Car for 17 year old
 

Ok so before i ask i know he needs to drive a shed, but i need to ask you experts whats good and not.

So as always he hasn't a clue, i myself only buy new cars so i never need to look for issues etc, but hes got a few cars in mind.

Budget 2500 quid

Corsa SXi seem ok but i sceptical as they are normally hammered by race boys
Peugeot 207 now these are cheap and normally come from 1 lady owners, some very nice ons online. 1 down south with only 17k on clock...

Astras are too expensive for him

I also looked at Citroen as there cheap as chips, but i don't think he likes em..

Any advice on what to look at with cheap Insurance, any gotchas with the Peugeot other than being French ?

Thanks guys

ted

My 17 year old daughter bought a 58 plate C1 when she passed her test. Cost her £2200 to buy and £850 to insure. Like your lad she wasn't keen on the looks (she wanted a Beetle!) but I said she shouldn't be such a fussy arse. When she finishes Uni and earns a decent wage she can buy a car she thinks pretty.

With the insurance, she has my wife and I named on the policy. She also has a Telematics box fitted. The insurance policy she took out doesn't have a driving curfew. Worth checking proposed policies regarding curfews if he has an early start or does late shifts in Maccys (my daughter did).

Anything with an engine over 1300 increased the premium significantly as did older cars.

Nissan micra on a t Reg you won't need to worry reliable economical 0%street cred and will get you anywhere :-)

hehe the 207 is around 96 quid a month to insure.... ive got a C3 near me 1.1 Lt looks ok 09 plated 3k..

Ill check out the Telematics stuff and see what they say

thanks guys..

Id go with the 207, you will get the 1360cc in 75 and 90bhp guises, cheap to insure and run and the 1360 engine is very reliable.
They are a bit bland though but some of the editions do come packed with goodies ;)

Avoid Corsa, they suffer from damp interiors and it's a pain to fix.

I'd look at Fiesta, Nissan etc.

Fiesta because there's hundreds out there, any spares can come from a scrapper and he can have fun adding better parts, like interior trim.

Nissan because they are reliable.

I'd avoid older French cars. The electrics give problems.

yeah got a few near me Tony, will have a look. First thing wife said was can we get him insured on the JCW Mini, i told her to stand in the corner. No way will he be driving my motors, not until he can prove to me he can drive as good as Colin MCrea

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classifi...eage&logcode=p

low miles that god

we bought our daughter a Peugeot 309 (X Reg)

I have always found French cars to have cooling issues - and this car has not disappointed

but it was only 700 quid so has not been to bad cost wise so far

it is actually quite a nice drive

we insisted our daughter have a extra lesson - post test, to go over motorway driving before she went on a long drive (which she did)

I have also shown her how to check oil/water and change a tyre

and put her on my AA cover

she has Tesco Box insurance (no too expensive tbh) but her car is about the oldest they will fit a box to

Toyota rav 4?

When my son was 17 he went for a Renault Clio Alize. It has the 1.4 engine but is still a low insurance group. He still has it 13 years later, though it's being replaced now because the alternator's just gone.

Best thing he did insurance-wise was to get pass plus. He got a big refund cheque from his insurance company when he got it.

That will be a 306 and the 1.6ltr engine.
Out of all the french cars (13 or 14) only one had a hg fail on me and that is because it was done badly the first time, caused by a stone damaging the rad.

I'd be looking at Toyota, Nissan or Honda simply due to reliability, because the last thing you need with expensive insurance costs is forking out for repairs as well as the expense and inconvenience of breakdowns.

Also something that doesn't encourage fast driving, so Micra although the 1.0 actually goes quite well for what it is, also the Yaris isn't a bad shout, but if it was my son I'd be putting him in a Honda Civic, just because it's a little bigger and it's a Honda, so reliability is a given, also driven by old dears or men that have them serviced regularly, I'd also seriously consider a Honda Jazz, one of my mums mates has one and it seems a cracking little motor.

The 207 isnt a bad car and doesnt suffer like pugs of past, the worst thing about older peugeots was the heater matrix and the loom going to the door from the body. Heater matrix wasnt cheap to fix due to dash out but door looms are 75 quid each.
I would avoid fiesta's due to high insurance and micra's rot their subframes for fun.

Tony


Above all get something safe and as modern as fits the budget.


