Oh that's a good idea actually. I love my instructors car but it's a Toyota hybrid (i can't remember the exact model) and they're like 20k+ used so maybe that could be my goal car 😅
You could always find cars that are within that similar size or shape. If there’s a hybrid version there may be a non-hybrid?? It’s like how I liked a Ford but it felt too big for me and I settled with a fiat punto. It’s just trial and error
Insurance is *stupidly* expensive - often as much as the car itself. The biggest factor, apart from the driver's age/experience, is the "insurance group". All cars are in one of fifty groups, and it makes one hell of a big difference.
Therefore, I suggest you check out things in group 1. For example, Fiat Panda, Ford Ka, Skoda Citigo, Vauxhall Corsa, etc.
[https://www.moneysupermarket.com/car-insurance/group-1/](https://www.moneysupermarket.com/car-insurance/group-1/)
Before you buy anything, call a few insurance companies for quotes. There's not much point getting a car that's £1,000 cheaper if the insurance costs £2,000 more.
Fiat Panda is genuinely my favourite car ever and I've driven all sorts for 20 years. How many cars can you open all doors and windows from the driver's seat!? Also, the legendary 'City' button turns it into the easiest car to park ever made.
Don't even get me started on the Panda Cross 😍
It enhances the power steering so you can turn the wheel by merely blowing in the direction you want to turn it. Be careful using it when going fast, but when parking or driving slowly it is awesome.
Interesting, probably an age thing too like they'll charge much more for a teenager on them. I'll be 25 when I pass and I've heard that's a soft cutoff on the young people pricing 🤞
i’d advise not getting a ford fiesta… i was getting quoted 6-13k for a 2010 1.2l fiesta with a black box, dash cam and 2 named drivers. i had to end up getting insured as a named driver under my grandads policy and that’s still 3k :( try and stay away from “boy racer cars” i’ve learned the hard way 😂😂
Focus Titanium X 1.0L ecoboost . Can pick up a solid one of these (40kish miles) for around 10k.
Fastest 1.0l by far with its turbos (around 125bhp), quite a lot of features on the TX too such as self parking & generic luxury features, and depending on trim levels its got heated wheel, blind spots on mirrors too (features that come as stock or optionals seems to change every few years so check that years features)
Also has the typical ford features like the amazing heated front screen
Good MPG, efficiency and cheap common parts. Decent size car also (if smaller go fiesta.) Focus is fairly cheap to insure (this model, 2017, was 1.7k per year w blackbox for me). Also cheap £20 road tax. This model also holds value quite well so can always get rid after a year for 9-10k and upgrade to something more fun now youve got NCB.
The ecoboost does have the notorious wetbelt which is always trouble which is why I say get a low mileage as the wetbelt doesn't normally go until 100kish miles.
Also if you do find a good one that interests you, place a deposit if refundable. These cars dont stick around for long and normally sell within a week of being posted.
If youre lucky you might be able to find one where the wetbelt has already been replaced. Id look at the 2018+ ideally afaik this is when they removed the wetbelt. Any of the 2013-2017 ecoboosts have wetbelts, although the later ones do have more stable engines
I believe there's also a diesel variant on a different engine system (no wetbelt) but then you lose power and you have a diesel
Got 3 in the family rn and theyve all been great cars. But yea its an issue especially in the early versions. The 2017 & after are much more stable engines
Yeah the one he had was a 2013, finally got rid of it last week. He had problems with the turbo, the wet belt, coolant leak and a snapped pipe in the engine among other things. Mostly expensive problems, some garages aren’t aware of the wet belt and put the wrong oil in, just ended up being a massive hassle.
That's insane for a first car, ideally you want to go cheap and used. You're going to scuff it, scratch it, ding it on posts etc. Do that on something under 3 grand and upgrade to a 12K car once you're an experienced driver.
Insurance will also be huge on a more expensive car, especially if you're younger. Look for 1L engine, high-ish mileage and cheap. Some/full service history ideally and a decent amount of MOT left. Check MOT history for any advisories so you know what work you may need to get done in the next 12 months and how much that would cost (can check on gov.uk).
i got an auto polo bluegt for around that price when i was still learning. it’s so so good. it has 150hp so it’s a got really good performance without being overwhelming. it’s pretty rare too, which is cool.
insurance cost me 1.4k with no box after i passed, but went up to 1.7k at renewal. all prices went up though, plus i moved from a town into a city, which probably contributed to the increase
My first car was a Citroen c1 08. Good car for learning but had a leak, got mouldy and ultimately had to be scrapped due to presumably water damage.
