Cheap cars to insure for learner drivers

tinkerbell84

big_gay_kirk wrote: »

I shopped around a bit at the classic car insurance people.. to insure my son once 17 as a learner, on a 2.0 Ford Capri mk 2 will cost, for a maximum of 10,000 miles a year, £186.... or £260 if I do it fully comp.... other classics come cheaper, are just as reliable as modern cars, and are easier to diy on in the event of trouble... so you end up with a car that is distinctive, different, cheap to run, educational and better for the environment.... and probably cheaper to buy....

How is it better for the environment?

big_gay_kirk

tinkerbell84 wrote: »

How is it better for the environment?

remember the environmentalists war cry... re use, repair, recycle... keeping a car on the road for many years saves raw materials, meaning less mining, etc.. also it keeps heavy metals and oil products such as plastics from filling up landfill.... keeping a car on the road in everyday use for twenty years means four new cars that don't need to be built... emissions from older cars are often less than those given by new cars, especially as they usually have no catalytic convertor. for the unitiated the cat turns poisonous carbon monoxide into less harmful carbon dioxide... that horrible gas we're trying to cut down on... most of the pollution from a car occurs during its manufacture and its first two years on the road... so having a new car every two years or so is far more damaging than having a thirty year old car on the road.... and don't get me started on those filthy electric cars that con people into thinking they're environmentally friendly when all they do is push the pollution somwhere else....

tinkerbell84

I agree with you completely.

But I'd never view a 30 year old car as being environmentally friendly!!!

Shoshannah

big_gay_kirk wrote: »

remember the environmentalists war cry... re use, repair, recycle... keeping a car on the road for many years saves raw materials, meaning less mining, etc.. also it keeps heavy metals and oil products such as plastics from filling up landfill.... keeping a car on the road in everyday use for twenty years means four new cars that don't need to be built... emissions from older cars are often less than those given by new cars, especially as they usually have no catalytic convertor. for the unitiated the cat turns poisonous carbon monoxide into less harmful carbon dioxide... that horrible gas we're trying to cut down on... most of the pollution from a car occurs during its manufacture and its first two years on the road... so having a new car every two years or so is far more damaging than having a thirty year old car on the road.... and don't get me started on those filthy electric cars that con people into thinking they're environmentally friendly when all they do is push the pollution somwhere else....

:T :T :T :T :T :T

Three cheers for a fellow believer in the fact that driving older cars (and classic Fords at that ) can be more environmentally friendly than buying a new one every two years! :cool:

My first car was a 1987 Ford Sierra Sapphire GLS with the 2.0i Pinto engine and four different coloured doors. It looked tatty but it was damn fast. I was 18 and it was my first love, fantastic car. Still got it, currently rebuilding it and restoring to factory condition. This was five years ago and the insurance was £1100 on my own policy, with DirectLine.

My advice to the OP (and her daughter) would be to go with an old, cheap and cheerful car for the first year or two. It will be cheaper to insure and if it gets bashed and dented (trust me, we all do it ) then it won't matter. Once she's been driving a year or two she can go for the dream Clio - and they'll be a bit cheaper by then too as newer cars depreciate so quickly.

I'm not sure about insurance going up after passing as I was never insured on a car of my own whilst I had a provisional, and my parents could not afford to add me to their policies. But it does go down fairly quickly after the initial premium, provided you make no claims obviously. My premium fell to £800 in year two, then to about £560, and is now £230 on a Ford Sierra GLX 2.0 Twincam with five years' NCB.

Good luck.

Happy_Hammer

I have entered this forum as I have the same question as Amanda65 although I have a son so am getting completely stuffed on insurance. He turns 17 in a couple of weeks and I am having a nightmare trying to work out what insurance to get. I have also aged considerably at the quotes so far as high as £4500 pa. I have seen a Ford Fiesta 1.3l does anyone know if there is a big difference insuring a 1.3L compared to a 1.1L. My insurance queries have been answered by other users although I am none the wiser. I am changing my name to -fedupconfusedsoontobeskintHammer. Advice welcome

tinkerbell84

Try posting on the insurance forum

Cardelia

Happy_Hammer wrote: »

I have seen a Ford Fiesta 1.3l does anyone know if there is a big difference insuring a 1.3L compared to a 1.1L.

The 1.3i engine isn't very good. It's certainly not very powerful which is really what matters when you're looking at insurance. I don't know how it compares to the 1.1 but I'd imagine the difference wouldn't be great, simply because Ford haven't used a 1.1 for about 10 years now so the technology behind the engine is likely to be very old.

Unfortunately, because you're trying to insure a 17 year old boy, the insurance will most likely be horrendous irrespective of the car you get.

RachelRa

My first car (just turned 18) was a red 1973 beetle. It was lovely.... but awful. I ended up going through a hedge - my brakes just stopped working. Luckily the farmer found it funny and wasn't at all mad. I didn't drive it again.

Since, I have had two Daewoo Matiz-es, they are small, but really good space. I have been able to get big pieces of furniture in the back (with the back seats down) easily. They're 5 door. I believe they are the lowest insurance, very good fuelwise. I am selling mine, because I don't need it for uni - £1375.. So they are cheap to buy too.

xcat_girlx

avoid anything that could be remotly boy racer-ish!

also, add youself as a named driver. this knocked a heck of a lot on mine having my dad as the 2nd driver. (i have a ford ka incidentally)

ka7e

Honest John's insurance group calculator is brilliant. You can search for cars by ins group and engine size - or you can look up your car of choice by make, model, year etc.

Obviously the lower the insurance group, the better chance you have of getting an affordable quote.

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/insure/index.htm