New driver, new car or banger?

applepad

My son has just passed his test and not sure what to do, at 17 his insurance is at least £1300 a year even with a black box.

So not sure if to wait until he turns 18 in a few months and get a new car on a PCP with 3 years free insurance or buy him a banger.

He has money saved up, a good part time job and an apprenticeship starting in a few months, so he has the means to pay.

Don't know much about cars so wondering if we buy a banger £1000-£1500 if it will cost loads in repairs, of course looking at cars with a full 12 months MOT but know that does not cover everything

paddyandstumpy

Will an 18 year old with a fresh license qualify for any free insurance offers?

forgotmyname

Which PCP will insure an 18 year old newly passed driver? And how much is it?

Will you be buying it after the 3 years? If not who is going to pay for the damage thats likely to happen to it?

applepad

paddyandstumpy wrote: »

Will an 18 year old with a fresh license qualify for any free insurance offers?

It looks like it, as long as they agree to a black box being fitted

'Drivers under20 or with less than 2 years driving experience must agree to a black box

angrycrow

applepad wrote: »

It looks like it, as long as they agree to a black box being fitted

'Drivers under20 or with less than 2 years driving experience must agree to a black box

Not suggesting your son would drive badly but the insurance with a black box will have a clause allowing the insurer to withdraw cover if he repeatedly drives badly. Make sure you know where you stand with payments on the car if this happens.

Other people have been caught out by these deals. The price is initially low but the insurer then withdraws cover but the person still has to pay the same monthly cost and £100 plus for insurance on top.

reeac

For a person with engineering aptitude an old banger can give plenty of insight into the working of cars which ought to be useful throughout life. Given no such aptitude I tend to think that a new car is a much better choice. I was amazed recently when my 49 year old daughter who is an experienced and competent driver expressed surprise that a car engine relied on high voltage sparks to ignite the fuel (I know, not in the case of diesel). Shows that you don't actually need to know what happens under the bonnet.

Mobeer

paddyandstumpy wrote: »

Will an 18 year old with a fresh license qualify for any free insurance offers?

The PCP deals including "free" insurance will be allowing for this in their price.

Examples include Citroen "Simply Drive" for 3 years:
Your monthly payment will include a contribution towards the cost of your motor insurance which is based on the age of the youngest driver on the policy, your residential postcode and model selected.
...(We do reserve the right to increase your premium should you add a younger driver to your policy mid-term).

or Vauxhall offering just 1 year:
£99 Insurance (for 18 - 20 year olds)
Drivers aged 18-20 will make a contribution of £99 to their premium and must agree to the fitting of a telematics box to the car: every 3 months, your contribution will be reviewed and if you drive well, we will return part of this to you. The policy may be cancelled for excessive speeding or consistently poor driving.

tacpot12

I'd recommend a banger for a new driver. They need something that they can damage without it costing a fortune, and without the complications of having to return it at the end of a pcp deal. They needn't be unreliable, VW Polo's with less tha 50,000 miles can be had for less that £1,500. A Skoda Fabia should cost less and be cheaper to insure.

System

paddyandstumpy wrote: »

Will an 18 year old with a fresh license qualify for any free insurance offers?

Citroen and Peugeot were recently doing offers targetted specifically at young drivers 18 years and up. You got something like a C1 and free insurance etc.