Learning to drive...a new car or old?

LEJC

Its nearing the time when my son wants to learn to drive,so thinking about the options for car ownership

Do we

Stick him on the insurance of the family car...not ideal as its quite large and possibly not the best to learn in

Buy a cheap second hand car...may be prone to breaking down and cost quite a bit to insure

or

Bite the bullet and buy something new,small,eco friendly etc etc with a reasonable or possibly free insurance thrown in if they still do such a thing with the possibilty of selling the car on in a few years time

My thinking at the moment revolves around the 3rd option on the basis of yes the car costs more but the insurance may not be so hgigh and its better to keep a partial asset in the car rather than buy something much older and it still cost a fortune to insure.

We are probably lucky that we have about £6-7k to spend in total on the car/insurance and I think I'd welcome some feedback on others thoughts of which way to get the best value for money.....

reason2

maybe worth looking at peageot just add fuel.. 3 years insurance, road tax and what not thrown in.. you just pay for petrol..

Wh05apk

If you put him on your insurance, you will pay the premium based on his age/experience, but he will get no benefit in terms of NCB, if he makes a claim, that will be your NCB lost as well, so if you intend him using your car, probably best to let him have his own policy, with you as named drivers to reduce the premium.

We bought my daughter an 8 year old Yaris to teach her to drive in, these are totally reliable, cheap to run, and even on a 1.3 which is pretty nippy, the insurance is still the same/cheaper than an old Ka, it is also easy to drive, and great to learn to drive in, if/when they have a knock, it is not the end of the world, whereas if it was a new car, you would want to claim.

Wh05apk

reason2 wrote: »

maybe worth looking at peageot just add fuel.. 3 years insurance, road tax and what not thrown in.. you just pay for petrol..

I think you will find any "free" insurance deals will need a full license and probably minimum of 21 years old?

Strider590

New car - really bad idea, he'll just crash it.

To be honest, buying cars for your children is never a good idea, if mommy/daddy bought it, they'll replace it when it gets wrapped around a lamp post.

My first car in 1997 was a C reg Austin Metro, cost me £600 and the same to insure, I had to repaint much of it and fill in rust holes, but it made me respect it. I was making maybe £50 a week at that time.

My family? not exactly short for cash, the house I grew up in sold for £750'000 in 2004. I've always paid my own way and that's probably the biggest and most important life lesson that's made me who I am today.

LEJC

reason2 wrote: »

maybe worth looking at peageot just add fuel.. 3 years insurance, road tax and what not thrown in.. you just pay for petrol..

Thats an interesting one...however minimum ages of 21 and 2 years driving experience apply,so I guess we are still in the situation of buying the car in mine or OH's name and adding him as named driver which may increase or iinvalidate the "free insurance .


Interesting comments strider.....I'm well aware of what we are getting into...as is he...not sure our situation is similar to yours ....bank of mum and dad wont be buying this car

Kapoww

There's a lot of small print with the 'Free' insurance so you'll have to research that one, in terms of what to get, I would suggest a second hand one - I'm a younger driver and although I've never had an accident or a bad bump in my cars I have had some near misses, a few scrapes here and there...it's a learning curve, I would say maybe after a year of passing look into a newer one but as long as you're savvy when buying a second hand car they can still be very reliable!

Wh05apk

Personally I would always go secondhand, aside from the accident risk, they will likely abuse the clutch/brakes etc, why do that to a new car? also realistically the car you buy now, may not be the one they "want" to drive in 2/3 years time.

Yolina

Strider590 wrote: »

New car - really bad idea, he'll just crash it.

To be honest, buying cars for your children is never a good idea, if mommy/daddy bought it, they'll replace it when it gets wrapped around a lamp post.

Eh? I passed my test in 1994 (was 22 at the time - maybe a bit more careful at that age?!) my grandparents & parents very kindly gave me the money for a car, it wasn't brand new but around 2 years old - a little 1.1 Fiesta which I never so much as put a scratch on, let alone crash in the years I had it.

And I learnt in the car my instructor had - a Nissan Sunny - the Fiesta was such a breeze to drive after that :rotfl:

My parents are quite well off, but they've always taught me to look after the things I have.

LEJC

Wh05apk wrote: »

Personally I would always go secondhand, aside from the accident risk, they will likely abuse the clutch/brakes etc, why do that to a new car? also realistically the car you buy now, may not be the one they "want" to drive in 2/3 years time.

absolutely..ive always been of a similar opinion until I looked into the insurance costs recently...and thats what got me thinking about something newer with a lower insurance price which still retains some value to be sold after he's learnt to drive.

Its a bit of a swings and roundabout situation. seemingly you buy a cheap car that costs a lot to insure and has little resale value or a more expensive car thats cheaper to insure but holds some resale...all in all whichever way we go as a family it seems that the cost will be in the region of £6000

It seems the cost of insurance has rocketed...I remember it being expensive when I learnt to drive (expensive,but managable) but that was 25 years ago....and times and prices change!!!!

reason2

Strider590 wrote: »

New car - really bad idea, he'll just crash it.

I think this is a bit harsh.. me and my friends all passed around the same time.. early 20's.. everyone told us we would be best off with old bangers while we got our crashes out of the way..

not one of us has had a single crash.. where as our parents all have.. we now have more no claims than them and pay cheaper insurance in half the cases

better the car, the easier to drive, less chance of incidents