What Ist Car ?

Mike P ( snipped-for-privacy@here.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

I'll agree to the vast majority of that, except for "cheap to run"/"easy to maintain" - they're not, not really. Not by modern standards.

Parts availability's suddenly got a lot worse, too. But hopefully that's just temporary.

My first car was a mini City E 14 years old, basic (no radio even) and rusty round the edges - however it lasted me a year with no breakdowns before coming off the worst after crashing.... (not my fault). It was great fun to drive and taught me to enjoy driving. Before I had that car I hated driving!!

I'd always say a fiesta (mk4 or above) is a good buy as long as it's been looked after. Don't know about KA's but the earlier ones I think had old engines and probably aren't as good to drive. My boyfriend used to have a 1.0litre Citroen Saxo which he really liked as a very cheap runabout (though I always found it felt flimsy compared to the fiesta which feels more solid and safe).

Something like a Punto, 60 SX model maybe. Decent on the motorway, has electrics (SX spec), and even the older ones don't look old.

Apart from the fact that I'm not sure you can do third party for just one of the named drivers, think very carefully about the implications of that (as it came home to me when my wife had a bump last week). That's _your_ policy. So regardless of who's driving, it's _your_ NCD that's affected if she has a bump - and most young drivers do, within the first year or two. Even if it's protected, you may find that the insurer is unwilling to transfer the protected NCD if you want to change companies, leaving you tied to them even if they increase their premiums.

Getting her own policy may well work out cheaper in the long run. And Third Party Only is not that much cheaper than Fully Comp now.

I'm glad my kids are all classic car fans, the insurance on them is affordable even for teenagers!