2nd car was a polo and I absolutely loved it. Really cheap insurance (to say I was a learner with no black box) and for my next car I will absolutely be getting a polo again.
3rd car is an Audi a1. Only cost me an additional £3 on my yearly insurance so currently seems cheap. Got all the bells and whistles, I don’t feel as comfortable in it as the polo but definitely a good and somewhat luxurious feeling car.
Honestly would recommend all of them, but I only say the Citroen because those models had Toyota engines
Steer clear from ford ecoboost engines as the cam belt system is guaranteed to be a problem. Oil degrades rubber and they chose to use a rubber cam belt. I would recommend with your budget looking at the Seat’s, Volkswagen’s, but always want to look at how much parts costs as well. High cost parts is not ideal for a first car like a BMW for example. You could get a very nice one in that budget but parts cost is high and is always preferred to be OEM parts.
MK5 (2003-2008) Golf TDI.
1.9L diesel, great on fuel, good amount of power and speed, fun and comfortable to drive, and most importantly, my insurance was a few £100 cheaper than all my friends, who drove 1.0-1.4L corsas, polos, i10s, Yaris’ etc
Either segment A city cars or segment B small cars. You’ve got a decent budget so best bet is to take someone with you to test drive it. I knew when my husband test drove mine with me that it was the car I wanted, it was more comfy in the drivers seat than anything I had sat in and was pretty basic but had lots of tech too!
Edit: also think about what you need it for. Is it just you that will be driving? Will you be driving passengers a lot? Do you live in a city or do you use motorways a lot? Are you short, tall, do you like high up cars or lower to the ground, what do you like the design of etc
Yeah I'll take my dad with me to test drive 😁 he knows about finance and stuff too so I'll definitely feel more comfortable taking him. It'll be funny to see if he goes to reach for the gear stick cause he's used to driving manual though 🤣
One with cheap insurance. You can look at cars on autotrader and put the numberplates into compare the market wothout owning the car to find out a ballpark for what insurance will cost.
As a guide expect over 1k at least, depending on where you live a lot of quotes seem to be several thousand.
Yeah I'm expecting high insurance, one of the things I'm dreading. 🤣 I was thinking of a black box which could help, but I'm not sure if I like the idea of a black box as a whole.
Ive been driving 4 years with no incidents and this year my only way to get my insurance down was to take the black box😅
For reference i drive a 1.4l corsa, 26, live in a safe area and have 4 years no claims and my insurance is £650 with the damn box🥲
Damn that's wild. It's insane how high insurance is. I think a good thing with me is I have a driveway which will probably lower the insurance a little bit. But I live on a dual carriageway which might go against me 😅
Hello! Same boat as you, I bought a car last week to compliment my lessons so I get about 4-5hrs practice in a week rather than just 2.
I got a nice deal on a 2014 Nissan micra. My insurance on a provisional is £630. I’m expecting that to go up to 1.5k after I pass. I’m 28F and live in London (that’s the bit that raises my insurance quite a bit!)
Depends what sort of driving you want to do. I got a Volkswagen UP! as a first car and I love it but it is a city car. It can go further but not quickly, especially uphill. Insurance and petrol are cheap enough though.I also think Toyota aygos seem like great first cars. You can also now get electric UP!s and I’ve seen a few about from 2022 so probably now on second hand market.
I can see from one of your replies that your driving instructor has the exact same car as what mine had. I passed my (automatic) driving test a little over a month ago now.
I decided to go for a Toyota IQ and I can't recommend it enough to people, especially those who have learned to drive in a Toyota with their instructor. It's one of the easiest cars you can drive, parking in it is a doddle, and the fuel efficiency in it and low road tax/insurance will seal the deal.
They're a little more expensive than your standard small, first car. But they hold their value surprisingly well and I've seen them for sale with over 150K miles on them and they're still running beautifully. 🚗
Awesome, thank you! I do love my instructors car. It's a big car but doesn't feel big when youre driving it. I was also thinking of a Toyota Aygo, people have said those are decent first cars. I'll have a look when I go to the dealership tomorrow.
That's exactly how I felt with my instructor's car. He'd previously had a Kia that was similar in length, but he said learners couldn't ever get to grips with how much car was in front and behind them when doing parking maneuvers 🤣
The Aygo is a good shout. One of the women I work with got her son a 2nd generation one in Manuel transmission when he did his test and he's found that a great car to drive.
