First cars!

[CultraSloan]

What did everyone do re: their teenager’s first car? DD passed her driving test a few months ago and is currently sharing my car but really this isn’t sustainable in the long term and she does need her own. Ideally I want something relatively new and good quality that will last her through uni and hopefully beyond. I will be financing it and she will be paying the deposit + insurance and any maintenance. Any suggestions/experience? She is desperate for a Mini but I’m put off by rumours of unreliability and hefty BMW prices for parts

Where on earth are you looking? The local car supermarket where I got my Citigo from a couple of years ago has several 3 YO Aygos for £9-12k.

They don't currently have any Citigos on the website but they have some WW Ups for about the same price as the Aygos.

Our local Toyota dealership.. in fairness it was a year old so nearly new but that’s the sort of thing that we’re looking for. Just didn’t expect a fairly basic car to be the same price as a fairly high calibre Mini or polo of the same age!!

I'd question the alleged need for a car whilst at university. Three years, cost including depreciation well above £20k I'd expect.

Another option I'd recommend is the Kia Picanto which is essentially the same car as the i10. I love mine (although I'm considerably older than your DD!).

Also despite being a small car, it's tall enough for my 6'3" DH to be comfortable.

She’ll be commuting as it’s a course that requires hospital + community placement

Agree about the Kia - this was the other car we looked at alongside the i10 for DD and they were very similar.
The only thing to watch out for with Kia Picanto is that some only have 2 seatbelts in the back. DD does a lot of lift sharing to placements at Uni and it would have been awkward explaining she can only take 2 in the back!

Most of ds’s friends have used 1L Fiestas.

We bought ds(20) a low mileage 2014 plate about 2 1/2 years ago for his Christmas/early 18th birthday present after he passed his test, still looks brand new and he hasn’t had a single problem with it (except the little scuff when he misjudged a bollard 🤦🏻‍♀️)

He has done a lot of miles in it (racked up miles as a pizza delivery driver for a while between school and uni, then PT at uni), is a careful confident driver when I am in the car with him and hopefully when I am not. He generally always used the car to get from A-B and not for “cruising”. Mostly because he loves the freedom being able to drive anywhere at any time it gives him, such as nipping out to the gym at 9pm, and it supports him earning money working evenings. We have made him very aware how easily that lifestyle could be lost.

IMO no parent knows how their young adult will respond to that sudden gift of absolute freedom and the peer pressure that comes with having a car , ds was shocked by the antics of some of his sensible friends/classmates and we were just thankful ds, at least appears to, has been responsible (partly because he had an equally responsible gf at the time too!). So don’t count your chickens just yet.

I have a Mini. Very reliable and a great drive. Insurance can be crazy prices for teens on Minis though so do lots of quotes first before settling on any car. The safety of Minis is good and that mattered a lot to me as my kids will be driving mine soon. They're the best cars around though no doubt about it.

Our quotes were in the region of £4/5k - not great but to be honest I was expecting a lot worse as we’ve also had some crazy quotes for far older cars with far smaller engines

@CultraSloan I don't know if you use FB but try to join the Mini Girls UK group on there if daughter does have her heart set on a Mini. The women on there know everything there is to know about Minis and will definitely keep you right and give honest advice and tips. Good point about insurance being dearer on some older cars too.

Our eldest was kindly given a Ford Ka that my sister had and was no longer being used , cars get handed round quite frequently in our family . When our son bought himself a new car we kept the Ka for a bit as a second car .

A Hyundai i10 is a great choice as a first car, have you ever test driven one? The new ones are so nice to drive. I have an i20 on PCP and it’s not that expensive.

DP is a mechanic and he bought both DC a WV Up. They are the same as a Skoda Citigo and Seat Mii. He says they are reliable little cars and always recommends them when people ask. Both DC do a lot of miles, travelling to work and college in them. If anyone asks about Minis, he does try to put them off.

Nope, never test driven or had a Hyundai in my life! I’ll have a look, thanks for the advice. The new ones look great

Thanks for this - I’d always thought that an Up would be a good choice for her first car even long before she started driving so definitely another one worth a look. Are the Skoda and Seat equivalents much the same engineering/quality wise?

@Hereyoume you don't need to change front and back pads and discs at the same time
Fronts wear quicker, they're replaced more often. No point in changing the rear if they're absolutely fine when you do the front

Tyres too. If you have brand new tyres and 3 months later get a puncture you're not going to bin all your tyres and have brand new ones put on

He's not here at the moment to ask, but he was looking at all three when buying so I believe so. I'll ask him later and let you know.

My dd has a Hyundai i20 it was cheaper to insure than the i10.

Look for low insurance group cars (1-3) and before you buy anything, run it through a comparison site to see what it will cost to insure your DC. There can be significant differences.

Look for something with a small engine no turbo etc.

Lots of people think any small car will do, up engine sizes and insurance differs. On average, new drivers are paying £2k at the moment or more. Do be aware of the costs and make sure your DD is too if you don’t want to be paying it all yourself.

Agree that Aygo/C1/Peugeot 108 or VW UP/Skoda Citigo/Seat Mii is a good starting point.

Not strictly true anymore judging by the quotes we’ve had. Local brokers have been able to get far better quotes for DD than comparison sites which have thrown up some absolutely crazy figures! £16k for a 1l polo being a memorable one🤣 In quite a few cases a higher group 1.5l engine has come in a lot cheaper insurance wise than some of the low group 1l models.. just makes it even more of a minefield as it’s not so clear cut these days as to what will be pricey and what won’t be!

I got my first car at 36 and it's now ds's first car. Hopefully by the time he needs a new one, he'll be able to pay.

I’m a Honda lass, might not be down with the kids but a Jazz will last forever. Car tax is stupidly cheap and might take the sting off insurance too.

Not sure what kind of cars you have been driving but sounds like you have been driving old junkers.

How often are you replacing tyres and brakes?

There’s nothing wrong with a mini as a first car, anything over 2010 model should be ok as the initial gearbox and power steering issues had been sorted by then. I’ve been a mini driver for years and my dd was desperate for one for her first car. My dd bought a 2012 mini one 1.6 as a first car and has loved it since the day she got it, no issues at all and still loves it. I’d avoid mini firsts as they don’t have a lot of pull away from junctions! Minis are very different to drive than corsas and fiestas though, depending on what she learnt in - loving minis isnt the same as loving driving minis, if she hasn’t driven one before then she should test drive one first. We love
our minis 😍

She learnt in an electric car so really anything petrol is taking a bit of getting used to! Currently driving my 1l Audi A1 (which was a bit of a shock to go from driving a zippy little EV!) so she was surprised by how nippy the Mini she test drove was in comparison - definitely a fan. I felt a bit like I was in a toy race car, not my favourite thing I’ve ever driven but then again I’m not 18… 🤣