best cars for first time driver

Craigels

Looking for a good reliable first car for learner driver that wouldnt be big on insurance.

Thanks for your replies in advance.

kilianmanning

Renault clio, nissan micra, fiat punto, vw polo, anything with a small petrol engine

Jimbob 83

Golf GT Tdi

Kristopherus

Or any post '07 Fiesta. Not a bad little car at all.

Alanstrainor

Late 90's micra. Bullet proof, cheap to buy and cheap to tax, insure and run.

Notch000

+1 for micra

spank_inferno

any relatively modern small engined petrol car.

They have a nice light clutch so finding the ol 'biting point' is easy to learn.

I learned on a Punto & a corsa which were very easy to learn.

ciotog

I realise ridicule may ensue here I mentioned in another thread that I'm probably going to give in and get a license (I'm 35, never needed to drive) so looking at options similar to the OP. A late 90's Micra has been mentioned, from google a few minutes ago that would be a second generation K11/K11c? The third generation seems to be available second-hand for not a lot of money, are there issues that put people off them?

Now for the bit that will have the petrol-heads rolling around laughing. I had a quick look for aftermarket towbars for the Micra, they seem to exist and be straightfoward to fit. I'm primarily a cyclist and may have reason to want to bring bikes with me. A towbar supported bike rack would be handy but I'm wondering if that would be a pointless exercise with a Micra.

miller50841

Stay away from the 03 new model micra they are all renault parts and are giving huge trouble go for 02 or below I have seen a few with tow bars or you could buy the roof rack that holds bikes may work out cheaper

miller50841

micra

+1 on the late 90s micra. I got a 99 micra from my uncle two years ago, i learnt to drive in it.

Ran it hard for a year with not a single problem, except for worn cv boots from oversized alloys Very resilient car.

Max Power1

A nice e39 M5

Enough power to keep you out of trouble

kerten

If you are not on budget, 99-05 yaris is hard to beat as a safe, easy to drive car with good visibility and low running cost. Only drawback is they are the most expensive one to buy in used car market in Ireland for age and mileage.

mailforkev

A first gen Yaris is the perfect car for you (the facelifted model, mid-03' onwards, is the one to get if budget allows).

Decent little 1.0 engine, so buttons for motor tax and as cheap as insurance is going to get on 4 wheels.

sonyvision

Got a clio, great car never a problem girlfriend has a 03 clio with 130k miles no bother at all put 20 euro in a week cheap on insurance and parts very cheap and very plentiful

Zubeneschamali

ciotog wrote: »

II'm 35, never needed to drive

Since you are not an 18 year old trying to buy a car out of your pocket money, you should probably consider buying the car you actually want, and learning to drive in that, instead of buying the kind of cheap tat that people buy their kids to learn in.

Compton

Fiesta 02+
Yaris 00+
Micra 99+
Clio
Polo

other small engined petrol cars...
etc...
etc..
etc.

coco_lola

Any thread I reply on about first cars/small engine cars, I always plug the Yaris

I love them! They are such a great little car, had mine for almost 3 years and never gave a spot of bother, so economical on petrol, and surprisingly roomy given the size..and you can park anywhere there is literally no back or front on it

keithclancy

Anything cheap with power steering (most cars)

This getting a small car thing is unecessary, its no safer/easier to drive a small car.
People still manage to ding Micras, Fiestas aka small cars

Vertakill

keithclancy wrote: »

Anything cheap with power steering (most cars)

This getting a small car thing is unecessary, its no safer/easier to drive a small car.
People still manage to ding Micras, Fiestas aka small cars

I agree for the most part. There's very little difference in actual cm's between a hatchback and a saloon.

However, the one major difference is when you look in your rear-view mirror, the saloon will have a boot that juts out beyond the back windscreen, whereas the (learner) driver doesn't have that problem in a hatchback as the windscreen and the boot are usually more or less the same length... which makes it easier to reverse without hitting things.

MrDerp

Octavia?

1. Open boot
2. Put in bike
3. Close boot

That's my first Octavia joke

Being more serious, this question is better suited to a mountain biking / triathlon board. These people have at least tried what you are suggesting

ciotog

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

Since you are not an 18 year old trying to buy a car out of your pocket money, you should probably consider buying the car you actually want, and learning to drive in that, instead of buying the kind of cheap tat that people buy their kids to learn in.

That's good advice, thanks. Was more thinking of dealing with initial insurance hit, getting something with a small engine and build some claim-free time.

ciotog

MrDerp wrote: »

Octavia?

1. Open boot
2. Put in bike
3. Close boot

That's my first Octavia joke

Being more serious, this question is better suited to a mountain biking / triathlon board. These people have at least tried what you are suggesting

Plenty of love here for the Octavia (my brother drives one, has done for years and will testify to its reliability and grandesse in the boot department). Will chat to the cycling folk too but I was interested to see what the petrolheads views are too.

Chuck Stone

Honda Jazz.

Perhaps most impressively, the Jazz is a brilliant piece of car interior design. It sits the driver and passenger on the fuel tank, and leaves floor space where the tank would normally be. Lift up the rear seat squabs and instead of petrol there is space in the centre of the car for pot plants, bicycles, wheelchairs and small children to get changed standing up. Ford, Fiat, Citroën, Toyota and everyone else all wish they'd thought of that.

telegraph.co.uk/honestjohn

Fiona

I learnt in a 96 Mitsubishi Colt it was a grand car, had the use of my mothers Seat Ibiza and it was a really nice car as well, easy to drive.

robbie_998

OP, raher than take advice why not learn to drive in a friends / family / instructor car and when you feel comfortable enough to drive with someone beside you why not test drive cars rather than go on what people tell you.

I mean out of all the cars i ever drove i actually found the micra quite bad.

07 Corsa 1.2 (learner car from driving school) - Easy
07 1.4 Civic - Easiest
07 1.9tdi ovtavia - easy to medium difficulty
04 Kia sedona 2.9 turbo diesel - easy
98 1.6 vectra - medium
01 vectra 1.6 auto - medium
206 1.4 - medium
307 2.0 - easy to medium
isuzu trooper 3.0 DHOC - hard
1.6 Diesel Focus 2010 - easy
95 Micra 1.0 - medium
transit van - easy to medium
2012 discovery 4 - easy
2012 passat diesel - easy


What i have listed above is cars i drove and rating them from easy to hard on how i find them to drive and not many people might agree with what i listed as easy.

I cant remember if im missing one or two there but its a matter of preference for people in what they find easy to drive. The car i found easiest to drive all them is infact the civic even though i leared to drive in a corsa and vectra.

now if you want reliability then asian cars and avoid the likes of fiat for reliability (you can see sometimes yourself that the puntos have weird lights !)

just because i posted some cars there it doesnt mean you have to splash out on your first car. maybe a mazda 323 or something of the likes thats nice easy and cheap with good reliability.

best of luck OP !