It's time to buy my first car - where can I save money?

[Petrolhead95]

Well, it's that time to start looking at buying my first car. I'm currently doing driving lessons - they're going very well according to my instructor - and no doubt my test will be coming soon.

Now, insurance is my problem. The very cheapest I could get it was £2,500 and that was without breakdown cover, legal assistance, courtesy car etc. Is there anyway of bringing this down, even a little?

Obviously the car makes a big difference, so does anyone know what cars are cheaper than others? The only thing is that it needs to be an automatic as I do a lot of city and motorway riding/driving.

Any advice/tips for insurance or general first time buying would be appreciated.

[elephantstone]

You can get one of those black boxes put on your car by the insurance. I know nothing about them so maybe someone can tell you about them or google them?

[ManaghGB]

Go for something unusual for your first car. An example is a 1.6 Ford Focus is much cheaper to insure than a 1.25 Fiesta. Simply because less people have them as first cars so the statistics aren't quite as bad. Also simple stuff like a 5 door is cheaper to insure than a 3 door.

Also, why do you need an auto? Having a manual will be good practice and teach you more about car control IMO.

[tannedstamina]

Do you really need a courtesy car? That may save a little.. Also, look at what bank account you have as many offer accounts where you can get breakdown cover as part of the benefits included.

[C.A.R.]

Echo the comments RE automatic 'box. It doesn't have to be a chore to use a third pedal, and if you do an Auto only test then you'll limit yourself a lot of future potential cars by not being able to 'drive stick', so hopefully you're getting a manual license?

Not least this, but an Auto will be less economical and harder to find, especially if you're limited in choice already by insurance and budget - expect you may have to travel to find the right car.

My friend has an automatic 1.4 Corsa he wants rid of, bought on the premise that he does a lot of 'motorway' driving between Portsmouth and Hertfordshire. Unfortunately he has learned the hard way that the Auto box has not benefited him but has actually cost him more in fuel in just 8 months of ownership...

[wiliferus]

Estates tend to come up cheaper too. My BIL is 19 and has a 1.6 Golf Mk4. His insurance was surprisingly reasonable, insurance company said it was because it was an estate and therefore not as desirable.

[GTIR]

I was just having a conversation about insurance for youngers.
It's just expensive I'm afraid.

(I do know of a 97 1.6 Civic two door with 12 months MOT and FHSH for £300 in Cambridge. (it was an old boys who died and wafted his money taking to Honda for servicing.))

[Marc p]

ManaghGB said:

Go for something unusual for your first car. An example is a 1.6 Ford Focus is much cheaper to insure than a 1.25 Fiesta. Simply because less people have them as first cars so the statistics aren't quite as bad. Also simple stuff like a 5 door is cheaper to insure than a 3 door

This is a good point, I had some pretty quick cars whilst I was a teenager purely because they were rarer and not the usual ecobox that is smashed up by teenagers(First car 306 XSi, then I had a BMW E36 318is, Civic VTi, Supra) and not one was over £1500 to insure.

Although I would recommend adding your Mum or any older female that you know onto the policy as a named driver as this will bring it down.

[ryanthescot]

not sure how much difference it will make for a new driver, but any time i've had a quote adding my girlfriend and mother as named drivers has brought the price down by a considerable amount.

[RizzoTheRat]

Insurance is expensive for your age/experience group as others in the same group tend to crash cars, however they often crash the same sorts of cars so driving something your peers don't tend to drive (and therefore crash) will bring the price down a fair bit. Volvos, Saabs, and quite a few bigger cars that have a bit of an old man image will generally be surprisingly cheap to insure for a new driver.

[Petrolhead95]

Just to answer a couple questions:

- I'm doing a manual test and lessons, not auto.

- At this moment in time I'm leaning towards an automatic rather than a manual because it's easier for what I will use it for, although I'm open to manual.

[JDMDrifter]

Ford KA is probably your best bet, cheap to buy,run etc and cheap to insure iirc.

[Petrolhead95]

JDMDrifter said:

Ford KA is probably your best bet, cheap to buy,run etc and cheap to insure iirc.

Even if it was free to insure I wouldn't buy one.

[james_gt3rs]

You probably need something small and hatchbacky, because although insurance will be your main cost, fuelling a car and keeping it maintained costs money too.

