My daughter hopes to get her first car later in the year, she doesn't have a huge budget so it will not be a new car. What would you recommend for a new young driver in terms of reliability, safety and economy? She would like to get a Ford if possible, but we have to get good value for money. Any suggestions please?

The Ford Focus would seem like a fairly sensible first choice to me, It's reasonably priced, not a gas guzzler and not too expensive to insure.

Thank you, I have just had a look at the Ford Focus on the Ford website, it is a very nice looking car. Several people have said that Japanese cars are the most reliable, so my daughter is also going to look at some other makes, a friend of ours has a Nissan that has always been very reliable and economical.

another thing she might want to consider is the availability of spare parts when things go wrong. for that, she probably can't do much better than a ford.

A Ford Focus is a great car to own. If she is looking at other models (I know this is a Ford board, but this is a good running car) I think the Chevy Cavilier is also a good car.

I had a vision of a Who's the Boss episode where the dad buys his daughter a big yellow boat with reflectors along the side....

That is a very good point. Where we live Ford parts are not always easy to get and they are very expensive. A while ago I needed a replacement windscreen wiper for my Ford, I went to the local car superstore for a generic brand but Ford have a different fitting and they didn't fit. I then took the car to my mechanic (who is very good), he ordered the wipers but when they arrived they didn't fit and he had to provide loads of information before tracking down some that would fit, they were extremely expensive. I'm sure they make these things over complicated so that we can't get generic spare parts and have to pay their high prices.

I think all manufacturers are guilty of doing that occassionally. It's always worth trying the scrap yards if there are any near you.

Ha ha, don't give her ideas! Her dream car is a metallic blue Porche Boxter sport with leather seats, but back in the real world a Ford Focus or something very similar will make a very sensible first car.