Offspring car choices

[CatmanV2]

Just the concept of a 17 year old spending 6k on a car is totally alien to my history. (Totally no offence meant)

When I was 17, £6k would have been roughly 2 years of my 'income'

...and my income should have been nearly spent on rent.

C

 

[lifes2short]

When I was 17, 7 years ago, I bought a 1995 Land Rover 300TDI defender for £6k, due to it not having rear windows it was classed as a panel van and NFU charged me £500 for my first year and £450 thereafter. Add as many drivers as you can.

Obviously, they might be a bit more expensive now and the running costs were eye watering for a 17 year old considering I fitted a new chassis (galvanised), however, it didn’t depreciate and I made £700 when I sold it after all said and done.

switched on move, well done, always liked the defenders, quite fancy one of the new ones but land rover have pitched them far too high

 

[Strad]

We are having the same discussions as our oldest hits 17 at the end of the year. A VW Polo seems to be the winner but someone only this week was saying his son had a Defender and the insurance cost wasn’t bad at all. Trouble is, entry point for Defenders is stupidly high.

 

[Scaf]

been there done that with both my daughters at 17, fiat 500 1.2 sport for one and a bmw mini one for the other , both bought second hand at a fairly reasonable price and insurance was surprisingly cheap as well, both cars were cheap to run and reliable

Exactly same for me, eldest daughter Mini One (she kept it for 10 years) youngest went for And kept it for 6 years, both have replaced them with newer models of the same cars.

I do think the Fiat is a bit girlie (except the Abarth I guess) -

 

[ratbag]

I bought both our teens identical Punto T-Jets 16v
turbos- brilliant little cars and great for dad to drive too!

 

[JJbing]

Just the concept of a 17 year old spending 6k on a car is totally alien to my history. (Totally no offence meant)

When I was 17, £6k would have been roughly 2 years of my 'income'

...and my income should have been nearly spent on rent.

C

Car mad from the age of 10 and had been saving since I started working aged 12 and then had 3 jobs by 14.
Luckily, my parents didn't charge me rent and my 17th birthday present was a rather generous £2k and 10 driving lessons paid for. They were more than happy to contribute to a defender as my dad was sure it couldn't reach speeds to kill me..

The key with getting a cheap defender is not being frightened of replacing the chassis. A Richards chassis is around £1k, if I remember correctly and the labour wasn't too bad as I helped out. I guess the savings from insurance paid for the maintenance etc!

 

[JJbing]

Just had a look at similar defenders to what I bought.. wow they're expensive now!

Might be worth looking at "panel van" equivalents for the cheap insurance.

The other alternative I remember looking into was buying a classic car as the insurance is alot cheaper, but all the ones I liked had dreadful reputations for reliability.

 

[CatmanV2]

Car mad from the age of 10 and had been saving since I started working aged 12 and then had 3 jobs by 14.
Luckily, my parents didn't charge me rent and my 17th birthday present was a rather generous £2k and 10 driving lessons paid for. They were more than happy to contribute to a defender as my dad was sure it couldn't reach speeds to kill me..

The key with getting a cheap defender is not being frightened of replacing the chassis. A Richards chassis is around £1k, if I remember correctly and the labour wasn't too bad as I helped out. I guess the savings from insurance paid for the maintenance etc!

Not being at all funny, but I'd think twice about spending £6k on a car now. Mostly for Mrs C's daily hack, granted.

C

 

[empzb]

Volvo c30? Older S40? Plenty safe, decent looks and chassis - good value in my books.

 

[lifes2short]

Exactly same for me, eldest daughter Mini One (she kept it for 10 years) youngest went for And kept it for 6 years, both have replaced them with newer models of the same cars.

