What car?

[Markt123]

Hi Guys,

I have got a Honda civic 1998 at the moment but I'm looking for a new car. Im 24 so the only issue is that I can't really go above insurance group 10/11 as then the premium goes pretty high along with some stero typical boy rarcer cars.

I really want a 3dr sporty fast car with low ish insurance (asking a lot I know)

Ive looked at the citreon c2 vts, vw golf 120/150, Honda civic type s, Toyota corolla t-sport, Astra sxi/sri and fiesta st.....some of those still cost around 100quid+ per month to insure.

Can you guys think of any cars that fall into what I've said above that I could look at?

Thanks

[Markt123]

Ideally it would be 2-3k but I could get a loan to stretch to 4-5k if the car is perfect

[PaperCut]

I would get a 3dr Focus (2.0 litre - or even just the 1.6 Zetec, TBH) or a Puma 1.7?

[craigb84]

At 24 you should have a decent amount of NCB no?

[300bhp/ton]

Markt123 said:

Hi Guys,

I have got a Honda civic 1998 at the moment but I'm looking for a new car. Im 24 so the only issue is that I can't really go above insurance group 10/11 as then the premium goes pretty high along with some stero typical boy rarcer cars.

I really want a 3dr sporty fast car with low ish insurance (asking a lot I know)

Ive looked at the citreon c2 vts, vw golf 120/150, Honda civic type s, Toyota corolla t-sport, Astra sxi/sri and fiesta st.....some of those still cost around 100quid+ per month to insure.

Can you guys think of any cars that fall into what I've said above that I could look at?

Thanks

3dr and sporty are somewhat of a misnomer tbh.

Insurance groups are handy, but don't rely on them at all, low grp cars can easily cost more than higher group cars to insure.


If insurance is the killer then kits and classics are probably the way to go. What sort of budget are you looking at?

[300bhp/ton]

Markt123 said:

Ideally it would be 2-3k but I could get a loan to stretch to 4-5k if the car is perfect

ok, so now this comes down to:

-how many seats do you really need?
-do you haul anything?
-do you like to work on your own vehicles?
-what sort of roads are you driving on?
-and what sort of monthly mileage are you doing?


If you "like" cars and have an interest in them, then there are some very interesting and fun cars out there.

[DanDC5]

craigb84 said:

At 24 you should have a decent amount of NCB no?

This.

Even if you only have 1 or 2 years NCB you'll be surprised what you can insure for decent money. Try a few specialist insurer's like Adrian Flux and A-Plan and you'll get some decent quotes. And then go and buy a Clio 182 cup or Civic Type R.

[Markt123]

Yea I've got 4 years no claims bonus but when I looked to insure a civic type r it was £1600! I haven't tried those insurance companies though, only did compare.com.

I'd prefer 5 seats as I do take people places on occasion and I do need to fit a decent amount in the car which my civic 3dr has been about the right size so would want to go smaller than that. I'm not doing a massive amount of mileage as Its only 5mins to work from where I live....I mainly drive on normal roads rather than motorways etc. I like cars and I've done some small things to my civic but want a low maintaince car that I can do stuff to when I've got time.

[DanDC5]

You'll get quotes a lot cheaper than that from specialists. Just spend an hour or so ringing round a few different places. Try Sky Insurance and Greenlight also. Greenlight are usually very cheap.

[300bhp/ton]

Markt123 said:

Yea I've got 4 years no claims bonus but when I looked to insure a civic type r it was £1600! I haven't tried those insurance companies though, only did compare.com.

I'd prefer 5 seats as I do take people places on occasion and I do need to fit a decent amount in the car which my civic 3dr has been about the right size so would want to go smaller than that. I'm not doing a massive amount of mileage as Its only 5mins to work from where I live....I mainly drive on normal roads rather than motorways etc. I like cars and I've done some small things to my civic but want a low maintaince car that I can do stuff to when I've got time.

Comparison sites are ok, but for more specialist insurance needs you often need to head to smaller firms and even use the telephone

The only trouble is, when you buy a car for other people (5 seats) it will limit your choice. And sadly that choice places you in the most popular car type - and thus the most expensive to insure.

I'm not saying you shouldn't have a 5 seater or even a hatchback, but more to point out some things.

e.g. one of these costs similar to a Civic Type R, looks a lot better, is a lot more fun and is as fast or faster.

GTM Libra 1.8 VVC (2002)
36,000 miles £4,995
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3684918.htm


Yet if you are saying a CTR would cost you £1600 to insure, then I'd guess a specialist insurer would be 1/4 of the price or less on a car such as this.



Logically I see several options available to you assuming insurance is an issue:

-stick to the somewhat more mundane and normal cars you've been looking at. All fine cars in their own right, but certainly more of the utility about them, as in they are built and packaged for convenience, not for anything else. But chances are, none of these cars will be that fast or fun and all will suffer heavy depreciation.

-Look at bigger cars, often these are a lot cheaper to insure (but you'd have to check). So maybe something like a 3.0 V6 Jaguar X-Type or even a 4.0 V8 XJ8, or one of the BMW, Merc, Lexus alternatives.

-Look at classics and maybe modified classics. As I've said before on PH, I lent a friend of mine my 1977 TR7 V8, heavily modified and fairly nippy. They had 0NCB and had had their license less than a year. The RWD sports car cost £50/year more to insure than a 1.4 Corsa. If you need space you could maybe look at things like a V8 powered Rover SD1 or P6, Dolly Sprint. There really is a wealth of 60's, 70's and even early 80's cars you could consider if you were feeling slightly more adventurous.

-Say sod it to needing to ferry people about so much and look at 2 seater kit cars, which will offer the biggest bang per buck and the lowest insurance costs.