Just got my First car!

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SimonUK

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Yay! Got my first car yesterday, although i'm only 16, i turn 17 in a month, and needed to get a car at some point, so why not now!

Its a 1.1 Saxo, and got it for a really nice price, and according to my dad, who drove it home with me sat next to him, it drives really good!

I can't wait to get out and drive it! :D

However, insurance is silly expensive, i've been looking at the Smart-Box thing from Co-Op, Has anyone got any views on this? At the moment, it looks like i'll be able to insure the car to learn for cheap, but once i pass, i can't insure for less that 3 grand :/

Any ideas?
 
well done Simon :)

Can't comment on the Smart-Box, but one thing I will mention is....no matter how tempting it may be is to put the insurance in your dads name and have you as a second driver. Frowned upon big time.

You get my sympathies though....really, 3k insurance on a 1k car? that's just insanity.
 
£3k insurance on a 1.1... thats mad... my 1.4 polo wasnt much over 1k to insure but now it's dropped to £700 (still a lot but better than not being able to drive) give quinn direct a look as they are often cheapest for new drivers
 
Insurance for youngsters is pathetic. Something needs to be done to get it down.
 
samems said:
Insurance for youngsters is pathetic. Something needs to be done to get it down.
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Young drivers driving safely would help, can't begin to count the number of people from my old school who have written off their cars through their own negligence or stupidity
 
robhooley167 said:
Young drivers driving safely would help, can't begin to count the number of people from my old school who have written off their cars through their own negligence or stupidity
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I know. That is an issue. But at the end of the day, 3k insurance on a 1k car is stupid!
 
I got a quote for £27k to insure my £300 1999 1.4 polo, stupid quotes do exist but £1-2k exist for a reason. Kids get behind the wheel and think they are invincible. Once a year or two's no claims bonus kicks in the premiums will shoot down, once you hit 21-22 it will be affordable
 
samems said:
I know. That is an issue. But at the end of the day, 3k insurance on a 1k car is stupid!
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How so? The amount of damage a testosterone- fuelled 17 year old in charge of a motor vehicle can cause makes that sound a bargain....
 
Flash In The Pan said:
How so? The amount of damage a testosterone- fuelled 17 year old in charge of a motor vehicle can cause makes that sound a bargain....
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Exactly, it's not about the value of the car, it's more about the amount of damage they could cause
 
I know guys but usually it is the parents that have to cough up the insurance anyway! I just think that the current high level of cost is a bit too much.
 
samems said:
I know guys but usually it is the parents that have to cough up the insurance anyway! I just think that the current high level of cost is a bit too much.
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Why is it? :thinking:
 
The problem with these "blackbox" insurance schemes is that IMO, the blackbox's assessment is pretty one dimensional.

It can measure acceletation, speed and cornering forces but it doesn't relate them to road or traffic conditions, i.e. in an event where you have to brake very hard and swerve to avoid some tool who just pulled out on you, it would register sudden and hard braking and lateral Gs which it may deem as you driving inappropriately.

These schemes usually work on a 3 strikes basis...... Each time the box records you driving in an "unsafe" manor you will probably get a letter from the insurance company and penalty charge for doing so.

After 3 warnings they can cancel your policy.

The next time you get insurance you will have to declare that you've had a policy cancelled..... you think you're getting high quotes now! ;)

As Antihero says, don't get the policy in your Dad's name and add you as a named driver, they're clamping down very hard on that!

However, there's nothing to stop you adding your Mum, Dad or any other older driver to the policy and this can save a few quid too :)
 
Horrible little car, you might as well be on a bike for all the protection you get in a collision. A couple of my sister's friends died not far from you in a Saxo driven by a cocky kid that learned about lift off oversteer the hard way. Hit a petrol pump and peeled apart scattering rear passengers all over the place.

There's a reason insurance for young people is expensive!
 
To the OP. Get your parents to look into multi car insurance. We had daughter and son on separate insurance total cost for 3 cars was nearly £4000, changed and it is now £2600 for all 3 car all fully comp too which worked out cheaper than 3rd party. and if you do have an accident it will not affect your parents insurance either. And as someone else has said their dad is a named driver on their cars too.
Terri
 
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samems said:
I know guys but usually it is the parents that have to cough up the insurance anyway!
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My parents told me I could buy a car once I passed my test, but I would have to pay to run it as they wouldn't. Since I was still at school at the time, I waited, then bought the car with the money I earned working full time during me "year off" (ha!) before university and used my savings to run it until I graduated.

No way they would have paid my insurance - "if you can't afford it, do without" was the philosophy (one that I share).

