Do I

[Apex]

AutoTrader

[Vimeous]

Had my first ride in relations 58-plate 3dr 107 recently. In the back.
At 6'4" ish I thought I'd be in bother but no, it was only an inch or so short on head room meaning more rear space than a Cavalier or Vectra saloon!

Peppy, fun and she loves it so much it's her second!

Long distances? Well she happily charges down the mways to reach us (130m each way) twice a month.
Yes the boot is only good for 4-5 bags of shopping but throw the seats down and it's perfect.

Since the pug, citroen and toymota are all made at the same plant it's one of the few French cars I'd ever recommend!


P.s.
I'd recommend a small car for the first one.
1. You can practise your lines within the confines of your own lane.
2. No hassle parking forwards, backwards or any other way.
3. You learn have to conserve momentum!
4. Damn cheap to run so you can go more places and see more people.
5. If you make a mistake you have more road-space to correct it before it becomes serious.
6. It's confidence building and will teach you all about positioning without taking the corners off something much bigger.

[eshrules]

Again, estates arn't normally THAT much bigger than their hatch counterparts, and rarely any different to drive.
.

I can vouch for this, having gone from a golf mk4 to an a4 avant, it took about 5 nanoseconds to get used to the new size.

[Flash477]

Like you I started off as a biker before passing my car test and never had any problems with car width - in fact the examiner commented on how well I knew the size of the vehicle - I put it down to the years judging what size gaps I could get my bike through. Also being a biker you will already be much more aware of the other road users, as you have to be when you are on a bike and want to stay on it.

There are just 2 things you need to think about:

1. Cost - can you afford the extra fuel/tax/insurance that comes with a larger car
2. Parking - how good is your reversing? if it is not very good then you'll probably want to get used to a smaller car first.

[Konan555]

2. Parking - how good is your reversing? if it is not very good then you'll probably want to get used to a smaller car first.

Maneuvering in reverse is generally a lot easier with a longer wheelbase. It's just judging the distance to the rear pumper that becomes a little harder.

[Apex]

There are just 2 things you need to think about:

1. Cost - can you afford the extra fuel/tax/insurance that comes with a larger car
2. Parking - how good is your reversing? if it is not very good then you'll probably want to get used to a smaller car first.

1. insurance is the same has for a 1.3 corsa, tax is not much different, £190 iirc for any cars above 1500 cc and reged before March 2000 and £120+ for most of the 1.3 small calls I've looked at and has for fuel most of them are getting the same mileage as each other
2. Am ok and can only get better with practice

[Apex]

Odd thing is going on with my ins.

If i go for TP, am looking at 1k for car worth 800 quid
If i go for TPFT, am looking at £494
If i go full comp, am looking at £474

well weird

[hitman67]

Try a Focus Estate in either 1.6 or 1.8, generally very close to the hatch on insurance, handle well and look good too. Dropped to silly cheap prices too.

Personally I think all new drivers should be taught in something big, because my driving improved tenfold when I went from the A3 to the A4, and tenfold again when I was driving a LWB Land Rover. Now the focus is nothing, especially to park, because after throwing a car thats 145 inches end to end around a car park a hatch back is too easy!