Buying my first car. Help needed!!
Discussion
Hey everyone,
I just joined the forum to see if any good car enthusiasts have any advice to give
I passed my test on Thursday, first time after starting driving in September. My birthday is soon, and I'll be 20 at the end of next month, so I'm waiting till then to get my first car in the hope the insurance will be slightly lower. I have about 4k I'm willing to put towards a car, insurance, tax and any improvements (not including fuel) but am prepared to shell out more if needed.
I have in mind either a Citroen Saxo VTR, or a Furio 1.4. The cheapest insurance quotes I'm getting as a 19 year old are like £2,000-£2,500, which I can accept. I plan on doing a Pass Plus course to save on it - but is it really worth it, from anyone's experience?
Another problem is actually buying a car off someone and being sure there's no hidden problems or defects. My dad won't let me even look at anything that's got less than six month's MOT left on it, and I know that's sensible. But it leaves me in a difficult position as a pre-owned car is what I'm looking for, and I've had a lot of trouble finding a Saxo with that much MOT left on it from the previous owner. Seriously what's the best way forward here, is there something I should be looking for or is it a case of getting the AA to do an inspection on the car you're thinking of buying in order to be on the safe side?
I am new to the world of cars (as you might have guessed) so am going to do my fair deal of reseach about Saxos - I know it's wise to learn all I can about my car before I get it.
I also plan to do a basic car mechanics course too; it'll help aid the whole learning process and give me the skills to take good care of my car as long as I own it.
Any sound help would be greatly appreciated. If there's anything else you'd recommend me looking into eg insurance companies, stuff to look for when buying used cars or just generally anything I'd love to hear from you.
Thanks!
Dan
I just joined the forum to see if any good car enthusiasts have any advice to give
I passed my test on Thursday, first time after starting driving in September. My birthday is soon, and I'll be 20 at the end of next month, so I'm waiting till then to get my first car in the hope the insurance will be slightly lower. I have about 4k I'm willing to put towards a car, insurance, tax and any improvements (not including fuel) but am prepared to shell out more if needed.
I have in mind either a Citroen Saxo VTR, or a Furio 1.4. The cheapest insurance quotes I'm getting as a 19 year old are like £2,000-£2,500, which I can accept. I plan on doing a Pass Plus course to save on it - but is it really worth it, from anyone's experience?
Another problem is actually buying a car off someone and being sure there's no hidden problems or defects. My dad won't let me even look at anything that's got less than six month's MOT left on it, and I know that's sensible. But it leaves me in a difficult position as a pre-owned car is what I'm looking for, and I've had a lot of trouble finding a Saxo with that much MOT left on it from the previous owner. Seriously what's the best way forward here, is there something I should be looking for or is it a case of getting the AA to do an inspection on the car you're thinking of buying in order to be on the safe side?
I am new to the world of cars (as you might have guessed) so am going to do my fair deal of reseach about Saxos - I know it's wise to learn all I can about my car before I get it.
I also plan to do a basic car mechanics course too; it'll help aid the whole learning process and give me the skills to take good care of my car as long as I own it.
Any sound help would be greatly appreciated. If there's anything else you'd recommend me looking into eg insurance companies, stuff to look for when buying used cars or just generally anything I'd love to hear from you.
Thanks!
Dan
personally I'd steer away for hatches, in fact from anything with much of a reputation for being driven by younger drivers. The insurance on saxos/106's/polos etc reflects the fact that they tend to be driven (and crashed) by young 'uns and in no way reflects their persormance.
Run some quotes for saabs, volvos ,mondeos, anything really for around £2k that you wouldn't associate young or new drivers with. You might throw up a few surprises and find yourself in a 2litre luxo-barge rather than a 1.1 tin can death trap.
Run some quotes for saabs, volvos ,mondeos, anything really for around £2k that you wouldn't associate young or new drivers with. You might throw up a few surprises and find yourself in a 2litre luxo-barge rather than a 1.1 tin can death trap.
Did my pass plus when i passed 6 years ago and did make a nice dent in the insurance and was a good day out to be fair. Only advice i can really give is stay away from the modded ones or any of them owned by a young lad. Lets face it most of them owned by young lads get ragged to near death on a daily basis.
Hi there and welcome to PH 
As a 19 year old who's been driving since 17, I should be able to help a little.