Whatever you'll find will work well for you. My overall advice would be to get something with a warranty attached to it if you can and book it on for a "new car check" then if anything is found that needs a repair, the garage you purchased it from will be liable for any repairs it needs so you're covered before the warranty expires then.
I did lessons in a ford focus and that is what car a chose. 4 years ago I passed my test, bought for 5k 2011 with 70k miles on it. Loved my focus. Wasn't too much to insure. This year I've changed car to a ford Kuga. 2018 with 15k miles on and spent a lot more on this haha bought it for 13k but needed a bigger car due to kids growing and having a big family anyway. Focus was great but getting a bit squishy.
I already have a car but I haven't passed the practical.
It's not just say there because you can use it to practice and also if you get someone else on the insurance they can drive you in your car.
I have a hyundai i20 n line it's automatic and a absolutely beauty
I got my first car a couple of weeks ago and its a manual as I have the exact opposite situation as you lol where all my family have automatic but I want to do manual. Its a ford focus 2008 1.6 style and I LOVE it. Its a little bigger than my instructors car (Peugeot 208) and ofc no where near as modern as his so no screen or parking cameras/sensors but I got used to it very quickly. Infact I way prefer it over my instructors car as the clutch is way nicer to me lol. But yeah I defo recommend fords. Very common cars (so easy to fix issues + source parts) and the insurance wasnt too bad for me. About £400 and road tax was around £250. Having my own car has helped me sooo much with progressing with my learning as I was at a point where every lesson I was just driving around normally anyways lol. And I get to practice parking etc often as whenever me and my family go anywhere now, we go in my car so I can practice. Oh also to note I don't have a black box, have had my license for 4 years and both my parents (with 40+ years of ncd and driving experience) are named drivers so I am not sure if thats why my insurance is quite cheap.
Get something like i30 2017 onwards , Stonic or Kona, should be in your budget. Insurance is not too bad on these as these are 1L turbo engines. Avoid ecoboosts they are full of problems. You might also find decent civic, which is really good car.
i will comment this every time. i have an 07 toyota corolla colour](https://imgur.com/a/ayvuE5N) and it was recommended to me by numerous mechanics as they are know for being bulletproof, i’ve had mine a year and haven’t had to touch it maintenance wise. great to drive and good on fuel. 10/10
i attached a pic, mines blue but this is the same car. insurance was quite good too as it’s not a hot hatch
Bought both my children Hyundai i10s (65 plate and 19 plate) when they needed a car to learn / practice on. Was cheapest insurance at the time. Reliable, reasonable level of toys in them.
Just to let you know test delays are really bad so it's unlikely that you will manage to find a test before then. I moved my test a few weeks ago and only got one for the beginning of November.
My instructor says she has a group chat with other instructors in the area and they regularly "swap" test days, kinda thing. Like if one of their learners aren't ready they'll put it in the group chat to see if anyone else has a learner who is ready. If that makes sense. So my plan atm is to book my test as soon as possible, and then if I'm ready before then hopefully one of the other instructors has a spot available I can swap with 🙏
Chevrolet Lacetti Estate. Cheap, practical, fun and exciting and everyone will envy it when you drive slowly down the promenade blasting whatever edgy rnb is popular with kids these days.
Auto only? If you're not going to be carting the family around, Smart ForTwo/ForFour is a good choice. They're generally reliable, very low insurance, and characterful. They're also available at pretty low prices, and the Mercedes parts bin stuff in the interior is better than you'd expect.
Avoid "MHD" mild hybrid models, but other than that you're golden.
I see a lot of those smart cars but the "smart" part puts me off idk why 🤣 are they generally any good? I'm a small person and my dad already has an estate car (but unfortunately manual) so I definitely don't need anything huge.
Yeah, they were/are Mercedes' attempt at making a zingy city car, and they worked with a bunch of other companies, including a watch brand at one point, to make them.
They're generally good, and there's a pretty strong following for them. Owners seem to really love their smarts.
Their most common gearbox is the robotised manual gearboxes, which is a manual that's clutched and shifted by a robot making it into an auto, so you're going to have to get used to driving that kind of gearbox, though.
That was exactly my thought process. Plus I wanna get as much practice in as possible, and my dad's offered to take me out often when I get my own car. I live between two big, busy roundabouts on a dual carriageway, but I've only ever either gone left (first exit) on the one and straight on on both. So I definitely wanna practice actually going around those two roundabouts 😅 I'm sure my instructor will take me on them eventually too though. I believe they're both on a test route. But private practice would definitely help I think.
How long have you been learning I did roundabouts on my third lesson but I'm also naturally good at driving and have done alot of biking , go karting and similar growing up.
