buying car to 'share' with 17 year old son

I have persuaded my soon to be 17 year old son not to spend his savings on a car as he would not be able to afford to run it as he will be a student for at least another year. I need to change my car now and have decided that I will 'share' my new car with him. It will still be my car but should also be suitable for him.

He is 6'1" at the moment and may grow more. I am currently the 'taxi' service to football etc. and want to have 5 doors and reasonable luggage space. I like having cruise control and air con and quite fancy the Titanium range of Fords because they seem to have lots of extras to make life easier, e.g. heated front windscreen.

I am happy really to have any type of car as long as it suits me and is 'cool' enough for him - my local garage has not enjoyed working on my current Citroen and has suggested Ford, Mazda or Honda.

My son likes the old Honda Civic because it is quite square in shape and I have to say I also don't like cars that are too round looking.

Insurance costs are important although I would prefer to pay more for than put up with another small car - I have felt very cramped in my C3 for some time now.

I hope that in a couple of years he will be responsible for his own insurance. My budget is up to £10k but I could add the cost of my current car (£1,600 quoted) if necessary.

I would love for my car to have built in sat nav, reversing sensors, etc. - yes, cup holders are important to me. I don't know if it is important but we live in a rural area and there are many accident black spots around - I think my son is sensible but you can never tell, he has been able to drive for some years (in friends farms, etc.) - safety is really my top priority

Asked on 18 February 2014 by Janice

Answered by Honest John
Insurance is going to be critical here. If you go for Telematics based insurance then you will have to be as careful as him or it will still register sudden movements. Anything he things is 'cool' will probably be expensive to insure, and I mean thousands, so forget that notion.

A Mazda 2 1.3TS2 is a very nice little car. A Fiesta 1.0 EcoBoost (from around £10,000 via www.drivethedeal.com) makes a lot of sense. A Honda Jazz might be your best bet because it is very practical but in the UK very 'uncool'. FIAT 500s are surprisingly reliable as long as yo don't go for the diesel. FIAT Pandas are quite practical. Dacias are very cheap.
Dear Honest John,

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