They wouldn't let me have an Imp as my first car - Dad had too many bad memories of having to fix Mum's all the time :lol: - so 3rd party on a £500 Morris Marina 1800 "deluxe"(!) - group two in the old nine group system- was £280 for an 18 year old in 1987. I did have over a year's driving experience after passing my test by then though. That car had the structural strength of a blancmange, made a Saxo look like the safest car on earth in comparison.
 
The reason insurance is so high is because of the accident rate. If a 17 year old boy crashes his car into a tree only damaging himself and his car then the prices seem steep - if a 17 year old lad causes a multiple pile-up injuring or killing other people and damaging other cars and property, then you can see where the costs add up in legal fees, compensation and the like. You can argue that it's the same for anyone of any age, but the fact is that there are a lot more accidents caused by young drivers so they balance the risk accordingly.

If you are going to look at the smart box insurance, consider doing your advanced driving with a local RoSPA advanced drivers group. It will help to improve your driving and observation skills so your drive is smoother and safer and you will (hopefully!) have less 'near-miss' type situations as you will have been taught to focus and observe.

It also looks good to insurers and although we can't say that you will definitely get a reduction for doing the test as it varies with different insurers, it's worth a try as it costs so little.

Membership for the East Midlands group is around £20 a year, your test fee is £48 and you'll need a copy of Roadcraft and Highway code so I think first year with us is £78 all in (books, test fee and membership). But for that you are getting an hours tuition every 2 weeks for as long as you need to be test-ready. You are re-tested every 3 years, but the retest is free as long as you keep up your RoSPA membership IIRC.

http://www.roadar.org/index.htm you can find out more here.
 
Thanks guys! :)

The Car only cost 875, so the insurance is pretty silly :P
I'm planning on doing Pass Plus as well, which gives a little discount onto the insurance as well, just teaches you how to drive on Motorways and at Night and stuff :)

AFAIK with the blackbox insurance type things, its all averaged out, So if you do break hard to avoid a collision, but only once in that month, then it shouldn't affect anything.
 
mid_gen said:
Horrible little car, you might as well be on a bike for all the protection you get in a collision. A couple of my sister's friends died not far from you in a Saxo driven by a cocky kid that learned about lift off oversteer the hard way. Hit a petrol pump and peeled apart scattering rear passengers all over the place.

There's a reason insurance for young people is expensive!
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to be honest theyre not that bad for a 90's french hatch. i had a 60mph head on (30 each direction) in my first and while it was a write off it didnt disintegrate. but i guess it depends on speeds, angles, impact area etc etc.

but yes for gods sake watch out for the lift off oversteer. especially in the damp.
 
Good luck with learning, when the time comes!

At 22 it's something I'm yet to do....but that choice has left me with thousands of pounds extra lining my pocket (or to be spent on other things :D)
 
neil_g said:
a saxo is probably the worst car you could get for insurance.
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Care you expand on your wonderfully vague statement?

The Saxo cost the same insure as ANY small car i looked at, and i pretty much looked at everything. The car doesn't seem to matter much anyway. it was only 95 quid more to be insured on my Dad's X-Type....
 
SimonUK said:
Thanks guys! :)

The Car only cost 875, so the insurance is pretty silly :P
I'm planning on doing Pass Plus as well, which gives a little discount onto the insurance as well, just teaches you how to drive on Motorways and at Night and stuff :)

AFAIK with the blackbox insurance type things, its all averaged out, So if you do break hard to avoid a collision, but only once in that month, then it shouldn't affect anything.
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Pass Plus will only get you a small discount with some insurers.
Make sure the discount you get outweighs the cost of the Pass Plus itself.
 
viv1969 said:
Pass Plus will only get you a small discount with some insurers.
Make sure the discount you get outweighs the cost of the Pass Plus itself.
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Some local councils subsidise the cost of Pass Plus, also the discount on your insurance doesn't only count on your first years insurance, it also counts on subsequent years too.
Multi car policies certainly seem the way to go. My mate did this for his son, it cost £1700 to add his sons Polo to the multicar policy they already had as opposed to £3200 as a stand alone policy.
My son is now 21 has 3 years no claims and has always had his own policy. This years insurance was £900, about the same as he paid last year so it doesn't always go down.
Unless things have changed recently the car does matter. My son was originally looking at getting a Fiesta, but the cost of a decent car and not something that to be honest was already and old reck or very rusty was hard to find. He ended up with a Focus 1.6 Zetec, car was around same age, much better condition but cheaper to buy and the money he saved on getting the better car went on the difference in the insurance premium.
 
SimonUK said:
Thanks guys! :)

The Car only cost 875, so the insurance is pretty silly :P
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As already stated, the insurance premium is more to do with the driver than the value of the car and I have to agree about the Saxo being a poor choice. The driving position is awful, tjey can cost a fortune to grt through an MOT and they fold like tinfoil if involved in an even minor head-on crash.

