Just passing test, need advice on cars and insurance

in_all_reality

Hi, I'm 22 and just about to pass my driving test.

So I've had my provisional since about 16, but never bothered learning to drive until now.

I've been looking at first cars from autotrader for rough guides on how much I'm going to be paying out and noticed that a regular first car like a Pug 306 pre 2000 goes for about £300. The insurance quotes I'm getting are astronomical... Aviva just quoted me over £3000. Stating that it's because I'm under 25... as for comparethemarket and gocompare they are coming back with barely any quotes less than that.

Are there any first cars and cheap insurance providers anyone could recommend?

EndlessStruggle

I found that confused.com was the best for getting my quotes (also under 25) also for me fully comp was only £20 more expensive than 3rd party, fire and theft and in a lot of cars just 3rd party, F&T was more expensive. Also make sure you have your car value/annual mileage correct as these can effect prices too.

I have a spreadsheet of cars and insurance quotes that I did. I aimed for the 1.0-1.3 engine size for lower insurance/ tax etc BUT don't be fooled that a 1.0 will be cheaper than a 1.2, 1.2 than a 1.4 etc different cars and makes and different engines effect the insurance, I found that a 1.0 micra was more expensive than 1.2, 1.4s and even some 1.6s!

I'm just learning and have been looking for a little car and have just bought a 1.1 saxo. Not the cheapest but by far not the most expensive. Happy car hunting.

gilbert_and_sullivan

Pug 106, Fiat Panda...anything along these lines but only with the smallest engines offered.

I found the 306 to be cheap to insure, did you get a quote for a larger engined one, i'm afraid you will have to stick to something washing machine like for a year or so.

If you like older classic cars it might be cheaper for you to get something like an old Beetle, Cortina, Viva something along those lines and insure as a classic, but not sure if classic insurance gains NCD.

Every case is different, keep searching with different low grouped or possibly unpopular cars.

s_b

i wouldnt recommend a pewgot 306 as a first car to a novice as these are now long in the tooth and will have covered many miles and will be throwing up many problems,i see them as an enthusiasts car now and you dont even see them in the local council estates anymore (a sure sign things have moved on)
i guess your budget is under £1000 so my choice for you would be popular cheap to fix and reliable cars that have reasonable insurance brackets,cheap on fuel and also fairly cheap to tax if bought before the 2001 tax bracket or later if they were assessed properly for co2

ka
corsa (not 1.0 litre)
punto
fiesta

all these cars are ideal and reliable and dont have major gripes causing large bills if chosen wisely

watch some idiot come along very soon and advise you to buy a hummer volvo because they is cheap

basically go on autotrader gets some reg numbers and crunch them into comparison insurance sites but clean your cookies after each event so they dont know its you

EndlessStruggle

Just a note on Fiestas, I did a lot of insurance quotes on these and the insurance was some of the highest as a lot are about a Group 6. The lowest ones I did were 106s and Corsas, but the best thing to do is to do dummy insurance quotes and see what comes up as what.

I had a budget of £1000, we looked at lots over cars over months, most the cars we looked at were dreadful, my advice is to take someone car savvy with you! I took my fella who had been in the used car sales business for years. One had been in an accident (he only confessed after we said were going to so a HPI check) , one had a very large oil leak he had tried to cover up, another one was so rusty and rotten in the boot it was actually crumbling and other damage, one most the electrics were not working and another was so rusty it was everywhere, it was more rust than not! Ended up spending a little more for a much nicer car.

red_eye

in_all_reality wrote: »

Hi, I'm 22 and just about to pass my driving test.

So I've had my provisional since about 16, but never bothered learning to drive until now.

I've been looking at first cars from autotrader for rough guides on how much I'm going to be paying out and noticed that a regular first car like a Pug 306 pre 2000 goes for about £300. The insurance quotes I'm getting are astronomical... Aviva just quoted me over £3000. Stating that it's because I'm under 25... as for comparethemarket and gocompare they are coming back with barely any quotes less than that.

Are there any first cars and cheap insurance providers anyone could recommend?

http://www.brentacre.co.uk/ it a name that keeps popping up in polo owners club I'm on. I know they specilise in modified cars wont do any harm to ring for a quote

red_eye

s_b wrote: »

i wouldnt recommend a pewgot 306 as a first car to a novice as these are now long in the tooth and will have covered many miles and will be throwing up many problems,i see them as an enthusiasts car now and you dont even see them in the local council estates anymore (a sure sign things have moved on)
i guess your budget is under £1000 so my choice for you would be popular cheap to fix and reliable cars that have reasonable insurance brackets,cheap on fuel and also fairly cheap to tax if bought before the 2001 tax bracket or later if they were assessed properly for co2

ka
corsa (not 1.0 litre)
punto
fiesta

all these cars are ideal and reliable and dont have major gripes causing large bills if chosen wiselyu

defo not the ka/festa with the endura e engine
!!!!o 8v engines and corsa 1liter 3 cylinder they are all horible engines

s_b

red_eye wrote: »

defo not the ka/festa with the endura e engine
!!!!o 8v engines and corsa 1liter 3 cylinder they are all horible engines

would you care to enlighten me why not

Derivative

The most important costs are, in this order:

Insurance price
Cost of maintenance / fuel
Actual cost of car

Why? Because the cost of the car is one off, and can be (mostly) recouped if you wish to sell. Everything else is gone forever. Not to mention, for young drivers the insurance is likely to dwarf the price of the car anyway.

My advice would be to look for something reliable, with decent fuel economy. That's money saving - a £2k car might pay for itself.

red_eye

s_b wrote: »

would you care to enlighten me why not

well if you take it to kwik fit for a service expect then to snap a spark plug or two and a bill for a new cylinder head.

they not bad engines, been told the plugs like to seize in the head, I guess because its close to the exhaust port. personly not come across a sezed plug but I can see why it would and the amount of "I took my car to kwick fit and...." threads better safe then sorry:D