Car for DS

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DS’s driving test is in January and we want to buy him a car. He’s 17 and we’ll be insuring it etc. Does anybody have any recommendations for a good first car? If he fails we want to be able to take him out in it to get more practice as he can’t get insurance on ours as a learner. Either new or second hand, not bothered which.

How much was insurance in his first year if you don’t mind me asking?

His first year was £2k insurance through Hastings direct and dropped to just under £800 in his 2nd year with Admiral

Thank you x

What about a little Toyota Aygo or similar? There's a reason that a lot of taxi ranks use Toyota cars, and farmers in the Australian outback... because they keep going, and tend to have few problems!

Mine was second-hand. I've had it for far too long to remember, but it's only ever had wear and tear (a new fan belt, new tyres) and it's never had any serious issues yet. It's amazing what you can fit in an Aygo, despite the size!

I’d almost ignore specific models to begin with and work out what “good” means first.

For us, a good first car meant:

• Reliable (unlikely to spend lots of time in the garage)
• Safe (good safety ratings)
• Cheap to insure
• Low running costs
• Easy and forgiving to drive
• Not so old that it becomes a money pit

We quickly realised there’s no such thing as “the best first car” because it depends so much on where you live, your son’s age and the insurance costs for your particular circumstances.

We found it much more useful to compare the overall ownership costs rather than asking “What’s a good first car?” because some seemingly sensible cars can end up costing a lot more than expected once insurance is factored in.

It’s actually why we’ve been putting together First Car Scout after going through the process ourselves. We were surprised there wasn’t a simple way to compare the real costs in one place rather than jumping between AutoTrader, insurance sites and MOT histories.

That said, cars like the Toyota Yaris, Honda Jazz, Hyundai i10, Kia Picanto and VW Up seemed to come up repeatedly.