Tips for new driver (to be!)

tillymama_2

I'm about to commence driving lessons at the grand old age of 27. DH will then be learning (he's 26).

I'm after any helpful tips on how to keep costs as low as possible. We'll be buying lessons in bulk, but I need advice on cars & insurance.

What cars should we be looking at? And what will be cheapest to insure? We're really not fussy what we get, as long as it's safe, reliable and preferably 5dr. Friends have advised looking for something under 6yrs old and with under 60k on the clock...? We've got up to £3k to spend.

Are we best off going to a broker for insurance? Quotes on GoCompare and the like are coming up at about a £1k for a Clio - is this about right for our circs?

Any help and advice would be appreciated, as I feel a bit clueless!

Rossy.

I'd say without sounding rude get your license first.

It's not cheap now from what i understand

Basic rule of thumb is new driver = £££££££ premiums !!

Get the smallest engine car you can and it'll help.. Being 27 won't matter that much either as insurance doesn't generally drop as much with age as most think

Inactive

Rossy. wrote: »

I'd say without sounding rude get your license first.

Agreed 100%, start thinking about buying cars after you have passed your test, it takes some people a long time to learn to drive.

tillymama_2

Inactive wrote: »

Agreed 100%, start thinking about buying cars after you have passed your test, it takes some people a long time to learn to drive.

I appreciate there's nothing I can do until I pass, but I still need to get my head around figures so we're prepared for when I do pass. I'm planning on learning fairly intensively, I've had a few lessons before and have done my CBT, and although there's no guarantees, I'm hoping get this nailed fairly quickly.

Money is tight, so I'd prefer to know the sorts of figures we're looking at ASAP so we can get some money put aside for the insurance.

Not sure where the harm is in asking for some advice now :huh:

Rossy.

Cheap car 1-2k

insurance 1-6k (really)

tbourner

£1k sounds about right for your age and with no NCB. You want to be looking at small engine hatchbacks, I wouldn't get a Peugeot/Renault/Citroen if it was over 5 years old, personally I'd look for Micras or something.

Have you got anyone who can drive with you if you do get a car now? So you can practice away from the instructor car? You'll find your insurance may well be less on a provisional licence than it will be when you've passed.

As for where to look, the answer is in as many different places as possible!!! You can get cashback from a lot of cashback websites like Greasypalm and Quidco, but check the internet cashback amount against a quote over the phone as they'll come out different from the same company. Use compairson sites then phone the top 5 to get a 'new' quote over the phone - don't agree to anything though just get reference numbers and write everything down. Think of it like this: If you can save even £100 from your yearly fee, it's got to be worth 2 days full time spent on the phone (how much do you earn at work in 1 day?), so spending just a couple of hours researching and writing down figures is definitely worth it.

newbie007_2

Something like a 1.0 or even 1.3 yaris, they have timing chain so no worry about belt snapping. Superbly reliable, £3k can get you 03/04 plate. Doesn't matter too much to get below 60k miles for this car, they have gone over 200k miles on these. The fiesta is also a good car, 1.25 is the one to get.

rev_henry

tbourner wrote: »

£1k sounds about right for your age and with no NCB. You want to be looking at small engine hatchbacks, I wouldn't get a Peugeot/Renault/Citroen if it was over 5 years old, personally I'd look for Micras or something.

Have you got anyone who can drive with you if you do get a car now? So you can practice away from the instructor car? You'll find your insurance may well be less on a provisional licence than it will be when you've passed.

As for where to look, the answer is in as many different places as possible!!! You can get cashback from a lot of cashback websites like Greasypalm and Quidco, but check the internet cashback amount against a quote over the phone as they'll come out different from the same company. Use compairson sites then phone the top 5 to get a 'new' quote over the phone - don't agree to anything though just get reference numbers and write everything down. Think of it like this: If you can save even £100 from your yearly fee, it's got to be worth 2 days full time spent on the phone (how much do you earn at work in 1 day?), so spending just a couple of hours researching and writing down figures is definitely worth it.

This is excellent advice, as is newbie's, although I wouldn't buy a yaris with 200k on the clock!
The advice your friend gave you OP is also a very good starting point I think.
Are you both going on the insurance to start with or just you? I'd suggest trying with both of you as it actually may make it cheaper. I'm 19, when I added my gf who's 18 and a learner it decreased the cost for some bizarre reason. Insurance companies like couples.

Having done all the comparison sites, additionally see if you can get quotes from Adrian Flux, Chris Knott, NFU and a broker that's local to you over the phone.
Also get quotes for something a bit bigger than your average 1.2 econobox, try a Vectra or a volvo or something like that. You may be pleasantly surprised, you may not.

FATBALLZ

I'm mid 20s, no NCB and my insurance was about £700. My car is insurance group 14 and it's covered for SDP+C for 20k miles a year. You might find your insurance premiums are higher due to where you live rather than your age or the car you look at.

newbie007_2

^^^ I suspect that is the new group 14 which is roughly a group 5/6 of the old. Location has a great importance in premium.

Gene_Hunt_2

newbie007 wrote: »

^^^ I suspect that is the new group 14 which is roughly a group 5/6 of the old. Location has a great importance in premium.

But then it was shown the other day you know nowt about insurance.;)