A first car now costs us £4,300

GETTING an old banger costing a few hundred pounds after passing your driving test used to be a rite of passage.

But the average new driver now splashes out nearly £4,300 on their first car, often with high-tech extras or a maker’s warranty, according to figures.

This is up more than 40 per cent on last year’s first car average of just over £ 3,000. The figure varies across the country, from nearly £5,300 in the North West to almost £3,500 in the South West.

One reason for the rise in spending is parents buying teenagers modern cars with better safety features, said GoCompare Car Insurance, which did the study.