Firstly, you need to try a bit harder on the insurance side if you're happy with quotes of 2k+. I paid that much as a 17 year old, and now have quotes of about around £700 two years later (car is a 1.4 Polo). I know you don't have the NCB but you should be looking at quotes of much less than £2k.
Pass Plus won't make much difference to your insurance premium but may be intellectually valuable in terms of what you learn (i.e. motorway tuition).
Secondly, you can get some quite good metal for under £2k, but I wouldn't stick so rigidly to the 6 months MOT rule. Judge cars by their individual condition. In terms of something that'll be cheaper to run in the long run you may be better off avoiding the French stuff. Perhaps try looking at Fiestas.
As for looking at cars, as you say just do the research and write yourself a checklist of known weak spots to check, as well as the usual things (e.g. tyres).
Happy motoring
As a 19 year old who's been driving since 17, I should be able to help a little.
Firstly, you need to try a bit harder on the insurance side if you're happy with quotes of 2k+. I paid that much as a 17 year old, and now have quotes of about around £700 two years later (car is a 1.4 Polo). I know you don't have the NCB but you should be looking at quotes of much less than £2k.
Pass Plus won't make much difference to your insurance premium but may be intellectually valuable in terms of what you learn (i.e. motorway tuition).
Secondly, you can get some quite good metal for under £2k, but I wouldn't stick so rigidly to the 6 months MOT rule. Judge cars by their individual condition. In terms of something that'll be cheaper to run in the long run you may be better off avoiding the French stuff. Perhaps try looking at Fiestas.
As for looking at cars, as you say just do the research and write yourself a checklist of known weak spots to check, as well as the usual things (e.g. tyres).
Happy motoring
In regards to the insurance, have you tried the usual tricks like adding your parents (or even grandparents if they aren't 80+) as named drivers on your policy? Managed to knock around £300 off my quote by doing that, with the added bonus of my parents being able to drive my car fully comp if the need ever arises.
It's also worth being aware of what rating your postcode is, as if it's low then you're going to be stuck with higher quotes anyway. See here: http://www.carinsuranceexplained.com/car-insurance...
It's also worth being aware of what rating your postcode is, as if it's low then you're going to be stuck with higher quotes anyway. See here: http://www.carinsuranceexplained.com/car-insurance...
Drive a few of whatever car you are looking at, so you know what a good one sounds and feels like.
Personally, when I started driving I went for larger cars (so a mondeo instead of a fiesta) figuring that they are better made and safer. You will also find that they are pretty much the same to buy (everyone wants small, cheap to run cars) and no more expensive on insurance then your saxo. Nice 1.8 mondeo/vectra b with 60,000 miles on the clock and full service history makes a good first car.
Personally, when I started driving I went for larger cars (so a mondeo instead of a fiesta) figuring that they are better made and safer. You will also find that they are pretty much the same to buy (everyone wants small, cheap to run cars) and no more expensive on insurance then your saxo. Nice 1.8 mondeo/vectra b with 60,000 miles on the clock and full service history makes a good first car.
avoid a saxo initially as the insurance on them is historically high. pick up a volvo estate as they have tons of room in the back for bringing home stuff from ikea and have plenty of room for mates taxi service as you can seat 6 mates in a 7 seat model. tidy examples can be had for sub £700 they are easy to maintain yourself and insurance will be a pittance. also due to most old volvo's being rwd and really progressive when the rear goes you will gain experience with wet roundabouts and will then want to buy a tvr with the money earned from taxi service 
Whatever you do, DON'T buy a Hyundai! Particularly not a 1.1 Getz! I'm a girl who lives in a village where nothing ever happens, and I was still paying £1700 for 10 months insurance for the first year and it drives like a piece of crap.
Now I'm stuck with it until I can buy my RX8 in September.
Don't buy a hatchback, the insurance company will absolutely hammer you. The suggestion of something like a Mondeo is a good one, but Fords seem to be quite high insurance. My boyfriend is 20 with 3 years no claims, hasn't had one accident, hasn't had to claim for anything, and his insurance has actually increased every year on a Ford Escort 1.6. He's now paying £1500 for the year but payed £1000 last year. He was thinking of a Mondeo, but that would still be incredibly high.
My suggestion would be to go onto the sites that tell you the insurance bands of each car, pick something fairly low and phone round. Put your parents on it, even if they work in the Motor Trade, surprising it still brings it down. Say you park your car on a public road, when I was looking at quotes, that shaved about £300 off compared to parked in a garage. Companies like Admiral will also price match their sister companies. Admiral also do insurance for 10 months and you get a years no claims after that time, so that's another way to get your no claims built up a bit quicker.
