JDYER1 said:

id say 1.4 is the best engine size to start , cause its poerful enough that you dont need ratlle every gear to get it yo go , and u wont go through loads of petrol , 1.4s woooo:slayer:

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As the OP is a new driver, the 1.4 is a great engine to start with and being his first time car, it will feel like a racing car to him. But I feel sorry for he insurance quote of £1600. Insurance for young people is a joke.

Mine's a 1.2 Active and like all small Fiat engines goes like a top if you rev it hard (though that's not good for fuel consumption which is usually around 50mpg for me). More than capable of keeping up with traffic as said above.

Personally I'd go for the Dynamic, the Active is pretty basic

The difference in insurance costs is probably due to fewer 1.4's being driven by young drivers so fewer claims, less risk to the insurer.

1.2 new shape Corsa's are very expensive to insure because a lot of chavs drive them

I recently changed our family car from a diesel mondeo to a brand new petrol astra and despite the astra being worth 4 times the value of the mondeo its £100 a year cheaper to insure(which is massive considering i only paid £600 to insure the mondeo and punto), probably because they are usually driven by old farts!

Having owned a 1.2 and 1.4 8v I would say go for the 1,4 it pulls a little better and has a slightly higher top end ... Coupled with the newer design of fire engine with the vvt head (don't get too excited its to reduce emissions rather than gain power)

Avoid anything that's been modified as a young driver most companies won't cover you.... Fail to tell them and if they find out your screwed. (Saw where one chap recently had his neighbour reverse into his parked car found he had modified it and canceled his policy )


Check the known faults sticky and when you go look press every button and switch everything on and off check it all works

Anything older than 5 years check cambelt and water pump have been replaced

I think £1600 is reasonable given the risk. I may just be turning into an old fart at 28 lol.

ChrisUK said:

I think £1600 is reasonable given the risk. I may just be turning into an old fart at 28 lol.

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I paid that over 10 years ago for 3rd party cover on a 1.2 mk1 Punto so it sounds pretty reasonable to me as well