Hi everyone, I'm new here but have spent some time reading through posts in this section today. My eldest daughter will be old enough to learn to drive in a few months so I have been researching the best first cars. We are already a two car family but neither is really suitable for a young driver and I'm not even sure I could get her added to the insurance as both our cars are quite high groups. Was looking at second hand initially, but with the 0% finance deals on offer the wife and I are thinking a new car may be a better idea. Daughter number 2 is a few years younger so if we buy new then whatever we get can be handed down further down the line. Important considerations are a low insurance group and safety.

 

The Citigo / Up / Mii are top of the list currently, though I have also been looking at Hyundai I10 and Fiat Panda. Of the three VAG brands the Citygo is my favourite but the wife likes the Mii. Skoda version seems to have a better spec for price than the Seat Mii and (being honest) I prefer the styling of both Mii and Citygo to the VW up.

 

First question I have is about availability, are these factory order only or is it possible to pick from "dealer stock"? If factory order then how long a wait is usual?

 

Second question is about insurance. I have put my daughters details (altering her age slightly to make it look like she is already 17) into one of the comparison websites and with myself and wife added as named drivers the insurance seems quite cheap. In fact it seems too cheap and I'm worried that it may be because of the provisional licence status. Can I expect the premiums to go up once she has passed test and is able to drive unaccompanied? 

 

Third question is about ownership / paperwork / finance. I want the car to be registered and insured in my daughters name but I don't want her on any finance documents. Is it possible for her to own the vehicle but for me to be responsible for the finance contract? Buying outright for cash is possible but to be honest if there is 0% on offer I would rather take that and keep my money in the bank, plus I'd lose out on three years servicing for £99 if I pay cash.

 

It seems from reading on here that most folk are happy with their citygo's. Are they a good bet for a youngster?

Yes, the price for insurance will rise significantly once she passes as she'll be out on the roads unsupervised.
Best do a fresh quote assuming she's passed.

 

Which specific model are you looking at? There are plenty of minor spec differences so you need to look very closely at exactly what you get on each of the three (though VW is always more expensive). There are some very good deals on nearly new Mii Toca which is a slightly above mid-spec version - a bit better than a Citigo SE.

 

Yes, it should be possible to have the finance in your name but your daughter's name on the V5 as the registered keeper.

You can speak to a dealer and see what they have in stock. Sometimes I think newer cars can be cheaper to insure as you are more likely to look after them, could be wrong.

I think the looks and 5* safety makes the citigo a good first car. If you can get one with the citysafe option then it might save her from a low speed bump.

Yes, the price for insurance will rise significantly once she passes as she'll be out on the roads unsupervised.

Best do a fresh quote assuming she's passed.

Which specific model are you looking at? There are plenty of minor spec differences so you need to look very closely at exactly what you get on each of the three (though VW is always more expensive). There are some very good deals on nearly new Mii Toca which is a slightly above mid-spec version - a bit better than a Citigo SE.

Yes, it should be possible to have the finance in your name but your daughter's name on the V5 as the registered keeper.

I was thinking of the elegance trim level. Another thing that struck me is the seat fabric looks nicer on the Skoda. Not keen on the deck chair seats on the Mii, though I have to say I have not looked at any in the flesh yet. There does seem to be a few pre-reg Mii Toca on autotrader, but I can't find any details of that model on the Seat website. I guess it is discontinued?

You can speak to a dealer and see what they have in stock. Sometimes I think newer cars can be cheaper to insure as you are more likely to look after them, could be wrong.

I think the looks and 5* safety makes the citigo a good first car. If you can get one with the citysafe option then it might save her from a low speed bump.

You might be right about the insurance.

I haven't been ticking the safety pack option when enquiring on carwow and drive the deal. We have something similar on the Leon, part of the adaptive cruise, to be honest it has engaged for no reason a couple of times and I think it might petrify a new driver. Worth considering though.

I was thinking of the elegance trim level. Another thing that struck me is the seat fabric looks nicer on the Skoda. Not keen on the deck chair seats on the Mii, though I have to say I have not looked at any in the flesh yet. There does seem to be a few pre-reg Mii Toca on autotrader, but I can't find any details of that model on the Seat website. I guess it is discontinued?

 

Yep, the Toca was replaced with the iTech - same spec but a slightly different coloured dash and seat fabric.

Comparing a Toca and Elegance, the Skoda has heated seats but the Seat has a better sounding stereo with front and rear speakers.

 

This one in Wrexham is worth a look - http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201410027876082/sort/mileage/radius/1501/channel/cars/model/mii/usedcars/keywords/toca/onesearchad/used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew/make/seat/postcode/b617bf/page/1?logcode=p

 

Only £7k for a 64 plate with 5 miles.

