What first car should i get for my son (preferably a Lexus)

[Adam570]

My son has just passed his driving test I am going to purchase a car for him any suggestions

[steveledzep]

Get him a Renault Clio, just like other new drivers starter car.  If he doesn't slum it to start with, he won't appreciate the niceties of a Lexus when he's older.

[First_Lexus]

Depends on what your budget is, both for the car and for insurance.

[ColinBarber]

whatever it is, get an insurance quote first - that may change your decision.

 

[Malc]

................ third party only insurance on a beat-up old Ls400 for scrap money or less,  with a long MOT,  might be an idea !

We dare you ......        ( probably impossible to insure tbh )

Malc

[rich1068]

A car derived van. No rear seats for daft mates, still the safety features of the car it's based on, cheap to buy and cheaper to insure. 

Had a similar discussion with someone recently. What should you do about first cars? Something like I had (a '73 Beetle) that struggled to 60 and taught you how to drive properly but almost certainly a death trap in an accident or something much newer with comfort and all the safety gizmos that will also do 0-60 in around 10 seconds and top out at over a ton. 

[Chris Skelton]

Make him work to save up the cash? Getting given stuff induces carelessness.

Heard a neighbour's kid utter 'Oh, my Dad will just buy me another' once........

[royoftherovers]

19 hours ago, Adam570 said:

My son has just passed his driving test I am going to purchase a car for him any suggestions

Don`t. Make him save enough to buy his own in due course. One of life`s necessary lessons.

[stevet]

Why? Let him work and buy a car himself.


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[rayaans]

As a first car, something not too small that they crush him in if crashed i.e Aygo, 108 etc

Maybe something a little larger like a Polo, Corsa or Fiesta - check the insurance beforehand - Polo was cheaper for my son than the others on insurance 

Was about £2500 from an auction - sold it for £2300 a year later and bought a Golf for £3400 which according to the valuation sites has gone up in value by £200 wth lol

Insurance on any Lexus is going to be daft so don't bother - was about £2000 on an CT200h which is actually slower than a Golf 1.4 TSI

[KenMavor]

Bought a Fiat Grande Punto for my daughter.  Never broken down and with 1.2 engine is never going to be fast but around town it gets 40 mpg.

Also get him doing some of the maintenance....brakes, tyres, etc.

 

 

[Mr Vlad]

A workmate had the same dilemma. He looked at all the options and found that the actual cheapest option was to buy brand new. Reason. New cars are cheaper to repair hence cheaper to insure. Example. Brand new corsa was 2000 to insure. An 8 year old corsa was nearly 4000 to insure. Insurance cost was more than the car was to buy.

The choice of car is vast. Good luck lol

[Texas]

Yes, been there-done that!  Don't be looking at any type of car until you have an idea what it is gonna cost to insure as this is prob gonna be the deciding factor. It smarts when you pay £1200 for car and insurance is £1600 and at end of ( hopefully claim free) year what have you got to show for it? So Deffo work backwards and check insurance costs, note adding both parents as named drivers brings cost down even though you might not ever drive it! ( providing they have good history obviously)

paul m.

[Adam570]

My boy has been working at McDonald's for past year he has saved £6,000, I am willing to put in £3,000, so we have 9k to play around with.

Got a quote for £3k for a Lexus CT200h which costs around £6k but not too sure whether the car will be right for him

[Spacewagon52]

My advice would be to get something (within economic reason) HE wants. Buyinga car YOU think is best really does not work. I was happy to drive a Ford Thames 400E when I passed my test but the young today are more image conscious. Find out what he likes/wants. Even if it is a lemon, he will learn by it. I made the mistake of choosing my daughter's first car - waste of money. She wanted a KA, which she eventually bought. What an expensive lemon that was! She gained experience of expensive repairs, but my wallet suffered! The things we do for kids! 

[sorcerer]

When I passed my test back in June 1975, my dad had an almost brand new (three months old) Morris Marina 1.8 Estate. When he came home from work he asked if I'd passed and when I said yes, he handed me the keys and said, "You know I don't use it much so consider it yours and I'll tell you when I want it."

