My sister-in-law is looking for a car in which she can learn to drive. Her and her husband (SWMBO's brother) are mechanically useless and have one of those 8 person ugly Fiat things.

Criteria are:

Daewoo Matiz/Nubira fit this category I reckon?

Also older Micras too but mileage might be higher.

Perhaps even Hyundai Accents too?

Nissan Micra?

Seat Ibiza?

Fiesta

phase 1 Clio's are good for first time drivers!....1.4 RT after 95 'M' will have PAS, Elec Wndows, Remote Locking, Elec mirrors & a sunroof!

Chris:thumbup:

How will all these fare for reliability - neither of my Corsa's ever had problems.

Can't go wrong with old Micra's! Our family had a fleet of them and after 2 years and 100k miles, all of them were still running as sweetly as the day we bought them. That mileage also includes 2 learner drivers

Have had a couple of Corsa's and they did the job well enough, but we got rid of them before the mileage was over 50k so hard to comment....

Chris

My missus 99 Micra is a right little work horse. She has been all over the country in it and it has never let her down

Anything Japanese/Korean will STATISTICALLY be better than European cars.

French vehicles are STATISTICALLY very poor.

Whilst someone may have had good/bad individuals from each camp, you should really buy with the numbers on your side.

I put STATISTICALLY in caps so people don't jump in with 'My 106 is fine' or whatever.

Worth remembering that 47.6% of statistics are made up on the spot :P

Another vote for a nissan micra.

Easy to drive but still good fun and will be less likely to cause you any problems than something french.

The other option would be a Fiesta. You may get some problems with it but ford parts are dirt cheap and easy to find

but a major consideration for a first time driver has to be running costs i.e insurance etc & 'European' cars will be cheaper than their Japanese counterparts....thats not to say Micras/Starlets/Swifts etc arent good:thumbup:

Why not take the sister-in-law around a few used car lots & see which she likes/ feels comfortable in etc??

Chris

but a major consideration for a first time driver has to be running costs i.e insurance etc & 'European' cars will be cheaper than their Japanese counterparts....thats not to say Micras/Starlets/Swifts etc arent good:thumbup:

Micras start at group 2.

Micras start at group 2.

Plus you don't have to pay to have them repaired like the European cars

Chris

Bit bigger than a micra but bomb proof and perfect I would say: Nissan Almera

Usually come with all the toys, will never break and actually very good cars for the money. My mum has a 1.4. Its a twin cam 16valve with 90bhp and it can shift for the size of it. Looks a bit like a bread van but if they are thinking of corsas and polos then looks are not too high on the agenda

I know where thers a F reg Honda for about £300, a friends father has just passed away. Its done about 130000, Hes had it for years, silly thing is I cant remember the model. PM me if your interested & I willl find out more next week

Honda Civic. Plenty of 3-dr & 5-dr models around with under 60k on the clock within budget. Check out Autotrader. Engine-wise there is 1.4, 1.5 (VTEC), 1.6, 1.6 (VTEC) and 1.8 (VTEC).

i would have thought the obvious suggestion on here would be a 1.3 skoda felicia , must be plenty about in decent nick at that sort of price ..

Another vote for felicia - but get one with PAS - heavy otherwise.

Key model would be a 1.3 GLi with the 68bhp engine or a 1.3 Classic with ditto (Last Felicias were Poplar and Classic for some strange reason)

Failing that Micra is a good buy and the Ka (If you can get one)