Buying a used car

Heather89_2

Hello, my son ( aged 22) would like to buy himself a car - his first. His budget is between £2000-£3000, and obviously he would like something in a low insurance group. Does anyone have advice they could offer us - I've been looking at Autotrader and UTV Drive, as well as some local garages ( we live in the Craigavon area), but the more I look the more confused I become! He would like something slightly bigger than say a Ford Ka/C1 etc. Any ideas where we should go or a model/make to investigate or avoid.
Thanks in adavnce!

RTNI

Hi,

Is that budget just for the car or for the car and insurance? I'm not sure what it's like now for young drivers with little or no NCB but I remember my 1st years comprehensive cover was £2200 for a 1.2 Clio about 6 years ago!

dumbo

Hi

I have driven lots of different small cars & while a lot of people go for vauxhall corsa, i personally prefer the toyota yaris, as the toyota will give you no problems, I recently traded a 9yr old yaris in for a newer yaris, (impulse Buy)& regret doing that as there really was nothing wrong with it & the only money I ever spent on it was for servicing, tax & Insurance. Not a lot of other cars which you could say the same about at that age, fact is, you just cant drive a toyota out.

reallyjammyjam

Is there any way you can put the insurance in your name so it's initially cheaper? Only thing is would have to make sure he also gets to build up his no claims discount on someone else's insurance.

As for cars, my first baby was a Fiesta, it kept not starting in winter though, from what I hear a pretty common problem with Ford Kas and Fiesta. I think VWs are quite reliable though. I had a Gulf that was brilliant, very reliable (might be a bit too big by the sounds of it), maybe something more like a Polo?

Also if you buy private would recommend getting an AA man out to take a look at it to see it's all running OK, it costs around £50 I think, however if there are any major issues that would cost a lot to fix when you drive off, it would be worth it.

RTNI

reallyjammyjam wrote: »

Is there any way you can put the insurance in your name so it's initially cheaper? Only thing is would have to make sure he also gets to build up his no claims discount on someone else's insurance.

"Fronting" as that is called is illegal. If the son is going to be the 'main' driver then the policy must be in his name.

However, there are times when adding a parent to the insurance as an additional driver can reduce the cost.

Lirin

Buy a parkers guide, and take a trip around Wilson's Auctions, it may help him get a better idea. I've never paid above 2k for a car, and have had some pretty fantastic ones.

Raven

Whatever he buys - its going to be the insurance cost that is the biggest factor, that plus the fact he's gonna want the best looking car for his budget.


Best advice I can give is to get him looking on Gumtree and view as many cars as he can, then when he starts to get a feel for what he wants/likes/can afford start ringing the insurance companies for quotes.

Of course the less he spends on the car the more he can afford the cover and this gets him on the bonus building ladder.



Raven

ballyblack

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3246796

reallyjammyjam

RTNI wrote: »

"Fronting" as that is called is illegal. If the son is going to be the 'main' driver then the policy must be in his name.

Ooops sorry I didn't actually know this, didn't mean to give dodgy advice

RTNI

reallyjammyjam wrote: »

Ooops sorry I didn't actually know this, didn't mean to give dodgy advice

No worries, glad that you learnt something new!

Heather89_2

Thank you all for the advice! With regard to insurance, I have tried getting some quotes with possible cars, and putting his father and myself on the policy as named drivers does make a BIG difference! He'll be home at the weekend, and we'll sit down with the computer and try to identify what he really would like to drive!