Travelling On

Karmacat

I've just used Martin's insurance comparison tool, and started with moneysupermarket.  Toyota Yaris 1.5 litre, 2013 for example's sake, fully comp, the quotes are around £720-£750.  Of course, I'll have to pay more than that - they don't have a space on the form to say "yes, I know I got my licence nearly 40 years ago, but I've never driven regularly, and I'm pretty sure you want to know that" 🤣

Pretty distracted by Ancestry and FindMyPast, who both have free weekends, because of Remembrance Sunday.  I have assorted things for various family members: quite a few electoral registers, where I've already known the address, but its nice to have.  The WWII medal card for my uncle that died.  A proper copy of a Latin-based baptism certificate - all I had was a scan of a microfilm, which looks like a photographic negative and is tremendously difficult to read 🙄  There are a few brick walls I've reached, that I'd like to resolve, might try for that over the weekend.  

But first is updating the Yaris list on Autotrader and seeing what's around.  And finding out how people buy a car - do they do lots of test drives?  Or take the first one with a full service history that seems reasonable?  I'll pop over to the motoring board on here, I think.

LadyWithAPlan

I had a Honda civic that lasted for ever til it got killed in a car accident .. 
great mechanics and v reliable - I am a big fan of Honda 
I don’t know the Yaris but guess as it’s Japanese it has their great engineering 

beanielou

I drove Toyota's for nearly 30 years.
Other thing to cosider is an Audi A1.
They are awesome.

SuperSecretSquirrel

Karmacat said:

Toyota Yaris 1.5 litre, 2013 for example's sake, fully comp, the quotes are around £720-£750.  Of course, I'll have to pay more than that - they don't have a space on the form to say "yes, I know I got my licence nearly 40 years ago, but I've never driven regularly, and I'm pretty sure you want to know that" 🤣

Not really KC, you provide your license information (first issued 40ish years ago), your no claims (0 years), and they offer you a price. No need to volunteer any more information than that, you provide the facts they ask for and they provide a quote accordingly. £720-£750 should be a pretty realistic estimate for you then, not bad, and will get much cheaper with a year or two of no claims under your belt 🙂

Don't forget to check the cashback sites when applying for real, I usually get between £20 and £60 back on my annual premium (this year I got £40 back off a £117 premium, net cost £77 😁). Also, pay in one lump for the year if possible or you'll get stung with interest. Car tax is also cheaper if you pay for the year in one lump. Exciting times! 😎

badmemory

I agree - tell them nothing they don't ask.

Karmacat

Wow!  I'm getting very excited about all this 🚗🌞  Thank you all!

Cheery_Daff

When we first moved here, we got a second car for the first time - 15 year old Panda. I'd been driving 13 years, but we'd only ever had one car at a time, and I'd always been named driver, so I didn't have a no claims bonus in my own right. That first year, insurance for that car was £900 😮 The car only cost £500 😂 Second year though it was about £450 I think, and it's gone down steadily since then - I think we paid about £230 this year for that car.

It also goes on things like postcode, whether you're parking on the road or a garage at night, roughly how many miles a year you'll usually do (very rough estimate for the first one), whether there's anyone else on your policy etc. Not much point trying to second guess though, and there's such a variation in quotes anyway. 

We've only ever bought private (not from a dealer) which I know you're not doing - I think twice we've done a test drive then not bought it, but the other times we've always just bought the first one (and sometimes even if it wasn't perfect because we just needed a car and couldn't be bothered looking any more - my current Yaris being one of those 😂). They don't hang around long. But dealers might be very different - motoring board sounds like a good idea 😊

Exciting indeed! Looking forward to hearing all about your adventures and seeing where you end up!

Karmacat

That's very interesting feedback, Cheery, thank you, especially about buying the first one sometimes.  Part of me thinks, apart from the house and the flat, its the biggest purchase I've ever made, so I need to do endless research.  But even at dealers, some of them go in a couple of weeks, I really don't think I can hang around for too long.

The insurance - I've had words offline with a few folk, and the phrase that keeps coming up is "material disclosure", ie if you know something that makes a difference, and you don't tell the insurance company, the insurance is simply invalidated, and heaven knows what you could be left with.  There could be several reasons why I've got a 0% NCB, as Cheery says she didn't have one even though she'd been driving for 13 years.  So I think I *will* inform them - I appreciate everyone saying "noooooooooooooooooooo" 😊 but I think its important.  

So the plan for today, after having observed the two minute silence, is:
- update saved Autotrader cars.
- hot wash bedding is nearly finished, get it out on the line immediately, its a lovely day round here - and I've had to air both floors of the house because there's already a few washing loads finishing off drying inside 😥🙄😁
- dishwasher on after that, should have done it yesterday.
- delay Asda delivery scheduled for next Tuesday to a week Tuesday - things aren't progressing in the house quite as I'd hoped **whistles innocently**
- green bin to be filled from the garden.
- lunch, and then a walk.  Strictly's on earlier - got to be ready for that 🤾🏻‍♀️🤸🏻‍♀️ they aren't really dancing, but it'll do
- I've unearthed the 2nd posh kitchen curtain to be finished off - I'd love to do that this weekend, but getting outside is more important.

Baileys_Babe

When you buy your car are you planning to add anyone else to the insurance, your sister maybe? It might reduce your premium as well give you peace of mind that she can drive your car for you if you are out in it together and you need a rest or twist ankle...

Karmacat

That's an interesting point!  My brother is on the insurance of all of his sons, even the ones in London, so I'd only been thinking about it in terms of him - but my sister, that's very possible, and she's so near geographically, it would be totally explicable.  We were chatting earlier today, so I'll leave it for now, but definitely have a conversation.  I'd need to know that it wouldn't affect *her* insurance, for example (that just popped up, its an indication of how little I know!).

Thanks Baileys Babe!