19yr Old Driver

[hitman67]

Being towed by what Howard

[Spud1]

confused.com is where i reccomend to look

Where are you going to be living with the car? as that has an effect on your premiums (ie living in a hole like stafford/stoke it will cost you more than if you lived in say eccleshaw [just using staffordshire as an example as thats where i am at uni ]). A real world example is a difference of just over 100quid between insuring a car at my address in Stafford and my address in Sale(manchester).

Also try a few different cars in the quote system, theres minimal difference but as has been pointed out, you can often get cheaper insurance on a slightly older and bigger car than a newer small one. Eg I was quoted 800quid on a 1998 toyota corolla (5dr, 1.6), compared to 1200 on a brand new peugeot 206..(3dr, 1.2)..

Pass Plus does make a difference - but only with certain insureres and it's only vaid for 2 years I think, worth doing if you havnt anyway just for the experience

Oh and please don't get a Ka, I know many people love them but I can't for the life of me think why..they are all fugly, they don't drive that nice and (mainly) they are fugly..I guess they are cheap to run etc but still, have some respect

[dkmech]

By the way, are you going for comprehensive or third party fire and theft. I know its obvious that comprehensive on a new car will be a lot more than tpft on a cheap car. What was that corsa quote for?

[mart_haj86]

i was looking at fully comp, as if i was to get a brand new car like the corsa sxi 1.2 ltr then i would be heart broken if someone crashed into it in a car park etc.. and i only had fire and theft. i guess i should get an old banger and go for third party for the first couple of years

[kalniel]

First don't get a brand new car Second don't get a car with the letters 's' or 'i' in the model

Go for basic models wherever possible, don't get any extras (except ABS), certainly don't go for anything that hints at 'sporty'.

Corsa's, fiestas, Ka, punto, seicento, 106 etc. are all low insurance cars.

Honestly don't worry about NCB - your insurance will drop far faster as a result of age than it ever will with NCB. If that means getting insurance under your parents name or whatever then go for it. When you do get your own insurance it'll be so much cheaper for age that the NCB doesn't make that much difference.

[dkmech]

i was looking at fully comp, as if i was to get a brand new car like the corsa sxi 1.2 ltr then i would be heart broken if someone crashed into it in a car park etc.. and i only had fire and theft. i guess i should get an old banger and go for third party for the first couple of years

Now we know where you were going wrong. Get a quote for tpft cover on a 1998 1.2 corsa (non sxi). I think you'll see a huge difference. There is very little need to have a new car generally. And its counter productive for young drivers, unless you are made of money but then you wouldn't be asking about it here.

If you want a new car - find out who is doing free insurance for a year, or better yet two, and just buy that.

[directhex]

beware used low-spec corsas - they're frighteningly often ex-driving-school cars with buggered gearboxes

[dkmech]

Will do for a purpose of a quote though

[midzt]

I'm doing my pass plus atm, and pass plus does make quite a big difference. I know that directline do 20% off for pass plus which I think is pretty good.

[Tumble]

Well, I wish you the best of luck, I will be embarking on the same battle soon enough (keeping the motorbike for a year, then going for a 1.4 or 1.6 focus).

Dave

don't get the 1.4.. insurance differences are marginal but the 1.6 is a MUCH better engine.. hired both flavours for a weekend last year - 1.6 was revvy and had buckets of bottom end - felt more like a 1.8 (had one of those too and it was heavy nad horrible) - 1/6 is nice n light too... but the 1.4.. you have to drive the thing like a 2 stroke and it drinks like a fish...

and Mart.. Diesels ARE good.. they ARE cheaper to insure and you WILL buy less fuel. you know it makes sense.... saying that - a Land Rover would be good - find an old Series vehicle or a Defender - my insurance on mine '86 Ninety, FC at 20 was £450 with no NCB. It's just over £200 now with a named driver and full NCB. 2.5L Turbo Diesel... loverly

[Gr44]

£1,800 a year! Yowzers...! How much is the car worth?

Edit: and £2,500 to insure a Corsa 1.2!!??!?! What on earth did you do to deserve that?

Nothing, it was 1300 ish after pass plus as I said.

Corsa cost me 4,800 new - sold for 3,500.. brought the astra for 6,000 - astra is a stunning car... i should get some pics up soon

[Gr44]

Being towed by what Howard

lmfao - quote of the year!

Brilliant.... Howard no way could it 'happily' cruise at 80... doing 5k RPM doesn't mean an engine is happy... it meants it's very upset, atleast it is if it sits doing 5k rpm for an hour or 2!

[Barakka]

lmfao - quote of the year!

Brilliant.... Howard no way could it 'happily' cruise at 80... doing 5k RPM doesn't mean an engine is happy... it meants it's very upset, atleast it is if it sits doing 5k rpm for an hour or 2!

Sorry, but i'm with Howard on this one, my g/f had a Cinq 900cc like Howards and it would indeed cruise happily at 80 on the motorway... it did every day taking her to and from work for several years without problem.

Getting something like a Cinq or Seicento would be a good little run-around for your 1st year of driving from a few hundred quid upwards and would be about the cheapest to insure. Also if you own-fault prang it (even small) as most people do in the 1st year you could either pay to get it repaired yourself or not bother depending on the damage. If it's a new one like the Corsa SXi you mentioned you would probably end up claiming on your insurance to get it fixed and bang goes the NCB.

[edavies87]

My corsa 1.2 sxi was only 650 to insure with passplus, and im only 18

Ed

[Gr44]

Sorry, but i'm with Howard on this one, my g/f had a Cinq 900cc like Howards and it would indeed cruise happily at 80 on the motorway... it did every day taking her to and from work for several years without problem.

Getting something like a Cinq or Seicento would be a good little run-around for your 1st year of driving from a few hundred quid upwards and would be about the cheapest to insure. Also if you own-fault prang it (even small) as most people do in the 1st year you could either pay to get it repaired yourself or not bother depending on the damage. If it's a new one like the Corsa SXi you mentioned you would probably end up claiming on your insurance to get it fixed and bang goes the NCB.

Can't really comment on the cinq, but it's a fair point about pranging your car... depending on your driving/experiance/nervousness or even over-confidence...

[Howard]

Sorry, but i'm with Howard on this one, my g/f had a Cinq 900cc like Howards and it would indeed cruise happily at 80 on the motorway... it did every day taking her to and from work for several years without problem.

Cheers... You've actually driven the things so you're in a position to comment

It did me good service for a year and a half... I used it for town and motorway driving, including a couple of hours on the M1 to Nottingham and back, without a hitch. The only thing I had to fix in my time of ownership was the handbrake cable. It was by no means fast, or terribly refined. But it wasn't an uncomfortable, death-defying experience.

The engine wouldn't "scream at 5k rpm".. The gearing wasn't too bad. It just didn't have enough torque to pull it much further past 80