recommend a learning Car

Washout

So my wife and I have decided its time to bite the bullet and get a little car to learn in. I have drivien before but not for like 10 years...i had a car crash ten years ago and never got back into it for shame i know.

so is the best car to get for learning a nissan micra? im thinking of a 00 or 01 model.

how much should we spend on one.
what other make models would be as good as a micra?

chris85

Hey good to see you are getting back into motoring.

The micra is definitly a good learner car has it is a reliable car and easy enough to drive. The controls in it are pretty handy. A 00 model micra will cost about 3500-4000euro.

Another good car is the Toyota Yaris, which would cost about 5000euro for 00 model. Personally I prefer toyotas. These are very good cars and Hibernian use these cars for their ignition test which is a learning course for young drivers.

The good thing on buying a car like these is that a lot of people use these as learner cars so usually less mileage but the bad thing is that as they are used by learners they may have a few accidents so just make sure the car is checked properly.

Happy Hunting

pwd

I'm also deciding on a car to get to learn to drive with
I want something with a small engine.
Would VW Polo or a Peugeout be a good choice?

colm_mcm

The Yaris is by far the easiest small car to learn to drive in.
Light steering, easy gears, clear display, well spaced pedals and logical controls make it a very easy car to get used to.

The Micra is also good, but in my opinion loses out to the Yaris in terms of visability and gearchange

Ford Fiesta is worth a look too.

I wouldn't recommend a small Peugeot to learn to drive in as the pedals are very badly spaced.

I have driven pretty much every small car, as I sell cars for a living. You will pay a premium price for a Yaris, but they depreciate very slowly and are generally uber reliable

squishywishy

I bought a Fiesta as my learner car and i LOVE it!
Its a really sturdy car and the Ghia version is a car you wont need to trade in as soon as you've finished learning.
Parts are also easy to come by and its far more reliable to than a peugot!

plenty of low millage fiestas about

a 00 will set you back 4000-4500

pwd

what about larger cars. I've been researching things and smaller cars are not the most economoical choice regarding car price and insurance for someone my age etc.
The cheapest cars to insure seem to be non-turbo diesel carvans like this:

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=683336

which I could get 3rd party fire and theft for 770 euro apparently.

I was also told that small cars are generally more difficult to drive, and that petrol cars will stall more than diesel.

What are your opinions on this? Would a larger car/diesel car/carvan be easier to learn with?

Sniipe

Yaris I think is the best. very reliable can and nothing fancy. I'd imagine one of the safest small (afordable) cars out there.

Or how about the likes of an opel astra, 1.4?

BeautifulLoser

I think you can't beat a large car to learn in.

I learned in one of the old Astras (c1995).
It was difficult to cut out in it.

Once you've mastered parking and driving in such a large car it's very easy to step down to a smaller car.

Some say if you learn in a smaller car it's very difficult to move up to a larger car. I wouldn't know having learned in a larger one..

S.I.R

Toyota corolla , will never break and is the easiest car in the world to drive... ( hence why its in all drift movies )

much easier then a micra or a dirt box yaris


i learned to drive in a ford transit ( i know... im bob the builder :S ) and even they are a great start... unuseual but still great

also why didnt anyone mention the daihatsu charade or toyota starlet ( carb , non turbo ) ??

chris85

Bigger cars are less forgiving if you do not do well when learning, i.e. A bigger engine means more power which can be difficult for beginners, and also the bigger mass of bigger cars can cause more damge!!!

Diesel is good for not cutting out but not a fan of diesel engines! But some people really like diesel.

Yaris are very reliable and you shouldnt have much problem with them.

The toyota starlet is ok but driven it few times and it doesn't hold up very well. they feel very shakey.

S.I.R

they aren't shaking imho cause ive driven a few from differant models... the only shaky one is the 88-96 model... but if you can drive decent and no over rev , no shake's happen

besides to all ex nun cars so they get regular servicing and car cheap.. but have never been past 3rd gear :rolleyes:

also... bigger the car dont mean anything...

its only trouble when you go from driving a susuki alto to a toyota chaser/lexus soarer

chris85

Come on the micra is much more of an ex nun's car :cool:

Ex nun's cars are great, very low mileage, perfect gearbox, perfect engine, although you may need to take the rosary beeds off the rear view mirror

colm_mcm

S.I.R wrote: »

Toyota corolla , will never break and is the easiest car in the world to drive... ( hence why its in all drift movies )

much easier then a micra or a dirt box yaris

Are you suggesting learner drivers should learn in AE86 TwinCam's?

Also how is a Corolla easier to drive than a Yaris?

TBH your reasoning sounds like nonsense.