Suitable car?

[TheInsanity1234]

Oh yeah, and another thing, whatever car we buy is going to have to be easy for my 87 year old grandma to get into. At the moment, the Clio is causing issues as it is slightly too high for my grandma to get in easily, but it's too low for her to get in easily from the kerb, or from a stool.
This means an Skoda Yeti appears (bizarrely) to be quite a good car for this issue, as well as the B-Max.
(Won't be any good for me to learn to drive in though. I suspect they're going to be rather big for a learner's car)

Here's another thing I've noticed. Apparently, the Clio is in insurance band 13.
The Ford B-Max is in insurance band 11E, which, in theory, should make it cheaper to insure than the Clio...

[martine]

Sounds like it's had a hard life...my Focus ST is an '07, has 105,000m and is running just fine in all respects. Cosmetically it's covered in stone chips around the front and a few scratches (thanks to car-park numbys) but mechanically it's just as good as it was out of the factory. Only things replaced apart from normal servicing are 3 out of the 4 wheel bearings and a suspension gaiter. Oh and I've had the cambelt replaced before the recommended (10 years/120,000m) interval - just to be safe.

I wouldn't worry about learning in a larger car...it has pros and cons and you'll soon get used to it.

[skodatezzer]

I learned to drive in a Ford Zephyr Mk. 2. Bonnet the size of a football pitch and 3 speed column change gears. Mind, that was in 1964!

[jameslb101]

Sounds like it's had a hard life...my Focus ST is an '07, has 105,000m and is running just fine in all respects. Cosmetically it's covered in stone chips around the front and a few scratches (thanks to car-park numbys) but mechanically it's just as good as it was out of the factory. Only things replaced apart from normal servicing are 3 out of the 4 wheel bearings and a suspension gaiter. Oh and I've had the cambelt replaced before the recommended (10 years/120,000m) interval - just to be safe.

I wouldn't worry about learning in a larger car...it has pros and cons and you'll soon get used to it.

Yep my 180k, 17 y/o BMW and 160k, 16 y/o MR2 were both mechanically and structurally perfect, so that was why I asked about the Clio.

Learnt in a Focus and you get used to the size in minutes. A medium sized hatch isn't exactly a Hummer!

[fungus]

Small isn't neccessarily easier. If you started in a barge like the Ford Zephyr that skodatezzer learnt in, you would get used to it and a small car like a BMC Mini would then feel minute, and at first your spatial awareness is a little out, but you would soon adjust.

[TheInsanity1234]

Sounds like it's had a hard life...my Focus ST is an '07, has 105,000m and is running just fine in all respects. Cosmetically it's covered in stone chips around the front and a few scratches (thanks to car-park numbys) but mechanically it's just as good as it was out of the factory. Only things replaced apart from normal servicing are 3 out of the 4 wheel bearings and a suspension gaiter. Oh and I've had the cambelt replaced before the recommended (10 years/120,000m) interval - just to be safe.

I wouldn't worry about learning in a larger car...it has pros and cons and you'll soon get used to it.

Hah, hard life?! It's been to Liverpool about 10 times in the last 3 years, and it's been shuttling between our current house in Berkshire and our old house in Essex for about 2 years.

We've driven the wheels off it!

It's just that I'm also going to be using it quite a bit after I pass my test (Not so much I'll turn into the main driver, that's going to be my mum, mind!)
(And as a teenager, driving a mini-mpv is going to do nothing for my street-cred! )
No but seriously, it's hardly a barge, but it's just that I sat in front of the wheel in a B-Max and a Yeti today, and the B-Max felt decidedly larger, even though it's supposedly the same length and width as the Yeti.
Perhaps it's all to do with the fact a Yeti is kind of a cross-over, whereas a B-Max is a mini-mpv.

[jameslb101]

FWIW, I had a brand new Yeti "Greenline" for a weekend last summer (and a full tank of diesel at someone else's expense!) and I thought it was absolute brilliant. Well, up until point me and mate decided to test its off-roading capabilities, tried to take it up 45 degree rocky slope, realised it was actually 2WD and not the 4WD we assumed from the chunky looks, and slid back down again

[TheInsanity1234]

FWIW, I had a brand new Yeti "Greenline" for a weekend last summer (and a full tank of diesel at someone else's expense!) and I thought it was absolute brilliant. Well, up until point me and mate decided to test its off-roading capabilities, tried to take it up 45 degree rocky slope, realised it was actually 2WD and not the 4WD we assumed from the chunky looks, and slid back down again

The 4x4 and the "Greenline" (which is the eco version, and therefore would not have anything to do with 4WD) look identical, bar some stickers and a 4x4 badge on the back, which you can have removed

[TheInsanity1234]

UPDATE: We went to a Ford dealer today, and had a proper look at the B-max.
It's been turned down by my parents, as my mum says the same thing as me, it feels decidedly big for a "small" car.
It's probably because the bonnet of the car slopes down very steeply, so we can't see the front of the car, which is an unpleasant sensation.
We also had a look at the Yeti, and we've found a second hand Greenline model for £15k and it looks good.
Test drive booked for tomorrow, and we'll bring the grandmother so we can test how easy it is for her to get in and whether the wheelchair fits.