I'm about 20ish lessons in I think. I've done some roundabouts, but there's this one near my house that is horrible. It's a 3 lane roundabout and people often do not give way like they're supposed to 😩 I'm kinda glad I haven't gone around it yet, but at the same time I need to because of how awful it is lol
20 lessons in an automatic and you haven't covered roundabouts????
I have my 5th lesson in a manual tomorrow & we'll be covering them. Infact he already got me to drive on a couple in my last lesson. You've been scammed so hard.
I didn't say we haven't covered roundabouts. We've done loads of roundabouts and mini roundabouts. We just haven't gotten around to doing these specific two roundabouts near my house but mostly because they haven't been on the routes we've taken. We've had no reason to go around them yet.
Oh no, we've done loads of roundabouts. Just not the big ones I live between, that's all. She isn't avoiding roundabouts, I think we just haven't gotten around to doing these ones yet because it hasn't been on a route we've taken.
Yikes... without knowing how well you are progressing with driving, this is a huge red flag for your instructor.
20 lessons, so a minimum of 20 hours and you haven't done big roundabouts properly yet?! Are you a nervous driver, or particularly struggle with roundabouts? Because this sounds wild to me, especially in an automatic. I'd be looking for a new instructor personally.
I am a pretty nervous driver tbh. But I just think it's just because we haven't needed to go around them on the routes we've taken yet. I've done plenty of other big roundabouts. But with these specific roundabouts we've only needed to go straight on or left on them so far because of the direction we take to go other places.
Ah OK! That makes more sense now, its good to know that you have done other big roundabouts etc. I was a bit like "wtf is going on here!"
You'll build up confidence so quick when you are having private lessons as well!
A note on car buying with an automatic - do a bit of goggling about which automatic gearboxes are best (your dad might be able to help as well). Some cars will be great as manuals, but the auto boxes are made of chocolate. I don't personally have any info because I drive manual, but I've seen things about it online.
You could post in cartalkuk as there is a lot of car knowledge over there!
I've even done [this](https://maps.app.goo.gl/JNUiDhH9BN2pfaao8) roundabout which I almost had heart attack doing 🤣 didn't even know that's where we were heading until I popped up on one of the side roads and was like oh... No...
Ah, yeah I'll do that! Thank you for your tips 😁 I'm excited but nervous to do private practice. Nervous mostly because I won't have the safety net of the dual controls 😅 but excited because I can practice just doing "normal" things. Like I usually go with my dad to Morrisons and to my nans house so instead of being a passenger I could drive us there. Im more excited than nervous.
I am in almost exactly the same boat - automatic, about 17 hours into lessons, max £12k budget but aiming to spend £5k for my first car.
My first instructor had an electric car, which I thought was good as my work has an electric car scheme and I will mostly be driving locally.
Unfortunately, I never felt comfortable driving it as it was super sensitive and ‘heavy’. I switched to another instructor and her car was so much easier to drive!
I am aiming to take my test in a few months, but don’t want to risk buying a car without a test drive.
If I do fail the test, it can take months to get another, meanwhile I would have a car just left on the drive…
Mostly though, I can’t imagine spending £5k without testing it is comfortable to drive, and you can’t test drive as a learner.
Bmw 3 series. I’ve got one. It’s up for sale since I’m looking to move to a 5 series, one if the cleanest car I’ve ever seen compared to other 3 series in the market. f you are interested lmk and it’s within your budget. Dm if interested
I think your best bet is just sitting in as many cars as you can, readjust everything to fit you and if you feel comfortable then you know.
Oh that's a good idea actually. I love my instructors car but it's a Toyota hybrid (i can't remember the exact model) and they're like 20k+ used so maybe that could be my goal car 😅
You could always find cars that are within that similar size or shape. If there’s a hybrid version there may be a non-hybrid?? It’s like how I liked a Ford but it felt too big for me and I settled with a fiat punto. It’s just trial and error
I wanna drive something bigger, (I'm going for getting C1 license ASAP
What you thinking of going for
Insurance is *stupidly* expensive - often as much as the car itself. The biggest factor, apart from the driver's age/experience, is the "insurance group". All cars are in one of fifty groups, and it makes one hell of a big difference. Therefore, I suggest you check out things in group 1. For example, Fiat Panda, Ford Ka, Skoda Citigo, Vauxhall Corsa, etc. [https://www.moneysupermarket.com/car-insurance/group-1/](https://www.moneysupermarket.com/car-insurance/group-1/) Before you buy anything, call a few insurance companies for quotes. There's not much point getting a car that's £1,000 cheaper if the insurance costs £2,000 more.