I do think the Fiat is a bit girlie (except the Abarth I guess) -

Didn't want the faster cooper model so I managed to find a mini one with a factory fitted JCW kit, looked the nuts and my youngest loved it, , I wanted a slightly sportier look for the fiat 500 and fitted a genuine abarth rear bumper, exhaust and alloys, completely transformed the look of the car

 

[Guy]

For 1st son I followed the logic of new car = lots of airbags, ABS, new brakes, new tyres, new battery etc plus 150 per month on a PCP bought a nice VW Polo 1,2 Match Edition. He was delighted and it cost a pair of tyres and a service (first three included in the PCP deal) and depreciated from 11000 to 7250 over the four years and 25k miles he had it. Did over 40mpg and never missed a beat. Insurance went from 1200 down to 850 over the years
For 2nd son bought 6 month old Fiat 500 Sport Twinair 105 with every extra ticked (sales managers demo car listed at 18k!) for the same price as the Polo was new. He too was delighted but it cost a lot more to run as it needed a new clutch/flywheel and a gearbox rebuild as the synchro went on 3rd, 4 tyres and only did 30 mpg because it was so short of torque low down it relied on revs and turbo boost to go anywhere. Over the same mileage it depreciated from 11500 to 5500. Surprisingly the insurance costs were similar to the Polo
My 17 year old daughter is currently learning to drive in my R53 Cooper S on Marmalade learners insurance (less than 3 pounds per day) but suspect insurance will be an issue once she passes. She wants a Mini 1499GT, which is cheap to insure, but an auto. Personally, I would like her to drive a manual for a while after she passes her test so let's see....

 

[Oneball]

Im not surprised kids are so entitled nowadays. I got my first weekend job at 14 by the time I passed my test at 17 I’d managed to save £1000 to buy my first car.

None of the 17/18 year olds I know have ever done a days work in their life and all have cars bought by their folks. I expressed shock that my 9 year old niece had a current account to which I was told I was being stupid, how else would she get her allowance paid!

Back on subject, the other niece has a 2018 Polo.

 

[mjheathcote]

Regarding the manual/automatic it won't be long with more common EVs (there seems to be an explosion of Tesla 3's I've noticed) that learning to drive a manual will be almost redundant.
Only a couple of years until my daughter is 17 but speaking to friends with slightly older kids, they simply aren't interested in learning to drive a manual.
With the exception of my M140i, which is unusual being a manual, the rest of the fleet are 2 pedals.

 

[lifes2short]

Im not surprised kids are so entitled nowadays. I got my first weekend job at 14 by the time I passed my test at 17 I’d managed to save £1000 to buy my first car.

ditto, I was cleaning dormers of private schools on Sundays, local bakers and various gardening jobs at that age as well, couldn't agree more , the younger generation want it all on a plate

 

[mjheathcote]

ditto, I was cleaning dormers of private schools on Sundays, local bakers and various gardening jobs at that age as well, couldn't agree more , the younger generation want it all on a plate

Too easy with cheap PCP deals these days.
But I guess it was easier getting insurance on the family cars and you bought your own car with your first job/leaving home etc.
To think I was on the insurance of my dad's brand new Lotus Excel at 17 on L plates. It was only as third party cover though, but I did actually drive it on L plates!
Had to buy my first car myself though, my Stag which I still have well over 30 years later!

 

[P5Nij]

When I was 17, £6k would have got me any number of mid range Italian exotica, I was on £25 a week at the time! We don't have any kids but if we did and we helping to choose their first car I'd go with a Fiat 500 or an Abarth - when my Alfa was off the road for three weeks having some serious pothole damage repairs sorted at the main dealer I had an Abarth 595 and it was a proper hoot, it sounded like an angry puppy and had me chuckling every time I drove it.

 

[mjheathcote]

No idea, what insurance would be but I have always thought a Smart Roadster or Mazda MX5 for a few grand would be cool and cheap first car.

How cool would this be for not a lot of cash?

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202005309659116?atmobcid=soc3

 

[Doohickey]

My son has a 2014 Ecoboost Fiesta - the 999cc triple. Great little car; handles well, pretty economical - he loves it. No car tax and insurance about £1000 with black box when he was 19/20.

Only down side (from his point of view) is no CarPlay etc on that age.

 

[D Walker]

Not being at all funny, but I'd think twice about spending £6k on a car now. Mostly for Mrs C's daily hack, granted.

C

With you there,
My “wife” got my golf, daughters Astra and sons Fiesta for about £5.5k.
Daughter paid us back for Astra tho.

 

[mjheathcote]

My son has a 2014 Ecoboost Fiesta - the 999cc triple. Great little car; handles well, pretty economical - he loves it. No car tax and insurance about £1000 with black box when he was 19/20.

Only down side (from his point of view) is no CarPlay etc on that age.

FM just isn't good enough these days!