I'm looking to buy a brand new car, something about the size of a fiesta/focus, anyone know who's got the best free insurance deals on at the moment? Is it usually on a per dealer basis? I've only recently passed and insurance is a killer on anything that isnt as old as jesus, and as flakey. Any ideas Joel
The new Suzuki Swift looks outstanding for a new young drivers car. There's the hot hatch: 1.6 16v Sport (Killer insurance for a new driver, but if the folks are helping, with some arm twisting and what not, I'm sure it's coverable). There's the petrol version: 1.3 GL 3 & 5 Door models There's the diesel version: 1.3 DDiS 5 door (not sure if there is a three door model) My mum used to have one of the Suzuki Swifts about 7 years ago. Maybe longer. And they were awful cars. Built like fiat unos and citreon AXs. The road noise was attrocious and the thought of hitting anything terrified me because the car was so light it would have just folded. But Suzuki have had time to mature and I haven't been in one since the little swift we had and I haven't had a chance to try one of the new Swifts yet, but there's a garage up the road from me and I might take a pop down to try out the sport. And by try out, I mean thrash the knackers off. I think the swift will probably be 2007s hot hatch. Clios, Saxos, Corsa, C2s have all been done.
How old are you? It helps if you're >21. For not a lot of money you can often find a 1.4 or 1.6 Astra or something similar 2nd hand for bugger-all. Hot hatch of 2007 for me will definately be the ClioSport 197 (I know it's not new, but it's a monstrous thing). The Swift isn't that hot, and it's not cheap enough for the jump down in quality to warrant buying one over a Citroen/Renault/Peugeot/Corsa. If you have to have a new car, the new Corsa is rumoured to be mindblowingly good for the price, and Vauxhall dealer's often do free insurance/free extended warranty etc.
The problem with todays hot hatchs is they've aged with the people who originally used to buy them. They've become fat, old and unsporty. Sure the power has been upped to drag around that excessive girth, but by upping the power, they're preventing the market the cars are aimed at, from getting driving, which is why they need to do free insurance gimmicks. You just have to look at the way hot hatchs have evolved. Nippy, lightweight examples. Such as the Nova (fazed out by the Corsa) the Golf Mk1 (fazed out by the, while acceptable Mk2, the G60 4x4 was the only Mk2 worth lusting after, but it all ended up dead with the Mk3 and eventually people turned to Polos for affordable hot hatch motoring while the Golf matured with the boy racers of old who suddenly realised they needed a sensible family hatchback to ferry the kids to school in). Even the modern gens of the Clio sport hold nothing on the Clios of old. I think the only manufacturer that can boast that their hot hatch development didn't go to pot with age, was the Fiesta XR2 -> Fiesta Zetec transition. And if you look at the Suzuki, you can see who it is trying to immitate. Perhaps the drop in quality isn't worth the price. But then again, I haven't had the chance to sit in one and inspect the build quality of one myself so can't comment on the quality of it. Being a Suzuki though, they're not the best when it comes to cars. But they did spend months throwing the Swift around the Nurbergring to tweak the ride and handling. And you can't deny that style wise, it's hot. As for the quality decrease for the price. I don't know. £17,500 for the Skoda RS. £17,500ish for the Focus ST £16,000ish for the Clio 197 (2 litre, new young driver, hot hatch, boy racer stereotype... the chances of insuring that for under a couple of thousand a year would be difficult). £16,000ish for the Mini Cooper S £20,000ish for the Golf GTI £13,600ish for the Fiesta 2.0 16v ST (same as Clio 197). Style wise, the only appealing one is the new Golf GTI. But with a two litre engine and 200bhp, it's not very new driver friendly. And the Suzuki Swift 1.6 16v, just shy of £11k. With the money you saved buying the Swift against it's rivals, you could afford to upgrade anything you thought was "below quality" or even insure it for a few thousand a year. The 1.3 Zetec is the only competitive car in terms of affordability for young drivers against the Swift. With starting prices around £9k (dependant on extras).
New Yaris's are supposed to be very good, quite nippy, and good on insurance. I did drive a 1.3 T-Spirit Yaris and thought it was a very cool car (although controls were a bit space-age for my liking) - gearchange and clutch were effortless, VVTi engine very rev-happy, and handling sharp.
I completely forgot about the Yaris . New one starts at about £8k and goes up to around £12k for the top of the range ones. Having said that, I much prefer the 1st generation styling to the 2nd generation styling. And you can pick up a used 1st gen Yaris for peanuts.
Yep, you need to check the smallprint of the free insurance deals as they usually have some criteria that could well exclude you from being able to get it. Citroen often have free insurance and good deals on their small cars.
I'm 23, might test drive a corsa and see what the crack is. The new ones are supposed to be much better. I'll look into the yaris. The only other one I've seen is the 100bhp Fiat panda, free insurance, but the car looks like postman pats van on crack. Joel
The Panda 100HP is meant to be a right giggle to drive, plus 9.5 seconds 0-60 isn't half bad for a 1.4! Personally I think it's quite a cool car and looks good in an ironic kind of way.
Bought a Ford Focus LX new shape in the end. 14k miles, 7k, smart as owt. Will get some pics up when I pick it up, tomorrow Joel
