A good first car?

[Animal Mother]

P reg VR6? no? :mischeif:

Surely insurance would be a killer on one of these? I do like them though, the VR6 OC was at Demon Dyno doing some runs while I was down there, all got around 200bhp!

Personally I would think it would be better to learn in a manual straight from the gun, I am sure it will be more difficult to alter the driving style later....

Yep, sorted, now going for the fully manual route!
Ok, so far NO to the following:
Fiat Coupe
Alfa GTV
Celice
MG
Golf

Maybe:

Polo (G40 anyone?)
80 tdi
FTO
Pug 306

New ideas, how about:

2.0 (4cyl?) coupe?
CQ?
My current passat?
Skoda Felicia 1.9tdi?
A second UrS6 (just an excuse to get another)
Land Rover defender?
Land Rover freelander (not sure on this, did you see the impact tested one on Top Gear)?

[Heat Seeking Missile]

Seeing as I'm a little biased, what about a Rover 220/420 SDi? Alot of car for your coin, parts are easy to get hold of, good economy, reliable and cheap insurance. Make sure you go for the intercooled one though. 103bhp and 210lbs/ft of torque is more than enough for a first time driver.

Mark

[Animal Mother]

Seeing as I'm a little biased, what about a Rover 220/420 SDi? Alot of car for your coin, parts are easy to get hold of, good economy, reliable and cheap insurance. Make sure you go for the intercooled one though. 103bhp and 210lbs/ft of torque is more than enough for a first time driver.

Mark

Would consider it but probably go for the Honda equivelant as parts, insurance and car cost is lower.

[TEKNOPUG]

£1500 is not gonna buy you much; it'll either be really small engined/poverty spec or a complete dog. Considering that she is gonna get really stung in the first couple of years (and no doubt have a ding at some stage) it would make sense to get something cheap and easy, like a 306 or Toyota/Honda equivalent. Will she need the car for work, will she be doing a lot of miles in it? I think that it makes sense to get something very neutral handling/performance wise so that she can learn in that (and not just to pass her test) and discover how she enjoys driving and then decide what sort of car she would like in a year or so; rather than spending cash on a high mileage "performance car" that she may not even like.

[Animal Mother]

£1500 is not gonna buy you much; it'll either be really small engined/poverty spec or a complete dog..

£1500 gets you quite a lot oop narth, my UrS6 for example.

Considering that she is gonna get really stung in the first couple of years (and no doubt have a ding at some stage) it would make sense to get something cheap and easy, like a 306 or Toyota/Honda equivalent.

She is 29 so insurance shouldn't be too horrendous

Will she need the car for work, will she be doing a lot of miles in it?

No and no.

I think that it makes sense to get something very neutral handling/performance wise so that she can learn in that (and not just to pass her test) and discover how she enjoys driving and then decide what sort of car she would like in a year or so; rather than spending cash on a high mileage "performance car" that she may not even like.

Car will be used by both of us so a happy medium would be needed.

[Nj]

2.0 coupe might not be a bad idea. i have a 2.0 16v 4 cycl coupe just now and my missus drove a polo for a few months before moving onto the coupe. She loves it and finds it easy to drive. has enough oomph to be fun but not so much that it's dangerous for her. Wasn't overly expensive to add her onto my insurance so I don't think it'd be too bad for your lovely lady is she's 29. (You know she'll do you in for posting her age on the internet)
Think it's a bit harsh to say £1500 would only get a "dog". Not everyone can afford to splash out £ks on a car. In fact i'll be selling the 16v for under £1500 when the s2's on the road and it's the dog's danglies.

VR6 was a silly suggestion of course. hence the :mischeif: Good car though.

[Animal Mother]

What do people think of the Polo >2000 model? Specifically the 1.4 petrol and diesel.

[hiltoa]

Our lass has a 1.2 Ibiza (52 plate so a tad over your budget) - quite good fun for a tiddler, and only having 3 cylinders it's got a slight off beat warble when you give it death!

[europeanme]

I see the pug has been mentioned but what about a 306 Dturbo...a sweet car...and, as I'm not sure of their availability, a 205 DT......but a polo sounds like a plan...

good luck in your hunt....