My girlfriend has finally got her act together at the age of 26 and decided to learn to drive. Fortunately, my Octavia vRS is much too scary for her to learn on. She will be taking lessons with a driving school, but from my own experiences this can be extremely costly unless you can get some practice in between.

My mindset is to buy a new "cheap" runaround on PCP as there are less unknown costs. My dad has just managed to bag a Skoda Rapid Sport for around £20 more than our budget of £150 / month, but sadly this is as inappropriate a first car as my Octy.

What would you buy in this situation? Looking for low-ish deposit for 6-8k miles / year. The Ibiza is currently going very cheap, although I'm not overly keen as it's long overdue a facelift. The girlfriend's preference is a DS3 pink (yuck), but suspect this is well over budget. The new Clio is probably my first choice.

It's bloody difficult to compare and get an idea of PCP rates online without visiting the stealers in person....

I suggest buying a cheap car as a first car, let her learn how not to prang it off posts in supermarket car parks, then buy a better one after a year or so. This way she'll also have a better feel for what she likes/dislikes on a car.

As a first car I would spend a grand or so on a Fabia just so she can get some experience and start her NCB.

If she bumps it then a grand will be no big loss.

A thousand pound Fabia will be a lot more than that once you find out why it was sold for £1000. Plus insurance can be quite a bit lower on new(ish) cars.

I'm thinking new because we need predictive costs for next 12 months. I'm also able to secure very cheap insurance if vehicle is new/nearly new through work.

I'd go for a Corsa or something like that. They are easy for beginners to drive and is why the driving schools tend to favour them.

Lets face it a £1000 fabia to a 26 year old female is as uncool as white socks with jesus sandles.

But i do agree buy a cheap corsa / fiesta / swift for the first couple of years.

It'll get dented and pranged all over the place but its expendable

Edited 22 July, 201411 yr by BigJase88

Whatever you do don't go into a dealer and say you can spend £150 a month. They can make ANYTHING cost £150 a month

 

I wouldn't rule out an older car with an extended warranty to save some money on new and have some peace of mind.

 

If she's younger a new car with free insurance might make a big saving too.

 

I personally wouldn't recommend PCP unless you plan to keep the car a long time. The balloon payment is usually just the book value of the car after 3yr so to continue on a similar deal you need another deposit.

 

If her mileage is low have you looked into leasing? Not sure how well that would work out but an idea.

Edited 22 July, 201411 yr by Aspman

There are good deals on Suzuki Swift on PCP.

 

How about doing the search online for various manufacturers / dealers,  and maybe buy 'What Car',  

 

then go where there are several Dealerships close together of the Manufacturers that interest you.

 

See what Citroen can do price wise, rather than just suspecting they are too expensive,

they possibly are, they were last time i looked compared to Peugeot,  but then who dares wins.

If you do not ask you will not know.

 

george

...Whatever you do don't go into a dealer and say you can spend £150 a month. They can make ANYTHING cost £150 a month...

If you tell any half decent salesman you have £150 to spend, he should get you to spend at least £170

A thousand pound Fabia will be a lot more than that once you find out why it was sold for £1000. Plus insurance can be quite a bit lower on new(ish) cars.

Well there are plenty around and why do you think they will have problems they should be no worse than most £1000 cars.

 

Insurance could be an issue but there are deals to be had if you shop around.

The Citigo is a good, fun car to drive with a small engine etc - worth looking into.

Try looking at the face lifted VW Polo as they're offering a years free insurance for over 25's.

I've just spoken to a driving school owner on OPs behalf. This is what he said...

Buy a cheap car specifically for her to learn to drive in and look at some thing else later. He said the best combined value (car/insurance/upkeep) are...

1. a used Ford Ka.

2. a used Corsa.

Both are easy to drive, park, three point turn, etc.

He also offered OP "Good Luck" as he thinks that teaching a 26yr old GF may be difficult.

Don't buy new as it will get damaged at some point and if you buy on PCP then it will have to be repaired before being returned to the dealer.

 

I learnt to drive in a 13 year old Mini, the car was dirt cheap and disposable if I crashed it. One thing a car on PCP or loan is, and that's not disposable and you stand to lose a hell of a lot of money if it goes wrong.

The thing is, I know the OP - well, I ought to really I expect, as he is my son!
 

Both my son and daughter had a new car right from the off - both learnt to control a car by practising in my own car on our long driveway at home long before they started lessons.  Because they had a little car that was brand new, black, shiny and trendy, they looked after it and were very careful with it so, as well as the "let 'em bash it about a bit" way of thinking,  there is a reverse logic too!

Getting something small, trendy and new on a PCP deal makes budgeting easier, is more reliable (and a 26 year old GF breaking down somewhere on her own is a nightmare scenario).

Think the VW Polo deal sounds good, although the Skoda Fabia with its Free Servicing offer is good too (and the Monte Carlo in Red has got to be a winner ASFAIAC!

There is a thread in the Insurance section where a members other half has got them self a Citigo,

they are the Registered Keeper & the Learner Driver and have got Insurance as a Learner & with a named driver for only £300.

