Definition of first car

[grim_d]

OH is watching X-factor so I as sitting twiddling my thumbs and mooching around the internet and it got me wondering.

How does everybody define the term "first car".

Is it the first car you were insured on and got to drive unsupervised after passing your test?

Is it the first car you had registered in your name?

Is it the first car you bought with your own money?

Personally I'm going with option 3 because it's the fastest car I've owned to date

[Waugh-terfall]

I call my current one my first car, as it was bought specifically for me, is registered and insured in my name, and solely used by me.

I did however drive an old Mazda 323 between my 17th and 18th birthdays, it was our runabout and was the only thing sensible/viable for me to use, I had that the majority of the time too though

[ambuletz]

depends on ur circumstance. but I'd say it's the first car you became attached to/had your first experiences in.

[grim_d]

ambuletz said:

depends on ur circumstance. but I'd say it's the first car you became attached to/had your first experiences in.

I like that way of thinking.

[BrewsterBear]

Kids these days are far too spoilt. It's not that long ago that I not only had to save to buy my own first car, a Mini Mayfair 998cc, but also insure it and maintain it. Being allowed to run around in your parents commuter after you've passed your test doesn't make it your first car.

ambuletz said:

depends on ur circumstance. but I'd say it's the first car you became attached to/had your first experiences in.

I can however confirm that, whilst uncomfortable, it is possible to get jiggy in old school Mini though.

Edited by BrewsterBear on Sunday 24th October 07:13

[adycav]

grim_d said:

How does everybody define the term "first car".

Is it the first car you were insured on and got to drive unsupervised after passing your test?

Is it the first car you had registered in your name?

Is it the first car you bought with your own money?

My first car was all three for me. Passed test on a Tuesday, bought car (1978 Fiat 128 1.3 for three hundred quid) on the Wednesday.

Do things work differently now?

I suppose kids nowadays get bought cars costing thousands of pounds by mummy and daddy, or driving around 'fronting'.

[Sneaky Schnell]

adycav said:

grim_d said:

How does everybody define the term "first car".

Is it the first car you were insured on and got to drive unsupervised after passing your test?

Is it the first car you had registered in your name?

Is it the first car you bought with your own money?

My first car was all three for me. Passed test on a Tuesday, bought car (1978 Fiat 128 1.3 for three hundred quid) on the Wednesday.

Do things work differently now?

I suppose kids nowadays get bought cars costing thousands of pounds by mummy and daddy, or driving around 'fronting'.

I'm the same. My first car was all three.

A friend of mine just bought his son a new Scirocco for getting into college. The college is walking distance from his home. A year prior he bought his daughter a new Peugeot 207CC.

I don't understand how they will learn the value of money when it is just handed to them.

[Engineer1]

not necessarily fronting, you may let your kid drive your car for the summer between 6th form and Uni, after all it may not be worth getting them a car for those few months if they are living away from home without a car during Uni term time.

[Jasandjules]

grim_d said:

OH is watching X-factor so I as sitting twiddling my thumbs and mooching around the internet and it got me wondering.

How does everybody define the term "first car".

Is it the first car you were insured on and got to drive unsupervised after passing your test?

Is it the first car you had registered in your name?

Is it the first car you bought with your own money?

Personally I'm going with option 3 because it's the fastest car I've owned to date

Well, my first car was bought by me, insured by me and registered in my name. It is also the car that I passed my test in and drove for the first time on my own.

Your first car is to my mind the first car you buy and register in your name.

[Ricky_M]

I had a Mk2 Golf I was repairing to use as my first car, but between my lack of knowledge, Dad breaking promises and it getting stolen, it never happened.

The day I passed my test, my Mum loaned me money to buy and insure a car, which I spent the next two years paying off. I had £10 a week left over to run it until I found a second job.

I've got nothing against kids having cars bought for them, it just bugs me when they don't appreciate them and act like they are owed the car!

[ARH]

How different attitudes are these days. No way would anyone else have lent me their car, no way would anyone have bought me a car, no way would anyone have paid the running costs of a car when i passed my test. And I was bought up in a very middle class family, my parents each had a car, and probably enough cash to buy me a car. I bought my first car when I was 16 fixed it and got it MOT'ed, insured it in time for my 17th birthday then used it to learn to drive. this was 30 years ago, and yes insurance was just as costly, it cost me 10 weeks take home pay to insure, and it was only a vauxhall 1967 viva.