[fungus]

FWIW, I had a brand new Yeti "Greenline" for a weekend last summer (and a full tank of diesel at someone else's expense!) and I thought it was absolute brilliant. Well, up until point me and mate decided to test its off-roading capabilities, tried to take it up 45 degree rocky slope, realised it was actually 2WD and not the 4WD we assumed from the chunky looks, and slid back down again

Probably had road tyres, not off road.

[TheInsanity1234]

So, just out of curiousity and boredom, I decided to play around with a few things on Confused.com, as it's almost certain we're going to get a Yeti.

Some rather curious things came up.

I'm working out the insurance for a '61 Skoda Yeti Greenline 1.6 TDI which is about £15,000.
All the quotes are for fully comprehensive with no black box fitted.

Insurance quote for me as the owner, and sole driver of the car:
£1717.86 from Ingenie.

Insurance quote for me as the main driver, with sister, and mum as named drivers and dad as the owner:
£2174.07 from Drive Smart.

Insurance quote for my dad as the owner, mum as the main driver, and me and my sister as named drivers:
£2174.07 from Drive Smart, again.

So, one high-risk driver as the owner and sole driver appears to get cheaper insurance than a high risk driver as the main driver, a low risk driver as the owner, and a low risk + high risk drivers as named drivers.
There doesn't seem to be any difference regarding who is the main driver.

Does anyone have any idea how this is the case?
Regarding the number of high risk : low risk drivers, I'm guessing it costs more because if my sister, and parents are on the policy, then there's a 50% chance of a high-risk driver using it. (But this doesn't make sense because if I'm the sole driver, then there's a 100% chance of a high-risk driver using it?)

Also, how come whoever's the main driver doesn't appear to have any impact on the cost of the insurance?

[true blue]

Just a head's up, it's looking likely that we're moving up in size. Mum's now looking at a either a B-Max, or a Skoda Yeti. (Don't ask me why, I've repeatedly told them that I'm going to be learning to drive in whatever car they purchase, meaning it should ideally be small. Ignored.)

I taught my other half to drive in a Jag, alongside her BSM tutor using a Corsa. Looked damned silly with L-plates on, but I believe car size isn't really an issue for learners so long as you have good visibility and reasonable controls/power. She also had no real difficulty switching between a diesel and petrol engine. So - don't worry too much about either the size of the car or the fuel type. You'll soon get used to both.

[TheInsanity1234]

Just a head's up, it's looking likely that we're moving up in size. Mum's now looking at a either a B-Max, or a Skoda Yeti. (Don't ask me why, I've repeatedly told them that I'm going to be learning to drive in whatever car they purchase, meaning it should ideally be small. Ignored.)

I taught my other half to drive in a Jag, alongside her BSM tutor using a Corsa. Looked damned silly with L-plates on, but I believe car size isn't really an issue for learners so long as you have good visibility and reasonable controls/power. She also had no real difficulty switching between a diesel and petrol engine. So - don't worry too much about either the size of the car or the fuel type. You'll soon get used to both.

Fuel type isn't a difficulty, it's more about being lazy, as we've had diesel cars for a while, so it just makes life simpler at the pump if they both are diesel.
The car size (for me) isn't a major issue, the B-Max just seems big, because the bonnet drops down very steeply in the front, meaning you can't see where the corners of the car are, so it's a weirdly unpleasant sensation.

We're taking the Yeti out for a test drive today, and we're going to see whether my grandma can get in it easily or not, and how it drives. If my grandma can get in easily, and my mum/dad/sister like driving it, then we'll probably end up going out with a Clio and coming back with a Yeti one day this week

[trashbat]

Does anyone have any idea how this is the case?

Probably because, as said previously, you are a higher risk when driving something you don't own.

As for the named driver question, they probably work out the riskiest usage permutation and go with that.

[sussex2]

Buy your own car and run and finance it yourself.
That will assist you in a couple of ways.
1/. You will get a record with the insurance companies.
2/. If you take out a loan to finance it and pay back on time you will gain a credit record as well.