First car, 23. What?

[Fordian]

DS may need to car commute to his first post-Uni job,49 mikes away. Train adds 2 hours to his day.

What are first car owners of 23 buying? He passed at almost 17, barely driven since (Uni, etc). But 5 years NCB. I can tell you what all of us drove at 18-22...!

But what are his sensible choices?

Regarding the 'boy-racer' no-no's for insurance etc. Model? Age?

Is the age of 'lease' over? Not that I ever understood why 21 year olds drove BMWs, but...

Can anyone shed some light?

What else would he need it for? Dogs, surfboard, mountain bikes? Does he really need the 5 door or 3 door? Does he have a relationship with someone who has kids etc?

Google can help pointing out which cars have low insurance generally but does he care about the tax bands? Or ulez?

I have recently bought a 2016 fiesta. Its actually the same size as the old focus (due to better, extra airbags and safety features). Its roomy enough inside for 4 people going on long trips imo.

Daughter bought her first car. She wanted a fiesta as well but it was out of her price range. Mazda2 are the "unbranded" equivalent to a fiesta. Everything is the same except for the badge. Yes I do feel robbed 😆

I have two kids that drive (and two that don't) and both of them had simple, cheap to insure and not too quick, cars.. DS1 had a little Peugeot 107, and DD2 had a Corsa. Both did the job perfectly and were cheap to run!
DS1 wrote his off (well he didn't, another driver did) and replaced it with a KA which he also loved as it wasbit more nippy being a 1.3.
But neither of them were into 'brands' or labels, just small practical and cheap to run and insure, cars!

Personally I think low powered and cheap to unsure are better, unless he has to put a surfboard or kayak on top. (in which case I can totally recommend a Fiat Panda 4x4 diesel... mine is brilliant, gets through any weather as 4 wheel drive and I can chuck a paddle board on top and a dog in the boot )

For a first car, I'd start by looking at the insurance groups and work out from there.
then think about things like how tall he is / how long his legs are, and what else he will use it for. What's he carrying / how far is he traveling / who is he giving lifts to / etc. No goo having a 2 door if he is going to be picking up his Nana and Grandad once a week and they struggles to bend. No point in buying a Fiat 500 if he wants to put his mountain bike and tent in the back and tour the country every weekend.

Kia Piccanto
My 24 year old daughter has had hers for 4-5 years and still loves it to bits
Ulez compliant, no tax, good on petrol and she drove it in Winchester for uni and back quite a lot from london and to Coventry to visit boyfriend at uni - very reliable

I'd recommend a Ford Fiesta. Cheap to run and cheap to repair - in as much as anything is cheap these days.

DD bough my diesel golf estate off me. A bit bigger than she'd have ideally liked but it's got all round sensors so easy to park (often a pitfall for inexperienced drivers) and good fuel economy (well... till the price rises). DH plans our car purchases years in advance - we didn't want her having to drive a small car of unknown history.

Has he actually got five years no claims? Has he had his own insurance or been on someone else's as a named driver?

I am not sure it make that much difference re car as long as it is a general smaller cheaper car. Lower engine size good. Putting a parent on insurance helps.

How has he got 5 years NCB if this would be his first car?

NCB is earned through your own insurance, not just every year since you’ve passed your test. You don’t earn it by being a named driver on someone else’s policy either.

My son has had a couple of Corsas and they seem pretty bulletproof. However they are small. It really does depend what he would be using it for.

My rule for buying cars is to set the search facility on Autotrader to 'cars within 1 mile of my postcode under £1000'. Then expand to 'within 5 miles' if you don't see a good one. Buy the one with the lowest mileage, longest mot and you like the look of.

Bought my first car around that age.i bought a micra and I loved it, was cheap to run small and easy to park and I did big miles 2 hour round trip for my commute to work. ( I'm rubbish at distance always work in journey times)
I've also had ka, and a hyundai i10 and a polo
All great cars the polo has been the most expensive to run in terms of tax and insurance.

My son had Ford Ka from passing his test which my sister gave him , he then replaced that with a new Ka in 2016 and he replaced that last year ( aged 28j with a Kia Rio .

My own experience of doing a long commute in small cars when I was young is that they weren't really up to it. Somewhat larger less underpowered cars lasted much better (and other drivers weren't so knobbish either). Maybe small cars are better now but it might be false economy to get something designed as an urban runabout for a daily 100 mile round trip.

Thanks!

Since the commute is quite far the car needs to have a decent engine size and be reliable.
I would look at a Golf, Ford Focus, Audi A3 or Polo.

I'd also checkout Hyundai - v reliable.
DD1 has a Mitsubishi Mirage, totally slated by the press reviews - I think they thought it a bit basic, but has been fine for her, she has an upmarket one leather seats and all sorts yet it was far cheaper than Fiesta/Focus and seems very economical.