HELP!! CAR FOR NEW DRIVER 17y/o

[tommehh1]

Hi,

I have just had my 17th birthday and am looking for my first car. Before my birthday, my dad bought me a 1991 MK2 Golf 1.6 Driver, although we have had to regrettably sell it after not getting an insurance quote much under £4500 My dad said he's going to get me a corsa or something similar ie. clio, ka etc.... which at the end of the day I would love just because it's a car, but I won't to drive something a bit different and something that I would genuinely love like the golf.

So basically my question is what classic/'nice' cars are out there on Ebay, Autotrader etc that are going to cost less than £1500 and won't have to be insured for much more than £2000.

Any suggestions would be great
Thanks

[eldar]

tommehh1 said:

Hi,

I have just had my 17th birthday and am looking for my first car. Before my birthday, my dad bought me a 1991 MK2 Golf 1.6 Driver, although we have had to regrettably sell it after not getting an insurance quote much under £4500 My dad said he's going to get me a corsa or something similar ie. clio, ka etc.... which at the end of the day I would love just because it's a car, but I won't to drive something a bit different and something that I would genuinely love like the golf.

So basically my question is what classic/'nice' cars are out there on Ebay, Autotrader etc that are going to cost less than £1500 and won't have to be insured for much more than £2000.

Any suggestions would be great
Thanks

Basic last model Fiat Panda. Dunno about the 2k insurance limit, but it is in the lowest group.

[RobinBanks]

This really is something that you have to sit down with your insurance details and get as many quotes on as many cars as possible, unfortunately.

It's difficult to give good advice on the matter as the insurance thing is quite inconsistent.

[daytona365]

4.5k for insurance on a mundane car, then they wonder why half the mainly immigrant areas don't have insurance ?!

[Valgar]

Insurance is so varied, simply doesn't make sense most of the time, buy something 'uncool' that young people don't normally buy, Daihatsu or Perodua maybe?

[shoestring7]

My 17 y.o son has a lovely mk2 Golf; a 1.6 diesel, one owner from new, always garaged etc. which cost around that. He loves it, and reckons its the coolest thing in the college car park. His mother has insured it, various other family members do use it, but (to be clear) he is named as the main driver and has the use of it for education and a part-time job. Insurance was <£1k, although he lives in a low risk area.

I found mid-90s VW Polos were also cheap to insure, a 1.6GL cheaper than a 1.4 for some reason. Persevere, its very easy to get quotes, but I suggest this time you do it before you actually buy the car...

SS7
PS Pic here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/37571417@N05/2031437...

[Speed Badger]

How about a Citroën C2? Bit quirky, bit cool, decent insurance cost.

[HustleRussell]

I'm 26 so it's irrelevant anyway but I recently bought a 1.1 Citroen Saxo as a stop gap car while my BMW is being done up and was astounded to find that it's more costly to insure than my 190bhp 5-series. Clearly a lot of these cars have been wrapped around street furniture by yoofs.

Don't get too fixated on engine sizes or insurance groups, get quotes on a variety of cars.

Newer cars are often cheaper to insure than their older equivalents, so consider upping your car budget.

[Z06George]

I found lowest group doesn't always mean cheapest, my V70 ended up being cheaper than a few of the standard choice hatches my mates went with. A few people mentioned on here that crash rates have a factor so go with something left field. Not 100% on how true it is but it worked for me!

[Mr. Nice Guy]

Try classic British sports cars, not many yoofs crash them so they are surprisingly cheap on insurance. Have a look at MGBs, spitfires, midgets, sprites and that sort of thing.

I'm 19 and I drive an MGB GT, insurance is about £500 fully comp, but that's with 1 years experience and 1 years NCB, it's a limited mileage policy because it's my second car. I'm not sure how it would be for a 17 year old but if you can get classic insurance it should be cheap enough, I'm insured with Flux direct. I'm assuming you know all of the little things you can do to reduce it, like putting a parent on as a named driver, putting it on the driveway etc.

My MG is much nicer to drive than my Polo, much nicer to look at and it gets a good reaction from everybody. Older cars need a lot more looking after for them to be as reliable as a modern car, but it is possible if you are prepare for the steep learning curve that comes with owning a car built in 1970s Britain

If you have any questions, ask away. (Picture just because I can )

[Dodsy]

Corsa ka etc will all cost a fortune. Its not a cool car but i bought my son a skoda fabia 1.2 its basically a polo with a skoda wrap £700 A year for a 17 year old.

[spud989]

Very few 17-year-olds "need" a car. Most want one a lot. The drop at 18 for insurance is considerable and once you hit 20 and 21 it's huge too. If you're at college/sixth form then carry on taking the bus/train. I passed my test at 18, but didn't get a car until I was almost 21. And I lived in a village and managed fine through a combination of buses/trains/occasionally borrowing a parent's hatchback.

Your wallet will thank you, too!

[Blanchimont]

I was in your position a few years ago.

