Cheapest car and insurance for 18 year old female driver

[vjg13]

My daughter passed her test in Dec and hoping to get her a car in the next few months, looking for general advice on companies for insurance and which model of small car. She is quite keen on an Aygo but open to others.

The Atgo is in the lowest insurance class group, so is probably a good bet, though obviously they’ll consider other factors as well: www.gocompare.com/insurance-groups/

My first car was an (old version) Smart Fortwo and the insurance for the first year was about £500 - they’re apparently cheap to insure because they’re not particularly quick, inexpensive to repair, and young drivers can’t load them up with all their mates and go haring off on a road trip.

Have you priced a second hand Ford Ka? Nippy little things, very reliable.

There's a Peugeot and another car that's effectively the same as an Aygo, so it's worth looking into all of them to maximise choice.

Also look at the VW Up, Seat Mio and Skoda Citigo as these are all great, cheap to run small cars - again, more or less all the same. Maybe also a Nissan Micra.

You basically want something that would not be attractive to a boy racer such as Fiestas and Corsas because these are in higher groups so more expensive.

Also, if you're looking at second hand, if you look at (check carefully) pre March 2017 ish, a lot of the cars mentioned above have annual road tax of £0-30 per year, which can also add up to a bit of a saving over other cars where it might be around £130+.

Mine had a FIAT 500

First year 1200
Second 900
Third 450

It was a new car though.

Moving on I expect insurance to rise when she buys a 'better' car!

Always check direct line, they don't appear on comparison sites but usually have good policy

Don't necessarily opt for the cheapest, make sure you are insuring 'enough' - it's often tempting to leave certain things off, or up the excess to being down the premium; but realistically consider what would happen if you needed those things/ had to pay excess

I always get green flag breakdown cover. I have both me and DD cars full cover for under £10 a month, much better than any of the cover offered by an insurance policy.

Black box is an option. DD didn't bother as the difference was only a couple of 100 quid and she wanted the freedom. They often restrict mileage and can have a curfew

My daughter has marmalade with a black box on my car which was pretty good value.

Thanks for all the advice, Her budget is about £3500 as it's from her savings from her job with a small top up, so definitely an older second hand car.

What sort of restrictions are there with a black box in terms of curfew and mileage?

My dd has an Hyundai i10. It's great little car.

We found that Admiral Multi-Car policy was the cheapest and she doesn't have to have a black box which is good because )in normal times) she does unsociable hours at college and work.

@vjg13

What sort of restrictions are there with a black box in terms of curfew and mileage?

They all vary. Some won't have any restrictions but will probably end up costing more then a policy without a BB. It's worth reading every detail for each quote.

Oh and if you drive make sure you are named on her policy. If not you can put someone else down.

We found Tesco insurance the cheapest. My son had a black box that didn’t have any curfew.
We wanted him to have a black box due to him probably speeding.
He had a Hyundai i20.

Our neighbours have bought Citroen C1’s for all of their kids as they have reached 18.
It’s funny seeing them lined up when they are all at home.

I bought an Aygo as my first car, I wish I didn't! There is a desgin flaw that let water into the car. Mine is constantly damp and has mould growing in it

I would recommend the admiral black box. It was significantly cheaper and I did not have any restrictions

regarding breakdown cover, try Start Rescue. I pay £36 a YEAR for the full works (loyalty discount, usually about £50) on a 10 year old car. I had two callouts on the previous car.

@murbblurb

regarding breakdown cover, try Start Rescue. I pay £36 a YEAR for the full works (loyalty discount, usually about £50) on a 10 year old car. I had two callouts on the previous car.

That's a good shout. I just got a quote for mine and DD cars and for road, home and nationwide cover it's just over £50. I will definitely keep them in mind when my current green flag is up for renewal

With this budget I'd go for a cheapo small Peugeot of some kind. It's always worth bearing in mind that she might want to keep some of the budget aside for possible repairs etc, as you never truly know what could crop up with an older car. I would be looking for something maximum 2000, then 1500 for insurance breakdown cover and a leftover fund for repairs/mot

@BarbaraofSeville it's the Peugeot 108 and the Citroen C1 that are built on the same chassis as the Aygo so all very similar cars under the skin.

Similarly the Fiat 500 and the Ford KA (newer shape) are both on the same chassis.

Again another set to consider are the VW up, seat mii and the skoda citigo - all essentially the same car with different price points.

DS had an old Corsa for starters, and his first insurance was £1250 with a black box... came down to about £900 in year 2. Now into his fourth year, he has a Polo and pays about £500 without telematics box.

You basically want something that would not be attractive to a boy racer such as Fiestas and Corsas because these are in higher groups so more expensive.

#EverydaySexism

We got Dd an 18yo vw polo. Insurance was about £1400 but an automatic so they’re more expensive.

No black box. We just used a comparison website. I’d read bad things about the boxes, starts off a bit cheaper and then they bang the price up saying you’re driving badly. Obviously maybe the teens I read threads from were driving badly but they were adamant that wasn’t the case!

@DicklessWonder

You basically want something that would not be attractive to a boy racer such as Fiestas and Corsas because these are in higher groups so more expensive.

#EverydaySexism

Yes it is, but that's the reality of the car insurance market.

They're not allowed to charge male drivers more, despite them costing more in claims, but unless you want to pay more for your car insurance, it's worth putting principles aside for a minute.

Update, she bought a 7 year old Aygo and the insurance was £1200 with no black box. Most of her friends do seem to have black box insurance but she was glad to avoid it. Did all the comparison sites and also Direct Line etc.

@DicklessWonder

You basically want something that would not be attractive to a boy racer such as Fiestas and Corsas because these are in higher groups so more expensive.

#EverydaySexism

You saying it's not true?