Quote :

I'd like to know which car is cheapest on insurance in the UK at a young age.

Aygo/C1 etc. Although, I'm 20 and it's still £700 a year for my Aygo (had a reversing scrape in the Puma so +1 claim....). No car is cheap to insure at 17 because 1: insurance companies are ****s and 2: 90% of 17 year olds WILL understeer that car into a ditch and write it off within a week. Which is because of 3: driver education standards over here are shit.

Also, the Aygos are still worth a fair bit so that pushes the insurance up. And I'm willing to bet the Aygo's insurance prices will go up as the car's price decreases as Johnny Chav and his mates will be able to buy one at 17 and write them off. Conclusion, there is no cheap insurance for young drivers ever.

It's partly also because drivers these days think they are driving gods the moment they pass the test. Then they crash. Then they claim. And hence insurance policies go up - high risk.

If you want lower insurance premiums for 17 year olds, find a way of making them not crash or hit things.

Quote from TiJay :

2: 90% of 17 year olds WILL understeer that car into a ditch and write it off within a week.

I guess I'm in that 10% then lol, I drove 10,000 miles in a couple of months, never had an accident or even went off the road... Had my hair-raising moments, I'm sure everyone has....

I was paying just over £900 for a Ford KA, but with a 1 year NCB, that would have gone down to just under £700... Insurance is a right B****** when you're young, but it's even more annoying when you're a competent driver, the chavs kinda of ruin it for the rest of us

Quote from Xaid0n :

the chavs kinda of ruin it for the rest of us

Yet it seems to be THEM that get the cheap deals...

Quote from BlueFlame :

Yet it seems to be THEM that get the cheap deals...

I reckon that's because they r fibbing to be honest, probably saying mummy/daddy is main policy holder yet they own the V5, imagine the look on their faces when the insurance company finds out lol.... brilliant

Quote from tristancliffe :

If you want lower insurance premiums for 17 year olds, find a way of making them not crash or hit things.

Cover everything in bubble wrap.

Quote :

I guess I'm in that 10% then lol, I drove 10,000 miles in a couple of months, never had an accident or even went off the road... Had my hair-raising moments, I'm sure everyone has....

How did you get insured for 10,000 miles for £900? I paid £2000 to insure a 1.25 Fiesta for something like 2000 miles a year on third party!

Quote from TiJay :

How did you get insured for 10,000 miles for £900? I paid £2000 to insure a 1.25 Fiesta for something like 2000 miles a year on third party!

Some policies dont have limits - my policy with Quinn has no limits (up until last year they had no mileage limits at all - if I try to add one now my insurance goes up £100 no matter what it is).

Got the car with about 17k miles (had a new speedo before that) and it's now up to 35k ish... I've only had my license since last december!

EDIT - Milometer is at 37k exactly atm...

I'm being dragged into the realms of reality now, yes I can buy a 3-series or a c-class but it'll be a long wait before the perfect one comes up somewhere near me, and i'm not sure how long the p-wagon will last (now the power steering seems to eat fluid).

The Ford Focus is sort of growing on me - I am not massively keen on the idea of a hatchback, but it's cheap and supposedly very good handling, plus a 1.8 Zetec gives me slightly better economy plus a little more MPG and a little more performance.

Anything I should be thinking about? I really need to test drive one first but I have no idea how I actually get to try one...!

go find a stealer with one on their forecourt and act interested.

Good idea. I brought my Focus to learn in a couple of years ago (and passed my test in, 16 months ago) and still love it. Its a 3dr 2000 plate 1.8 Zetec, insurance group 7, cheap as chips to run (brought for £1,600). I'm 22 with 2yrs no-claims and my insurance renewal this month is £460 fully comp with £200 excess and 15,000 milage limit (Swiftcover).

Get one in a nice colour and they stand out, I get a lot of comments about mine.

If you find a private seller near you that has one you like just go and have a look, and ask for a test-drive. Or pop down a forecourt and act interested in one.