It was only many years later that I found out that my mum had put him up to it. Apparently, he'd borrowed a chunk of money from her mum and dad to buy it, so she forced him to let me use it (families - don't ask!). He knew that I enjoyed working on his previous car with him so his original idea was to buy me an old banger and a full set of tools so that I'd be able to do my own work on it when needed, and I have to say, I probably would have appreciated that more - but driving around in an almost brand new car did earn me lots of kudos points with my mates 

[Glover]

Its got to be a 1.3 Yaris.  Nippy ,economical and above all reliable.  Mine is 17 years old, had an exhaust at 14 years and a Battery at 15 years, broken rear spring at 16 years (speed bumps!).  In fact buy any Toyota; Lexus are made by Toyota, enough said:-)

[royoftherovers]

9 hours ago, Glover said:

Its got to be a 1.3 Yaris.  Nippy ,economical and above all reliable.  Mine is 17 years old, had an exhaust at 14 years and a battery at 15 years, broken rear spring at 16 years (speed bumps!).  In fact buy any Toyota; Lexus are made by Toyota, enough said:-)

I could not agree more. Ours is an auto,18 years old now. Never let us down  at all.

[Malc]

last night saw a TV advert for a new car, on finance and an upfront deposit etc with FREE 3 years insurance ...........  maybe a Peugeot but not sure

wonder if something like that might be an option !

Malc

[Spacewagon52]

11 hours ago, sorcerer said:

When I passed my test back in June 1975, my dad had an almost brand new (three months old) Morris Marina 1.8 Estate. When he came home from work he asked if I'd passed and when I said yes, he handed me the keys and said, "You know I don't use it much so consider it yours and I'll tell you when I want it."

It was only many years later that I found out that my mum had put him up to it. Apparently, he'd borrowed a chunk of money from her mum and dad to buy it, so she forced him to let me use it (families - don't ask!). He knew that I enjoyed working on his previous car with him so his original idea was to buy me an old banger and a full set of tools so that I'd be able to do my own work on it when needed, and I have to say, I probably would have appreciated that more - but driving around in an almost brand new car did earn me lots of kudos points with my mates 

That is a lovely story. It says a great deal about your relationship with your parents and the trust they had in you.

I was an only child, and my mother-in-law and the arrogance to say I was spoilt. My father maintained that you can't spoil a good child!

[rich1068]

Lexus CT as a first car? If that's what he wants fair enough but dare I say a bit dull?

7 hours ago, Malc said:

last night saw a TV advert for a new car, on finance and an upfront deposit etc with FREE 3 years insurance ...........  maybe a Peugeot but not sure

wonder if something like that might be an option !

Malc

Might be worth looking into these offers. First new car I ever had was a Citroen AX and part of the reason was for the free year of insurance with Direct Line. I'd never had insurance in my own name but if I renewed with DL after the first year I got a sizable NCD. Set me up for car insurance and I stayed with DL for quite some time.

[Glover]

On ‎12‎/‎02‎/‎2018 at 8:13 AM, royoftherovers said:

I could not agree more. Ours is an auto,18 years old now. Never let us down  at all.

Yes John.  Absolutely brilliant small car and lots of them around still:-) Just done a 160 mile round trip in mine today it just starts, goes and stops day after day!

Adam

I definitely wouldn't recommend any French car (apart from 2CV and original DS!) but with a deal like the one Malc mentioned it's probably worth doing as you don't have to worry about the reliability and you'll save a small fortune on insurance.  Once the three years is up your son can buy a Toyota or Lexus:-)

[royoftherovers]

1 hour ago, Glover said:

Yes John.  Absolutely brilliant small car and lots of them around still:-) Just done a 160 mile round trip in mine today it just starts, goes and stops day after day!

Adam

I definitely wouldn't recommend any French car (apart from 2CV and original DS!) but with a deal like the one Malc mentioned it's probably worth doing as you don't have to worry about the reliability and you'll save a small fortune on insurance.  Once the three years is up your son can buy a Toyota or Lexus:-)

Took ours to Andalucia and back twice.....no problems whatsoever.

[Glover]

Now that is impressive; makes my trip to Skegness pale into insignificance!  Bizarrely now she's an old lady she's doing longer trips; for the first 10 years or so the longest journey was an annual 100 miles round trip for a service.

[DanD]

Not sure a Lexus is the right car for a new driver: apart from the insurance costs,  I think a new driver should start with a manual car, not an automatic, and there are few manual Lexus'.

I too have found that a newer car is much cheaper to insure than an older one. I had a long chat with an insurance broker when my eldest passed his test, and found that insurance companies assume that a new driver will typically be a lot more careful driving a newer car than an old banger and is more likely to look after it. Additionally, a newer car will be more reliable, and also safer (more airbags etc).

Have you considered a brand new car? - There are some PCP deals where you can get a new car for a £99 deposit and an ongoing £99 per month payment. These can be attractive so long as you are not interested in owning the car. I believe that insurance companies like PCP deals on the basis that they force (no doubt some, but not all!) drivers to look after their car so that they don't get penalised when it is time to hand them back.