[CTS86]

BrewsterBear said:

Kids these days are far too spoilt. It's not that long ago that I not only had to save to buy my own first car, a Mini Mayfair 998cc, but also insure it and maintain it. Being allowed to run around in your parents commuter after you've passed your test doesn't make it your first car.

How much was insurance on your first car? All well & good saving up & buying something yourself, but when it costs double that to insure the thing then it's more practical to go on the insurance of your parents car that's already owned.

I did however save up & buy my first car (£1500), but admit to mummy & daddy contributing towards the insurance (£1300)...

[MrPickle]

I consider my first car my old 106, I bought it, insured drove it and sprayed it stupid colours and did handbrake turns in wet car parks with it. It'll always hold a special place in my heart

[adycav]

When I was 17 (c.20 years ago) a school friend acquired his first car, a knackered Skoda Estelle Coupe, by swapping it for a Casio VL Tone.

[BrewsterBear]

CTS86 said:

BrewsterBear said:

Kids these days are far too spoilt. It's not that long ago that I not only had to save to buy my own first car, a Mini Mayfair 998cc, but also insure it and maintain it. Being allowed to run around in your parents commuter after you've passed your test doesn't make it your first car.

How much was insurance on your first car? All well & good saving up & buying something yourself, but when it costs double that to insure the thing then it's more practical to go on the insurance of your parents car that's already owned.

I did however save up & buy my first car (£1500), but admit to mummy & daddy contributing towards the insurance (£1300)...

This was in 1998. The car was an E reg and cost me £600 (2 months wages as an apprentice) and the the insurance was also £600.

I imagine shelf stackers bring home a grand a month so when yoofs start bleating on about £2k insurance for a £500 banger then I'm afraid I my heart pumps p*ss for them. If anything bangers have got (relatively) cheaper to buy.

[CTS86]

BrewsterBear said:

CTS86 said:

BrewsterBear said:

Kids these days are far too spoilt. It's not that long ago that I not only had to save to buy my own first car, a Mini Mayfair 998cc, but also insure it and maintain it. Being allowed to run around in your parents commuter after you've passed your test doesn't make it your first car.

How much was insurance on your first car? All well & good saving up & buying something yourself, but when it costs double that to insure the thing then it's more practical to go on the insurance of your parents car that's already owned.

I did however save up & buy my first car (£1500), but admit to mummy & daddy contributing towards the insurance (£1300)...

This was in 1998. The car was an E reg and cost me £600 (2 months wages as an apprentice) and the the insurance was also £600.

I imagine shelf stackers bring home a grand a month so when yoofs start bleating on about £2k insurance for a £500 banger then I'm afraid I my heart pumps p*ss for them. If anything bangers have got (relatively) cheaper to buy.

But being an apprentice you got paid whilst still getting an education in your chosen area.

Bearing in mind college is pretty much full time then I think bringing home £250 a week whilst only being able to work nights & weekends is a bit optimistic.

[LC2]

BrewsterBear said:

CTS86 said:

BrewsterBear said:

Kids these days are far too spoilt. It's not that long ago that I not only had to save to buy my own first car, a Mini Mayfair 998cc, but also insure it and maintain it. Being allowed to run around in your parents commuter after you've passed your test doesn't make it your first car.

How much was insurance on your first car? All well & good saving up & buying something yourself, but when it costs double that to insure the thing then it's more practical to go on the insurance of your parents car that's already owned.

I did however save up & buy my first car (£1500), but admit to mummy & daddy contributing towards the insurance (£1300)...

This was in 1998. The car was an E reg and cost me £600 (2 months wages as an apprentice) and the the insurance was also £600.

I imagine shelf stackers bring home a grand a month so when yoofs start bleating on about £2k insurance for a £500 banger then I'm afraid I my heart pumps p*ss for them. If anything bangers have got (relatively) cheaper to buy.

I'm with BrewsterBear on this.
My first car, a Mk1 Escort, cost £25 in 86, £75 of welding to get it through an MOT and over £250 to insure. I was earning something like £250 a month after tax.
So kids justifying driving on Mum's insurance (or no insurance) because of the cost being a months wages is just wrong. It has always been thus.

