Do the current generation of HJ journalists actually read the question they are claiming to "answer"?

I think they have, question is, did you actually read both the question and the answer?. The question asked states clearly that the son (20) is learning to drive and that insurance cost will be a big consideration. What car would you suggest, big enough to sleep in the back of but is also going to be affordable enough, both insurance and general running costs, for a yound male as his first car?.

Andrew Brady very sensibly suggests a small car which is likely to be both cheap to run and insure, spacious enough for his gear, and get a tent. This may not be the ultimate solution David Craig is looking for, but under the circumstances, is going to be the best option, at least until the son has a few years no claims bonus under his belt.

I can think of two other options.

First of these means i can (again!) 'big up' a car (we used to have one) which is unfairly overlooked and put down by many, the Ford Fusion. This Fiesta based car is taller and usefully more spacious (cabin and boot) that the Fiesta, but most importantly here, has a fold flat front passenger seat-back. So were a narrow mattress (for a caravan maybe?) sourced, the son could easily lie down in it.

Second option is the original Merc A-Class. Not sure about insurance costs, but as the basic model used a n/a 1.4 petrol, shouldn't be too bad. What i would be worried about is reliability, as these are apparently not too great. But for sleeping in, one of the party tricks of the A-Class is that all of the seats, including front passenger, can be unclipped and removed leaving a completely flat floor. Not sure if the second gen A-Class also does this, but worth a look to find out.

But going back to Theophilus, seems unneccessary criticism.

Edited by badbusdriver on 25/08/2020 at 08:23

I agree with Theo....the Honda Jazz is an absurd suggestion. The question clearly states 'he wants to fit a mattress... in the back'.

I don't think there is anything absurd about suggesting the use of a tent in the absence of something which could fit a mattress in the back and be affordable to insure for a young man as a first car.

The Ford Focus estate has a rear suspension specifically designed to avoid turret intrusions into the load area.

Most estate cars have this feature, certainly ones designed in in recent memory. One of the first being the Peugeot 305 in around 1982. Incidentally, the Jazz also has this feature (Not that it is relevant as the length is the issue, not the width).

But that doesn't get away from the fact that a mattress wouldn't fit in the back of a Focus estate either, at least not flat on the floor. If the son isn't too tall, he may be able to lie down diagonally in a Focus (or similar) estate (on some foam cut to size), but not 'in-line' and not if he was taller than about 5'9". Years ago i had a small Suzuki van and did this, i couldn't lie down lengthwise, but could, just, from front corner to opposite rear corner.

You'd need a car at least the size of a Mondeo estate to put a standard length mattress (6'3" or 190cm) flat on the floor with rear seats folded.

.... or a Maxi (or Landcrab IIRC) , where both front seat backs folded down to meet the rears :-))

Or a KIA Pride ;>)

<< You'd need a car at least the size of a Mondeo estate to put a standard length mattress (6'3" or 190cm) flat on the floor with rear seats folded. >>

.... or a Maxi (or Landcrab IIRC) , where both front seat backs folded down to meet the rears :-))

That would certainly appeal to me(!), but not sure a 20 year old is going to be too impressed with a Maxi (or Landcrab)!.

But actually the seats in our Jazz did that too. If you slide the front seats all the way forward and remove the headrests, you could recline them so the top of the backrest lined up with the rear seat squab. The rear seat backrest could also be reclined slightly to make a pretty comfy resting place (nothing approaching a horizontal sleeping position though).

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