First car for DS

[teenagersandalittleone]

I am looking to buy DS 18 a car but do not know where to start. I know it needs to be small and under 1.1 litres. I don’t know if I should get automatic or manual, what brand of car - does anyone have any pointers

DS1 has had a Vauxhall Corsa for the last 4 years, perfect learner/new driver car.
We’re about to start looking for something for DS2, looking at something like an Aygo for him, but I’ll be watching this thread with interest!

I'd go with a vw polo, around 2016-17 for your budget. Small, reliable and sturdy. Insurance is cheap. Surprisingly though some family cars can be cheaper to insure as they don't fall into the typical new driver category. A 1.6 audi, for example

A Corsa and a car buff don’t go together! For longevity - a mini or a polo. City type cars aren’t great for longer distances.

My dd (22) and I both have Dacias. Great little cars

We spent a while looking to see what would be the lowest cost for insurance. Went with a Hyundai i10, we’ve had Hyundais before and found them v reliable and great cars. It’s not his car specifically, it’s the smaller family car he’s insured on. We all really like it, and it’s done plenty of big motorway journeys too.

Why does it have to be under 1.1 litres

We’ve got one of those. Very reliable and cheap to insure/service. It’s been a great little car.

Insurance should be cheaper for a new driver.

Apparently cheaper in insurance

Corsas are extortionate for insurance at the moment.

https://www.admiral.com/magazine/guides/car-insurance/the-10-cheapest-cars-for-learner-drivers-to-insure

https://www.whatcar.com/best/top-10-best-used-cars-for-learner-drivers/n24075

My ds has just passed and hes got a skoda octavia, 1.6. Was actually cheaper to insure than a corsa! Get lots of insurance quotes first, its surprising what some of them are.

DD's first and only car was/is a Kia Rio. She really liked the Picanto but couldn't fit her cello and saxophone in the boot, so stepped up to the Rio.

We found a 22 month old one in the dealership that had been part-exchanged and my dad did a good deal on it. We've had the car for 9 years now and both DDs have learned to drive in it. Kias come with a 7 year warranty which transfers to new owners if you sell it, so if you can find a 3-5 year old Kia, you should have at least 2 years' warranty. I was pleasantly surprised by how much kit came as standard, especially when compared to the VW Polo which DD thought she wanted.

We have just bought for DS ages 17. Avoid Corsa and Fiesta. Seems to be known boy cars and insurance is astronomical. We bought a 13 plate ford Ka. Don't over search insurance as algorithms will kick in and you'll be quoted more and more. Do a couple of dummy runs first. Start the policy 7 days before you actually want to. Little things have made a difference.

I would prioritise safety ratings over cheaper insurance.

Another vote for an i10 - we got a 2016 one for DD2 in the summer for 4k and it's been really good so far.

Dd had a Mazda 2, very reliable car. Check insurance costs, varies so much, and make sure you have are searching incognito, can push up prices if you keep searching!

That's not an option for everyone unfortunately.

We've gone with a 1.2L Skoda Fabia. Surprisingly roomy for a small car and low insurance group.

The bigger safer cards are often surprisingly cheaper for a teen to insure. Safety is our priority too. A fireman friend bought his kids a Passat as he wouldn't consider a tiny car. Our kids had my old Volvo.

But it is an option for some, so worth mentioning.

Is learning in a manual? If so I’d get a manual to keep those skills up and keep options open in the future, when hiring car etc.

I don’t think there’s any hard and fast rule about engine size. Insurance group is more important (you can put registration numbers into websites like this one https://www.moneysupermarket.com/car-insurance/car-insurance-group-checker-tool/ ), the lower number the better - it goes up to 50. And special edition models can be more expensive to insure too.

Ds has got a low mileage Peugeot 208, 1.2l that cost us just under £5000. He’s not yet passed his test but I got some quotes pretending that he passed last week that are coming in just over £800 (fully comp, includes to and from work and with a black box) which I’m pleased with.

I'd buy an older safer car, rather than something tiny and recent. Although a Fabia isn't a bad choice regardless and not what I'd consider tiny.

That was the case a while ago but not really any more.

Cheapest for DD was a C1 cool. It is 17 years old and was only bought to build her confidence on the road. It was MoT’d last week but we have said that she should be thinking about changing the car before May as that’s when her renewal would be due.

Peugeot 107, Citroen C1, Toyota Aygo. All basically the same car. Cheap to run, cheap to repair. Not bad for reliability, easy to park. I would go manual for a first car, small autos are hard to find and they're a lot more expensive than manual.