New Driver. First Car

[brucemillar]

Folks

My eldest daughter passed her driving test (first time) last week.

Now starts the task, in earnest, of buying her first car.

She will do a 50/50 motorway/town split on most weeks.

After a lot of research we ruled out a pure EV.

She is now looking (test drive booked) at the Toyota Aygo.

Key for her.

Not in any warranty.

New or nearly new with good warranty
Insurance costs (she is currently insured to drive my 3.5 Pajero)
Reliability.
Running/fuel costs
Safety rating

Any thoughts?


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[renault12ts]

What age is she B?

 

[st13phil]

I had an Aygo as a rental car for a couple of days. Overall, I thought it was reasonable but looking at the pricing I'm not sure of it as a value proposition. It seems to major on unimportant things - reversing camera (on a car with near-zero rear overhang!), media integration and so-forth - rather than core capabilities such as space and overall performance, but I guess that's a function of the demographic it's aimed at. If you're daughter likes the Aygo, don't forget to check out the Citroen C1 which is essentially the same car but may offer better pricing (I honestly haven't looked).

Personally, I'd look at things like the Kia Picanto or Hyundai i10 (both have excellent warranties and reliability), the VW Up!-based offerings (Skoda Citigo, etc.) as well as the Yaris if she likes the Toyota way of doing things. Don't discount the Ford Fiesta which is surprisingly good to drive and depreciates like a stone initially, making used ones a more realistic price proposition. As for insurance, it's going to hurt whatever she gets, but she should definitely avoid the popular "yoof wheels" like the Corsa.

Edit to add: Looking back at your "50/50 motorway / town driving" I'd definitely bias towards a Fiesta, or possibly the Citigo.

 

[brucemillar]

What age is she B?

Nineteen.


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[AMGeed]

I would concur with Phil and look for a Fiesta within budget if motorway use is to be a factor.
I'd use an online insurance comparison site like Confused to get some quotes for the differing engine sizes too. A little 1lt won't be happy tramping up and down the motorway for long.
At 19, expect the worse I'm afraid. My daughter was 23 when she passed her test and a 1.0 lt new Vauxhall was still around £1000 first year IIRC.

Many congrats to your daughter Bruce. It's great they now have the independence to go where they want, when they want without Dad's taxi being hired.

 

[gaz_l]

I'll chime in and suggest a Fiat Panda. The 1.2 is a bit asthmatic so I'd avoid that but the TwinAir 0.9 is a punchy little unit (I had one in my Ypsilon) and well up to a bit of motorway work. It's also very economical if driven carefully - even with my lead foot I could get 55 mpg. Not available new anymore but there are a few decent examples out there. Not sure about insurance for a 19 year old but it was buttons for me.

Cheers,

Gaz

 

[Quetzalcoatl]

I've had the joy of just about every small hatch as a hire car for work and so far the Ford Fiesta and Hyundai i30 have been the best. If the i10 is anything like the i30 it would have me struggling between that and the Fiesta.

Aygo was not great on motorways, but perfectly serviceable as a city car compared to the Yaris, which I found quite good in terms of comfort, build quality and motorway driving. The handling on the Citroen C3 felt positively dangerous even at low speed. Not a one off either as I had another for a week and would have traded it for a 50 year old Lada in a heartbeat.

Even my wife, who would happily sit on a brick strapped to a rollerskate said the C3 is the worst car she has ever driven.

 

[clk320x]

Mercedes A class for sure, or Audi A1.

 

[MercedesDriver]

Whichever car she/you chose it should be the one in which she would feel confident and not afraid of scratching the wheels or the body panels. She has to become a relaxed driver first. Once she got to that point NCD will already be built and she can start chosing her cars with heart, now is the time for chosing with head.
Whatever she/you decide I wish her all the joy of motoring.

 

[CJD]

My daughter has a Fiat Grande Punto, very nice to drive and pretty well built too and has been very reliable - which is great considering all she ever does is put fuel in it, and I get to give it look over once in a blue moon when she comes home.
Easy to work on too, which isn't always the case these days with modern motors.

