First car

[Wellytrack]

Audi A1’s are good little motors to be fair.

 

[johnboy87]

Different way of thinking, my first car in 04 was an M reg MK1 1.8td Mondeo, not overly quick but would annoy the boy racers, comfortable, loads of room to carry stuff for college, relatively safe (sister had recently suffered a nasty t-bone accident in a mk3 Mondeo) and cheap to insure as it wasn't considered "a young person's car" or "a boy racer car"

 

[jamesy]

My first car was an E reg Ford Fiesta 1.1L.... rosso red bought in May 94 with a few additions to make it look like a “Sport”. God I thrashed the life out of that car

 

[An Gof]

My first car was an E reg Ford Fiesta 1.1L.... rosso red bought in May 94 with a few additions to make it look like a “Sport”. God I thrashed the life out of that car

My first car was a Vauxhall’s Viva HC Coupe.
1256cc engine and it cost me £450.
It was crap ..... but I had to start somewhere. You my need to limit P’s expectations a bit @Banana Bar

 

[Banana Bar]

My first car was a Vauxhall’s Viva HC Coupe.
1256cc engine and it cost me £450.
It was crap ..... but I had to start somewhere. You my need to limit P’s expectations a bit @Banana Bar

I don’t disagree!

 

[Finn farmer]

My first car in 2011 was a Saab 9-5 saloon, 2004 with the 2.3T engine. 220hp and 300Nm, few months later tuned ro 260hp and 390Nm. Great car, very reliable and safe. It had 370 000km on the odometer when i swapped it in. 170 000 trouble free km's for me.

 

[bumkin]

my first car was a mini van but that was a life time ago i think the first thing to find out is whats cheap to insure

 

[Johnnyboxer]

My lad has my Mum's 2006 1.25 Fiesta Zetec
She owned it from new and it had done 37k
She gave up driving at 82, a few years back and we kept her car on, knowing he'd be needing it and we used it occasionally over that 18 month period to keep it sweet
Made a great 17th birthday present for him and we knew it's history so a better choice
Knowing she was watching him with her pride and joy, has made sure he has kept it in good order, washing and polishing it every few weeks (which is a good maxim for him to learn)
He takes her out in it for lunch and afternoon tea so they get some quality time and she enjoys 'her' car from the passenger seat
All round a win win
He has done his first year with a black box and insurance was £1600
He's ditched the black box now and gone for normal insurance and it was £1100 in year 2

 

[David.]

Perhaps Finns are not constrained so much by compulsory insurance, the price of which is jacked up by claim for cash scams.
Perhaps the kids are steadier drivers, hold on though...... Kankunnen, Mikkola, Vatannen. Perhaps not.

 

[Finn farmer]

Perhaps Finns are not constrained so much by compulsory insurance, the price of which is jacked up by claim for cash scams.
Perhaps the kids are steadier drivers, hold on though...... Kankunnen, Mikkola, Vatannen. Perhaps not.

We do need to insure our cars. Saab was 1400€/year. Mercedes C-class was 920€/year and current Forester is 870€/year. All are the prices of all-covering insurances (theft, animal damage, fire damage, higher cash out at said accidents etc.). They will go down, since i've had cars for only 8 years so my insurance bonuses will go up.

 

[JP1]

We do need to insure our cars. Saab was 1400€/year. Mercedes C-class was 920€/year and current Forester is 870€/year. All are the prices of all-covering insurances (theft, animal damage, fire damage, higher cash out at said accidents etc.). They will go down, since i've had cars for only 8 years so my insurance bonuses will go up.

Reality is you just wouldn't get cover as a first car for your first car here

 

[Johnnyboxer]

my first car was a mini van but that was a life time ago i think the first thing to find out is whats cheap to insure

Mine too in 1982

 

[Netherfield]

Mine too in 1982

And me in 1969

 

[8100]

I had a Red Lead coloured Mini Pick up that Sagged in the middle due to tin worm as a first car

 

[Brisel]

Land Rover.
Her friends won't want to get a lift and she won't be able to to afford to go far with the cost of fuel and it doesn't go very fast. Easily replaceable panels. [emoji16][emoji846]

Make sure you fit a roll bar - the chassis might be fit for an artic sandwich but part of the reason it doesn't exist any more is that the bodywork offers no crumple zones nor protection. Just don't overturn one.

 

[Brisel]

Bit of a tenuous link to the machinery section!

My daughter will soon start driving and will be needing a first car. Her searches on line suggest that her expectations and mine are somewhat different!

The insurance is a bigger issue than the type of car as far as I'm concerned. What cars have you found to be reasonable to insure for young drivers?

BB

What's the budget?

Granny cars are cheap to insure. Automatic Micras or Civics or Mazda 3s

Anything popular with the yoof will have more claim history therefore more loading against them. My neighbour bought a SLK 350 convertible and insured it for £750/year aged 20! Very low insurance claim history as the typical age of an owner is 60s...!

 

[ollie989898]

Civic would be near bullet proof and stylist whilst being good to drive. Not sure how the fare in the safety category though.

Mini is a sound car but then its in a different league to the Micras and Polos.

 

[curlietailz]

When my son passed his test I gave him my old Landcruiser !! Insurance was really expensive
We traded that in for a Hilux
And he had that 3 years but trashed it
Had 2 new clutches ! A new flywheel ! A new engine ! A rebuilt gearbox ! And countless springs and leaf springs and brakes and pipes. Idiot lol

Then he turned 21 and has bought himself another hilux and is looking after this one

 

[PSQ]

My first car: beige 1985 Volvo 340 1.4, ‘fast road’ Piper cam, shortened Cortina front springs, Koni shocks, tarmac rally remould tyres.
Did road rallys, autotests, production car trials in it, as well as lots of drifting on wet roundabouts.
I just hope my soon to be 17 y.o. son has more sense than me, so I’m watching this thread looking for something tediously dull, and ‘safe’.

 

[Robt]

Mine was a white fiesta 1.6s on an Irish ref plate . Engine went after three months so father and I fitted a 1.6 in it again.... this time an RS turbo lump! It was so bad, brakes were awful but went like hell!