10 years or so back when these were new on the road, I really liked them
Now I am looking for cheap reliable second hand car to teach my 17 year old to drive in.
most kids these days head straight for Corsas/205s/206s/fiestas etc, but me being me (and she is just like me) like to be different to the crowd
also, been looking on EBAY recently and surprised at the higher than expected cost of Polos/Puntos etc.
then found this.....
tinyurl.com/c5qcy3
Question is really, am I mad thinking about putting a teenager in a 1.8 cc car with 115bhp? to be honest, if they is going to mis behave at the wheel she can do as much damage in a 1.1 corsa as far as I am concerned.
Guy
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Should be reliable, however, before going down that route check the insurance as it's a 1.8. A part of the reason for small older cars prices being suprisingly higher than expectation is the low insurance cost.
The initial purchase cost is often many times less than the 1st years insurance cost for a new driver.
Edited by LiverpaulH on 28/04/2009 at 10:28
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Get some insurance quotes, and they are not asking silly money for the insurance go for it.
Nice looking car and a bit bigger and safer than the usual suspects.
Also with it not being a typical teenager car it might well be cheaper to insure than a corsa.
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The 323 was never that save for its class (HJ mentions this in his car by car breakdown) but from experience I do think insurance will be a real issue here and even on a smaller car I think you may be shocked how expensive insurance is for a 17 year old. Figures of around £2-£3k are not unusual.
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If insurance premiums are £2K for a typical 17 year old, then it follows that the market has decided that the only 17 year olds allowed to drive are the ones with more well-off parents? Economics at work again ... assuming that car insurance is a free market.
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The 323 was never that save for its class
Point taken, I didn't check the cbc but based my safer comment on it being a larger car.
Insurance is a nightmare for anyone under 25, but a car that is unpopular with young drivers can be cheaper to insure as I discovered when I got a larger more powerful car and my premiums went down.
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Insurance isn't that much of a nightmare for U 25s, really. My eldest daughter has always been insured in her name on her (well, funded by me) car, and paid £770 first year, and will pay well under £400 now she has three years' NCB.
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Update on my post above - just ran her details through GoCompare, and for my 21 yr old daughter, sole driver, 1.2 Corsa Merit £1000 value, full-time student, part-time lifeguard, in Oxon, 6k miles, with 3 yrs NCB it's £165 with Churchill, £185 with Tesco. Cheap or what?
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Very cheap by far the cheapest I got for my 1.2 16v Corsa was £880 that is fully comp, insured for business use, 1 years no claims and I am 26. Now the bad bits:-
Live in the middle of Manchester
Male
Past my test less than a year ago
Run a business
The surprise was my insurance actually came down quite a bit when I passed my test (dads car).
I tried to get a quote for a 2.0 V40 as a joke and it came back saying they cannot insure me on this car :(. It seems the post code has a big a influence as the age of the driver but as oldnotbold as pointed out under 25's can get cheap insurance but I know for my own circumstances if I was 17 I would be paying £2k a year.
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Live in the middle of Manchester
Postcode makes a *massive* difference. The renewal premium on the Volvo was £300 this year. If I put my old (London Borough of Hillingdon) postcode into the online quote system and leave all other information unchanged, the premium goes up to £470.
Motorcycle insurance in cities is particularly difficult, with most insurers insisting on a list of security measures, and building in various theft cover exclusions which you really need to look at carefully. It's a damning indictment of modern society in many ways.
Re the low quote for the 21yr old, most Oxford postcodes list as medium or low risk for insurance purposes.
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My experience with a Mazda 323f (mine was a 1.5). Bought new and kept for 11 trouble free years, my wife and I loved it, but my son didn't seem to take to it as he was learning on a School of Motoring small diesel and found the 323f a tad too easy to stall and lacking in the modern touches - plus I think the indicators were on the other side - no point in learning professionally with indicator stalk on one side and then going out with dad and them being on the other side.
Unfortunately damaged beyond repair last year, not long after having the underside rustproofing revived with waxoyl - it looked lovely, no rust, no oil consumption and a great starter and runner. "Damage consistant with a low speed impact" as the policeman said. The body deformed and the Passenger door - my son was in the passenger seat - would not open, the airbag(s?) didn't deploy, but no injuries to us, so a good strong car. However, something with a better NCAP star rating might be best for a young person to keep them safe in a higher speed impact - safety has improved so much since these lovely 323s were made......
I keep seeing really nice examples on the road, but wonder if those coming up for sale are the best examples - most of those coming up on ebay these days seem to be for breaking due to a major fault or minor damage that is not worth repairing on what is after all getting to be an old car now.
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