Hi everyone, I'm new here but have spent some time reading through posts in this section today. My eldest daughter will be old enough to learn to drive in a few months so I have been researching the best first cars. We are already a two car family but neither is really suitable for a young driver and I'm not even sure I could get her added to the insurance as both our cars are quite high groups. Was looking at second hand initially, but with the 0% finance deals on offer the wife and I are thinking a new car may be a better idea. Daughter number 2 is a few years younger so if we buy new then whatever we get can be handed down further down the line. Important considerations are a low insurance group and safety.

 

The Citigo / Up / Mii are top of the list currently, though I have also been looking at Hyundai I10 and Fiat Panda. Of the three VAG brands the Citygo is my favourite but the wife likes the Mii. Skoda version seems to have a better spec for price than the Seat Mii and (being honest) I prefer the styling of both Mii and Citygo to the VW up.

 

First question I have is about availability, are these factory order only or is it possible to pick from "dealer stock"? If factory order then how long a wait is usual?

 

Second question is about insurance. I have put my daughters details (altering her age slightly to make it look like she is already 17) into one of the comparison websites and with myself and wife added as named drivers the insurance seems quite cheap. In fact it seems too cheap and I'm worried that it may be because of the provisional licence status. Can I expect the premiums to go up once she has passed test and is able to drive unaccompanied? 

 

Third question is about ownership / paperwork / finance. I want the car to be registered and insured in my daughters name but I don't want her on any finance documents. Is it possible for her to own the vehicle but for me to be responsible for the finance contract? Buying outright for cash is possible but to be honest if there is 0% on offer I would rather take that and keep my money in the bank, plus I'd lose out on three years servicing for £99 if I pay cash.

 

It seems from reading on here that most folk are happy with their citygo's. Are they a good bet for a youngster?

 

My wait was 6 months. But I appear to have just hit it lucky. Citigo is a great first car, and you'll struggle to find a safer car to put someone in as a first car! I was 18 when I picked mine up; 19 now. It's served me well (although I'm soon swapping to the new Polo GTI). Despite a considerable upgrade, I'll still miss my Citigo. It's *that* good.

 

If she is made a main driver, then insurance will go up. Named driver less so. My insurance has dropped dramatically recently, with NCB, but at 18, my insurance as an 18 year old and 12,000 (fully comp, with a black box recorder) was £995 a year. It has now dropped by £400. They're cheap cars to insure, relatively, they're cheap to run (I've had up to 76.7mpg on my 1.0 60PS Greentech Elegance), and they're fun to drive. Plenty of spec to keep you happy behind the wheel.  

Yep, the Toca was replaced with the iTech - same spec but a slightly different coloured dash and seat fabric.

Comparing a Toca and Elegance, the Skoda has heated seats but the Seat has a better sounding stereo with front and rear speakers.

This one in Wrexham is worth a look - http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201410027876082/sort/mileage/radius/1501/channel/cars/model/mii/usedcars/keywords/toca/onesearchad/used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew/make/seat/postcode/b617bf/page/1?logcode=p

Only £7k for a 64 plate with 5 miles.

That does seem good value if the list price new is same as the i-tech. However, there are pros and cons buying pre-reg. Would prefer a 5 door, but will be flexible on that if price is right.

I'm still waiting for mine, but should have it soon, it will probably be 10-12 weeks from order, if I didn't mind about the colour and I didn't add any extras then I think it could have been weeks, just depending on whats available.

 

Yes you can have the finance in your name and the V5 in hers, I've managed to do this on a Toyota, i never meant to, it was just I was doing the dealing so to speak for my wifes car and all the finance paperwork was in my name.  Just stress it to the dealer and it should be fine.

 

Like you I prefer the Skoda, however also like you i'm not a 17 y/o girl,  your daughter may well prefer the Mii.

 

As has been said pretend she's passed her test and as you've done 'alter' her age to get a more accurate insurance price, the insurance companies seem very hot on fronting (insure in your name and add her as a named driver, when its her car), I really don't think its worth the risk nowadays.

Like you I prefer the Skoda, however also like you i'm not a 17 y/o girl, your daughter may well prefer the Mii.

As has been said pretend she's passed her test and as you've done 'alter' her age to get a more accurate insurance price, the insurance companies seem very hot on fronting (insure in your name and add her as a named driver, when its her car), I really don't think its worth the risk nowadays.

