if you can find one in reasonable condition the astra gte 16v is a fastish car,and because of the age of them you may find you'll be able to insure it for around the £1000 pound mark if you shop around,they're going for anything from £800-£2500 which is well within your price range and will leave you a little extra left over for insurance if you have to pay a little more.anyway its just another idea if you want something with a little power under the bonnet... :)

as for a scooby quote dont bother,axa wont insure anyone under 30 in a turbo...

[Edited by bartmanuk - 9/7/2003 4:58:23 PM]

Hi guys im new to this forum, but i've been looking at it for quite a long time now. at tthe moment i'm 17 and just passed my test and now i need a car! I was wondering if you guys could help me out here seeing as you are all quiter knowledgeable about cars. i'm after something a bit different than a normal saxo. Also i'm looking for something that won't be too expensive i insurance terms. Any comments will be most appreciated.
Cheers, Kanny

What sort of budget are you working to? How old do you want your car? I take it you would like something cheapish insurance and running costs? How many doors?

Budget-7k
Age doesn't matter
hatchbach so 3 or 5 door
I would like relatively low insurance and runnig costs arent that much of an issue

How much do you want to pay for insurance. That might rule out most fun cars.

Personally I'd get a Charade GTti but the insurance would be about 2K as its group 11, Very good mpg and bloody quicik for a 1 litre.

I;ve now got two of these as well as my Scoob.


AllanB

I'd go for a Ford Puma. Group 12 insurance, decent mpg, bit low on power but so chuckable. Handles very very sweetly. Do a search on here and you will find a lot of people rate them for handling :)

I was looking to pay under £1k for insurance really. Also ive heard that the very old cars can quite cheap to insure like a Triumph GT6 I would quite like one of those i know Poor Guy on this forum has one can any one give me any more suggestions or an ideas?
Cheers

Unfortunately if you are insuring it under your own name you'll have trouble getting a quote for under £1k whatever the car, nevermind if it's something a bit special/different.

Get a corsa 1.2 16v sxi, insurance group 2 abt 70bhp alloys spoiler etc.

a very underrated car - mk5 fiesta zetec-s. ;)

evo magazine say it is very underrated, my mate got a 1 yr old 1 for £6.5K and its a fantastic handling little car, same underneaths as a puma...

1.6 16v engine is 103bhp standard, but on the rolling road at Star Performance it got 107bhp totally standard, and another zetec-s managed 115 with just a panel filter and cat back zorst...

oh, and quick enough to see off challenges from vtr's ;)

you wont get a cheap quote on a classic till you are older

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. I am particularly keen on a fiesta zetec-s, can you tell me how much insurance will be if I share with a more experienced driver?
Cheers

try tesco insurance and norwich union there normally pretty good,and when i was your age i used a company called dial direct,i think they now have a website dialdirect.tv i think!!!

"astra gte 16v"

That is a lunatic peice of advice, the lad has only just passed his test and if he did get insured (unlikely) I think its a little bit on the lairy side for a first car, 150 bhp in a ropey chassis. Get real what 17 year olds need is experiece in a lower powered car, say 60 bhp, spend a year or two in that and then progress to something a little quicker, perhaps a Saxo VTR. I know talent varies between individuals but even in the most talented the supply of talent can run out very quickly.

I would suggest a small hatch for about 3k, dont worry about engine size, save the rest for your next car or a few track days where you get to drive fast stuff in safety.

Dont wqorry about having the fastest, you are 17 and have a lot of time to get there, you have to get experience, earn No claims discount, make mistakes and learn by them, avoid Police attention etc etc and I am afraid for most of it there are no short cuts,

My cousins first car was a Tuned Vauxhall Magnum 2.3 with about 130 bhp, we got two mile on its first outing before we ended up in a field, uninjured but shaken, we were full of it before this but its amazing how humble and inadequate you feel stood in a field wondering how you got there.

My first car was a MK1 Capri 1600 GT, 90 ish bhp and rwd on skinny tyres, my dad made me go on a skid pan and throw it around before going on the road, I was a liability and had a lot of near misses but got away with it and went through another couple of 1.6 capris and aged 18 got my Golf GTI 1.6.

I was also thinking of getting a ford Ka could anyone recommend these?

Kanny, yeah of all the small Cars' the Ka is one of the better drives, the later ones have 70 bhp (as opposed to 59) and there is an enthusiastic modding scene. For your seven grand you could get a brand new Ka Collection which has a few luxusires and body coloured bumpers but I like the base model in Blue Print which is a nice solid blue, get some alloys on it, lower it and it will look pretty good, they also seen to keep their value reasonably well wheras Puntos dont seem to do so well.

so wot your sayin j4cko is it was ok for us to do it but not for kanny?
anyway,dont get a ka kanny there crap,like sheds on bicycle wheels,if you wanna car that aint to powerful as j4cko is suggesting then get yerself a little peugot 306 or something like that...

I did say I was a liability !

Anyway, the Golf handled and had 110 bhp, the Astra doesent and has 150.

Anyway, Insrance wasnt quite the same issue back in 1988 and when I was 18 I won a Golf GTI in the daily Mirror so was wadded, sold it and bought my mk1.

nice result with the golf m8,but not sure the handling was any better than the gte tho,and if it was it was only because of the extra power in the gte.both pretty poor really, although ive only driven golfs a few times but never owned one,where as i drove my gte around for 5 years and got pretty used to the handling on that,but yes it was **** if you wasnt used to it.and i had a few close shaves when i first started drivin it,but managed not to have any prangs in it,so for me it was good experiance to have a bit of power when i was young,but as you say everybody is different.

bm.

bart, I have had both over the years and the Golf handles miles better IMHO, I had the 2.0 130 which was more powerful than the Golfs but with the 1.8s there wasnt much in it, the 150 GTE was just plain mental and in a straight line would still keep up with some of the modern Hot Hatches such as the Cooper S and maybe even a CTR would have to work hard to shake one.

Not many 16v GTE's left nowadays though, rust, theft and Westfield owners have made sure of that !

with 6 or 7k I would imagine a nearly new sportka is nearly within reach.................

your right about not many being left,but i still have one stored over my dads....its a 1989 on an f plate,2.0 16v,its done 115000 miles but man does it still go...the wifes tryin to make me sell it but i really dont want to :( she even said if i sell it i can get some new wheels for the scoob,but i just aint sure!!!

Nothing really to add about "what car?"

However, do the Pass Plus course, as most insurance companies give good discounts (10% to 15%) for about 6 extra lessons that cover things like motorway driving etc.

Remember that you never stop learning. And be careful out there - the roads are full of lunatics!! ;)

May be slightly off topic but i thought I would mention it....

First bit of advice would be that no matter how tempting it may seem to get your self as a named driver on you mum/dads policy to save money now will only p££s you off in the future.

Buy a cheap insurance car (something cheesy) for a few years then get a hot hatch or something more exotic when you have a couple of years no claims.

I am mad about cars and wanted a GTI when I passed my test at 17, but insurance was so silly it was a non starter. I ended up in a 1 litre metro and then a fiat panda...both cars were so S**T i could have cried, but it was better than cathing the bus.

Skoda Felicia!!

My young lady has a 1.6 GLXi. It goes fairly well, really nicely weighted power steering, cheap to insure and reliable It's a bit wobbely when pushed really hard (only when she isn't looking ;) )

They can be made to look quite cool, see below. OK the lights are a bit OTT but it give you an idea.

http://www.skoda-owners-club.co.uk/gallery/sc-fel.jpg