Key Findings
The Reframed Brief
Original research optimised for a teen learner's first car. This pass re-weights for a parent's daily driver that teens will learn in and may eventually inherit. Lake District trips from Harrogate, motorway comfort, and ACC quality now share equal weight with teen insurance cost. Budget stays at £15k.
The ACC Lottery
Of 11 cars evaluated, 5 were eliminated because ACC is unavailable, unsafe, or unaffordable on in-budget trims. Only Toyota and Honda fit ACC to every trim as standard — with all other brands you must verify each individual used car before buying.
The Kona Oversight
The Hyundai Kona 1.6 HEV should have been in the original research. Full self-charging hybrid (not mild), Insurance Group 11-13 (beats the Yaris), 361L boot, £10-15k used. The only friction: ACC is an optional SmartSense pack, so you must filter for equipped examples.
New Candidates
Eliminated — and Why
| Car | Dealbreaker | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| Hyundai i20 DCT | No ACC on any trim in this generation — never available regardless of spec | Eliminated |
| MG3 Hybrid+ | Insurance Group 23-24. Driver seat detached during NCAP crash test — a unique failure in 29 years of testing. Pre-Aug 2025 production unaffected by MG's design fix. | Eliminated |
| Suzuki Vitara 1.4 SHVS | Insurance Group 22 for a 17-year-old. Last NCAP test was 2015 — an outdated protocol that predates modern pedestrian and safety assist criteria. | Eliminated |
| Renault Clio E-Tech | ACC only on RS Line via an optional pack that was inconsistently fitted during chip shortage era. Too patchy to rely on finding a confirmed example under £15k. | Eliminated |
| Renault Captur E-Tech | ACC only on Esprit Alpine trim — consistently priced above £15k on the used market for any reasonable mileage example. | Eliminated |