 

[Benzmanc]

My wife has had an AYGO for around 7 years now, 4 years with the previous model and now has the current one. The things that have gone wrong in all that time.........nothing, not a sausage. Her current one is bright orange (she loves the colour) with black highlights and alloys, leather seats, satnav, DAB, keyless go it's quite nippy once up to speed. The rear windows don't open as they are hinged only and the boot is quite small. £40 to fill up and zero road tax

Same as this one

It’s the new Toyota Aygo. No, really

 

[jpwilliams]

Folks

My eldest daughter passed her driving test (first time) last week.

Now starts the task, in earnest, of buying her first car.

She will do a 50/50 motorway/town split on most weeks.

After a lot of research we ruled out a pure EV.

She is now looking (test drive booked) at the Toyota Aygo.

Key for her.

Not in any warranty.

New or nearly new with good warranty
Insurance costs (she is currently insured to drive my 3.5 Pajero)
Reliability.
Running/fuel costs
Safety rating

Any thoughts?

A Yaris or Corolla


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[fabes]

What are those Autos like on the motor way?

Mine had 1L corsa (not built for motorways) now has a 1.2 Corsa (insurance was actually cheap on both)
Am impressed with it, and I am driving it to Bath on Sunday to bring her home (She wants to drive the return leg)

Corsa / Fiesta sized gets my vote for m way work

Bizzarely a friend got a cheap quote for his son on an old N/A Saab as the insurers reckoned no boy racer would be seen dead in it (they told him)
Mum was happy as it was the most solid car they looked at (retro cool btw)

 

[D-18]

I have had a 2006 Kia Picanto auto from new and it's a great little car. Certainly no fireball, but it's like a 1970's 'old school' Japanese car - plenty of squeaks and rattles, but you get the impression (tempting fate here) that it just will never break. As far as repairs go, since 2006 it has had a rear brake caliper and the switch for the electric mirrors replaced. The newer Picanto's are much improved over mine and worth a look.

SWMBO has a 2016 1.25 Fiesta Zetec and to me it is a class act. Very comfy, with all the 'essential' toys, great fun to drive and perfectly adequate performance for most people. We picked the 1.25 as it is a relatively straightforward (and hopefully reliable) engine. Based on experience of the previous (2011) one she had, there was no hesitation in choosing another Fiesta. The UK's best selling car for good reason I think.

Compared with some of the antiquated garbage I had as a youngster, all modern cars are pretty damn good and you'd probably be quite hard pressed to find something that wasn't capable of putting a smile on a new drivers face!

 

[Neiltodd]

Honda Jazz

 

[Neiltodd]

Both my daughter and son have Honda Jazzes,100% reliable safe economical and fairly roomy, perfect!

 

[Doodle]

SWMBO has a 2016 1.25 Fiesta Zetec and to me it is a class act. Very comfy, with all the 'essential' toys, great fun to drive and perfectly adequate performance for most people. We picked the 1.25 as it is a relatively straightforward (and hopefully reliable) engine. Based on experience of the previous (2011) one she had, there was no hesitation in choosing another Fiesta. The UK's best selling car for good reason I think.

We replaced Lucy's 2009 example earlier this year, after 100k of faithful service (6yrs/70k with us). It cost a shoestring to keep running and never caused any grief, despite being pressganged into being the "family" car when I sold off my fleet and ended up with a car that wouldn't go very far (Zoe), or one that would but wouldn't carry very much (SL). We'd have had another but she fancied something with more go and the seats in the FST were stupid, so we ended up with a Kuga.

 

[CaptainChaos]

Insurance costs can be much less on odd cars which youngsters don't drive (and crash). As the current vogue is for Corsas and Fiestas, you may find something like a Focus 1.6 or Volvo C30 would be cheaper to run and a bigger more comfortable car. Worth a look.

If you are looking at smaller hatchbacks have a look at the Suzuki Swift.

 

[Lennox]

Buy the safest car possie not a small buzz box. The bigger and taller the better.

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[Deleted member 6183]

Buy the safest car possie not a small buzz box. The bigger and taller the better.

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This is how I was thinking, a larger car will be safer and also help her with her driving skills.

What about something like a Skoda Octavia?