Sister's first car.

[Toms306]

Honestly, don't get a 106. They really are horrible, they're not nice to drive, you don't feel at all safe in them (I assume you want to protect your sister!) and they're not even particularly good on fuel.

VW service parts don't really cost more on the smaller cars/engines tbh, the only difference is if something major breaks, like a turbo or a DMF....which won't be on a little petrol anyway.

Oh and 106s cost tonnes to insure as they're all driven by chavs who crash them.........yes the slow old NAD is only group 3.....yet it still cost me over £600 to insure!! My 180bhp group 27 golf 'only' cost an extra £200 lol.

firstly; your golf cost you more than £800 a year to insure!?!?! My '6 with all mods declared and AFTER a fault accident is £820 IIRC, and that's paying monthly. If I'd paid up front it would have been around £750!

On to the matter in hand though;My nad cost £490 in fairness, but that was fully comp with 5 yrs protected ncb. I think you're missing the point though Tom; paying less than £1000 a year for a new driver is unbelievably good value these days. Insurance prices for new drivers have gone up loads over the last few years. We all complain that ours haven't gone down as much as we expected them to, but they're really the ones getting stung the worst.

When I passed my test, I was insured with the NFU, who offered a policy that technically insured me under my dads policy, but allowed me to develop my NCB. I was insured for £440 a year, aged 17, with no NCB. So when I go to get insured on the nad this time last year, with no claims against my name, and 5 years NCB, imagine my shock when they tell me £490 is the best they can do. Bloody robbery. But that's how much insurance has changed since we all started driving.

Hence, although it cost YOU more than £600 to insure the nad, I would still suggest it is overall a very very good car to start with, as that's comparatively cheap.

The other thing you have to remember is this;

how many middle-aged people with grey hair that watch Countryfile and take pottery classes and consider one glass of red and a sleeping pill a heavy night drive Mk4 Golf Diesels? High risk bracket that, the stereotypical Mk4 Golf Diesel driver....

How many young drivers have an old 106 because it's all they can afford to buy run fix and insure after they pass their driving test?

How long do you think 106's have been on the road for? How many do you think there are in the country?

How many golfs are there, and how long have they been on the road for?

Statistics (the bollocks the insurance companies actually subscribe to) will tell you that there are a lot of 106's on the road, and they have been on the roads for a lot longer than the mk4 golf diesel. There fore logically there will be more involved in accidents over the life of the 106 vs golf. Especially coupled with the fact everything manufactured by PSA depreciates like a stone, so is more affordable more quickly to the rest, and golf's don't, hence they are still considered the perfect car by the aforementioned Grey-heads....

Christ, this had nothing to do with the golf lol, yes I pay that much due to mods. Also, a '6 would be cheaper for me to insure, fuel is the only reason I don't own one.

But the point is, I can insure a DT for about £50 more than the 106, and a HDi for just a little more again. Now you know my feelings on DT's, but thats a car that wont crumple into a ball at the first sign of an impact, has ABS and PAS (I know top spec 106s do to) and the majority come with electrical toys too.

I know my 106 was a pov spec diesel, but mates have had 106s and saxos which are equally as awful!! The other problem being the TU engine, quite a few of the girls I know had 106s/saxos and ended up blowing HGs on all of them because they don't have the mechanical sympathy like me or you would, and the TU doesnt take well to cold rags!

So if it costs me that much to insure, aged 20 with 3yrs ncb, I can only imagine how high it would be for a new driver.

And are you sure youre thinking of your 106 liam? Spacious? Comfortable? Amazing to drive? Erm.... Don't get me wrong, I'd love to rag about in a 106 GTi.....but it's not the car for a new driver IMO.