Buying a first car for Christmas

It is almost that time of year again. The time of festive spirit, roast turkey and, of course, presents. Like loads of other parents out there, you may be planning to buy a first car for your daughter.

Although it sounds like a simple thing to do, there are actually many pitfalls to buying a car. Many young people end up selling their cars within months of getting them, mostly because they cannot afford the running costs.

You need to start by looking around for a suitable car. Unless you get particularly lucky and spot the perfect young driver's car in AutoTrader or your local Friday Ad the first time you glance through it, you may well have to put some effort into finding a good buy.

When you are buying a first car, one of the most important things to consider is the cost of running the vehicle.

Motoring can be really expensive, especially when considering the size of a young person's budget. You have to think about how much a car will cost to MOT, service, repair and tax, not to mention fill up with petrol. Buying a car that is reasonably low cost on all of these points will make affording it much easier for your daughter.

Of course, there is one more expense that needs to be taken into consideration: car insurance. For young drivers, car insurance is notoriously expensive - stretching into thousands of pounds for some - and you need to choose a car that will make getting a cheap motor insurance quote as easy as possible.

Every car model has a car insurance group rating and this plays a significant part in determining how much a motor insurance quote is going to be. It will take into account factors such as how powerful that car is and how much it is worth so, by picking a car with a low car insurance group, cheaper motor insurance should be available.

The Volkswagen Fox, Vauxhall Corsa and Peugeot 107 are good choices for young drivers because they have specifications which earn them the very lowest car insurance group. They also have good safety and reliability scores, making them popular with parents.

However, the type of car is not the only thing that a motor insurance firm will consider when putting together your daughter's premium. The fact she is female will work in her favour, especially as there are a number of companies specialising in cheap car insurance for women. If she manages to get through her first year without needing to claim on the female driver policy, the no claims bonus will mean that her premium will be reduced by around 30% next year.

The important thing to remember is to get car insurance sorted out well in advance so you don't end up with the frustrating situation of the car sitting on the driveway but your daughter not being able to drive it. Most companies offering car insurance for women can organise their motor insurance quotes up to 30 days in advance, thereby allowing you to start the policy from Christmas Day.

What some parents do in order to save money is to arrange car insurance in their own name and have their daughter as a named driver on their policy. However, if the child is actually the primary driver of the car, this means the motor insurance policy is not valid. Also, they are unlikely to be able to build up a no claims bonus as a named driver and when they come to get their own policy, they will face very expensive car insurance quotes.

This Christmas, don't be one of the many well-meaning parents who end up saddling their children with first cars that are neither economical nor practical. Follow these helpful tips and get your daughter on the road with the car that's right for her.

*A replacement car can normally be arranged under one of the following conditions: (1) Comprehensive policyholders – a replacement car may be available under the terms of your insurance policy. Please check your policy details for more information. (2) Non fault accident – where we have the name, car registration number and insurance details of the person who caused the accident, we can supply a replacement car. This is done on a credit hire basis which means the costs for this service will be passed onto the insurance company of the person who caused the accident. We may not be able to arrange a replacement car where we are unable to get an admission of liability from their insurance company, or where the driver is untraceable or uninsured. (3) Repair garage – if your car is booked in for repairs following an accident, the repair garage may be able to provide a replacement car (subject to availability).