Help!!Son is stuck 300 miles away from home with his new car .

vikingaero

fatpiggy wrote: »

I've just read this thread, and frankly I am appalled. Two weeks after his test, and he buys a 1.6? What size car did he learn on? The majority of driving school/instructor cars are no more than 1.2. There is a huge difference in acceleration and body weight and consequently braking distance between these two vehiccle sizes. Two weeks after his test he drives on motorways despite never having had a motorway lesson? Two weeks after his test he wants to drive 300 miles, and with another totally inexperienced person with him? In a hours lesson you might drive 10 miles. I had my licence for 11 years before I bought my first car and had 5 motorway lessons first, (plus some advanced lessons with another instructor) as I had never driven on a motorway myself (there aren't any in Cornwall). 10 days after I bought my car I drove 150 miles in one day on all road types and was EXHAUSTED when I arrived. You may think your son is a responsible paragon of virtue but let me tell you what happened to a lad I was at school with. A week after I passed my test he passed his and the very next day wrote off his father's car and a teacher's while giving his mates a lift to school. Luckily no-one was hurt.

2 days after I passed my test I drove from London to Glasgow in a 1.8 litre Golf.:eek:

Obviously I killed 500 people on the way up there and about 4,000 on the way down.:rolleyes:

elvch01

thescouselander wrote: »

I'm sorry to hear about this story. More Than must make a habit of this - it happened to me too!

When I bought my current car I got a quote from the More Than website - they quoted me £450 but when I phoned to get the insurance they said they couldn't insure me on the car (I had already committed to buy the car at this point) .

In the end I got insurance from Direct Line for £50 more so no big deal. But here is the important bit:

I made a complaint to More Than threatening them with the FSA - I won and they were forced to pay the difference between their quote and what I ended up paying at Direct Line.

I suggest you might want to take similar action if you have proof of the original quote they gave and it was still in the validity period.

I totally agree & I had a similar experience with MORE>THAN a couple of years ago. The quote on my car was about 25% cheaper with them, so I accepted their price & purchased immediately. When I did not receive a cover note, they tried to play me along for a while, but I had a confirmation email along with the original quote reference. I persisted when they tried to re-quote me at a higher price (saying the original quote was lost) and eventually they accepted the orginal price as quoted. I actually benefited in that they immediately issued a cover note when I could prove that I had paid for insurance, and then 6 weeks later, they isued a new policy, so I got 6 weeks for free

As an aside, I think that the original mis-quote was caused by me performing a lot of "what-if" stuff on the website using the browser "back button" to go back & try alternative options/add-ons etc and it confused their application; so when they gave me a very good quote I just went ahead and purchased it

Shoshannah

Everyone is different.

I did not drive on a motorway for months after I passed, simply because there weren't any near where I lived! Within weeks of passing I used to go on five hour drives every weekend just for the hell of it. Wasted all my hard-earned cash lol but you are only 18 once.

I agree that the lad should be careful and considerate, like any driver. Inexperience is a problem when you first start driving but it is your attitude towards your inexperience that counts.

You could be really arrogant, think you are god's gift to the road and start speeding around all over the place. OR you could acknowledge that you are inexperienced and try to drive accordingly.

I passed my test just before before my 18th birthday. I started driving my first car about a week later - as mentioned above it was very powerful for a new driver. I had the odd prang at low speed like anyone could have - hit a bollard etc when parking. I drove it for just over a year before it was written off in an accident that was not my fault (I was waiting to turn right when an 80-year-old man drive into the back of my car and said he hadn't seen me).

I am now 24 and still drive a 2.0i car. I have never driven anything less powerful since I passed my test.

I am a safer driver than some of the boy (and girl!) racers that race around in their modified little 106's and Corsas, zooming up and down the 30mph road outside my flat at 60mph + each evening.