There are many better small cars for the money....
 
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Simon, you're not going to have a head on accident, are you? :nono:

And as for all the driving Gods here sprouting on about lift-off oversteer, my first car had the engine at the back and narrow 135mm tyres and somehow I never spun that one off the road or lost control sideways ... even though I tried a lot harder than you're going to! ;)
 
SimonUK said:
Care you expand on your wonderfully vague statement?

The Saxo cost the same insure as ANY small car i looked at, and i pretty much looked at everything. The car doesn't seem to matter much anyway. it was only 95 quid more to be insured on my Dad's X-Type....
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yes i can. its widely known as the boy racer/chav car of choice :)

(ive owned 2 before anyone starts :D)
 
Yves Geza said:
Simon, you're not going to have a head on accident, are you? :nono:

And as for all the driving Gods here sprouting on about lift-off oversteer, my first car had the engine at the back and narrow 135mm tyres and somehow I never spun that one off the road or lost control sideways ... even though I tried a lot harder than you're going to! ;)
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spaxos are widely renowned for it, the back can and will snap away if you have a big lift mid corner. trust me on that one.. :)
 
Trust me ... I raced FWD Production Saloons for four years ;) ... Simon ain't gonna have a big lift mid-corner, probably because he'll be too sensible to steam in like that, or because he'll catch it brilliantly or because he'll plough straight on because he was silly enough to steam in waaaaay too fast!
 
neil_g said:
spaxos are widely renowned for it, the back can and will snap away if you have a big lift mid corner. trust me on that one.. :)
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I think it's pretty common for most FWD cars, especially if the rear tyres have less grip than the front ones ;)

Having said that, in the 11 years and 112K (enthusiatic) milesI owned my MK1 focus I never managed to provoke it into a tailslide :lol:

Went on a Police run advanced drivers course which culminated in a trip to their skid pan, even the copper sitting next to me randomly pulling the handbrake couldn't get the thing to misbehave, he commented on what a well handling (if somewhat boring) car it was :lol:
 
Yves Geza said:
Trust me ... I raced FWD Production Saloons for four years ;) ... Simon ain't gonna have a big lift mid-corner, probably because he'll be too sensible to steam in like that, or because he'll catch it brilliantly or because he'll plough straight on because he was silly enough to steam in waaaaay too fast!
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Reminds me of a layman's way to describe understeer, oversteer, BHP and torque:

Understeer - Hitting the fence with the front of the car
Oversteer - Hitting the fence with the back of the car
BHP - How fast you hit the fence
Torque - How far you take the fence with you

:lol:
 
I have no plan to crash Paperclip!(the car is called Paperclip :) )

Literally i'm going to drive like to School twice a week when i need to take Guitars/Sax/Amp in. So i'm not even going to be driving it much :)

I have have no interest in racing or Pimping the car haha, the only change its getting is a new stereo because the one in it is broke :P
 
I didn't plan to crash my first car either, but I did. My insurance was £980 and the damage I did cost about £6k. No one was hurt and it taught me a great lesson.

Touch wood I don't crash again.
 
SimonUK said:
Yay! Got my first car yesterday, although i'm only 16, i turn 17 in a month, and needed to get a car at some point, so why not now!
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Because insurance will break you?
 
neil_g said:
you probably have good reflexes then :)
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No, I'm just a very slow driver! :p

However when I was 17, my father [whose driving I respected] impressed on me "any fool can crash a car"

Simon - turn that effing stereo off! Concentrate on your driving for the next year or two when you're in the car, not your music!! ;)
 
neil_g said:
spaxos are widely renowned for it, the back can and will snap away if you have a big lift mid corner. trust me on that one.. :)
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Turn the steering wheel in the direction you wish to go and bury the accelerator into the floor. Should save you every time.
For example.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPCGnkApnDU
Ok not lift off oversteer, he was nerfed, but the principle and result should be the same.:thumbs:
 
SimonUK said:
I have no plan to crash Paperclip!(the car is called Paperclip :) )
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Ahh, so that's where all the other 17-year olds go wrong, they set out deliberately to have a crash. :lol:
 
nilagin said:
Turn the steering wheel in the direction you wish to go and bury the accelerator into the floor. Should save you every time.
For example.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPCGnkApnDU
Ok not lift off oversteer, he was nerfed, but the principle and result should be the same.:thumbs:
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it should, not sure on a 1.1 french powerhouse though. also if its damp and/or diesely corner then it can be game over before you can blink. like i say depends on your reflexes :)
 
Flash In The Pan said:
Ahh, so that's where all the other 17-year olds go wrong, they set out deliberately to have a crash. :lol:
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Paperclip is an apt name for a Saxo though - they share the same structural rigidity :naughty:
 
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