Hi James,

Realistically, as a young, first-time driver, you need to suck it up and accept you are unlikely to get insurance on anything beyond a front-wheel-drive car in a sober suit. Coupes and bigger engines will impact on your premium and we normally say for first-time insurers that a 1.2-litre engine is the ceiling. You’re also going to struggle finding a saloon for that money, so – much as it pains us to say it to you, given what you asked for – we think a FWD hatchback is the way you’ll have to go. There are some interesting choices for your money, like the Fiat Panda, Ford Fiesta, Hyundai i10 or Toyota Yaris, so you don’t have to have a Nissan Micra or the like if you think some cars have a fuddy-duddy image.