Test drive a car from private seller

alihd

I am viewing a few cars from private seller, all city cars in London, and AFAIK I need to be insured to test drive each car myself.
There are some websites like jauntinsurance.co.uk but the minimum price they charge for a 1-hour insurance is £30.
This means that to test-drive a few cars I need to pay £100-200 just to test-drive my options.
Are there any cheaper alternatives?
One obvious option is to ask the seller to drive himself, sit next to him, but then I think it isn't like when I drive it myself as I can't feel the pedals, breaking, etc.

JustAnotherSaver

I'm assuming you've checked your own policy to see if it covers use of other cars and the answer came back that it didn't? 

£30 an hour? My brother pays that for about a day +/- when he's in that situation. Not that a test drive is likely to span more than an hour but still. 

Flight3287462

What's a private dealer?

alihd

JustAnotherSaver said:

I'm assuming you've checked your own policy to see if it covers use of other cars and the answer came back that it didn't? 

I am buying my first car. What policy?

JustAnotherSaver said:

£30 an hour? My brother pays that for about a day +/- when he's in that situation. Not that a test drive is likely to span more than an hour but still. 

Which company offers such a good deal? Still, I don't need to spend more than an hour on a car.

Hunyani_Flight_825 said:

What's a private dealer?

Sorry, I meant private seller. Ordinary people...

Supersonos

alihd said:

JustAnotherSaver said:

I'm assuming you've checked your own policy to see if it covers use of other cars and the answer came back that it didn't? 

I am buying my first car. What policy?

Clearly it was assumed you currently had a car and therefore an insurance policy.

Emmia

DayInsure and Vego (Admiral) offer short term policies. 

http://www.dayinsure.com/
https://www.veygo.com/temporary-car-insurance/

Car_54

alihd said:

Which company offers such a good deal? Still, I don't need to spend more than an hour on a car.

The "brother" quoted above had clearly owned cars before. As a first-time policy holder you can expect to pay more, possibly a lot.

HansOndabush

The seller might let you take a turn on a quiet road or car park. Don't get insurance and then find the seller won't let you drive anyway; some will some won't. Also make sure by the time you sort out insurance that the car hasn't been sold to someone else. The trouble is the seller will figure out that you have already invested insurance cash over the car so your bargaining position is weakened because you are already partially committed by your insurance premium. If you walk away, the insurance was a loss.

Emmia

HansOndabush said:

The seller might let you take a turn on a quiet road or car park. Don't get insurance and then find the seller won't let you drive anyway; some will some won't. Also make sure by the time you sort out insurance that the car hasn't been sold to someone else. The trouble is the seller will figure out that you have already invested insurance cash over the car so your bargaining position is weakened because you are already partially committed by your insurance premium. If you walk away, the insurance was a loss.

Taking a turn on a quiet road without cover would mean you are breaking the law (and a minimum 6 points on your licence if caught) - the sellers insurance won't cover you, and in the event of a collision/causing damage to the car/injury to someone, you leave yourself open to claims financially. 

Veygo or DayInsure and others would offer you a 1hr policy on the spot if you wanted a test drive after seeing the car - and this could also offer longer cover if you subsequently purchased and wanted to drive it away. The cost would depend on what you're buying, and your personal circumstances though - Veygo is showing me an average price indication of £7.17 for 1 hour, up to £10.65 for 6 hours.

But hour for hour / day for day this type of product is more expensive comparatively than an annual policy. 

alihd

Emmia said:

DayInsure and Vego (Admiral) offer short term policies. 

http://www.dayinsure.com/
https://www.veygo.com/temporary-car-insurance/

Thanks. Unfortunately, none of these work in practice.
DayInsure does not give me any quotes.
For DayInsure, when I put in my licence information, it says they cannot insure me. It is a new licence, just got it two months ago:

Veygo has a different problem. firstly, they just announced that they have suspended insuring for less than a day (e.g. one hour) until further notice. Secondly, it asks for the annual insurance information (from the car's owner), which practically you can't ask. If I do, then the owner will realize that I am serious about buying the car and won't give any room for negotiating the price.

HansOndabush

Well just sit alongside the driver then; you can tell most things that way. Alternatively buy from a dealer who will let you drive with trade plates.