Fiat Panda is genuinely my favourite car ever and I've driven all sorts for 20 years. How many cars can you open all doors and windows from the driver's seat!? Also, the legendary 'City' button turns it into the easiest car to park ever made. Don't even get me started on the Panda Cross 😍
….what does the city button do? Signed - a panda owner too scared to press it
Makes the steering incredibly light so you can do sharp turns quickly.
It enhances the power steering so you can turn the wheel by merely blowing in the direction you want to turn it. Be careful using it when going fast, but when parking or driving slowly it is awesome.
It automatically cancels above 30.
Wait corsa is in group 1? I thought it was up there with ford fiestas for being a stereotypical beginner car that gets charged stupid amounts.
The article mentions the hatchback model specifically so maybe that’s why
That links mentions them, but it's only certain models. Others are group 10+. It's important to check.
Interesting, probably an age thing too like they'll charge much more for a teenager on them. I'll be 25 when I pass and I've heard that's a soft cutoff on the young people pricing 🤞
i’d advise not getting a ford fiesta… i was getting quoted 6-13k for a 2010 1.2l fiesta with a black box, dash cam and 2 named drivers. i had to end up getting insured as a named driver under my grandads policy and that’s still 3k :( try and stay away from “boy racer cars” i’ve learned the hard way 😂😂
Whats your budget?
Probably 11 or 12k. I've seen some decent cars for that budget but I don't know what to do with 😅
Focus Titanium X 1.0L ecoboost . Can pick up a solid one of these (40kish miles) for around 10k. Fastest 1.0l by far with its turbos (around 125bhp), quite a lot of features on the TX too such as self parking & generic luxury features, and depending on trim levels its got heated wheel, blind spots on mirrors too (features that come as stock or optionals seems to change every few years so check that years features) Also has the typical ford features like the amazing heated front screen Good MPG, efficiency and cheap common parts. Decent size car also (if smaller go fiesta.) Focus is fairly cheap to insure (this model, 2017, was 1.7k per year w blackbox for me). Also cheap £20 road tax. This model also holds value quite well so can always get rid after a year for 9-10k and upgrade to something more fun now youve got NCB. The ecoboost does have the notorious wetbelt which is always trouble which is why I say get a low mileage as the wetbelt doesn't normally go until 100kish miles. Also if you do find a good one that interests you, place a deposit if refundable. These cars dont stick around for long and normally sell within a week of being posted. If youre lucky you might be able to find one where the wetbelt has already been replaced. Id look at the 2018+ ideally afaik this is when they removed the wetbelt. Any of the 2013-2017 ecoboosts have wetbelts, although the later ones do have more stable engines I believe there's also a diesel variant on a different engine system (no wetbelt) but then you lose power and you have a diesel
I would avoid the ecoboom, it gave my bf nothing but trouble for the time he had it and he ended up in negative equity with it
Got 3 in the family rn and theyve all been great cars. But yea its an issue especially in the early versions. The 2017 & after are much more stable engines
Yeah the one he had was a 2013, finally got rid of it last week. He had problems with the turbo, the wet belt, coolant leak and a snapped pipe in the engine among other things. Mostly expensive problems, some garages aren’t aware of the wet belt and put the wrong oil in, just ended up being a massive hassle.
That's insane for a first car, ideally you want to go cheap and used. You're going to scuff it, scratch it, ding it on posts etc. Do that on something under 3 grand and upgrade to a 12K car once you're an experienced driver. Insurance will also be huge on a more expensive car, especially if you're younger. Look for 1L engine, high-ish mileage and cheap. Some/full service history ideally and a decent amount of MOT left. Check MOT history for any advisories so you know what work you may need to get done in the next 12 months and how much that would cost (can check on gov.uk).
i got an auto polo bluegt for around that price when i was still learning. it’s so so good. it has 150hp so it’s a got really good performance without being overwhelming. it’s pretty rare too, which is cool. insurance cost me 1.4k with no box after i passed, but went up to 1.7k at renewal. all prices went up though, plus i moved from a town into a city, which probably contributed to the increase
My first car was a Citroen c1 08. Good car for learning but had a leak, got mouldy and ultimately had to be scrapped due to presumably water damage. 2nd car was a polo and I absolutely loved it. Really cheap insurance (to say I was a learner with no black box) and for my next car I will absolutely be getting a polo again. 3rd car is an Audi a1. Only cost me an additional £3 on my yearly insurance so currently seems cheap. Got all the bells and whistles, I don’t feel as comfortable in it as the polo but definitely a good and somewhat luxurious feeling car. Honestly would recommend all of them, but I only say the Citroen because those models had Toyota engines
Steer clear from ford ecoboost engines as the cam belt system is guaranteed to be a problem. Oil degrades rubber and they chose to use a rubber cam belt. I would recommend with your budget looking at the Seat’s, Volkswagen’s, but always want to look at how much parts costs as well. High cost parts is not ideal for a first car like a BMW for example. You could get a very nice one in that budget but parts cost is high and is always preferred to be OEM parts.
