UK’s safest used first car is revealed

The Skoda Citigo has pipped the Volkswagen Up! to be crowned the safest used first car for young drivers by Co-op Insurance.

Based on a formula ranking devised by the Co-op and vehicle safety experts Thatcham Research, cars had to be in the supermini category, have a five-star Euro NCAP rating, CO2 emissions of 120g/km or less, available to purchase on the second-hand market for £5.000 or less, and have a low insurance group rating.

Co-op Insurance’s Top 5 Safest Used First Cars 2017

1. Skoda Citigo
2. VW Up!
3. Seat Mii
4. Toyota Yaris
5. Kia Rio

“Autonomous Emergency Braking and Electronic Stability Control are second only to the seatbelt in terms of being life savers. They are critical in preventing the most common crashes that young drivers have,” said Matthew Avery, Director of Research, Thatcham Research.

“My advice to parents buying their child a first used car: do not buy the oldest or cheapest car you can find. There are plenty of good deals out there for newer second-hand cars that have a five-star Euro NCAP test rating and are fitted with ESC and AEB as standard.”

Co-op Insurance also released details of a study which revealed that just 31% of young drivers say they consider safety when choosing a vehicle.

Three-quarters (75%) didn’t know about vital safety devices including Electronic Stability Control (ESC) and Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB), yet two-fifths (41%) of young drivers have been involved in a road traffic incident where they were the driver.

Highlighting a willingness to compromise on safety, price (75%), the cost of insurance (63%) and whether a car is cheap to run (43%) are the top three selling points when buying a first car, according to young drivers.

Top 10 first time car buyer considerations

1. Price (75%)
2. Cost of insurance (63%)
3. Cheap to run (43%)
4. Age of vehicle (39%)
5. Colour (31%)
6. How safe it is (31%)
7. If it’s a well-known brand (24%)
8. Interior of vehicle (13%)
9. How eco-friendly it is (12%)
10. Parts are easy to find (11%)