Quote from Jakg :

I'm being dragged into the realms of reality now, yes I can buy a 3-series or a c-class but it'll be a long wait before the perfect one comes up somewhere near me, and i'm not sure how long the p-wagon will last (now the power steering seems to eat fluid).

The Ford Focus is sort of growing on me - I am not massively keen on the idea of a hatchback, but it's cheap and supposedly very good handling, plus a 1.8 Zetec gives me slightly better economy plus a little more MPG and a little more performance.

Anything I should be thinking about? I really need to test drive one first but I have no idea how I actually get to try one...!

Quote from TiJay :

How did you get insured for 10,000 miles for £900? I paid £2000 to insure a 1.25 Fiesta for something like 2000 miles a year on third party!

Erm well strictly speaking it was supposed to be 5000 miles, but I got carried away and didn't take much notice of the mileage at the time... New driver, out on the road for the first time, I think I clocked up 1500 miles in one week just driving around East Anglia and Kent.

Can't wait to get a new motor though, I'm looking at a Focus myself, or maybe a 2000-2001 fiat punto, whichever is cheapest to buy.

I think the 1.8 Zetec is a good comprimise. I drive my Mum's 2.0 zetec Focus and whilst it's goes very well, it's not very economical. The last couple of tank's we've made a point of driving as economically as possible and have struggled to get anything above about 34mpg. If we did all motorway it would be better but for mostly short runs around town this is pretty poor.

They do handle decently though and the steering is very communicative.

Have to say the 1.6 we had was great fun, and I think plenty fast enough. Will still happily cruise motorways and with the smaller engine you could just about drive it flat out down lanes, without getting to silly speeds. They handle and stop very well and even the 1.6 didn't feel out of place on a track. In a completely different league to your Proton.

Ok I like the idea of a 1.8, but a 1.6 is still faster than what I have.

Diesel? My Dad really wants me to get a TDCI one but they seem about £2.5k+ for a good one versus £1,750 for a good petrol one.

What sort of mileage should I be aiming for if i'm looking to spend under £2k on a 1.6 Zetec?

The 1.6 in the Focus is from the Ford Puma/Fiesta Zetec S IIRC and will happily hit 60 in 10 seconds in those cars - the Focus isn't much heavier. In the Puma, it feels hugely responsive and will cruise and overtake effortlessly. I never managed to get more than 35mpg out of mine, but tbh that's plenty. The 1.8 is the older Zetec-E engine so may have different issues to the 1.6 (the 1.6 cambelt needs changing at 100,000 miles... again IIRC).

Also, the Focus Zetec models have a sportier setup than the Ghia or LX trims from what I remember.

This thread is a year old yesterday. Find a car already....

Quote from TiJay :

The 1.6 in the Focus is from the Ford Puma

The Puma/Fiesta has the Zetec SE engine, which rather bizarrely has no relationship to the mainstream Zetec/Duratec engine!

Similar thing to the first focus with a duratec that was actually a zetec SE i presume?

Quote from robt :

Similar thing to the first focus with a duratec that was actually a zetec SE i presume?

I think the Focus has always had the Duratec engine, certainly never had the Zetec SE engine, which is completely different and was only ever fitted to Puma/Fiesta.

Quote :

The Focus RS featured a turbocharged version of the 2.0 L Zetec unit producing 215 bhp (158 kW) and 310 N·m (229 ft·lbf) of torque, although badged a Duratec-RS

Quote from wiki, but I know its been mentioned many other places.

Quote from robt :

Quote from wiki, but I know its been mentioned many other places.

You are correct. The Burton catalogue says the Duratec is in 'Mondeos from 2001 plus the current new Focus and Fiesta ST150'.

The various variants of the Zetec E were used in pre-2001 Mondeos and the mk1 Focus.

Zetec proves that a silly name will please any old mug.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Sigma_engine

We're both right, ajp

Quote from TiJay :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Sigma_engine

We're both right, ajp

I love the fact Ford have so many names for the same thing. Why do they need to make their performance engines sound like they are a new technology? Oh, yea heheheh there's an obvious answer to this obvious question