Good luck!
Now I'm stuck with it until I can buy my RX8 in September.
Don't buy a hatchback, the insurance company will absolutely hammer you. The suggestion of something like a Mondeo is a good one, but Fords seem to be quite high insurance. My boyfriend is 20 with 3 years no claims, hasn't had one accident, hasn't had to claim for anything, and his insurance has actually increased every year on a Ford Escort 1.6. He's now paying £1500 for the year but payed £1000 last year. He was thinking of a Mondeo, but that would still be incredibly high.
My suggestion would be to go onto the sites that tell you the insurance bands of each car, pick something fairly low and phone round. Put your parents on it, even if they work in the Motor Trade, surprising it still brings it down. Say you park your car on a public road, when I was looking at quotes, that shaved about £300 off compared to parked in a garage. Companies like Admiral will also price match their sister companies. Admiral also do insurance for 10 months and you get a years no claims after that time, so that's another way to get your no claims built up a bit quicker.
Good luck!
Thanks everyone for your advice - it's interesting to hear what you have to say.
With regards to the insurance costs, I've found it very different in reality to what has been said here. I can insure a 1.4 Saxo Furio for £2,500 approx, but when I went to insure a 1.4 MGZR which is a far less conspicuous car, the cheapest quote I had was... £4,500! If I had pass plus, the cheapest quote is £5,000. My dad as a named driver gives the lowest quote at £5,200 for the MG.
I tried a Saab (Got quotes on Confused on one of the cheapest ones on eBay, was a 2.0 if I recall) and it was around £4,000 too. Mondeos don't seem to be any cheaper at around £3,000 a year.
I've got no idea where I've gone wrong. I'm a safe driver (albeit newly got my license) and just want a car I can enjoy, but this makes it tricky. I went directly to Elephant for a Saxo quote to see if it was cheaper than what I got through Confused; it was actually £2,000 more.
Anyone know any way around this...? Thanks again
With regards to the insurance costs, I've found it very different in reality to what has been said here. I can insure a 1.4 Saxo Furio for £2,500 approx, but when I went to insure a 1.4 MGZR which is a far less conspicuous car, the cheapest quote I had was... £4,500! If I had pass plus, the cheapest quote is £5,000. My dad as a named driver gives the lowest quote at £5,200 for the MG.
I tried a Saab (Got quotes on Confused on one of the cheapest ones on eBay, was a 2.0 if I recall) and it was around £4,000 too. Mondeos don't seem to be any cheaper at around £3,000 a year.
I've got no idea where I've gone wrong. I'm a safe driver (albeit newly got my license) and just want a car I can enjoy, but this makes it tricky. I went directly to Elephant for a Saxo quote to see if it was cheaper than what I got through Confused; it was actually £2,000 more.
Anyone know any way around this...? Thanks again
you haven't gone wrong, it doesn't matter if your a safe driver or not or if you think you are, the whole insurance thing is statistics based so if x amout of have crashed a certain type of car then the insurance will be higher for that car.
As some one has previously stated fords seem quite steep in insurance terms, my fiesta was a nightmare (its a popular first car so probably gets a lot of claims)
My insurance gets cut in half if I keep the car parked on a street away from my house, despite the fact I have a locked garage! ( think a lot of claims must have been made by people crashing through there garage wall etc)
If you have a job, try tweaking the title as this can alter the price dramatically, As long as it still describes what you do you should be alright.
Best thing to do is just to keep trying all the different combinations.
Also try going both direct to the insurers and through brokers and comparison sites, a lot of the time the quotes are different despite it been the same details with the same insurer.
Also if your prepared to pay a large excess this could bring your insurance down.
As some one has previously stated fords seem quite steep in insurance terms, my fiesta was a nightmare (its a popular first car so probably gets a lot of claims)
My insurance gets cut in half if I keep the car parked on a street away from my house, despite the fact I have a locked garage! ( think a lot of claims must have been made by people crashing through there garage wall etc)
If you have a job, try tweaking the title as this can alter the price dramatically, As long as it still describes what you do you should be alright.
Best thing to do is just to keep trying all the different combinations.
Also try going both direct to the insurers and through brokers and comparison sites, a lot of the time the quotes are different despite it been the same details with the same insurer.
Also if your prepared to pay a large excess this could bring your insurance down.
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