 

I have no idea how much the Lease, HP, PCP or whatever you want to call buy on the drip costs,

but there is nothing wrong with getting a New car that way.

 

After all that is what Driving Schools do,

then they are the Used cars of the Near Future.

 

 Best Learn in your own new car, then keep driving it,

rather than the used one you buy that 25 people a week were learning in for the first 2 years of its life..

He also offered OP "Good Luck" as he thinks that teaching a 26yr old GF may be difficult.

I remember the arguments my Mum n Dad had when he was teaching her all those years ago. I've since taught various people, including my fiancee, and including a guy for his HGV, and I have a rule that they must agree to before I agree to take them out. The rule must be obeyed at all times . Failure to adhere to the rule results in me taking over the vehicle and never taking them out again. The rule is fairly simple, and boy does it save a lot of shouting. The rule is...

If I tell you to do something then you must do it - no arguments or refusals.. If you don't understand why I told you to do it, or you don't agree with what I told you to do, then (after you've done it) I'll explain it, at length if necessary, and while stopped in a lay-by if necessary. They have to remember you are the more experienced driver and have reasons why you instructed them to do it - it's what you would have done in that situation.

Another handy hint, once the person can drive and you've moved on to 3 point turns etc...take them to an empty flat wide industrial estate type road and get them to properly do a "cause the vehicle to face the opposite direction by the use of forward and reverse gears". They'll do it, but they'll be worried about it. Then take them somewhere narrow and on a slope and get them to do it again. They'll say "it'll take me about 11 points to get round", you say "it'd take me 11 too, but it's possible, so do it anyway, without rolling forward/back and without hitting the kerb". After they've done it take them back to your original wide location for a re-try, and marvel at how easy it is for them. Remind them that this wide flat bit of road is the kind of place an examiner would ask them to do it. They don't panic about it again. Do the same for all the difficult manoeuvres, make them do them on a steep hill or something so that it inspires their confidence to do it, after that it seems easy to do it on the flat.

I remember the arguments my Mum n Dad had when he was teaching her all those years ago. I've since taught various people, including my fiancee, and including a guy for his HGV, and I have a rule that they must agree to before I agree to take them out. The rule must be obeyed at all times . Failure to adhere to the rule results in me taking over the vehicle and never taking them out again. The rule is fairly simple, and boy does it save a lot of shouting. The rule is...

If I tell you to do something then you must do it - no arguments or refusals.. If you don't understand why I told you to do it, or you don't agree with what I told you to do, then (after you've done it) I'll explain it, at length if necessary, and while stopped in a lay-by if necessary. They have to remember you are the more experienced driver and have reasons why you instructed them to do it - it's what you would have done in that situation.

Another handy hint, once the person can drive and you've moved on to 3 point turns etc...take them to an empty flat wide industrial estate type road and get them to properly do a "cause the vehicle to face the opposite direction by the use of forward and reverse gears". They'll do it, but they'll be worried about it. Then take them somewhere narrow and on a slope and get them to do it again. They'll say "it'll take me about 11 points to get round", you say "it'd take me 11 too, but it's possible, so do it anyway, without rolling forward/back and without hitting the kerb". After they've done it take them back to your original wide location for a re-try, and marvel at how easy it is for them. Remind them that this wide flat bit of road is the kind of place an examiner would ask them to do it. They don't panic about it again. Do the same for all the difficult manoeuvres, make them do them on a steep hill or something so that it inspires their confidence to do it, after that it seems easy to do it on the flat.

 

My bike instructor did that, U-turns on a narrow horribly steep rutted cambered road. "If you can do it here you can do it anywhere". He was right.

Spend £500 of a banger to begin with. Two things are certain- she'll crash it or someone will crash into her. Get the confidence and NCD up and then look to spend a little more 

Spend £500 of a banger to begin with. Two things are certain- she'll crash it or someone will crash into her. Get the confidence and NCD up and then look to spend a little more

Correct.thats what my wife does

I buy her a £500 car then a year later we trade what's left of it in for another

Maximum depreciation £500

Oh,and joint breakdown cover for in case it breaks down

PMSL,

This thread seems to show where some of the supposed superior sex seem to think 26 year old women come in their driving estimation.

& not just teenage female drivers.

 

george

Being one of the "superior" sex, I don't like to admit it but the insurance company statistics tend to show that female drivers are less likely to have accidents.   The stereotype blonde may be scatty, she may get herself in the wrong lane at roundabouts but she will seldom try to ram someone out of the way, she won't deliberately break the speed limit (if she does, it's becaue she hasn't noticed rather than a deliberate act), she won't try to race someone off at the lights or deliberately pass through lights on the red.

Sorry guys - we just have to face facts!

True ish,  

but not sure that applies to many of the mostly blonde drivers of white BMW's ,

 but to think about it, they do it what ever sex they are.

+1 for the pocket money car first. Otherwise you will be faced with a big bill from the dealer when a new car gets damaged. Get that first prang out the way