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1st Car advice.


Rev

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What's the sort of thing my lad should be looking at as a first car?

Is it better to buy/rent a new small car for the cheaper insurance, or does it make more sense to buy an older car, pay more insurance but not care if it ends up knackered?

For example, he could buy a Honda Jazz 1.4 for £1250 and pay the same in insurance, or a Seat Mii new for £150 a month but insurance is £500 less.

Personally I'd go for the older car, thinking you're bound to get a few as scrapes as you're still learning, just looking for advice really.

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Lots of second hand bargains out there. Not his first car but bought the lad a Audi a3 1.9 TDi Sport with 82K (2004 plate) for £995. Nippy without being daft, solid (with air bags) in case of a prang and very easy to drive. Do need to check the cambelt has been done though. Engines are pretty much bulletproof too. The 1.4 litre A3's can be picked up around £200 cheaper but i think they are all petrol so might no be as robust. They'll be way less to insure though as they are significantly less nippy which is not necessarily a bad thing. Facebook selling sites have loads of stupidly cheap cars listed, so always a good place to start. You can also shop by location which is handy. AutoTrader dearer (plenty of dealer motors on there so pricier in general) and Gumtree somewhere in the middle. Happy hunting! 

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2 minutes ago, reveldevil said:

I wanted to add him to my insurance, I've just had a renewal quote of £275.

This is admittedly the most expensive quote a comparasion site produced, but their wasn't much in it to the cheapest.Screenshot_20190107-123735.thumb.png.e20543d9dafb61d9bc0cd18cf7e32a29.png

That's shocking. What do you drive, the Mars Rover?

Speak to your insurers and see what they can offer. 

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I'd get a small engine older but low mileage Ford or Vauxhall. Cheap insurance and parts. If he knackers a Honda gearbox or clutch it will be pricey. Get one an old fart had had. They service them every 3000 miles. 

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201803224818694?advertising-location=at_cars&price-to=2000&radius=1500&sort=mileage&price-from=1000&postcode=de561nu&make=VAUXHALL&model=CORSA&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly New&onesearchad=New&page=1

 

 

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18 minutes ago, 86 points said:

Lots of second hand bargains out there. Not his first car but bought the lad a Audi a3 1.9 TDi Sport with 82K (2004 plate) for £995. Nippy without being daft, solid (with air bags) in case of a prang and very easy to drive. Do need to check the cambelt has been done though. Engines are pretty much bulletproof too. The 1.4 litre A3's can be picked up around £200 cheaper but i think they are all petrol so might no be as robust. They'll be way less to insure though as they are significantly less nippy which is not necessarily a bad thing. Facebook selling sites have loads of stupidly cheap cars listed, so always a good place to start. You can also shop by location which is handy. AutoTrader dearer (plenty of dealer motors on there so pricier in general) and Gumtree somewhere in the middle. Happy hunting! 

Just tried this.

On a 4k car (1.4), it came to 2.5k for insurance!

Shame, wouldn't have minded one of those as a second car.

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What I found with second hand cars is it’s a bit of a lottery. My misuses lad bought his first car for £250. I said if you get 6 months out of it it would be worth it. He had spent a few quid keeping it on the road but nothing too excessive.

The insurance isn’t too expensive but is over 3x what the car is worth.

I wouldn’t go for a more expensive one unless I needed it for work and needed it to be really reliable.

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6 minutes ago, reveldevil said:

£1285 fully comp, 2185 3rd party!

How is the Seat £750 comp?

Now cars don't really rust, miles kill cars not years, hence the low mileage old car plan.

All kids want shiny new things though. I do know of a young driver who ended up coming a cropper after having a knock in his rental car. 

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I bought a 51 reg Ford Fiesta Ford Fiesta for £250. I had it for about 18 months, 9 months of which consisted of daily, short-distance use once I passed my test. It cost a fair whack in minor repairs and road tax, and my insurance cost over £1000 (my dad didn't let me anywhere near his policy) but it was really good value for the amount of use I got out of it (driving to school, work, etc).

The best bit about it was probably the fact that I wasn't constantly worrying about tiny scrapes that would ruin the appearance, as it was already a rusty old banger. I got the piss taken out of me by my modern-car-owning mates but that never really bothered me.

Three months after selling the car (don't need it at uni) I began to miss driving, but when I went out for a spin in my Uncle's car (he's a driving instructor) I realised that it wasn't the driving that I missed, but my little old runner. It gave me freedom for the first time and that's what made it special. At the end of the day, that's what matters for your lad.

P.S. I'm sure I won't be on his Christmas card list after telling you that he only needs an old banger.

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8 minutes ago, BurtonRam7 said:

I bought a 51 reg Ford Fiesta Ford Fiesta for £250. I had it for about 18 months, 9 months of which consisted of daily, short-distance use once I passed my test. It cost a fair whack in minor repairs and road tax, and my insurance cost over £1000 (my dad didn't let me anywhere near his policy) but it was really good value for the amount of use I got out of it (driving to school, work, etc).

The best bit about it was probably the fact that I wasn't constantly worrying about tiny scrapes that would ruin the appearance, as it was already a rusty old banger. I got the piss taken out of me by my modern-car-owning mates but that never really bothered me.

Three months after selling the car (don't need it at uni) I began to miss driving, but when I went out for a spin in my Uncle's car (he's a driving instructor) I realised that it wasn't the driving that I missed, but my little old runner. It gave me freedom for the first time and that's what made it special. At the end of the day, that's what matters for your lad.

P.S. I'm sure I won't be on his Christmas card list after telling you that he only needs an old banger.

Spot on young man.  

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2 hours ago, reveldevil said:

What's the sort of thing my lad should be looking at as a first car?

Is it better to buy/rent a new small car for the cheaper insurance, or does it make more sense to buy an older car, pay more insurance but not care if it ends up knackered?

For example, he could buy a Honda Jazz 1.4 for £1250 and pay the same in insurance, or a Seat Mii new for £150 a month but insurance is £500 less.

Personally I'd go for the older car, thinking you're bound to get a few as scrapes as you're still learning, just looking for advice really.

So you’ve (we’ve) got his cheap accommodation sorted, his watch, and now his car.  Let us know when you want some advice breaking in his girlfriends won’t you.

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2 minutes ago, i-Ram said:

So you’ve (we’ve) got his cheap accommodation sorted, his watch, and now his car.  Let us know when you want some advice breaking in his girlfriends won’t you.

He's got more than enough sense to keep them well away.

Whether that's his neurotic mum, or his lecherous father I'm not sure?

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11 minutes ago, i-Ram said:

So you’ve (we’ve) got his cheap accommodation sorted, his watch, and now his car.  Let us know when you want some advice breaking in his girlfriends won’t you.

Well burton reckons he needs an old banger. Revel should be ok with that.

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Buying a old Ford is all well and good but they not really built to survive a prang. Most won't have air bags either so it depends whether peace of mind trumps expense, really. Call me paranoid but I'd always rather pay the extra. Running costs are worth taking into account too. My lad's car has run for 18 months and all we've replaced is an alternator and two tyres. A 14 year old Ford might be setting you back a few more squid in failed parts than that. The insurance thing may be the stumbling block. My lad had been driving for 2 years with no claims so it really wasn't that excessive. His first car however, cost him over £1,200 to insure and it was a wreck. £2.5 K is bonkers but then young men and cars are a path fraught with danger. 

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