But whatever it is, at 17 you'll think it's great and that all that matters!

[Benrad]

Petrolhead95 said:

Even if it was free to insure I wouldn't buy one.

Don't write them off so easily, nippy enough, great steering feel (better than my knackered old MX-5 that everyone raves about), skinny enough tyres to have fun, nice gearshift. Honestly the best small car I've driven to have fun in by a country mile. Although granted it isn't the most fun car I've ever driven!

[RobM77]

Petrolhead95 said:

JDMDrifter said:

Ford KA is probably your best bet, cheap to buy,run etc and cheap to insure iirc.

Even if it was free to insure I wouldn't buy one.

You might be surprised if you drive one; they actually drive better than most front wheel drive cars out there these days. My wife's only just changed hers after years of preferring it to other cars she tried - she finally ended up with a Civic Type R, but everything else we tried was just nowhere near as nice to drive as her base spec Ka. She wanted to change years ago, but nothing matched up to the Ka. I've even got an article by Tiff Needell in Top Gear magazine from years ago where he gathers together a whole host of interesting cars including Porsches, Ferraris etc, and he says his favourite for B road fun is the Ka.

Generally speaking, a car will drive better if it's lower and lighter and usually be more fun if it's shorter, especially if it's FWD (the short wheelbase gives more adjustability and altertness to counteract the inherent weight distribution and drive disadvantages). The best FWD cars I've driven are probably the Ka, 106, 205 and Clio - where hotter version are available they usually drive better (e.g. SportKa, Clio Cup, 106 GTi), but the base spec models usually have the key ingredients there for less insurance. Even something like a mk2 Micra, whilst designed for old people to go slowly everywhere, actually drives a hell of a lot better than most bigger modern cars, purely because being so light (<800kg), low and short the laws of physics are massively in its favour - I'd far rather hustle one down a B road than, for example, a new Focus or Golf. Modern cars are getting very tall and heavy, because people wanta high driving position and solidity, but being tall and heavy is an absolute disaster for handling. Most petrolheads agree that the only thing newer cars offer that's any good is refinement for longer journeys. Some manufacturers buck the trend - if you park a new 3 series next to a new Mondeo you'll notice the 3 is quite a lot lower, which has a massive effect on handling prowess (just as much if not more than the rear drive to be honest).

Regarding your original question, insurance can be surprising sometimes, so it pays to think a bit differently when choosing a car if you're young and insurance is an issue. For example, when I was 24 I was quoted an average of about £800 on a BMW 325i and £1400 on a 200SX - the two cars have almost identical weight, power, wheelbase, handling etc - the difference is that the 200SX ends up getting crashed more because of the average owner. It's all about statistics...

The other way to bring insurance down is of course Pass Plus, but I expect your instructor will have already recommended that to you.

Edited by RobM77 on Monday 4th November 15:04

Edited by RobM77 on Monday 4th November 15:07

[dazz1871part2]

- At this moment in time I'm leaning towards an automatic rather than a manual because it's easier for what I will use it for, although I'm open to manual.
[/quote]
May be just me but as you will be a very new driver I won't jump into a auto for 1st car as u may find it harder to use manual after a few years of using a auto. May just be me tho.

[dazz1871part2]

Same what everyone was saying about look at other cars. 4 years ago I had a 306 1.4 after 6months my bro-in-law gave me (I paid for it) hes 1.8 focus when I rang up my insurance my 306 was £1400 when I ask for a price for my focus he said oh that will be like £2500 and woodnt even run it to see after me telling him to just see to see how much it is it came back at £1200!!!

[Decoy]

Add your parents/older females as named drivers (assuming they have a clean license)

Choose an insurance policy with a blackbox or a 10month bonus accelerator policy so you get some NCB sooner

Do a pass-plus course

[james_gt3rs]

Petrolhead95 said:

Even if it was free to insure I wouldn't buy one.

Beats walking!

RobM77 said:

I've even got an article by Tiff Needell in Top Gear magazine from years ago where he gathers together a whole host of interesting cars including Porsches, Ferraris etc, and he says his favourite for B road fun is the Ka.

Hmm whilst I understand how fun small cars can be, I'll take the Ferrari thanks...