18 year old girl...
 

Do you best with the ideas.It's my new woman's daughter so need to impress.lol.Said know just the knowledgeable place to ask.

First car,£1500 to spend.Presume style conscious but mom very insurance conscious!

No mad high mileage cars.Ideas?

Thanks:thumb:

Peugeot 206 / 207, they do have their problems so you need to do a bit of research and be picky, but find a good one and they make a nice little motor, 1.4 petrol seems to be quite good on fuel, low insurance has a bit of poke, stylish and reasonably modern looking as well as being in budget.

Micra and yaris are also good little cars.

Grande Punto 1.2 or 1.4 8 valve)

its a Corsa D but better looking and with a better engine (the 1.2 goes better than a Corsa 1.4 too), plenty about, cheap to buy, simple to maintain and good Ncap safety (5 stars). Should have enough change left over in the budget to pay for some of the insurance.

Just keep it regularly topped up with oil as they do burn it a little...they only hold 3litres so it's easy to run them dry. Clever design though in that if it does run out of oil, the hydraulic lifters collapse so it won't start, saving the engine from self destruction! Just add oil and away they go without any apparent issues...try doing that with an Impreza! ;)

Peugeot 107

Hi Ali, couple of questions.

1.2L is only 65bhp and 1.4L is 77bhp, do they struggle at motorway speeds as only listed at 93mph max, and what's the 1.9d multijet sport like... seems significantly better at 130bhp, just wondering if they have any problems.

Cheers. :)

Good man, i was just about to embark on the same mission, except its for my own daughter, and insurance is key, because its just silly premiums being quoted.

Pug 107, SEAT Ibiza.

Hmm, you are comparing a modern(ish) complex common rail diesel with a basic simple petrol unit that's been around since the 80's. The 8valve diesel unit is a solid engine and found in many Vauxhalls (1.9CDTi) and Fiat vans (often labelled JTD) but bear in mind it has a DPF, common rail injectors, variable geometry turbos and EGR...all components that do go wrong and are expensive to replace.

Don't touch a 1.3 multijet either IMO, they go well and very economical on fuel, but I've just dealt with too many with serious (expensive) problems.

Point being with a car worth £1500ish, I doubt the OP will be wanting to spend much on it to keep it on the road.


Between the two Fiat engines its 12bhp difference between the the 1.2 and 1.4. They are very free-revving engines so you just give them plenty of revs. If I recall correctly top speed is limited by gearing, so 90mph in 5th is something like 5000rpm+ (Same with the 8valve Peugeots) The OP didn't mention long motorway journeys as a priority, so anything with a small petrol will be buzzy on the motorways. The 1.4 16valve unit is more potent but not so many around and cost more to buy.

Compared to Pug's 206/207 1.4 8 valve units the performance is similar (another engine from the '80s ) but they have head gasket problems. 206 Can give you a costly sting in respect to the rear torsion beam. The later 2006 onwards Pug/BMW 16valve units should be avoided (chain issues, head gaskets, persistent sensor failures and catalyst failures)

In comparison to the Corsa D engines, the Corsa engine on paper are more powerful (15 to 25bhp more vs the Fiats) but they are lethargic and have a slow throttle response, plus they suffer sludging and timing chain problems (even corsa Ds with only 30k on the clock can have rattly chains) thanks to the 2yr servicing regime which basically ruins them.

Cheers Ali, top man as usual. :thumb:

Im just thinking a pic of the said 18 old may help us all match a car to her more accurately...!!

C1, Pug 207, Toyota Aygo - all ideal for young drivers. Cheap to insure, fairly reliable engines, little or no road tax depending on year, use about a thimble full of fuel per 100 miles. Basic but quirky interior. We have a 3 & 5 door version in the family - the 5 door is a bit more practical. Both are 4 seaters.

Personally I quite like the sound of the 3 cylinder & I'd have been chuffed to bits with one of them for my first car instead of the rusty Fiesta that I had. They are nippier than you would think because they're very light, and having driven one on the motorway I can say in all honesty they're fine at speed. The sound system is woeful though so bank on £100 expenditure putting new speakers and a new head unit in. Daughter picked up a 2006 C1 with 60k for abour £1150 a few weeks ago, so they're well within your budget. Insurance was £440 for her this year @ 18 years old.

i was waiting for that :lol1::lol1::lol1::lol1::lol1::lol1:

tbh im amazed it took that long,,,,, hahahaha


http://www.pistonheads.com/classifie...--2007/6993955

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifie...-zetec/7027690

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifie...90-bhp/7028294

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifie...urance/6881869

summit like those?

Run away; rust buckets and not great in crashes despite the 3star Ncap

Not bad, do have a tendency to overheat; usually head gasket.

no; Will probably need a timing chain and tensioner (it'll sound like a diesel when hot) unless it's already been replaced.

Ok: :thumb: just be aware a lot of Lupo seem to have had a hard/abused start in their lives which later owner end up dealing with the consequences ( So may guzzle oil.

Now I wasn't going to say that...but as it's been mentioned....:thumb: