Best Corsa deal is a 1.0 Life with alloys and CD player for £5991 from Makro www.motorsolutionswithmakro.co.uk/newcars2.asp?CID...4
Best Ka deal is from www.jamjar.com - £5495 brand new
The Ka is faster and better to drive, the Corsa is the stylish choice with the lower insurance - and probably safer.
The real safety (if not reliability) choice at this money is the Clio (group 3 IIRC), which has a good level of kit, 4* in the crash tests and standard ABS and side airbags. Should just about get a 52 plate for this money.
And if he wants a hot hatch or something he should spend his own money. You can still cane a 1.0 car; safety, low insurance and fuel economy need to be his priorities for the next couple of years.
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I notice you ruled out Skoda, the felicia is a really cheap motor P reg with 40 000 on the clock going for under 2 grand.
They drive ok, the insurance is peanuts, they are easy to repair, or cost peanuts if taken to a garage, the tyres last forever, they always start, and if you crash it throw it away and get another.
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Just though a friend of mine has just bought his son a Hyundai Accent, his mates think its great, 40,000 on the clock, 1 owner from new M reg £350, he needs to replace the window winder, insurance again peanuts.
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Sierra every time. Cheap to buy, insure, run, maintain and lots to choose from. Get a 1.6 or 2.0 Pinto, non-interference engine so you drive until the cambelt breaks and then slip a new one on.
Do not get a 1.8 CVH though, the light-weight engine makes the handling and steering terrible.
A more modern choice would be a Mondeo. HOWEVER, you lose the rear-drive handling and so you won't learn how to drive properly in a Mondeo (or any other front-drivers).
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Are you being serious Gazza, or was that whole post tongue-in-cheek?
As for finding a car for a tall teenager, I'm 6'3" and I find Clios and Fiestas comfortable to drive. Don't buy a Pug 106 or Citroën Saxo though, as the pedal position is awful and his knees won't fit under the steering wheel. VW Polo would be another good choice.
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The Fiestas are great in the front, but not so hot in the back unless it's a MK6.
I would suggest a Focus to be honest, they've got plenty of street cred, I'd love one but can't quite stretch my budget enough...
Blue
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Rose,
I know you've got 6K to spend but, for his first car, why not just get him an older car, such as the Ford Escort Mk5, Vauxhall Astra, Rover 214 etc? I am 6'4" and can fit and drive in any of these without a problem.
You can get perfectly good examples of any of the above for less that a grand, much less than that if you go to auction.
Put the other £5K into a high interest account.
Let him make all his early mistakes in a cheaper car, including a few scrapes etc, keep it until he's 21 and got 4 yrs experience and hopefully some NCD, then either sell, scrap, trade it in against something you can put the other £5K plus interest towards.
As much as I love my children, I would never buy them a new car as their first, unless there is a financial advantage in me doing so.
That way, if they scrape the wing/door etc on the gate post as they reverse into a drive I think "so what as long as the car is still safe to drive - who cares!" not "Oh no that's another £500 to get the car back up to condition!!!!"
I am now 36 years of age and have never paid more than £3k for a car. My current steed is an L reg Xantia, which I love. I paid £1600 at auction 2 and a half years ago and it's basically as good as many brand new cars coming into the show room these days.
H
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The financial argument for buying a new car doesn't add up too badly.
Cost of a new Corsa - £6k minus £4k resale at 3 years = £2k depreciation
Fuel - 36k @ 47 mpg = £2680
Insurance - group 1 so let's say £3k
Repairs and maintenance - one annual service, £400 tops. Nothing else is scheduled to go except maybe one set of tyres, £80.
Tax - £210
Total - £8375
Or an 8 year old Corsa at £1500 minus £400 resale at 11 years = £1100 depreciation, with 12 months' tax and MoT
Fuel - 36k @ 39 mpg = £3230
Repairs and maintenace - done by an independent, six monthly, because you're worried about breakdowns - £400
Maybe a new set of tyres, maybe two, but probably also an exhaust, some shock absorbers, a cambelt, and two MoTs - £375
Tax - £210
Insurance - less value to insure, but also higher insurance group, so £3000 again
Total - £8315
That leaves a budget for anything out of the ordinary of £60, plus of course the interest on the £4500 difference in the purchase price. If he decides he wants to buy a CD player, a set of alloy wheels, and there is a £200 unscheduled repair bill, the old car has worked out more expensive, never mind the fact that most parents want their child driving something safe, reliable and stylish.
I don't have children and so it'll be at least 20 years before I'm in the 'choosing a car for my kids' position, but if I were doing it now, and could afford to pony up £6k without suffering any hardship, I would rather do that than go down the banger route with the associated uncertainty - but also make sure he knew exactly why I was doing it, and how grateful I wanted him to be.
I really hope I'd never be the kind of parent that springs for an SLK or an Impreza though.
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I disagree - no way does the new car argument make sense financial wise. For a start it is quite likely he'll crash it, or have some kind of ding in it, which is major trauma in a new car. In something sub £1000 you jut accept it and move on. Its also a myth that just because it is new you'll have trouble free motoring.
I'd say get something cheap and a bit bigger/more comforable for a taller driver and spend a bit more on insurance. A late Mk2 Golf Driver is fine for 6' plus. I am 6'7" and drive a GTI with no problems.
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You mentioned Cheap Insurance and 17 years old in the same sentence. You'll be lucky. I would opt for a late MK3 Golf for the room but the insurance may hurt. Regards Peter
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Phil - I admit that I've rigged the figures a little by assuming a dealer price for the used car, and a £2,500 discount for the new one that most people aren't going to get.
However, that £2.5k discount is real and comes with all your consumer rights attached, and most people asking this kind of question, rather than going round the auction houses looking for the ultimate banger are going to prefer at least some warranty and certainty when choosing a used car.
For people who aren't perhaps that comfortable dealing with cars, I do think these are realistic assumptions. As for not caring if a £1,000 car is smashed up - to keep him motoring it either costs £1k to get a new one, or you claim on your insurance and it increases the premium just like with a new car.
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Incidentally, www.regvardy.com has the Ka for £4995.
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Not really serious King Arthur.
Having said that, my first car, and four friends' first cars in 1997, were all Sierras. I had an G-reg 1.6 LX that did 78k (or 178k or 278k) and a facelifted K-reg 1.8 GLX and both cost me around 250 pounds. Sierras were great for our circumstances as rear-drive is easier to work on, we did around 20-25000 miles a year in our cars (I did 1000 miles the week after my test) and we wouldn't want to a smaller car.
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