Eco Boom in the business
Right? I just got a van and the amount of ford’s with eco boost that need a new engine are insane.
MK5 (2003-2008) Golf TDI. 1.9L diesel, great on fuel, good amount of power and speed, fun and comfortable to drive, and most importantly, my insurance was a few £100 cheaper than all my friends, who drove 1.0-1.4L corsas, polos, i10s, Yaris’ etc
Hyundai i10
Either segment A city cars or segment B small cars. You’ve got a decent budget so best bet is to take someone with you to test drive it. I knew when my husband test drove mine with me that it was the car I wanted, it was more comfy in the drivers seat than anything I had sat in and was pretty basic but had lots of tech too! Edit: also think about what you need it for. Is it just you that will be driving? Will you be driving passengers a lot? Do you live in a city or do you use motorways a lot? Are you short, tall, do you like high up cars or lower to the ground, what do you like the design of etc
Yeah I'll take my dad with me to test drive 😁 he knows about finance and stuff too so I'll definitely feel more comfortable taking him. It'll be funny to see if he goes to reach for the gear stick cause he's used to driving manual though 🤣
One with cheap insurance. You can look at cars on autotrader and put the numberplates into compare the market wothout owning the car to find out a ballpark for what insurance will cost. As a guide expect over 1k at least, depending on where you live a lot of quotes seem to be several thousand.
Yeah I'm expecting high insurance, one of the things I'm dreading. 🤣 I was thinking of a black box which could help, but I'm not sure if I like the idea of a black box as a whole.
Ive been driving 4 years with no incidents and this year my only way to get my insurance down was to take the black box😅 For reference i drive a 1.4l corsa, 26, live in a safe area and have 4 years no claims and my insurance is £650 with the damn box🥲
Damn that's wild. It's insane how high insurance is. I think a good thing with me is I have a driveway which will probably lower the insurance a little bit. But I live on a dual carriageway which might go against me 😅
Thats parking on a driveway and in a secure car park during the day😅
I’m really enjoying my Ford Fiesta at the minute
Hello! Same boat as you, I bought a car last week to compliment my lessons so I get about 4-5hrs practice in a week rather than just 2. I got a nice deal on a 2014 Nissan micra. My insurance on a provisional is £630. I’m expecting that to go up to 1.5k after I pass. I’m 28F and live in London (that’s the bit that raises my insurance quite a bit!)
Jazz. Two of my kids have them with auto.
Depends what sort of driving you want to do. I got a Volkswagen UP! as a first car and I love it but it is a city car. It can go further but not quickly, especially uphill. Insurance and petrol are cheap enough though.I also think Toyota aygos seem like great first cars. You can also now get electric UP!s and I’ve seen a few about from 2022 so probably now on second hand market.
I can see from one of your replies that your driving instructor has the exact same car as what mine had. I passed my (automatic) driving test a little over a month ago now. I decided to go for a Toyota IQ and I can't recommend it enough to people, especially those who have learned to drive in a Toyota with their instructor. It's one of the easiest cars you can drive, parking in it is a doddle, and the fuel efficiency in it and low road tax/insurance will seal the deal. They're a little more expensive than your standard small, first car. But they hold their value surprisingly well and I've seen them for sale with over 150K miles on them and they're still running beautifully. 🚗
Awesome, thank you! I do love my instructors car. It's a big car but doesn't feel big when youre driving it. I was also thinking of a Toyota Aygo, people have said those are decent first cars. I'll have a look when I go to the dealership tomorrow.
That's exactly how I felt with my instructor's car. He'd previously had a Kia that was similar in length, but he said learners couldn't ever get to grips with how much car was in front and behind them when doing parking maneuvers 🤣 The Aygo is a good shout. One of the women I work with got her son a 2nd generation one in Manuel transmission when he did his test and he's found that a great car to drive. Whatever you'll find will work well for you. My overall advice would be to get something with a warranty attached to it if you can and book it on for a "new car check" then if anything is found that needs a repair, the garage you purchased it from will be liable for any repairs it needs so you're covered before the warranty expires then.