Sorry but I just cannot accept that driving a powerful car magically makes you a more dangerous driver. Pretty much all cars nowadays can go over the 35mph we are told is enough to kill a pedestrian. Punish the bad driving, not the choice of car.

shelovestobuystuff

fatpiggy wrote: »

I've just read this thread, and frankly I am appalled. Two weeks after his test, and he buys a 1.6? What size car did he learn on? The majority of driving school/instructor cars are no more than 1.2. There is a huge difference in acceleration and body weight and consequently braking distance between these two vehiccle sizes. Two weeks after his test he drives on motorways despite never having had a motorway lesson? Two weeks after his test he wants to drive 300 miles, and with another totally inexperienced person with him? In a hours lesson you might drive 10 miles. I had my licence for 11 years before I bought my first car and had 5 motorway lessons first, (plus some advanced lessons with another instructor) as I had never driven on a motorway myself (there aren't any in Cornwall). 10 days after I bought my car I drove 150 miles in one day on all road types and was EXHAUSTED when I arrived. You may think your son is a responsible paragon of virtue but let me tell you what happened to a lad I was at school with. A week after I passed my test he passed his and the very next day wrote off his father's car and a teacher's while giving his mates a lift to school. Luckily no-one was hurt.

wow!I am glad no-one was hurt but maybe if he had been driving his own car which he had saved up for for over a year and a half he would have been more careful?
I really believe that the best way to learn something new is by doing it,so he has learned about motorway driving already today.Later today he will learn how to wash a car and possibly by next week he will have learned just how much it actually costs to own and run a car.Who knows, once the realisation of that hits him he may learn how to sell his first car?
I would have prefered he had bought a smaller car too but he is an adult and he can spend his own money however he likes.It does look fantastic though and given the choice myself of say a fiat punto or whatever the usual starter car is thesedays and the alfa romeo I would have bought one like this too.

almillar

fatpiggy, and anyone else who thinks that a '1.6 Alfa Romeo 156' is some racing machine - it's 8+ years old, and probably does 0-60 in about the same time as it takes the driving instructor's Mini, or even Clio or Corsa. Do some research. Also, motorways are statistically the safest place to drive of course.
I'm all for new drivers buying the car they can afford (including insurance) instead of borrowing £1,000s for a new 'safe' car.

chnelomi

read this post last night but had no imput of any value so did not post but felt i had to after the remark about lessons to drive on the motorway. these lessons are a choice and for some they are a very helpfull source of information and confidence. For others it's just money that is not necessary. when a friend of mine past his test he wrapped it round a pole on a 30 road within 2 weeks another had a very powerfull convertible and never even put a scratch on it, and another lost his licence within a couple of months for speeding offences. no umount of motorway lessons would help stupidity and driving outwith their ability.

The OP's son has had a baptisim of fire from what has happened and he got the best lesson you can get from driving on the motorway. just get on it and drive. I bet he was one of few sensible drivers on the road. Personaly i hate motorways because of other peoples driving, cutting infront to close then suddenly breaking. playing games with trucks no indications of lane changes and not using mirrors when they do. And more often than not the culprits are middle aged men not youngsters.

Rant over

skylight

Just read through all this - with various snorts of amusement and some of shock at wanting to buy the car in the first place!

Its his money so he can get what he wants. And he did! Just because he has the Alfa, does not mean that he is going to be reckless with it. He may, or may not.

But, I am glad that he is back safely.

nomoneytoday

Good on him. He did the best motorway lesson. Instead of a few hours with a tutor he got experience. Much more valuable in the real world

Incidentally, I got a free motorway lesson after passing my test. We took the car to 120 leptons to show how the steering got lighter, and how to read the road far ahead. It was my favourite lesson lol

This was 20 years before speed scameras had been invented

zfrl

Great thread - had it all. Plot, tension, criticism & a happy ending.

I think you should be proud of him. Saving instead of borrowing & actually going out and doing something instead of complaining and waiting for it to all happen.

Well done. Glad he is home safely.

Lemonade_Pockets

Good lad,

A display of so many good qualities, independance, integretiy, etc etc. And well done for the OP for not just bailing him out.
Wish there more ppl like this around, much better than the molly cuddled brats that are so common!

As for been dangerous i disagree completely the guy has already racked up more miles and motorway experience than a lot of drivers do in several years of driving. He's paid his way so he knows how much he has to lose by being stupid. Much better than a yuppy who has a brand new mini and only ventures onto the motorway every blue moon. These can normally be spotted in the outside lane of the motorway wearing the biggest sunglasses known to man, indicating right and travelling at 69Mph with a queue of trafic behind them.

My only critism is that he should of smelt a rat with the more than insurance! But at least he'll know now if its seems to good to be true then it usually is.

Anyway glad it all worked out ok for all concerned, owning a Alfa is a fine way to start a driving career. He must have petrol in his blood...JC would be proud!