Heh, you may have a point that a 17 y/o might prefer a Mii but I'm paying so she'll get what she's given and be grateful [emoji2]

One of the reasons for getting a low group car is for her to start building her own NCB. Hopefully by the time she finishes uni and has to start paying for motoring expenses herself then the fact she has some insurance history should make things cheaper for her. I wouldn't dream of fronting as it defeats the object. Will get some insurance quotes pretending she's passed her test tomorrow. As a provisional licence holder with me and Mrs M named drivers its coming out at only £400. Seems too cheap to me.

I must have been lucky, I seem to recall waiting about a month for mine to be factory built (perhaps it was already in the process as I purchased and they specced up a "pre-made" model) insurance is going to be pricey but will drop considerable over the years, I think mine started out about £1000 per year and now after 2 years no claims I'm at about £400 or so per year but would have to look at my insurance document to be 100% sure, if you wanted to save a little bit more go for the Elegance model and save on your car tax as that's nil, with regards to safety I can vouch that if there is a need to stop suddenly the car will do it, I had to do an emergency brake from 60mph when I had my crash in the Citigo, I do not lie when the car came to a stop after about 3 - 4 seconds (I didn't slam anchors and keep foot to the brake, I let off after about 2 - 3 seconds and brought the car to a stop from there)

A Citigo for your daughter? Seems like a reasonable deal but I would have to see her first!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'll get my coat ...    

Brimma has just bought one for his daughter, he will probably be along shortly

A Citigo for your daughter? Seems like a reasonable deal but I would have to see her first!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'll get my coat ...    

Down boy!

I'm in a similar situation. My 17 year old lad has just passed his test and we had 2 cars that were not suitable for him (Octy vRS and automatic Kia Sorento) to learn to drive in.

 

We looked at the Citigo and the i10, and in the end went for an i10. Personally, my wife and i both thought the i10 a better car. I forget the exact details, but i think it has more airbags, and there's no exposed metal in the cabin - I felt that the citigo in comparison looked a little dated (the last time i saw exposed metal inside a car was in a Renault 5 we had). Anyway, car choice aside, here's a few things on insurance.

 

There are a number of learner driver policies available. one is wearemarmalade.com. They will insure the learner in-conjunction with the existing policy. You buy either 30/60/90 days and for me 90 days is about £185. The policy covers the learner only in a single car. That car must have another policy on it. However, if the learner crashes Marmalade pay out rather than your insurance. I used Adrian Flux to get similar cover for a similar price as Marmalade wouldn't cover the 1979 mini my son wanted to use. The ironic part is that the Marmalade policy would have covered my Octy vRS which i thought was far less suitable than the mini - go figure.....

 

Anyway, that might help relax the need for a car quickly if you could use one of the other cars until she passes.

 

It's difficult to work out exactly what the i10 is costing to insure for the year now my son has passed (one week ago). We swapped an existing policy on to the i10 about 6 months in - the refund we got suggested the total would have been about £260 for the year (without my son before he passed). Personally i think that was expensive, as we're both mid 40s and comparison web sites suggested we could get closer to £140 but we're stuck until the year is up.

 

subsequently adding my lad in upped the premium to what i estimate to be about £950/year (with a black box) or about another £250 without the box.

 

Regarding the owner/financier/main driver, Hyundia only wanted the registered keeper and financier to be the same (my wife) but the insurer seems happy (in web based quotes I've done) to have the policy holder and registered keeper as different people. They seem to be coming to terms with a parent owning a car for a offspring to insure

 

Hope some of the above is useful to you, and good luck to your daughter as she starts a new phase of her life

I'm in a similar situation. My 17 year old lad has just passed his test and we had 2 cars that were not suitable for him (Octy vRS and automatic Kia Sorento) to learn to drive in.

 

We looked at the Citigo and the i10, and in the end went for an i10. Personally, my wife and i both thought the i10 a better car. I forget the exact details, but i think it has more airbags, and there's no exposed metal in the cabin - I felt that the citigo in comparison looked a little dated (the last time i saw exposed metal inside a car was in a Renault 5 we had). Anyway, car choice aside, here's a few things on insurance.

 

There are a number of learner driver policies available. one is wearemarmalade.com. They will insure the learner in-conjunction with the existing policy. You buy either 30/60/90 days and for me 90 days is about £185. The policy covers the learner only in a single car. That car must have another policy on it. However, if the learner crashes Marmalade pay out rather than your insurance. I used Adrian Flux to get similar cover for a similar price as Marmalade wouldn't cover the 1979 mini my son wanted to use. The ironic part is that the Marmalade policy would have covered my Octy vRS which i thought was far less suitable than the mini - go figure.....