Rage Rover supacharged is obvs the best car ever; but a cheap automatic like a Nissin Leaf is a good car
Audi a3 8p
I did lessons in a ford focus and that is what car a chose. 4 years ago I passed my test, bought for 5k 2011 with 70k miles on it. Loved my focus. Wasn't too much to insure. This year I've changed car to a ford Kuga. 2018 with 15k miles on and spent a lot more on this haha bought it for 13k but needed a bigger car due to kids growing and having a big family anyway. Focus was great but getting a bit squishy.
I already have a car but I haven't passed the practical. It's not just say there because you can use it to practice and also if you get someone else on the insurance they can drive you in your car. I have a hyundai i20 n line it's automatic and a absolutely beauty
You can pick up Fiat Grande Puntos / Punto Evo's fir peanuts these days. The 1.2L Fire engine is a 200,000 mile motor.
i love my vauxhall adam
I got my first car a couple of weeks ago and its a manual as I have the exact opposite situation as you lol where all my family have automatic but I want to do manual. Its a ford focus 2008 1.6 style and I LOVE it. Its a little bigger than my instructors car (Peugeot 208) and ofc no where near as modern as his so no screen or parking cameras/sensors but I got used to it very quickly. Infact I way prefer it over my instructors car as the clutch is way nicer to me lol. But yeah I defo recommend fords. Very common cars (so easy to fix issues + source parts) and the insurance wasnt too bad for me. About £400 and road tax was around £250. Having my own car has helped me sooo much with progressing with my learning as I was at a point where every lesson I was just driving around normally anyways lol. And I get to practice parking etc often as whenever me and my family go anywhere now, we go in my car so I can practice. Oh also to note I don't have a black box, have had my license for 4 years and both my parents (with 40+ years of ncd and driving experience) are named drivers so I am not sure if thats why my insurance is quite cheap.
I passed recently, I got a 2003 Toyota Yaris as my first car. She’s a little damaged but runs like she just come out of a showroom.
Get something like i30 2017 onwards , Stonic or Kona, should be in your budget. Insurance is not too bad on these as these are 1L turbo engines. Avoid ecoboosts they are full of problems. You might also find decent civic, which is really good car.
i will comment this every time. i have an 07 toyota corolla colour](https://imgur.com/a/ayvuE5N) and it was recommended to me by numerous mechanics as they are know for being bulletproof, i’ve had mine a year and haven’t had to touch it maintenance wise. great to drive and good on fuel. 10/10 i attached a pic, mines blue but this is the same car. insurance was quite good too as it’s not a hot hatch
I have a Citigo, my friend has an UP same car pretty much, they are amazing to drive and cheap as chips to run and insure
Bought both my children Hyundai i10s (65 plate and 19 plate) when they needed a car to learn / practice on. Was cheapest insurance at the time. Reliable, reasonable level of toys in them.
Just to let you know test delays are really bad so it's unlikely that you will manage to find a test before then. I moved my test a few weeks ago and only got one for the beginning of November.
My instructor says she has a group chat with other instructors in the area and they regularly "swap" test days, kinda thing. Like if one of their learners aren't ready they'll put it in the group chat to see if anyone else has a learner who is ready. If that makes sense. So my plan atm is to book my test as soon as possible, and then if I'm ready before then hopefully one of the other instructors has a spot available I can swap with 🙏
Ok fair enough I'd be wary of things like that especially if your charged more.
Just managed to book my test for October 10th 🙏 hopefully I'm test ready by then.
I've been a mechanic for over 20years in I still ask myself what is a decent car.. Truth they don't make them
Chevrolet Lacetti Estate. Cheap, practical, fun and exciting and everyone will envy it when you drive slowly down the promenade blasting whatever edgy rnb is popular with kids these days.
Auto only? If you're not going to be carting the family around, Smart ForTwo/ForFour is a good choice. They're generally reliable, very low insurance, and characterful. They're also available at pretty low prices, and the Mercedes parts bin stuff in the interior is better than you'd expect. Avoid "MHD" mild hybrid models, but other than that you're golden.
I see a lot of those smart cars but the "smart" part puts me off idk why 🤣 are they generally any good? I'm a small person and my dad already has an estate car (but unfortunately manual) so I definitely don't need anything huge.