[CTS86]

LC2 said:

BrewsterBear said:

CTS86 said:

BrewsterBear said:

Kids these days are far too spoilt. It's not that long ago that I not only had to save to buy my own first car, a Mini Mayfair 998cc, but also insure it and maintain it. Being allowed to run around in your parents commuter after you've passed your test doesn't make it your first car.

How much was insurance on your first car? All well & good saving up & buying something yourself, but when it costs double that to insure the thing then it's more practical to go on the insurance of your parents car that's already owned.

I did however save up & buy my first car (£1500), but admit to mummy & daddy contributing towards the insurance (£1300)...

This was in 1998. The car was an E reg and cost me £600 (2 months wages as an apprentice) and the the insurance was also £600.

I imagine shelf stackers bring home a grand a month so when yoofs start bleating on about £2k insurance for a £500 banger then I'm afraid I my heart pumps p*ss for them. If anything bangers have got (relatively) cheaper to buy.

I'm with BrewsterBear on this.
My first car, a Mk1 Escort, cost £25 in 86, £75 of welding to get it through an MOT and over £250 to insure. I was earning something like £250 a month after tax.
So kids justifying driving on Mum's insurance (or no insurance) because of the cost being a months wages is just wrong. It has always been thus.

But you've just said your insurance was equal to a month's wages (after tax).

Given that insurance on a complete shed for a 17 year old is probably around £3k nowadays then if you based it on your example a 17 year old would need to be bringing home £36k pa (after tax)!

The point I'm getting at is that it's easy to jump on the "spoilt child" argument when insurance prices weren't such a huge issue as they are now. Both yourself & BrewsterBear were young drivers at a time where insurance costs were acceptable. Arguably I was just about in there before they started getting ridiculous too (2003).

Whilst agreeing that a 17 year old driving a brand spanking new Scirocco is wrong (just my opinion - if someone's willing to give you something like that then fair play), at this moment in time I think insuring your kid on your own car is pretty much the only viable option

[LC2]

CTS86 said:

LC2 said:

BrewsterBear said:

CTS86 said:

BrewsterBear said:

Kids these days are far too spoilt. It's not that long ago that I not only had to save to buy my own first car, a Mini Mayfair 998cc, but also insure it and maintain it. Being allowed to run around in your parents commuter after you've passed your test doesn't make it your first car.

How much was insurance on your first car? All well & good saving up & buying something yourself, but when it costs double that to insure the thing then it's more practical to go on the insurance of your parents car that's already owned.

I did however save up & buy my first car (£1500), but admit to mummy & daddy contributing towards the insurance (£1300)...

This was in 1998. The car was an E reg and cost me £600 (2 months wages as an apprentice) and the the insurance was also £600.

I imagine shelf stackers bring home a grand a month so when yoofs start bleating on about £2k insurance for a £500 banger then I'm afraid I my heart pumps p*ss for them. If anything bangers have got (relatively) cheaper to buy.

I'm with BrewsterBear on this.
My first car, a Mk1 Escort, cost £25 in 86, £75 of welding to get it through an MOT and over £250 to insure. I was earning something like £250 a month after tax.
So kids justifying driving on Mum's insurance (or no insurance) because of the cost being a months wages is just wrong. It has always been thus.

But you've just said your insurance was equal to a month's wages (after tax).

Given that insurance on a complete shed for a 17 year old is probably around £3k nowadays then if you based it on your example a 17 year old would need to be bringing home £36k pa (after tax)!

The point I'm getting at is that it's easy to jump on the "spoilt child" argument when insurance prices weren't such a huge issue as they are now. Both yourself & BrewsterBear were young drivers at a time where insurance costs were acceptable. Arguably I was just about in there before they started getting ridiculous too (2003).

Whilst agreeing that a 17 year old driving a brand spanking new Scirocco is wrong (just my opinion - if someone's willing to give you something like that then fair play), at this moment in time I think insuring your kid on your own car is pretty much the only viable option

I was 20, not 17. I dread to think what the insurance would have been at 17.

[redstu]

It's the first car that you own and pay upkeep on, whether or not it's been paid for by yourself or given to you.
My first car was given to me by my father but it was 16 years old at the time!

Edited by redstu on Sunday 24th October 12:10