Car's/insurance pointers for 17 year olds?

pulliptears

I know I'm getting a little ahead of myself here but let me explain...

My OH car he uses for work, a diesel PT Cruiser cannot be over 6 years old, which leaves us in the unfortunate position of having to replace it later this year (bloody annoying but there you go). I currently drive a 1999 1.4 Clio with 27k on the clock. Value probably £1000 at best.

Our DS is 17 in a couple of weeks so our thoughts turned to the summer and the fact that I could take the PT and donate the Clio to number one son. Of course, I gave him the usual talk about cars costing money and him needing to budget so he sat down to get an insurance quote on the clio just to see what sort of money he would need to save.

After picking myself up of the floor at the £3,000 figures I realised that even on third party with a £500 excess it's unlikely he will be able to drive the clio.

So, this got us to thinking.... assuming he passes his test this year what exactly could he afford to insure, and so far between us we have drawn a big nothing!

OH reminisces about his teens and insuring his XR2 for £400 but we are both now wondering how on earth do you insure a car these days?

Any input on cars to look out for would be appreciated!

For info, our quotes are based on Third Party only with an excess of £500 and him already being 17 (so turning 18 next month).

Cool_Username

Thing is insurance isn't just based on the value or performance of the car that is being driven - it's also based on how likely the person is to crash it and also how much damage they can inflict with it. My point is that insurance for a seventeen year old boy will always be sky high because his age and gender are most likely to get themselves into accidents, and even driving a 600cc Daewoo Matiz can go out and cause massive damage to a Bugatti Veyron!

That said obviously small is the way to go when buying a first car for a son or daughter - if you go for a bigger engine then the insurance premium will get pushed even higher - I'd certainly not consider anything bigger than a 1200cc car for my daughter when she eventually passes her test!

pulliptears

Cool_Username wrote: »

Thing is insurance isn't just based on the value or performance of the car that is being driven - it's also based on how likely the person is to crash it and also how much damage they can inflict with it. My point is that insurance for a seventeen year old boy will always be sky high because his age and gender are most likely to get themselves into accidents, and even driving a 600cc Daewoo Matiz can go out and cause massive damage to a Bugatti Veyron!

That said obviously small is the way to go when buying a first car for a son or daughter - if you go for a bigger engine then the insurance premium will get pushed even higher - I'd certainly not consider anything bigger than a 1200cc car for my daughter when she eventually passes her test!

yes, he did discover a Delorean wasnt much more to insure than a Ford Ka :rotfl:

I feel sorry for the lad to be honest. It doesn't surprise me why young lads don't insure their cars when you are looking at that sort of money. Not that I would ever condone that.

What about these black box camera schemes and pass plus? Does this help in any way?

Cool_Username

pulliptears wrote: »

yes, he did discover a Delorean wasnt much more to insure than a Ford Ka :rotfl:

I'd love a Delorean!

Yeah it's a problem for young boys but unfortunately the fact is that teenage boys have a reputation for being idiots on the road - it's a reputation that is well earned as well looking at both the statistics and often just driving around the town in the evening.

Don't misunderstand me I'm not saying your son will be an idiot behind the wheel, just that he is unfortunate that his insurance premium is based on the behaviour of others his age who are a danger behind the wheel.

MFWannabe

pulliptears wrote: »

I know I'm getting a little ahead of myself here but let me explain...

My OH car he uses for work, a diesel PT Cruiser cannot be over 6 years old, which leaves us in the unfortunate position of having to replace it later this year (bloody annoying but there you go). I currently drive a 1999 1.4 Clio with 27k on the clock. Value probably £1000 at best.

Our DS is 17 in a couple of weeks so our thoughts turned to the summer and the fact that I could take the PT and donate the Clio to number one son. Of course, I gave him the usual talk about cars costing money and him needing to budget so he sat down to get an insurance quote on the clio just to see what sort of money he would need to save.

After picking myself up of the floor at the £3,000 figures I realised that even on third party with a £500 excess it's unlikely he will be able to drive the clio.

So, this got us to thinking.... assuming he passes his test this year what exactly could he afford to insure, and so far between us we have drawn a big nothing!

OH reminisces about his teens and insuring his XR2 for £400 but we are both now wondering how on earth do you insure a car these days?

Any input on cars to look out for would be appreciated!

For info, our quotes are based on Third Party only with an excess of £500 and him already being 17 (so turning 18 next month).

Get fully comp quotes; these sometimes work out cheaper. Don't go any higher than a 1200cc engine. Also try to stay away from the standard boy racer cars; i'e citroen saxo.

pulliptears

thanks guys. Personally I'd go with the Delorean hehe

We even tried a Smart Car and that was £3k! Didn't try it fully comp though so thanks Freez, I'll go back and look again (though he does say he would'nt drive one it was the cheapest thing I could think of lol)

I think we need to offset the costs of his bus pass for college etc against insurance, MOT and Tax. I'm loathe to add him to my Clio insurance as the car is like new and low mileage even though its 11 years old so any little bump will result in it being a write off I imagine.

Cool_Username

pulliptears wrote: »

I'm loathe to add him to my Clio insurance as the car is like new and low mileage even though its 11 years old so any little bump will result in it being a write off I imagine.

Meany! :rotfl:

pulliptears

Cool_Username wrote: »

Meany! :rotfl:

hehe I know!!

I'm probably being selfish, but I know its history, every oil change etc, I know its been well looked after and carefully driven. It owes me nothing now really, but to replace it I'd probably get £800 from the insurance and I doubt I'd find anything close to it for the money.

We were thinking towards something classic like a mini or a beetle as well, though it seems classic insurance it unavailable for under 21's

pushbike it is then :rotfl:

Cool_Username

pulliptears wrote: »

We were thinking towards something classic like a mini or a beetle as well, though it seems classic insurance it unavailable for under 21's

You've got to think of his safety as well - some thirty year old little Mini is not going to hold up well in a collision.

pulliptears

Cool_Username wrote: »

You've got to think of his safety as well - some thirty year old little Mini is not going to hold up well in a collision.

There is that, but he has been bought up around classics and lectured in the fact that you need to drive them with some respect and take into account that a collision will be much more serious in one than a modern car. That said, you can't plan for boys bravado or an accident that isn't your fault.

He can go on his Dad's insurance :rotfl::rotfl:
Problem solved!

Cool_Username

pulliptears wrote: »

There is that, but he has been bought up around classics and lectured in the fact that you need to drive them with some respect and take into account that a collision will be much more serious in one than a modern car.

All the lecturing in the world make any difference if he is rear-ended while stationary though. Fact is you can be the best driver in the world but you can't guard against an unexpected collision by another driver.