the safest in terms of strength, but safest in terms of speed. I'm an advocate of the 6" spike on the steering wheel being a great driver safety measure

Only drawback is the 'values' of old cars.

hot66 · Post by **hot66** » Mon Aug 01, 2016 5:22 pm

I'm not worried about her crashing, it's others crashing into her.

You've met my middle sister's sons at a few car events ... So you know the family story , so my sister really is wanting a proper safe car for her daughter. ( and bear in mind my daughters might end up travelling in this car too ! )

Budget is up to £3.5k for the car but she would prefer to spend less

amh · Post by **amh** » Mon Aug 01, 2016 5:35 pm

Something with airbags and good tyres for sure.
Front wheel drive could be better, maybe VW golf?

stretch · Post by **stretch** » Mon Aug 01, 2016 5:41 pm

Just been through this with my son who is twenty and has just passed his test. He is about to buy a Vauxhall corsa 1.2. He has done the research, insurance quotes etc. £1,400 with a £550 excess and a Black box fitted.

Probably won't pull many birds with it though.

Ralph · Post by **Ralph** » Mon Aug 01, 2016 5:46 pm

My 18 year old daughter has a 2005 VW Polo 1.2 Twist. It's not too expensive to insure (£1400 no NCB, tracker and Greater London Postcode) and it's quite nice to drive with a much more solid feel to it than a Corsa or Fiesta. It would probably cost about £1500 to buy.

Only problem is you have to drive like an old pensioner out for a Sunday drive with the Black Box Tracker fitted if you ever jump in it.

Nine One One · Post by **Nine One One** » Mon Aug 01, 2016 6:11 pm

VW Polo Tdi - quite a few at the price you are thinking about, or a Skoda Fabia?
Smart car, meant to be very safe, but price may not be within the budget?

sladey · Post by **sladey** » Mon Aug 01, 2016 6:16 pm

I got cheaper insurance for a 1.2 Clio than a 1.0 Nissan micro so try getting quotes on whatever you're going for - smaller engine doesn't automatically mean cheaper insurance. The clio's a nice car (that said I'm currently replacing the engine

)

Mick Cliff · Post by **Mick Cliff** » Mon Aug 01, 2016 6:26 pm

Those insurance premiums look horrendous to me, but I pay very little now

To put it into perspective I checked (on line) the current value of what I paid in 1966:

22 years old....
Test passed 3 months
1st car - 4 year old MG Midget cost £320 on finance! (£5600 in today's money)
Insurance £96 (£1675 in today's money)
No wonder I struggled to pay the finance instalments of £8.70 a month

So things are cheaper now

And the Midget was rotten, so not safe by any means

but there was much less traffic and even fewer idiots on the roads

Aren't there deals around for new cars on contract plans that include insurance for around £200 a month?

210bhp · Post by **210bhp** » Mon Aug 01, 2016 6:52 pm

It's probably those idiots in classic 911's tearing round the Dales that's more of a worry than her own driving

Make sure she has an eye examination with a field test and has up to date spectacles or contact lenses and wears them. It would surprise you how many illegally sighted drivers there are out there, you know the type, usually men "I've been driving for forty years without an accident so don't tell me I need specs for driving son blah blah blah......."

What about one of the older diesel Audi A3's or Ford Fiesta?

Regards
Mike

moggy · Post by **moggy** » Mon Aug 01, 2016 7:05 pm

Volvo v40 d2
Very safe. Very fuel efficient. Low car tax

mdmax72 · Post by **mdmax72** » Mon Aug 01, 2016 7:22 pm

For my 17 year old James we went for a Nissan Micra 1000cc. We found at that age anything above 1000cc the insurance go up considerably.

Cheap insurance with one of those gyro things to monitor the driving style also cheap to run.

Darren65 · Post by **Darren65** » Mon Aug 01, 2016 7:24 pm

Mightily impressed with my daughters VW Up which she's had for nearly two years now. Feels safe and solid and drives really well.

As good on the motorway as around town, great consumption and was reasonable to insure.
Cracking little engine too, even I enjoy driving it.

DDK - Die Deutschen Klassiker