Mitsubishi Colt as first car?

Nov 11, 2009
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I though about adding this to the Aygo/C1 thread but that would have diverted the discussion, so hence a new thread.

Our granddaughter has booked her first driving lessons and has been saving hard to buy good runabout, one that she can learn in whilst also going to a driving school. We were going to let her use our Kia Rio but to be honest the rear vsisbity is pretty restricted due to the tapering rear quarters. So she's looking for something with better all round visibility, and a good reputation for reliability. Initially it was a Polo but prices are high, as are Fiat 500s. (which she does not like). So strangely for a teenager she's alighted on a Mitsubishi Colt four door 1.3 petrol as a choice. Looking around there a quite a number in the 10-12 year old bracket that have low mileages , a couple of owners and from photos have been well looked after.

Has anyone had any experience of the little Mitsubishi?
 
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May 7, 2012
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Assuming she is in her teens check the insurance costs as they will be high and different models can be hundreds of pounds apart. My sister was going to give her old Clio when she changed it to her grand daughter, but found the premium over £2,000. They then checked round and found an old small Chevrolet which came out several hundred pounds cheaper to insure. Too early to say anything on reliability though but so far so good.
 
Jul 18, 2017
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Has anyone had any experience of the little Mitsubishi?

Friends had the Mitsubishi Colt and it was very abused, but kept going by some miracle. Mitsubishi have pulled out of the UK, but I think spares will be readily available for some time. Has she thought about a Corolla as they are generally also very reliable.
 
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Nov 6, 2005
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Assuming she is in her teens check the insurance costs as they will be high and different models can be hundreds of pounds apart. My sister was going to give her old Clio when she changed it to her grand daughter, but found the premium over £2,000. They then checked round and found an old small Chevrolet which came out several hundred pounds cheaper to insure. Too early to say anything on reliability though but so far so good.
Insurance rates for youngsters aren't too bad while they're learners if they're added to an older person's policy - it's when they pass their test and want insurance in their own right that it goes through the roof.
 
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Nov 11, 2009
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Insurance rates for youngsters aren't too bad while they're learners if they're added to an older person's policy - it's when they pass their test and want insurance in their own right that it goes through the roof.
She’s thinking of having a telematic insurance but wouldn’t want to be overly constrained by what hours or where she can go, as she works in a restaurant and sometimes the shifts can run later. But good point about insurance classes and the wide variation shown on the Toyota Aygo thread. I suspect there will be a number of other choices before the provisional licence is obtained in May. But thanks for feedback.
 
Oct 21, 2020
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We bought and helped run both our children their first cars.
Before we bought anything we did quotes on as many types as possible then bought to suit the most reasonable quote.
Daughter had a Ford KA, superb little motor.
Son had a Clio, again a great 1st car.

Kev
 
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Jul 23, 2021
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We bought a Kia Picanto 2015 1L 5 door in 2017 for all 3 of our children to learn in. Had the nicest interior for the size of a tiny car, a good NCAP saftey record and 7 year 100,000 mile warranty. Our youngest is about to start learning in. Insurance for the them after they passed was under £800 (which is very low for a young new driver). We also looked at the Hyundai i10 (same car as the kia) Seat Mi, VW Up and Skoda Citygo (all the same car) and all with the same low insurance.
Moneysavingexpert.com has a specific page for insuring young drivers. There is often an updated list of the cheapest cars to insure - example list here.
 
Jan 19, 2002
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You will have seen that currently the price of used cars is sky high. We were looking for our daughter before Christmas but a local garage advised us to wait until after the new plate in march in the hope that the market will have eased a bit by then. Despite that you will lIkely also find that forecourts have plenty of empty tarmac at the moment.
 
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When we were helping our daughter with her first car we spent a morning at a car supermarket which gave her the opportunity to sit in a wide range of vehicles. in the end she decided to go for an Hyundai i10, with which she is very happy. In addition, we have been very happy with the Hyundai garage in Oxford for servicing.
 
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Jul 18, 2017
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I was thinking that maybe our daughter who is emigrating to the UK should consider importing their small car into the UK. I know it has a very low mileage and is under 5 year old. A lot depends on shipping costs from SA and customs.
 
Nov 6, 2005
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I was thinking that maybe our daughter who is emigrating to the UK should consider importing their small car into the UK. I know it has a very low mileage and is under 5 year old. A lot depends on shipping costs from SA and customs.
Insurers will ask if it's an imported car and load the premium, but I don't know how much by.
 
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Insurers will ask if it's an imported car and load the premium, but I don't know how much by.
We had an imported 4x4 Surf and insurance was no different to similar vehicles. However not having UK insurance previously it is going to be high even if they have 20 years NCD in SA.
 
Nov 11, 2009
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Insurers will ask if it's an imported car and load the premium, but I don't know how much by.
Official imports don’t tend to be loaded as high as grey imports. These days most cars coming into the country are imports. It’s a global market. I had a 1995 Pajero a grey import that was about the same to insure as my Disco 2 and Sorento.
 
Nov 6, 2005
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Official imports don’t tend to be loaded as high as grey imports. These days most cars coming into the country are imports. It’s a global market. I had a 1995 Pajero a grey import that was about the same to insure as my Disco 2 and Sorento.
Insurers don't define official imports as imports - only grey imports as the different specification may make it difficult to obtain specific parts.
 
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Insurers don't define official imports as imports - only grey imports as the different specification may make it difficult to obtain specific parts.
Well that's a red herring that you dropped into the thread. I think it most unlikely that a Mitsubishi Colt would be brought in as a grey import, or by your definition "an import" Jaguars, Discoverys, Land Cruisers, Volvo V70s, yes but a Colt ???? :giggle:
 
Jul 18, 2017
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Insurers don't define official imports as imports - only grey imports as the different specification may make it difficult to obtain specific parts.
They have a vehicle that is the same as what is manufactured in UK/EU. I think it is a Honda.
 
Nov 6, 2005
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Well that's a red herring that you dropped into the thread. I think it most unlikely that a Mitsubishi Colt would be brought in as a grey import, or by your definition "an import" Jaguars, Discoverys, Land Cruisers, Volvo V70s, yes but a Colt ???? :giggle:
I was responding to Buckman's post about his daughter importing her car from South Africa.
 
Oct 22, 2019
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Clive, our daughter passed her test last summer, she tried sitting in a variety of cars and settled on a 3dr 208, it's a 13 plate with free rfl and with a tesco black box the isurance with us 2 as additional drivers came out circa £900 ish. This insurance doesn't have a time curfew and IF she drives well, she gains extra miles as they do ask for a yearly milage allowance. More than are also good aswell, I think they do a monetary reward per quarter via a gift card.
 
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Jan 3, 2012
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My wife owned hers Mitsubishi Colt Attivo 1.1 3 Door for a 11 years and it still going strong and this like it in the photo below .
 

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Jan 3, 2012
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Since it was brought we paid extra for paint protection and my wife would keep it washed but on the right side near the back someone at Tesco swipe it . Our youngest granddaughter would love to own it
 
Nov 11, 2009
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Since it was brought we paid extra for paint protection and my wife would keep it washed but on the right side near the back someone at Tesco swipe it . Our youngest granddaughter would love to own it
It’s strange that a teenager likes a car that is definitely “ non cool” by the standards of that age group. My granddaughter said it was the all round visibility that drew her to liking the Colt.

Our first second car was bought for my wife as I kept forgetting to pick her up after work. So we decided on one with what we thought had no street cred. It was a Skoda Estelle. The kids couldn’t keep their hands off of it. No accounting for taste is there?
 
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