I had a Ford Ka for my first car, it was cheap, reliable and only cost me £200 in 18 months of ownership. It was a good first car, and got me about and kept me dry.

Insurance on that was £1500, and that was bloody good, I snapped it up straight away! The only difference is I waited a few months to save for insurance. I think it was 7 months from passing my test to getting my car. It wasn't such a struggle as I had a motorbike to get around on, but I was getting pissed off with the rain and being cold. It was lovely on a warm day mind!

After 18 months I got what I have now (1.4, turbocharged Fiat) and it's great and only costs me a couple of hundred to insure.

I think, you'll have to get it as cheap as you can, and suck it up im afraid. But, once you have that magical one years NCB it makes a massive difference. My premium went from £1500, to £600 in year 2 all because of 1 years NCB, and the fact i'd been driving for a year.

That was WITHOUT telematics insurance.

I think you want the car after your first one. All you need to do is keep it for a year and then you can get something more interesting.

[Dr Interceptor]

Basically OP... go to the classifieds and search for cars under £1500 with a max engine size of 1.4l.

Then keep plumbing reg numbers into GoCompare until you find a car and insurance combo that you're happy with.

[Ste1987]

spud989 said:

Very few 17-year-olds "need" a car. Most want one a lot. The drop at 18 for insurance is considerable and once you hit 20 and 21 it's huge too. If you're at college/sixth form then carry on taking the bus/train. I passed my test at 18, but didn't get a car until I was almost 21. And I lived in a village and managed fine through a combination of buses/trains/occasionally borrowing a parent's hatchback.

Your wallet will thank you, too!

This is true. I passed my test nearly 10 years ago but only bought my first car 5 years ago

[tommehh1]

Thanks for all the suggestions.
I think I'll have to go with something a bit more reliable and cheaper to run for the first year and then see how much my insurance decreases, hoping to keep a NCB as well.

Just wondering about what shoestring7 said, and how it's possible to get insurance that cheap on a MK2 for a 17 year old. I suppose I'll just have to look around for lots of different quotes.

[ecs0set]

Mr. Nice Guy said:

Try classic British sports cars, not many yoofs crash them so they are surprisingly cheap on insurance. Have a look at MGBs, spitfires, midgets, sprites and that sort of thing.

I'm 19 and I drive an MGB GT, insurance is about £500 fully comp, but that's with 1 years experience and 1 years NCB, it's a limited mileage policy because it's my second car. I'm not sure how it would be for a 17 year old but if you can get classic insurance it should be cheap enough, I'm insured with Flux direct. I'm assuming you know all of the little things you can do to reduce it, like putting a parent on as a named driver, putting it on the driveway etc.

My MG is much nicer to drive than my Polo, much nicer to look at and it gets a good reaction from everybody. Older cars need a lot more looking after for them to be as reliable as a modern car, but it is possible if you are prepare for the steep learning curve that comes with owning a car built in 1970s Britain

If you have any questions, ask away. (Picture just because I can )

Classic Insurance mean no NCB doesn't it? Building up NCB would be a good idea for a young driver.

[liner33]

Mr. Nice Guy said:

Try classic British sports cars, not many yoofs crash them so they are surprisingly cheap on insurance. Have a look at MGBs, spitfires, midgets, sprites and that sort of thing.

I'm 19 and I drive an MGB GT, insurance is about £500 fully comp, but that's with 1 years experience and 1 years NCB, it's a limited mileage policy because it's my second car. I'm not sure how it would be for a 17 year old but if you can get classic insurance it should be cheap enough, I'm insured with Flux direct. I'm assuming you know all of the little things you can do to reduce it, like putting a parent on as a named driver, putting it on the driveway etc.

My MG is much nicer to drive than my Polo, much nicer to look at and it gets a good reaction from everybody. Older cars need a lot more looking after for them to be as reliable as a modern car, but it is possible if you are prepare for the steep learning curve that comes with owning a car built in 1970s Britain

If you have any questions, ask away. (Picture just because I can )

They dont crash as well as a modern car , speaking as a dad who has a 16 year old im much more concerned about his safety than the insurance cost , whilst I would love him to have a nice classic i think for the first couple of years he would be safer in a more modern car

[Slow]

tommehh1 said:

Thanks for all the suggestions.
I think I'll have to go with something a bit more reliable and cheaper to run for the first year and then see how much my insurance decreases, hoping to keep a NCB as well.

Just wondering about what shoestring7 said, and how it's possible to get insurance that cheap on a MK2 for a 17 year old. I suppose I'll just have to look around for lots of different quotes.

Seen a few adverts for brand new Adam with a years insurance for £129 a month or something stupid.

That monthly fee is less than you would pay per month on insurance alone on most cars.
Few other cars are coming with free insurance too.

[fatjon]

My daughter had a punto 1.2 for a first car a few years ago (3 ish) and that was 700. There were a few jokers quoted thousands but a few phone calls to weed out the idiots got it down nicely.