First car

macd69

Hi, anyone have advice on the cheapest way for my 19yo daughter to buy and insure her first car, she just passed her test and is desperate to jump in, and phoned me for advice, but she was looking at Arnold Clark for nearly new as it was cheaper to insure, but it still seemed a lot, anyone done this recently?

EdGasket

Arnold Shark? Renowned for poor after-sales service. How can a 19 yr-old afford a nearly new car? I was stacking shelves at that age for 30p an hour!

My daughter bought an old Civic with my help and we added it to an Admiral multi-car policy. She doesn't have to live at the same address to be added to the multi-car. It was the cheapest option and just to clarify, she was the main driver and earned the NCB.

Ebe_Scrooge

A nearly new car is hardly a "cheap" way to get a first car !


In terms of insurance, it's always going to be very expensive for a newly-qualified driver. In very general terms, a less powerful car will be cheaper than a more powerful one. However, that's not an absolute given. For instance, many people think a little Corsa will be cheap, but they're quite popular with boy-racers, so can actually be fairly expensive. Conversely, something like a boring old Rover or Volvo with a relatively large engine can be suprisingly cheap to insure - because they tend not to be driven by youngsters. My son passed his test about 8 months ago, and we got a fairly reasonable deal on an 11-year-old Toyota Yaris with a 1 litre engine.


Easiest thing is to do some dummy quotes on a price comparison site for several small, cheap cars, see what you get quoted.


It's also worth adding Mum & Dad as named drivers, that can bring the price down. But don't be tempted to put Mum as the main driver with daughter as a named driver - that's called fronting, and at the very least can result in any claim being refused.

rtho782

Sometimes it can be worth looking at schemes on new cars such as "Just add Fuel" from Peugeot.

But to be honest, these days with insurance costs it's not really worth bothering to drive until 25+.

waamo

A new driver tends to have more bangs and scrapes than an experienced driver. Buying a nearly new car could result in significant depreciation due to damage.

I would look at an older car to start off with.

foxy-stoat

1 ltr Yaris, add an older driver - that's about as cheap motoring as your going to get until she builds up a few years NCD.

Ant555

macd69 wrote: »

as it was cheaper to insure, but it still seemed a lot, anyone done this recently?

Have you got quotes form the comparison web sites for the insurance on the Arnold Clark car? - What do you consider 'a lot' as it might be an ordinary amount for a 19 year old new driver - £1000 a year is a lot but might be typical.

Its already been mentioned but I also found that a Corsa was expensive for an 18 year old new driver. We ended up with a Picanto although a Ford Ka or Peugeot 107 were on the cards at one point.

prosaver

you can get insured with a tracker box inside, might be cheaper

pulliptears

Helped daughter insure her car (1.2 Aygo) before Christmas and most policies were black box ones.
She pays in the region of £1500, but her black box score is pretty good considering she works late shifts so drives at night. This should reduce premiums for her next year if she stays with the same insurer.

muhandis

Here's what I would do in your place -

1. Set a budget for a car that she can afford to buy in one go in cash (maybe with a bit of help from yourself), say £1500-3000.

2. Search the usual websites for a private car sale for a cheap reliable hatchback within your budget being sold with a long MOT (more than 10 months), a reasonable service history and a non-dodgy seller (you can usually tell when you meet them).

3. When looking for insurance quotes, also consider third party fire and theft cover and it is quite often significantly cheaper than comprehensive and sometimes even cheaper than TP only.

Good luck.

macd69 wrote: »

Hi, anyone have advice on the cheapest way for my 19yo daughter to buy and insure her first car, she just passed her test and is desperate to jump in, and phoned me for advice, but she was looking at Arnold Clark for nearly new as it was cheaper to insure, but it still seemed a lot, anyone done this recently?

DCFC79

What car do the neighbours kids or her friends drive ?

As mentioned don't go for the traditional boy racer car eg corsa.

The Daewoo Matiz, I see a few of them around, I know someone with one who has had no issues with it.