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Car for big 17 year old
philhoward - 10/1/10 at 07:48 PM

My son will be 17 shortly and is looking for a car. He is 6ft3",has size 15 feet and is finding it difficult to find a cheap to insure car that he can operate the pedals on without his toes hitting the underside of the dashboard. This is obviously a serious safety issue.
Any ideas which vehicle to look at?

MakeEverything - 10/1/10 at 07:49 PM

Sounds like he needs an escort estate, or something similar?

Miks15 - 10/1/10 at 07:50 PM

My bro had the same propblem when looking for cars (hes 6 foot 6 but slightly smaller feet)

He struggle greatly in our fiesta, but in the end went for a skoda fabia, he seemed to fit that nicely, now has a focus which seems fine for him aswell

stevebubs - 10/1/10 at 07:51 PM

big_wasa - 10/1/10 at 07:51 PM

1.6 mondeo ?

I am 6'3" and dont have the seat all the way back on the peugeot 406.

JoelP - 10/1/10 at 07:52 PM

rover 800s have a legendary amount of room up front - but that wont do his street cred any good at all!

fazerruss - 10/1/10 at 07:54 PM

Size 15 feet what the hell you feeding him. Forget finding a car , how do you even manage to get him shoes!

tomprescott - 10/1/10 at 07:55 PM

I've got size 12 feet, my 106 is fine, but don't know about 15's!?

Definitely steer clear of corsas, no room at all. The biggest guy I knew had size 17's, he had an astra (one of the older shapes) not too bad on insurance (which I assume will also be a limiting factor?)...

Mal - 10/1/10 at 07:56 PM

You can drive a car readily without shoes on.
That would save some space.

speedyxjs - 10/1/10 at 08:00 PM

Classic Jag XJ. Classic insurance should be pretty cheap. When i was 18 or 19, i switched from a 2002 1.4 civic to my 97 3.2 XJ6, i saved £400 per year

dhutch - 10/1/10 at 08:05 PM

Im 6ft2 with size 12/13 feet and i drive a 306, no problems with this. Fabia's are also nice cars.


Daniel

Simon - 10/1/10 at 08:19 PM

Friend of mine about 6' 5" and thought the Ford Ka were a right larf. Said he fitted in it fine so...

ATB

Simon

jacko - 10/1/10 at 08:32 PM

Plenty of leg room in this
Super Mini with me in drivers seat
Super Mini with me in drivers seat
Sorry i will get my coat

DaveFJ - 10/1/10 at 08:50 PM

been looking at cheap to insure cars myself for my 17yr old daughter...

Its truly terrifying the insurance costs!

basically the car choice is very small! I dont want to spend more than about 700 on the car ... and the insurance with her as a named driver on my insurance still comes in at £600+ !!

the cars I have come up with are

Nissan Micra 1 l
Fiat Siecento 900cc
Corsa 1.1?
Ford KA 1.1?

all came out within £20 of the same figure to insure....

As for fitting in a lad the size of yours.... the only thing i can offer is that I am 6' 3" and fit in both the Fiat and the Micra without too much hassle but i have modest size 9 feet so couldnt comment on that side of things...

morcus - 10/1/10 at 08:52 PM

When I looked into insuring my dads jag at 22 (97 but a 4l) the cheapest I could find was 4K, but there is plenty of room up there. Who are you with speedy?

I would have thought your best bet was an estate, or you could buy something cheap, take out the back seat and refit the drivers seat further back (I saw a show a few years ago where they modified a car for an obese lady and they did this).

Miks15 - 10/1/10 at 08:55 PM

quote:
Originally posted by DaveFJ
and the insurance with her as a named driver on my insurance still comes in at £600+ !!


Be glad you dont have a lad then! Youd be paying close to if not over agrand for insurance on the same cars!

speedyxjs - 10/1/10 at 08:58 PM

quote:
Originally posted by morcus
When I looked into insuring my dads jag at 22 (97 but a 4l) the cheapest I could find was 4K, but there is plenty of room up there. Who are you with speedy?

I would have thought your best bet was an estate, or you could buy something cheap, take out the back seat and refit the drivers seat further back (I saw a show a few years ago where they modified a car for an obese lady and they did this).


Well i am now 23 (and a couple of months) and am paying just under £600 with lancaster. 6k limited mileage and a few mods on the car. Use it to go to college twice a week and is insured for business use.

morcus - 10/1/10 at 09:04 PM

Thanks, I'll give them a look.

philhoward - 10/1/10 at 09:40 PM

Thanks for the info guys. I think that the easiesy way is chop his toes off!!! It will solve all of the problems

I have just had an insurance quote on a Honda jazz for him as a named driver on my wifes policy and it is coming out at £1900.00. Extortionte or what.

jase380 - 10/1/10 at 09:45 PM

I got my daughter a citroen c1, cost her 800 quid to insure for her first year ( she`s 18 ) it does a good 50mpg and is reasonably nice to drive, as for your son, i`m 6 foot 4 and a size 13 shoe, i find the c1 more roomy than than the wife`s megane, definately more legroom and a better driving position.

morcus - 10/1/10 at 09:52 PM

Its going to cost you a fortune no matter what, the only way to make it cheaper is to wait

norfolkluego - 10/1/10 at 10:41 PM

The Ford Ka is a good suggestion (used to have one), insurance is about as cheap as it will come.
Surprisingly roomy for leg room (lots of adjustment for drivers seat, good to drive, cheap to buy and fix, economical on fuel, practical and still look good, what more could you want.
Just be careful, a few of them (around R reg) suffered from early corrosion around the front offside wing and fuel filler cap, apart from that they're no problem to own.

MikeRJ - 11/1/10 at 01:05 AM

quote:
Originally posted by tomprescott
I've got size 12 feet, my 106 is fine,


Really? I drove one with my 'tiny' size elevens and though it was hardly any better than my old AX GTi which was horrendous. Several times I got my right foot caught behind the brake pedal (since it would barely fit between the wheel arch and pedal) and had a few panicked moments trying to get it free to brake.

I have a friend with size 14 feet and he's currently driving an P reg Honda Civic (saloon) with no problems. He bought that particular car because it has a sunroof fitted, he'd have to drive around with his head tilted to one side otherwise! He attempted to get into my Striker (which is a tight fit for me) and the only way he could fit was by sitting on the transmission tunnel with one leg down each side!

skodaman - 11/1/10 at 01:37 AM

"rover 800s have a legendary amount of room up front - but that wont do his street cred any good at all!"


Dunno what you mean. There's nowt wrong wi Rover 800's mi laddo.
I've just changed to a Rover 800 from a Mondeo and found the Rover feels more cramped generally. At 6'2" the tinted bit at top of windscreen gets in way as well.
Anyway for insurance purposes the Rover isn't really feasible.
Renault Clio might be okay. I can fit in a Ka no probs but I've only got size 9 feet. That might be your best bet and just adapt the seat and sod the rear passenger on the drivers side.