Car for 17 year old

[katy]

Grandson will be 17 in a few months and is having a car. I know a few of you guys are quite knowledgable about cars. Any advice/ideas on make/model? Something that is a bit of a wow factor but safe and not attracting punitive insurance. Maximum £25,000 new or used.

[Nimrod]

For 25 grand he's either going to get a brand new granny car with all the bells and whistles that looks as if he's ram raided Halfords.
For 25 grand he could get a 2nd hand performance car,Merc,Maserati even,,BMW M series and all manner of stuff you could send him out on a suicide mission in.
Young drivers are not that good,they are prone to show off to their mates,they have no conception of danger to themselves or other road users and I wouldn't trust them with a skateboard.
Have you seen the tv prog Barely Legal Drivers?
In reality ,for everyone's safety he should be driving something like a 2nd hand low powered Ford Ka or anything below 1000cc.
He may not like it,but until he has road experience he is an accident waiting to happen.
If he's driving anywhere near Richmond then let me know.

[costakid]

Golf GT TDI. Looks the part, good mpg and street cred.

[Devils Advocate]

Get in touch Katy and the world shall be his oyster

[Enrique]

Hi katy,
From the way your posts reads ....the lad is going to miss out on the fun and experience of buying The First Car.
Setting his budget at 1k - 2k, trawling around the second hand car dealers, kicking a few tyres, checking if the clutch slips etc. then choosing one he likes.

As for the wow factor.....my lad (at 17) picked up a '94 Renault 5 for £250 and all his mates think its the coolest motor any of them have........parents say the same too.......5 years on he still has it.


Maybe 10 years down the line when he(your Grandson) is married with kids of his own he will appreciate Granny Katy subbing him a new motor............

One tip, get his Dad/Mum on the insurance as named driver....

[Nimrod]

Presumably he's going to get on his parents insurance beause otherwise he (or Mum and Dad more likely) is in for a couple of grand.
Be careful on the insurance ,you could easily mislead the ins co and be in for big bills when he has his first accident which is a probability.

[ajtg1952]

Golf GT TDI. Looks the part, good mpg and street cred.

A 17 year old in this, he'll be dead in a month.
25k for a first car will develop no sense of responsibility. Better with an old, cheap car that he can't show off in. After a year then get him a decent car.

[Devils Advocate]

You'd have to know the kid to say how he'd drive the car and what he'd do with it. My ideas on what to recommend would be based upon what sort of lad he is, and what his interests are.

Too many young kids start off in old bangers and ask the cars to do things that they're not designed to do. Hence why quite a few end up on their roof.
I'd also consider getting the lad on a performance driving course too as part of his pressie, then at least he'll understand a bit more than the average 17 year old slung in at the deep end.

Wish I'd have got 25k for my first motor

[costakid]

I am saying Golf Diesel not GTI. Looks the part. Youngsters today don't want old bangers. Personally i think its madness buying him a car of that value as 70% of new drivers have a bump in the 1st year.

[katy]

Thanks guys, good points and suggestions.

Enrique you said
From the way your posts reads ....the lad is going to miss out on the fun and experience of buying The First Car.
Setting his budget at 1k - 2k, trawling around the second hand car dealers, kicking a few tyres, checking if the clutch slips etc. then choosing one he likes.

You maybe right

He has had some lessons at Mercedes world track and drove off road for some years but I wouldn't say he is mechanically interested. he realises he ought to have something sensible and seems open minded to a Golf as his Mum has had a few. I wondered about those new Mini-coopers Although that could be just nostalgia for me as it was my first car. Seems a sensible lad, still at school and is doing some work in Japan later this month with his Dad. He is down here for the weekend and I am just looking for ideas. (to brainwash him )

We aren't bank rolling him...it's his own money but my Daughter would like him to spend less...she took him to a Kia exhibition

[katy]

I wonder about the insurance too. I remember my Brother, within a week of passing his test he scraped and dented 9 cars on our narrow village street all in one go...he was real popular

[Devils Advocate]

Hmmm, this thread started off with a 25k budget and wanting a wow factor, it got me all fired up for a minute.

Now it's wondering about insurance and visiting Kia factories, my shortlist's just been tossed in the bin as it won't go down well

[katy]

Come on....what would you do DA. Seriously interested, secretly I would like him to do something out of the box

[Enrique]

The one in my yard that brings out the most smiles per mile for me ........Renault Clio 182 Cup

£3.5k to buy........probably spend the rest of the 25k on insurance...............

[ebbnflow]

The lad sounds like he at least is a skilled driver on track on off road. Driving on the roads amoung all the other lunatics is a different thing altogether. A very large percentage of new drivers have some kind of "fender bender" accident in their first year.
I must agree with Enrique on a much cheaper first car for both the reasons he gave and the above.
Many have character! Just pick the one that fits the lad. It's also much kinder on insurance.

When we first bought a car here it was an ancient Peugeot 309, solid, reliable workhorse which went well with our needs. Less than €1k and was only sold on several years later, at no loss, after buying a new car.

[El Cid]

For a lad of that age, it will be the insurance costs that will determine what he can buy.

Anything remotely interesting could cost thousands and you can forget about the idea of the parents insuring it - the insurance companies are wise that that.

Sid

[Enrique]

I'm guessing my tip was misread.
The lad get his own insurance and has Dad/Mum on as a named driver.

So before you buy the car checkout insurance quotes for that make/model.......

[jaycecampo]

May be wrong but I think it's 18 to drive in Spain

[Nimrod]

ebbnflow rates him as a skilled driver.
Incorrect,they are all inexperienced drivers waiting for an accident to happen
He will have either a vehicle accident,preferred ,or a personal injury which will set him back years
Rein him in.

[El Cid]

May be wrong but I think it's 18 to drive in Spain

It is, but I assume Katy is talking about the UK.

Sid