[Mark07]

Bearing in mind that in the UK, 20% of new drivers will be involved in a collision during their first year, for young men that stat is even higher.

So, there's lots of different factors to consider when buying your first car; Safety, Reliability, Budget, Economy and more.

For those entering the market for the first time;

• What advice do you have?
• Is there a make/model of car that you'd recommend?

[olduser]

Insurance cost, running cost, price, these need to be thought about first and last.
Main stream cars these days will work for short journeys or long.

Find what you think will match these criteria, look for reviews and if possible talk to someone who is running the same car.

[Rolebama]

Buy from a dealer, and use a finance company. If you have any problems with the car it is useful to have the clout of a financier behind you.

[Mark07]

Individual needs will vary significantly, but assuming a new driver is younger (<21) I would have thought that Ford Fiesta, Toyota Yaris, perhaps a Dacia and others may fit into a lot of those categories.

[Drivingforfun]

I experienced, without understanding why (later found out it's because of algorithms), that insurance companies decide which cars to charge more for for very complex reasons... So, cars you'd often consider good cars for new drivers are often expensive to insure, for the reason that lots of new drivers drive them!

I've said before but when insuring my first car, I could insure a V6 3 litre Jag or a 1.6L Mini Cooper for the same price; both cars were the same age and cost the same to buy

I can see the logic as the insurance company would probably rather I crashed in the Jag, but then, most of the risk with a new driver in a cheap car is their potential to damage something/someone else, which surely I'd have a greater chance of doing in the Jag?

[Drivingforfun]

A couple more tips, if my brother and lots of my peers were anything to go by

If you pass at 17 then reliability is irrelevant, parents just drive the car away and it comes back fixed

Same story with fuel economy: what you do as a 17 year old is drive with the fuel light permanently on, on occasion your parents will take the car for a quick spin and it will come back full up

Don't wait to pass your test in your 20s as you have to do it yourself 🙄

[Rolebama]

I was offered a 'black box' by my last insurer. Had I accepted their kind offer, it would have saved me 15%. An amount not to be sneezed at, but among other restrictions, there was a curfew which could increase or decrease the percentage depending on the agreed time. Could be worth considering.

[NMNeil]

In today's anti car climate perhaps ask where you intend to park the car before buying one.
https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/ne...pdate-30402569

[Rolebama]

We were given the opportunity to vote on whether we agreed to allow pavement parking on our close. The result was an overwhelming no. Yet we still have neighbours whinging about the FPNs* they get for it.
*We have a local attraction, and because of the problems we had over visitors daft parking, we have residents parking only for four months of the year. Hence regular visits from Parking Wardens.