A Car For A New Driver

[Deleted User]

Kimberley wrote: »

Yeah i'm learning in an automatic so can only drive them. I only have about 10 years of driving left anyway so an automatic will suit me. I may take some driving lessons in a manual and a test in a manual when I have some road experience but at the moment i wanted to learn as quickly as possible.

How do you mean you only have 10 years of driving left?

aaronm_2

Second-hand car is a second-to-none choice. Since you are a new car driver, it is good for you to have a car to get yourself trained. When you have been an expert at driving, you may now buy a new car of your own.

NEH

Kimberley wrote: »

Yeah i'm learning in an automatic so can only drive them. I only have about 10 years of driving left anyway so an automatic will suit me. I may take some driving lessons in a manual and a test in a manual when I have some road experience but at the moment i wanted to learn as quickly as possible.

I eventually chose automatic due to my long term illness but i did keep telling myself that when i passed my automatic i would later on re learn on a manual and do the test....Now i never look back, even my brother who wanted me to take a manual test now prefers automatics especially given the amount of traffic we get these days.

Kimberley

Well I have done several insurance quotes and they came up between £560 and £670. Thats fantastic because I thought being a new driver it would cost me over £1000. I am doing the pass plus straight after my test so was that why the prices were low?
Also my instructor said that it is easy to buy second hand automatics now then 15 years or so ago. There is also a car dealer in Welling that only sells automatic cars so i'm gonna look there once I have saved £1000 for a second hand one.

I said I only have about 10 years of driving left because once my kids have all left home I won't be able to afford a car.

[Deleted User]

Pass Plus is more a money making con as most insurers don't even take it into account.

NEH

Deleted_User wrote: »

Pass Plus is more a money making con as most insurers don't even take it into account.

It did save me an awful lot of money and made it worthwhile. It is also very useful to have it as you get things such as motorway practice usually. Even in the years before pass plus people including my brother and sister had extra motorway lessons.

Diamond78

I passed my test last week in an automatic. Like you, I can only afford a second hand car and in the same price range. But it is very hard to find a decent car for our price range. Most of the cars on ebay or autotrader are really old cars. I live in London and I seriously don't think I will be able to get an automatic for £700 and second hand car dealers sell old cars for nearly £1000 here in London.
I haven't done pass plus yet but am considering it if it will reduce my insurance.

I was told if you get someone from the AA to come and check the car is road worthy it is quite pricey.

Kimberley

Diamond78 wrote: »

I passed my test last week in an automatic. Like you, I can only afford a second hand car and in the same price range. But it is very hard to find a decent car for our price range. Most of the cars on ebay or autotrader are really old cars. I live in London and I seriously don't think I will be able to get an automatic for £700 and second hand car dealers sell old cars for nearly £1000 here in London.
I haven't done pass plus yet but am considering it if it will reduce my insurance.

I was told if you get someone from the AA to come and check the car is road worthy it is quite pricey.

Congratulations on passing your test. Maybe a second hand car for £1000 will be better.

I didn't realise the pass plus is a waste of money.

NEH

Kimberley wrote: »

Congratulations on passing your test. Maybe a second hand car for £1000 will be better.

I didn't realise the pass plus is a waste of money.

The only way to know if it is a waste of money is find out in your quotes how much your insurance would be with it and without it and then balance the cost of the course against that. That's what I did and it did save me money by a fair way. I think it isn't jsut about the money, too many people all too often leave a test centre and think that's it no more learning but the learning is only just beginning then.

rev_henry

Those insurance quotes are fairly reasonable I guess; not too silly. As NEH says you have to see if it makes a difference; some do some don't, but it does give you valuable experience and tuition that just passing the test doesn't. Here in Cumbria the council pays entirely for Pass Plus (lots of deaths of young drivers on country roads I think, but the money pot for it I understand is now empty) so I wasn't bothered about it making a difference to my insurance.
How are you getting on with finding a car Kimberley? Sorry I haven't actually given you any decent suggestions yet. Do be aware that small autos tend to be less economical than their manual counterparts. I think its just a case of sticking 'auto' and your max budget into Autotrader and seeing if there's anything decent not too far away. Mileage wise I'd say go up to 75k, 60k if possible, although condition and service history are more important really.