Best first car?

[Fordian]

For DS, 23. He starts a new (first post-grad) job 13 miles away, shortly. The drive includes some motorway; around Portsmouth.

He can spend up to £4.5k

What should he be looking for?

Any thoughts very welcome!

I'd say a VW polo. Great cars & cheap to insure.

Fabia! Cheaper than a polo but same car underneath.

Anything with a one litre engine, for insurance purposes and within his budget. Used cars are a horrible price at the moment. Look at VW Up and Fox, Toyota Aygo, Suzuki Alto etc.

Thanks; anyone else?

Insurance can vary a lot by area, he’s best off running a few options through price comparison sites.

Sometimes small MPVs can be cheaper on insurance, as they’re not the kind of car that young men tend to buy. So have a look at Kia Venga, Hyundai ix20, Ford Fusion, Suzuki Splash, Citroen C3 Picasso. It’s no guarantee but he might find something like that is half reasonable on insurance.

He needs to look for something that has a good service history and MOT history. Four good tyres (from a reputable make, not cheapo ditchfinders). My personal view is that low mileage is less important than overall condition.

Toyota Aygo

Smart for2. Tiny engine but plenty of oomph. Cheap to insure, road tax. Easy on the petrol. Much bigger on the inside than you'd think. Mine was well within your budget and has heated seats :-)

Would he be able to buy one on finance instead? I don't know what the interest rate is like at the moment but I bought a little Toyota for £120 per month. It was three years old I think and it had only done 14,000 miles. As long as I have it serviced by them then they increase the guarantee by a year each time. A car for about £4000 can end up having to have an awful lot spent on it over the next few years.

Toyota Aygo. DH did all the research and liked this one.