Just to add to a previous thread about getting a first car for my Lad -

We have eventually got him a VW Polo 1.2. But, what a ball ache finding a cleanish car. I think it is down to the fact these cars are very sought after by learners, so dealers can buy up rubbish give it a quick spruce up and then try and make a quick buck.

We looked at loads of Polo's and Corsa's and there is some real rubbish out there, dealers working from home who got a "mate" to turn up to view the car the same time as me (didnt work tho, as I was there early and saw the other "buyer" come out the house next door) - they must think you are a mug. Cars that have obviously done far more miles than suggested. Dealers setup on wasteland, who just stick pieces of paper in the windscreen with a 3 month warranty - yeh right.....

Anyway, eventually found a private sale 52 plate Polo, with a Honest 98,000 miles, full service history and all MOT's etc. So this should see him through to his next car. Some panels have been sprayed in the past, but it is for learning anyway and I am sure he will add to the scars.

Insurance.... Went with Quinn-Direct, who along with Adrian Flux were by far cheaper thann others. I have got him his own named insurance so he can start to build his own no-claims.

But, it is surprising to me that all of the other guys at his school are being "fronted" by parents whether learning or after passing. I know it is much cheaper, but if they get caught as the main driver after an accident, well lets just hope that if they injure someone, they have a big bank balance to pay upto hundreds of thousands of pounds to the 3rd party! I am not sure if they realise it is illegal, or know but dont care. The fact that their car is parked in the 6th Form car park everyday, I think would be enough for the insurance company to invalidate the policy.

We went with Quin whilst my son was on a provisional licence - when he passed and we phoned to inform them to change his details the premium suddenly increased to more than double the original price. Cancelled the insurance immediately and switched to Direct Line. It was 3 years ago but while looking for insurance for my daughter recently it would appear that they are all at it now. Apparently when learning they think you are safer as you are supervised by a full licence holder.

My 20 year old runs a Transit Connect, in his third year of driving. He had a claim in year 1 so now has two years no claims.



And two days ago skidded on black ice on his way to work, I took the "Ive crashed my van call" ......Lying on its side in the field.



His insurance is due next week, best quote so far is £1200. Needless to say he was caking himself until we got the van back on its feet to inspect the damage.


Apart from a tiny ding in the sill from the fencepost, its had a wash, fluids topped up and a tidy.



No damage at all, he has been very lucky, no injuries.



He has had the lecture again about switching on when he drives, thankfully he wore his seatbelt on this occassion.

well that's how I got insurance for my first cars when I passed my test, way too expensive to not be under my dads policy and that was 17 years ago, think all my friends did that too at the time

This was my dads car apparently... I couldn't even afford alloys



[Edited on 10/2/11 by Mr Whippy]

my first car was in my dads name (1.1 mk1 fiesta in gold )
cost about £350 I think (but that policy had 5 years NCD already)

but the insurance (NFU) had me as the main driver and even let me build up my own NCD - they even gave me a letter stating my NCD so I could use it with other another company
but that was 10 years agon now


having him as a main driver might cost you a little more now - but once he gets a couple of years NCD he sould be able to afford his own insurance (in theory at least that means its not your problem anymore )


[Edited on 10/2/2011 by mcerd1]

It seems it was not an issue in the past being a "named driver" on Mum or Dad's policy, but still doing the majority of the driving. It is only recently that they have tightened up on it. I have seen quite a few threads in forums from searching where, after junior has had an accident, a fraud department get on the case to find out who the "real main driver" of the vehicle is.

What does annoy me is that the test has now been made harder to pass, but Still no Motorway element, which is just stupid imo. Then when they pass the new test, which is designed to weed out the worse drivers, they then get clobbered for stupid amounts of insurance.

Having said that, I guess the stats for accidents speak for themselves. Personally I think they should lower the premium and then "hold" a large excess that will be returned to you after a years safe driving. At least that way, the safer drivers are rewarded straight away, rather than being presumed guilty before the accident even happens......

quote:

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Originally posted by mcerd1


having him as a main driver might cost you a little more now - but once he gets a couple of years NCD he sould be able to afford his own insurance (in theory at least that means its not your problem anymore )


[Edited on 10/2/2011 by mcerd1]

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My first car was an ex police Rover P6 3500cc and 220bhp at the back wheels! - insurance was £220pa for me(1985), because it was 'an old mans cars'. My mates had 1.1 novas/fiestas and the like and were paying 2 or 3 times as much. Oh happy days. I don't suppose there is anything thats cheap now.
Regards
Hugh

We were getting online quotes for my oldest son on a 1.0 Polo. He lives 2 streets away from us 10 mins walk, but a different post code, CV6 we are CV5. On a £2000 policy it was £400 quid cheaper if he lived with us.

Steve.

i remember my first car back in 1996, VX Astra 1.8 GTE, cost £1000 and the insurance was £800 third party. 1 year later some guy wrote it off with me in it so after the payout i got the fastest thing i could afford, a Renault 5 turbo at the age of 18. Insurance was £1800 then £900 for the second year!

I thought i had it hard but looking at what young drivers pay now for just a silly slow cheap car is really taking the p:@s.

I think this is why so many are driving without insurance or doing it the dodgy way. They need to earn £20K at the age of 18 to just run a crap car.

quote:

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Originally posted by stevec
We were getting online quotes for my oldest son on a 1.0 Polo. He lives 2 streets away from us 10 mins walk, but a different post code, CV6 we are CV5. On a £2000 policy it was £400 quid cheaper if he lived with us.

Steve.

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My daughters insurance came up two weeks ago, she crashed the first car nice pug 106 I bought her 4 hours after passing her test aged 17, they quoted £1,500 on a 1.25 zetec fiesta but after haggling then adding me as a second driver it came down to £873

So get yourself on as a named driver!

For myself 2.0ltr cortina first car, £325 TPFT
after a few others 3.0ltr capri @ 20, maybe £400 so had a few other big cars for the time, SD1 V8 manual, Granada 3.0ltr and 2.8ltr ghia's etc and never paid more than £400 TPFT on any of them.

It was a golden age for insurance in the early 80's I could get insured for anything, was even quoted on a DB6 without issue, it was for sale for a couple of thousand with a 4.2 jag engine but choose a ford instead

Cheers Mark

quote:

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Originally posted by mark chandler
My daughters insurance came up two weeks ago, she crashed the first car nice pug 106 I bought her 4 hours after passing her test aged 17, they quoted £1,500 on a 1.25 zetec fiesta but after haggling then adding me as a second driver it came down to £873

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Yeah they cottoned on to the "it's me dad's car" thing a few years ago, but someone's mentioned the crash statistics (on another thread probably) so might be worth going for something a little more powerful because every twonk with a 45bhp polo plants their foot (I did) and gets into trouble whereas I've had my mondeo to top speed once because it was starting to look like the hyperspace bit on Star Wars and I bottled it.

Also no-one gets the Corsa sxi as a first car because "if it's £1000 for a 1 litre one it's going to be rediculous with the 2 litre one!"

I moved across the street last year which increased my premium because it's a different post code even though it was park on the road before and now it's off road.

When I was in 6th form alot most of the guys with cars were comitting insurance fraud of some kind (Most through fronting, some through undeclared mods, a few with both) and I'm guessing they're cracking down on it now because so many people are doing it and the insurance companies are loosing so much money (Which they'll make back by higher premiums for the rest of us). If you can't afford the insurance you can't afford to drive as my old man always says.

I like the idea of paying some sort of deposit towards insurance that you'd get back if you didn't claim.