One of these would get my money.


http://www.carlandonline.co.uk/used-...01505093321112

Or this?


http://www.hydemotors.co.uk/used/VOL...X/AETV65763554

True, its another reason to go for the 207, class leader with 5 star euro ncap ;)

looking at this
http://www.catalinaofstanningley.co....01506044028026

and

http://www.catalinaofstanningley.co....01506294742589

or this is his Fav
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classifi...cars&logcode=p

I bought my son a Honda Civic EP2 for his first car at 17. We looked at all the usual small engine cars but due to the fact he had to have a blackbox as part of his insurance policy there was only £150 or so difference between the EP2 Civic and a 1.2 Clio.

We went with a mini one 1.4d, 2005 car. Had 96000 miles but looks like new. Had it about 18 months now, no problems, just the usual serviceable stuff.
Collingwood learner driver insurance was cheapest by a long way, but needs to be cancelled as soon as they pass their test - any remaining premium is returned.
The mini has street cred, unlike a lot of low insurance group cars - anything French or Italian is asking for trouble - they're money pits.

yes, you're quite right

it is a 306 - 1.4 engine though

really good to drive, handles well, good steering (and great headlights actually make my Audi's seem like a pair of candles)

I just don't "trust" it - if that makes sense

I quite like the 207

but say that on zero knowledge tbh, they just look right for a first car

He passed today so he's like badgering me lol benefits of being in the army they chuck you through it

We also had a 1.1 Peugeot 206 for another learner - the brakes failed completely. The design of the rear drum has an aluminum brake cylinder bolted to the steel backplate inside the rear drums. The different metals encourage corrosion and the cylinder piston is eventually forced out of alignment with the brake drum meaning the piston has nothing holding it in the cylinder and you lose all the brake fluid. I was stunned when I saw how easy it was for this to happen. We fixed this then it broke the timing belt and bent valves - wouldn't entertain another small French car.

You will be amazed how many other manufacturers use a similar braking system, though I personally would have had the car checked over by a decent garage and had anything that needed doing checked and done (cambelt, service, brakes etc).

Back to the topic, like the first 207 but see why the Mplay would take your son's eye, either one would be a decent buy but buying a low mileage car can be as bad as buying a stupidly high mileage one, it all depends on how its been maintained and what sort of driving its done, 500m to the shops and back and its going to be pretty fooked, no matter what marque of car it is, doing 20 mile motorway drives twice a week would be better than 6 shopping trips@1 mile round trips :)
Just to let you know, in the next year and a half I will be getting my Niece a 207 for her first car, easy to work on and learn basic maintenance, cheap to service and repair and its not a bad first car due to low insurance and decent specification.

This...

Been checking recently for m son next year, EP2 is by far the cheapest to insure. It's also quite cool, I'd have been very happy with that at 17.

To be frank for wheel cylinders to sheer off backplates (alloy cylinder with steel plates is very common, as mentioned), the car must have spent a good portion of its life living near the coast or parked over grass or where its continually damp (Wales, Scotland etc)...we run a T-reg 206 van...130,000miles and still on original backplates....mind, it had no fins on the radiator and a seized cooling fan...as I found out last summer in the heatwave :o (at least I know what to do when a engine overheats...before it blew a gasket)

I work on few cars that live mostly in rural Wales...one is a Golf, like mine and the same age. But underneath it looks twice as old...everything corroded. Yet that car looks better than mine on top.

So the point here really...recommending a make/model is only half the story...there are so many sheds out there with a dodgy past. Low mileage isn't always a good thing either...so many of these low mile cars are sludged up with mayo from short journeys and often neglected on annual routine maintenance because "they don't get driven much"...for example the old 8valve Peugeot lumps must have the timing belt changed every five years, regardless of miles.

Certain cars with a "durable" image seem to suffer as they fall into the hand of the negligent...I used to love VW Lupos and Polos...indeed they are a solid cars. But the majority out there now are not maintained and just driven into the ground so are just money pits for the next unsuspecting owner. Micras suffer this too...especially as the K12 is just a Clio with Nissan bits.

I had a 1.1 106 as my first and second car. Drove the first one 44'000 miles in two years. Apart from serviceable parts, needed a new driveshaft and battery. But electrics and French go together as well as romance and Germany so watch out... Wasn't uncommon to press the brake pedal and see my headlights come on!

The 207 is a good shout. Toyota Aygo, Civic EP2 and a 1.2 Clio are also good, fun cars. Shame he cant afford an Astra SXI, the DOHC lump is bulletproof if maintained well. Stay away from anything you usually see youngsters in, Peugeot 206, Corsa's, Saxo's, Fiesta's as they are more than likely hiding problems and/or been ragged to death.

What about a ford ka ? My Mrs has had a couple and loved them

Reading through these comments I wish some of you were my parents as I had to pay for my own lessons and my own car and insurance lol