First car?

We got my son a Ford Ka. The most important part of your decision will be the insurance group of the car you buy. Most Corsa's, Saxo's and 2 series Peugeots are group 4 plus.

The Ka, is a group 3, which at 1300cc is quite surprising, as even the 1 litre Corsa is in the same group. To give you some idea, we live in West London, and his insurance was £1600 in the first year. The car was only £2500, so I think you get the idea...

I wanted to get him a Smart Car, mainly because it only had 2 seats, that way he couldn't get a bunch of mates in it to distract him. (Which is what happened when he wrote his Ka off 8 months after getting it :bang:).

So, have a look at one of the insurance guide web sites (www.parkers.co.uk/insurance is a good start)

Have fun :thumbs:

Steve
 
Jelster said:
We got my son a Ford Ka. The most important part of your decision will be the insurance group of the car you buy. Most Corsa's, Saxo's and 2 series Peugeots are group 4 plus.

The Ka, is a group 3, which at 1300cc is quite surprising, as even the 1 litre Corsa is in the same group. To give you some idea, we live in West London, and his insurance was £1600 in the first year. The car was only £2500, so I think you get the idea...

I wanted to get him a Smart Car, mainly because it only had 2 seats, that way he couldn't get a bunch of mates in it to distract him. (Which is what happened when he wrote his Ka off 8 months after getting it :bang:).

So, have a look at one of the insurance guide web sites (www.parkers.co.uk/insurance is a good start)

Have fun :thumbs:

Steve
Click to expand...

Are you sure? I was sure my 1 litre Corsa was Group 1? Perhaps I'm mistaken....

The reason the Ka is in a low group however is because the power output, compared to engine size is low. You only get the same BHP from it which is as the 1 litre Corsa and the cars weigh a similar amount giving almost identical 'performance'.
 
I'll echo what has been said re corsa/fiesta/ka/clio etc Or how about a Fiat Seicento, they are deach cheap to bu and insure...

And less of the MX-5 bashing! Get them on the twisties and they can hold their own against lots of so called performance cars. (The insurance isn't exactly cheap at 27 with 7 years no claims either)
 
If wrapping the thing round a tree is likely (or even possible), I would suggest something with a high N-CAP rating.
 
your first can needs to be crap :lol:
mine had a leeking sunroof, power stearing was me going the gym 3 days a week

get a landy :o) you will need to get a 1973 one though to not pay road tax then its over 25 years :D currantly looking for one for myself :lol:
 
Not quite. More the fact that if/when you wrap it round a tree, you'll stand a better chance of walking away from the wreck.

As for the Landy advice, check the cut off date for the zero rated "tax". IIRC, you're safe up to "K" plate and some "L" plates fall within the bracket.
 
Free tax is '73 and earlier and is fixed.

As for the ncap thing, it's not very relevant here. Matt won't be buying a car that either has even been rated or gets a good rating when compared to a new car. With only a grand to spend he's going to have to suffer compromises.

Driving is quite expensive at 17. You'd be looking at £100 a month for insurance, then add fuel (£100+), plus the irregular expensive surprises when something breaks or gets worn out. Then £50 a for a plain sailing MOT, £150 odd for tax
 
One thing you need to be aware of is that cars from the 80s/90s tend to be more expensive to insure than newer cars due to poor ncap ratings etc, the actual value of the car plays little part in determining the cost of insurance. I had an old Rover 218 diesel which cost £100 as a shove-by a few years back and it was group 11 and cost more to insure than the Lexus is200 that replaced it :thinking:

A 1.4 Volve 340 is group 6, so you'll probably find that some old banger would still end up costing a couple of grand to insure.

I'd recommend a wee trip up the nearest car auction with your dad and get an idea of what things are going for, prices have taken a big tumble lately. I was only just outbid last week on a nice 2002 1 litre Corsa with a guaranteed 42000 miles (although it did have a boy racer rear spoiler and horrible alloys :gag:) which sold for £900.

Sciecentos and Kas aren't terribly dear either (up here at least), but the 2001-on Corsa is roomier and nicer to drive and there are lots of them about.
 
Just get a Ka! Not the most manly image, but I had one as a first car and it did my proud for a year. Once you've got some driving experience and a years no claims your insurance should drop pretty quickly. Can't go wrong with Fords, I'm on my third now (2 litre Focus... but I don't think you'll insure one of those just yet!)
 
Well you can go wrong with Fords ;), but the beauty of the them is that the spare parts are so easy to get from a scrapper.
 
Land rover series III 88 inch, ok so it's slow and loud, but the tree will wrap round it not the other way round, and it will last you your whole life if serviced regular.
 
Tree's always win arguments with any motor vehicle ;)

Can you get a Landy for £1k though?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top