I really need a car

jgildart

Hi.
I,v just past my driving test and i am unsure as what is the best way to go on getting a car. Is it cheaper to buy a secondhand one and struggle to pay for the insurance or is it better to try a get a new car with free insurance, not that Iv found many for new drivers. I'm worried because my job depends on me getting a car asap, i'm 32 so i know that, that helps me, but iv looked into insurance and i'm still looking at £1500 anyway. Please can someone help me

atrixblue.-MFR-.

first off congrats on passing.

second hand for now, if you bump it your not going to lose much money.

as with insurance as it is, and finance as it is i would stay clear unless you really can afford to lose the car in the even of the accident (with exception on GAP insurance if purchasing a brand new car) and still pay for finance agreement or remainder of when you get the pay out to pay someoff.

i would stick to getting a second hand or even a classic car on a classic policy for a while. no you dont earn NCB but when you considder paying peanuts for a classic car such as a fieste xr2i or rsturbo who cares about NCB.

gilbert_and_sullivan

What car are you trying for quotes on, £1500 seems a lot for someone you age even if you are a new driver.

I'd be going older car in the lowest groups possible till you get your wings.

mikey72

Second hand.
Even with insurance it'll be cheaper than the depreciation on a new car.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

gilbert_and_sullivan wrote: »

What car are you trying for quotes on, £1500 seems a lot for someone you age even if you are a new driver.

I'd be going older car in the lowest groups possible till you get your wings.

insurance groups means nothing to quotes on cars these days.

for e.g.

ren megane II 1.9 DCI 130 6speed 5dr. group 7.
ren megane II 1.4 16v 98bhp 5spd 5dr. group 7.

theoretically the 1.9 should be the same price as the 1.4 to insure but their not, for me the 1.9 is £1200 dearer.

Lum

insurance groups are often meaningless and likewise so is car group these days. The old advice of "buy a small car with a small engine" is wrong as many times as it's right.

What sort of cars are you looking at? Try running some quotes through for an old Ford Mondeo or similar. They're not the most economical car so they're usually quite cheap to buy (and to replace if you crash it) decently reliable, and often quite cheap to insure since they tend to be owned by boring middle aged men.

londonTiger

these new cars with insurance are pretty crap. Looking at compact fords, vauxhalls etc.

They're not that great, and a used VW or Honda will probably be a lot more reliable than them.

I'm sure your insurance can't be that high. Should be £1500 tops for a 1.4-1.6.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

londonTiger wrote: »

these new cars with insurance are pretty crap. Looking at compact fords, vauxhalls etc.

They're not that great, and a used VW or Honda will probably be a lot more reliable than them.

I'm sure your insurance can't be that high. Should be £1500 tops for a 1.4-1.6.

i'm affraid if you factor in, location, no ncb, type of car where its kept, and his risk factor as only just passed, it can be that high, i'm 28 and on a 1.4 with 1yrs NCB no convics, or accidents in last 5 yrs in a cat D* risk area having held my licence since i was 17 is averaging £1300 with most insurers.

Lum

My driving history is a lot worse than yours thanks to my time as a long distance driver, two stolen&recovered, one non fault, one fault, one vandalism* and one currently arguing about liability. I'm not allowed to have protected no claims, but I still have 7 years NCB, so I'm paying half that price on a 2 litre turbo Japanese import. No idea on the risk factor but I know it went up when I moved out of the valleys, so it's probably not a good risk factor.

Lack of NCB and having only just passed is the real killer.

*complicated one, some insurers define it as vandalism some as an RTC, so I have to explain it in full every time, just because it doesn't take long enough to get quotes already.

jgildart

Thanks everyone. To answer the question about what i was getting a quote on . It was a Nissan mica 1.1 an s reg. But anyway I will take all of your advice and stick with a secondhand car, I just hope I can afford the insurance in the end.

nifferwilko

jgildart do you have a relative you can add to your insurance as a named driver? I've just passed at 28 and I was getting quotes similar to yours (I think £1300 was the highest). I added my parents onto the insurance as a named driver (not as the main driver, as that's illegal), even though they live at a different address and will never drive my beloved car, and it dropped down to £939.

Still £700 more than my sister who's 5 years younger than me but has been driving since she was 17. I'm sure it'll get lower the more cars I don't hit :rotfl: