Choosing a first car

goldspanners

newfoundglory wrote: »

It makes no difference whether I choose a crap car or not. A 6 year old nissan micra 1.0L engine will cost me £1400 fully comp with £500 excess. How on earth does a nissan micra compare risk wise to a brand new 1.4L astra sport which costs £100 extra to insure with the same insurer? P-reg Polo 1.0L worth £900 is almost £1400 again.

I have tried many combinations. I can choose anything up to about "group 6" and it will still cost me no less than £1350, but generally between £1400 and £1550.

Seems I am suffering from being a 25 year old new driver, with no experience in a high risk post code.

Very frustrating.

it could be worse, you could be 18.
the astra will be cheaper due to ease of new parts and they will be cheaper. one small scuff in the micra could write it off, a small scuff in the astra would be repairable. and you would be more likely to take more care of a new astra than you would an old micra. oh and the astra should be safer to both you and 3rd partys if you were involved in an accident.

newfoundglory

Ah, i'm not complaining as such. And yeah, at least i'm not 18! So I have more options.

Its just I cant decide what to do now.

But at least I can pick a car I'd actually want to drive.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

if either of your parents drive ask them if they would be kind as to give you permission to put them him or her on your policy as a named driver (obviously if they have thier own car insurance they would have no claims bonus but will not be able to use them if their agreed to be on your policy) and do a pass plus course this will bring your policy down more.

the more excess you pay on your policy the more the policy price comes down but bear in mind that in the event you have an accident tpft e.t.c or even fully compo you will have to find the excess amount e.g £600 or what ever you select as suppose to £450.

the older the car the more at risk you become to insurers i.e bump a 10 11 yr old car its a total loss even if its a cracked headlamp and bumper!

being 25 and a first pass, your considered high risk anyway due to statistics showing new drivers are more likely to have a bump in age groups 17-25
if you choose to buy an older vehicle 5yrs old+ then try not to go for an abviouse vehicle a youngster in age groups 17-25 would go for top two being fiesta's and corsa's, and the likes of punto's,astra's,escorts,tigra's 1.4 and f puma's 1.4. f focus 1.4, 1.4 MGZR's, pug 106's 206's, theres a myth that old type mini's are cheap to insure not true quote i had a quote when i was (21 now 25)g reg mini was £2300 £300 excess TPFT compared to a g reg escort rsturbo 1.6 £1800 £300 excess TPFT with the same company on the sameday quotation over the phone. and try some local insurance broker or your bank most large banks have their own insurance company's tescos also do a value insurance, keep looking get differebt quotes and different cars, cheapest quote on a car i had was a 1.4 rover sli when i was 18 £1100 £350 excess probably higher now go for names like skoda hell it maybe a skoda (and i have nothing against them actually i quite like the fabia and octavia and supurb and have had cheap quotes this year for a 1.4 and they do a 1.2 fabia also) but the new ones are VW built. happy hunting!

biscuitdunker

Try Lancaster insurance, i was in an almost identical position a couple of years ago, couldn't get a quote under £1000 from anywhere. Lancaster randomly quoted me £400 with fire and theft. Not saying they'll still be the same now, but it's worth a shot maybe?

Jakg

rev_henry wrote: »

£1300 when you're 25 :eek: I'm 17 and I've had quotes much less than that! Although I live in Cumbria with 0 crime etc.

Then consider yourself lucky - I live in the second safest postcode area and the lowest quote I got was £1,400 when I was 17...

As for Fully comp VS TP.

If I crashed my car, i'd have to pay a £250 ish excess on fully comp. Then my insurers would give me £500 for the rest of my car. But FC costs about £500 more for me anyway, and a "lost" years NCB would again cost £200 ish at renewal next year. No point for a cheaper car imo.

newfoundglory

Well I tried a 2003 1.2l Skoda Fabia (which I'd be happy to drive)... and yes, you guessed it £1400 fully comp with 500 excess.

Also tried Rover 1.4 sli, which are very cheap to buy, but was quite a bit more expensive to insure.

I went back to my original Astra idea... and went for a relatively new 1.4 hatchback from 2006 (about 7 grand, rather than 10 to 11 thousand new). Doing that makes the insurance jump from £1500 on a 2009 model to almost £2000.

I also tried adding my Dad to a new 2009 Astra policy and that reduces the quote by 225!!

I am using comparison sites here... these are the cheapest quotes.

Not even low mileage seems to reduce the cost... I probably wont do more than 5000 miles in the first year. To save a lot i'd have to move address which isnt an option. By moving i'd save 500 to 600 quid instantly. But I cant move until april next year and I want a car before then. I actually live in an area where there are police trap cars! I'm thinking fully comp is cheaper on very new cars with modern alarms and immobilizers.

I am also not sure if pass plus would benefit me. The cheapest quotes come from insurers who dont do a pass plus discount... and the likes of the AA and BSM are so expensive that the discount would not be worth it (things like being quoted a £3000 excess!!!!)

biscuitdunker

Try some smaller firms which may not be on comparison sites. I think the reason Lancaster was so cheap for me was because they normally insure car enthusiasts who usually look after their cars, so there's not as much risk. I don't think they were on any comparison sites either, I just found them randomly and gave them a go.

cyclonebri1

God,:eek:, I can remember being of an age where you got to 25 and insurance was virtually free:T:T:T

Well of course it wasn't but at that age you where accepted as being of a perfect driving age, (ok, I'm 56 now), so talking the '70's


The difference between turd party and fully comp is at it's greatest for a new driver, even @ 25. Matbe now is not the time for fully comp? and definately not on an old car.

Again, aged, but we bought a Fiat 126 for my daughter as a 1st car. She was so embarressed to drive it, but she is know 32, no claims, no accidents and drives cars a darn sight better than I own.

You kids, the responsble ones, will get there eventually, :T :T :T