Hi All,
I am about to start looking for a car for my two sons (one 19 and passed test, one 17 and a learner). As the insurance will be the biggest issue, I
guess it will come from the list of usual tiny engined suspects - KA, Polo, Corsa, Panda, Clio etc etc.
Can the collective mind recommend, or not, any of the above in particular ? or do you have any 'don't touch with a barge pole' stories.
Thanks in advance, Chris
I have found that you need to find an unusual car, rather than necessarily a 1ltr car. I had a 1.7 puma as my first car because somehow it was cheaper insurance than corsas, polos, clios etc.....
Get them something like a GTM rossa, small engine kits can be really cheap to insure. The GTM I bought as a lads first car as it was cheap to insure
and easy to work on. It will also be a bit cooler with their mates rather than a beaten up KA
I agree with eddie. I had a Micra, followed shortly afterwards by a Volvo 440. The Volvo had a good size engine, and was much larger than my mates had, but the insurance was cheap, as it was a grandads car!
I've been told by bods at Aviva that the 1.0 micra is about as cheap as it gets.
Loads around for peanuts:
nissan micra 1.0 shape 1996 | eBay
I had thought that the 'unusual' route might worth a look and had already sown the seeds by discussing the merits of something like a old landie (cheap/ simple to mend when they bend it). SWMBO didn't seem to keen on the idea though............
most things around the 1.0L or less mark should fit the bill, but some are inexplicably more expencive than others…
my first car was a 1.1 mk1 fiesta (in 2001) and its was quite cheap,
but the 1.0 pug 106 (really 954cc and 7hp less) I replaced it with was 1 group higher on the insurance
the 90's 1.0 micra is always a good bet and they cost next to nothing to buy 
(but horrible to drive IMHO)
[Edited on 2/11/2011 by mcerd1]
My brother inlaw who is an insurance broker always recomends a Rover 214 for younger drivers, there whats know as an " insurance beater " in
insurance linggo!
My brother got one, done the head gasket straight away for him. Thats the problem, they run hot and the orginal headgaskets are pants. But from memory
he paid £900 od quid in his 1st year of driving although the insurance company fitted a tracker.
Other quote he had for corsa's etc were in some cases over £2000.
Hope this helps
A young lad I worked with had a petrol Landrover as his first car it was much cheaper to insure than his mates with small hatchbacks, and he could
drive it into walls without damaging it much!
[Edited on 2/11/11 by Dingz]
I wouldn't recommend an old land rover.
Yes they're easy to fix, but they also break down all the time, they're loud, slow, thirsty and not street-cool either most likely. Also not
ideal in emergency braking/maneouvering situations if god forbid it ever comes to that.
I'll recommend a Micra! (still have mine so slightly biased). Also have a look at something like an older Accord, Primera or Passat. They
sometimes have surprisingly low insurance quotes if you go for the lower specs.
Had a clio but insurance on it was more than other bigger cars (presumably cause everyone claims on them?).
I've got a little ford Ka as my winter runAbout it's been a good reliable car, and as there are so many on the roads parts are easy to
find.
as they only changed the shape last year my 1998 looks the same as a 2010 apart from the odd dent
Hyundai Amica, cheap to insure cheap to tax, cheap to run ............ AND I have one for sale
RD
2000 on Fiat Punto, cheap to insure, Cat 5 safety, airbags, cheap to buy, cheap to fix and loads about.
Thanks all for your thoughts. Certainly opened up a few options I hadn't considered.
I recalled deisels seem.cheaper for me as I insure a 1.4fiesta and for the same money I could insure a turbo diesel vectra
I had a 1.1 peugoet for my 18yo daughter, make sure you and your wife are named drivers, this halves it for some reason .
Daughter has a Mk4 Zetec Festa 1.25 75bhp and about £400 odd quid for her first years insurance but then its cheaper for girls 
My son bought an old classic Mini (1982) and it cost him £450 a year
How about a Dutton 1300cc!
Sorry, hit the wrong button........
so how about a Dutton Pheaton S1 1300 cc x flow engine. Tops out about 75ut good fun getting there, 30 odd to the gallon, I paid £101 on a new policy
although an old man of 43 with Pickles Insurance and £125 to tax (from memory)
Yours for 1500 or haggle to 1400. I'm on Dorset/Somerset border. Send me a message for pitures.
Im only 20 i have a Peugeot 306 Dturbo 1.9 45mpg 1998 100k best car i have ever had for a daily driver and the cheapest (£500 )
insurance bracket 5 so should be able to get a not to bad quote on one ive done 16k and its had no money spent on it just mots and tax
look on ebay the miles one of these can do is unreal !!
Also they cant put a big loud bean can on a diesel so no waking you up when the get in at 1 am !!!!
I bought a peugeot 206 1.9 d,for my
17 yo son. The insurance cost £1270 while he
was learning and when he passed two weeks ago
it cost an extra £230, because he is now unsupervised.
Its in group 4 and does 50mpg.
Andy
quote:
Originally posted by Mark Allanson
2000 on Fiat Punto, cheap to insure, Cat 5 safety, airbags, cheap to buy, cheap to fix and loads about.
I'm told 1.6 to 1.8 D segment cars like Vectras and Mondeos are cheaper to insure than 1l superminis, you'll also get a newer car for the same money and spares are probably easier to get. I worked with a 20y/o guy who had mondeos for this reason and his insurance went up when he swapped for a Clio at 23.
Avoid Corsas in the age of car you are looking at they all have potential lubrication related valve gear problems in all the various types of
engines used.
The old style Micras have a well known fuel system fault that badly affects idle speed control , this used to be very expensive but it was
discovered it can be fixed by re-soldering a joint in the air flow meter otherwise bullet proof if horrible to look at. Models introduced post
the Renault take over of Nissan the quality is similar to Renault models.
Fiats usually mean a head gasket change at some point in ownership --- a chore rather than a major job. Beware the security system used on
older Fiats they were prone to expensive failure although these days it can be neutered and if you do buy one with with the "red key"
system make sure you you get the red key with the car.
Renault --- french electrics **** ***** **** **** **** **** !!!!!
quote:
Originally posted by DixieTheKid
My brother inlaw who is an insurance broker always recomends a Rover 214 for younger drivers, there whats know as an " insurance beater " in insurance linggo!
My brother got one, done the head gasket straight away for him. Thats the problem, they run hot and the orginal headgaskets are pants. But from memory he paid £900 od quid in his 1st year of driving although the insurance company fitted a tracker.
Other quote he had for corsa's etc were in some cases over £2000.
Hope this helps
Thanks all for your replies.
Chris