We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.
This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.
Car and Insurance for teen
My son, 17, has just passed his driving test. What is the cheapest way to get him on the road? He was insured to drive his Granny's car, but once he passed his test the cost shot up too much for her to afford it. Would we be best getting a car for me, that he could drive? What cars have lower premiums? We don't have a lot of money, so would be looking for a cheap, second-hand model.
Comments
-
What sort of car would he not want to be seen dead in? Thats what will be cheap to insure even though its bigger, more expensive and more powerful than the micro minis that everyone assumes will be cheap but arent because so many inexperienced teen drivers have them that the claims experience is terrible so insurers spike their price
0 -
our grandson was in a similar possition and he went for a 10 year old Corsa. He still has it 3 years later and apart from the battery failing it is super reliable.
2 -
Some of the Skoda Fabias have low insurance. Look for the 1.2 litre (54bhp) HTP engine cars.
Don't look at Fiat Pandas. Premiums are low but they have a lousy NCAP rating.
Yaris 1.0 litre VVT-i have low insurance, but can have reliability problems if the owner hasn't had it serviced fastidiously.
Use the comparisom sites to check out cars to get an idea of costs, but make sure you check every car he is considering buying, as the same car from a different year can have markedly different premiums. Also be aware that buyign insurance that starts 'next week' is cheaper than buying insurance that starts today, so make sure you get quotes for insurance that starts immediately.
My 23 yo step-daughter has just bought her first car having passed her test a month ago, and paid £1,900 to insure a Toyata Yaris 1.33 VVT-i full comp. The car cost less than the insurance!
If your son is a careful driver, they might consider a 'telematics' policy where the insurer supplies a 'black-box' that sends data on the driver's driving to the insurer. These policies can be good value, but they can also be cancelled if your son doesn't drive like a hearse driver; he would then have declare that the policy had been cancelled in future applications for insurance.
The comments I post are my personal opinion. While I try to check everything is correct before posting, I can and do make mistakes, so always try to check official information sources before relying on my posts.1 -
When I looked for the cheapest cars the Fiat 500 and the Ford KA were the cheapest cars to insure,
we chose the KA because it was cheaper and often in better condition than an equivalent Fiat 500.
7 years later we traded it in for very little loss and it required only basic servicing.
But it can vary a lot depending on your postcode.Censorship Reigns Supreme in Troll City...1 -
If you go to any Tesco or McDonalds at 11pm and take a note of all the cars being rallied around the car park - that's usually a good list of cars to avoid.
3 -
A car for you, that he could drive, is a concern. If you are insured on it as the main driver there is a risk that the insurers will suspect "fronting", i.e. he is the real main driver. That could cause a lot of trouble.
2 -
He's hate something in pink with eyelashes on the headlights! Maybe pink seat covers too? Not sure it will help with the premiums, but will definitely be embarrassing.
0 -
Thank you for all the suggestions. We shall get looking.
0 -
A good point. We are currently a one car household, now with three drivers. I am thinking he won't need to use the car a lot at the moment. I don't want him to lose the skills that have cost so much. I am currently thinking a car we could all drive, or maybe just him and his dad.
0 -
Yeah, it's the car itself not any accessories or paint colours.
Nothing has changed over the years though, just the relevant models have moved on. I had a Ford Fiesta 1.1GL which was more than twice the cost to insure than a friends Rover 2.0L saloon despite it being much older, much slower and much cheaper.
Ultimately changed it to a Citroen Saxo when they had their 2 year free insurance offer. That was one of the biggest affinity deal mistakes ever; they failed to consider the change in demographics that giving away 2 years insurance would have and so priced it based on the average owner continuing to be a suburban married woman in her 50s as a fixed fee for Citroen to pay for every car sold.
Insurers focus on loss ratio - the percentage of premiums paid that claims cost them. UK Motor is typically around 70%, ie for every £1 of premium (exc IPT) they pay out £0.70. The Citroen deal ended up being over 1,000%, Hence we dont see any more small hatches coming with free insurance
2
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply
Categories
- All Categories
- 354.4K Banking & Borrowing
- 254.4K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 455.4K Spending & Discounts
- 247.3K Work, Benefits & Business
- 604K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 178.4K Life & Family
- 261.5K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.7K Read-Only Boards