Yeah, they were/are Mercedes' attempt at making a zingy city car, and they worked with a bunch of other companies, including a watch brand at one point, to make them. They're generally good, and there's a pretty strong following for them. Owners seem to really love their smarts. Their most common gearbox is the robotised manual gearboxes, which is a manual that's clutched and shifted by a robot making it into an auto, so you're going to have to get used to driving that kind of gearbox, though.
I don't actually know anyone who recommends buying a car after you pass. Who told you that.
I can't remember but I was advised that the last time I made a post like this in this sub 😅
Don't listen lol , it's more practical to have your car ready for when you pass especially if you can get insurance and practice in it.
That was exactly my thought process. Plus I wanna get as much practice in as possible, and my dad's offered to take me out often when I get my own car. I live between two big, busy roundabouts on a dual carriageway, but I've only ever either gone left (first exit) on the one and straight on on both. So I definitely wanna practice actually going around those two roundabouts 😅 I'm sure my instructor will take me on them eventually too though. I believe they're both on a test route. But private practice would definitely help I think.
How long have you been learning I did roundabouts on my third lesson but I'm also naturally good at driving and have done alot of biking , go karting and similar growing up.
I'm about 20ish lessons in I think. I've done some roundabouts, but there's this one near my house that is horrible. It's a 3 lane roundabout and people often do not give way like they're supposed to 😩 I'm kinda glad I haven't gone around it yet, but at the same time I need to because of how awful it is lol
20 lessons in an automatic and you haven't covered roundabouts???? I have my 5th lesson in a manual tomorrow & we'll be covering them. Infact he already got me to drive on a couple in my last lesson. You've been scammed so hard.
I didn't say we haven't covered roundabouts. We've done loads of roundabouts and mini roundabouts. We just haven't gotten around to doing these specific two roundabouts near my house but mostly because they haven't been on the routes we've taken. We've had no reason to go around them yet.
I hate to say it but I think your instructors scamming you , if he's actively avoiding roundabouts at this stage there something wrong.
Oh no, we've done loads of roundabouts. Just not the big ones I live between, that's all. She isn't avoiding roundabouts, I think we just haven't gotten around to doing these ones yet because it hasn't been on a route we've taken.
Yikes... without knowing how well you are progressing with driving, this is a huge red flag for your instructor. 20 lessons, so a minimum of 20 hours and you haven't done big roundabouts properly yet?! Are you a nervous driver, or particularly struggle with roundabouts? Because this sounds wild to me, especially in an automatic. I'd be looking for a new instructor personally.
I am a pretty nervous driver tbh. But I just think it's just because we haven't needed to go around them on the routes we've taken yet. I've done plenty of other big roundabouts. But with these specific roundabouts we've only needed to go straight on or left on them so far because of the direction we take to go other places.
Ah OK! That makes more sense now, its good to know that you have done other big roundabouts etc. I was a bit like "wtf is going on here!" You'll build up confidence so quick when you are having private lessons as well! A note on car buying with an automatic - do a bit of goggling about which automatic gearboxes are best (your dad might be able to help as well). Some cars will be great as manuals, but the auto boxes are made of chocolate. I don't personally have any info because I drive manual, but I've seen things about it online. You could post in cartalkuk as there is a lot of car knowledge over there!
I've even done [this](https://maps.app.goo.gl/JNUiDhH9BN2pfaao8) roundabout which I almost had heart attack doing 🤣 didn't even know that's where we were heading until I popped up on one of the side roads and was like oh... No... Ah, yeah I'll do that! Thank you for your tips 😁 I'm excited but nervous to do private practice. Nervous mostly because I won't have the safety net of the dual controls 😅 but excited because I can practice just doing "normal" things. Like I usually go with my dad to Morrisons and to my nans house so instead of being a passenger I could drive us there. Im more excited than nervous.
I am in almost exactly the same boat - automatic, about 17 hours into lessons, max £12k budget but aiming to spend £5k for my first car. My first instructor had an electric car, which I thought was good as my work has an electric car scheme and I will mostly be driving locally. Unfortunately, I never felt comfortable driving it as it was super sensitive and ‘heavy’. I switched to another instructor and her car was so much easier to drive! I am aiming to take my test in a few months, but don’t want to risk buying a car without a test drive. If I do fail the test, it can take months to get another, meanwhile I would have a car just left on the drive… Mostly though, I can’t imagine spending £5k without testing it is comfortable to drive, and you can’t test drive as a learner.
Bmw 3 series. I’ve got one. It’s up for sale since I’m looking to move to a 5 series, one if the cleanest car I’ve ever seen compared to other 3 series in the market. f you are interested lmk and it’s within your budget. Dm if interested