 

Anyway, that might help relax the need for a car quickly if you could use one of the other cars until she passes.

 

It's difficult to work out exactly what the i10 is costing to insure for the year now my son has passed (one week ago). We swapped an existing policy on to the i10 about 6 months in - the refund we got suggested the total would have been about £260 for the year (without my son before he passed). Personally i think that was expensive, as we're both mid 40s and comparison web sites suggested we could get closer to £140 but we're stuck until the year is up.

 

subsequently adding my lad in upped the premium to what i estimate to be about £950/year (with a black box) or about another £250 without the box.

 

Regarding the owner/financier/main driver, Hyundia only wanted the registered keeper and financier to be the same (my wife) but the insurer seems happy (in web based quotes I've done) to have the policy holder and registered keeper as different people. They seem to be coming to terms with a parent owning a car for a offspring to insure

 

Hope some of the above is useful to you, and good luck to your daughter as she starts a new phase of her life

 

Thanks for this, very useful. I just got a quote on wearemarmalade and it seems quite reasonable at £199 for 90 days. However it says on the quote page "This quotation covers all cars up to group 32 to a maximum value of £30,000" and unfortunately my Saab is a group 41 and the wifes Cupra is a 33. Good suggestion though.

 

Think I'm leaning towards a pre-reg small car like the one pointed to by Dr Z.

A Citigo for your daughter? Seems like a reasonable deal but I would have to see her first!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'll get my coat ...    

 

I was once offered a camel in exchange for the wife (on a holiday in Morocco). In hindsight it seemed like a good deal. I fear depreciation has set in over the subsequent 27 years and doubt I'd get as good an offer now.

 

FIrst options (New) I would be looking at:

 

- Citigo / Mii (If she really wanted an Up!, she would be paying the difference lol)
- i10

- MG3 (Dont laugh, its a very solid car with good reviews)

 

Personally, the Mii / Citigo are pretty much the same car so I would be having some "how badly do you want rid of that car" conversations with dealers (although there is not much markup in Citigos, so don't expect miracles). A bargain Up! may also be had if you strike it lucky.

Thanks for this, very useful. I just got a quote on wearemarmalade and it seems quite reasonable at £199 for 90 days. However it says on the quote page "This quotation covers all cars up to group 32 to a maximum value of £30,000" and unfortunately my Saab is a group 41 and the wifes Cupra is a 33. Good suggestion though.

 

Think I'm leaning towards a pre-reg small car like the one pointed to by Dr Z.

 

Oh thats a shame - we started with the thought of a pre-reg, and that certainly does look good value (and a nice colour too).

 

 

I was once offered a camel in exchange for the wife (on a holiday in Morocco). In hindsight it seemed like a good deal. I fear depreciation has set in over the subsequent 27 years and doubt I'd get as good an offer now.

 

 

Was she with you at the time? Did you haggle? How did that work out for you?

Was she with you at the time? Did you haggle? How did that work out for you?

 

Yes, she was with me at the time and it was a 50/50 decision. Think I probably made the right choice in not part-ex'ing, though I'm pretty sure the camel would have had lower running costs!

I got my citigo as my first car fresh off the test.   I also considered the i10, ford ka and a suzuki celerio.

 

Initially I intended to go second hand, but the 0%interest and running costs convinced me otherwise.

 

As a young person literally with a licence a few days old I found that I got a cracking insurance deal with the Citigo

 

Really pleased with my SE Citigo, easy to drive, comfortable and its fun.

 

I looked at 3 dealers, 2 had to order from factory and one had one in stock (though as I wanted greentech this made it a bit less common)  I got mine factory made, took about 2 months

Edited 14 April, 201511 yr by tiber

Yes, she was with me at the time and it was a 50/50 decision. Think I probably made the right choice in not part-ex'ing, though I'm pretty sure the camel would have had lower running costs!

 you're a brave man.....

I got a Black Edition on the 0% PCP deal in September, and insured it on a multi-car policy with Admiral. They said the best price with her as a provisional licence holder woul be to have it in her name with myself and the wife as named drivers, and she'd be able to build up her no claims

She passed her test recently (aged 21), and her renewal this year is a very reasonable £366 taking into account the multi-car discount and one year NCD

I'm 17 with a very fresh license, My insurance sky-rocketed after I passed my test, I got a 2012 SE as my first car and so far it has been great, the insurance is just under a grand with black box fitted, it is all dependent on what your personal preference is between the Seat mii and Skoda citigo

i remember when i passed my test, nobody would give me insurance in my own right because it was my 17th Birthday when i passed. the systems would not let them put me on own policy ....lol