Car for a student, or is that even possible these days..

[mrmistercharles]

Hi people of the interweb, my first post on here on the pistonhead forums!

I'm going to the UK next year for studies in University, and of course, I will be getting myself a set of wheels. Just a little info/introduction, I'm 21, living in Singapore, and going to do my Marketing Degree in the UK next December. I kart semi-professionally, and have had my license since April 2011.

Now, onto the topic. I've had a look at some cars under the budget of below £2000, and of course E36 323is' came up naturally. And i was so shocked to find out the prices of insuring a 22 year old student on an E36.



I'm aware of expensive insurance for young drivers from that Top Gear episode they did a while back, but I didn't know that it was this astonishing! I've also had a look at MX5s, and they seem much more reasonable at about £1300 annually, but still going to be writing off the cost of the car 2x in a year just through insurance..

Any opinions on what I should be doing? I've also heard about classic car insurance, but no idea how that works..

[Marlin45]

Something with only three doors, small, under 1.3 litre engine capacity would be more in your expected insurance cost band. Chuck a Ford Ka, Nissan Micra into the insurance calc.

[mrmistercharles]

Oh dear that sounds like terrible motoring to me :/

[Codswallop]

Kit cars tend to be cheaper to insure. Try something like a GTM Libra or Quantum of some sort. What you spend extra on purchase price, you should save in insurance.



To be fair though, the price of insurance here is nothing compared to the COE and registration fees you guys have to pay, so an MX5 might not be a bad call

Edited by Codswallop on Wednesday 28th August 16:35

[Geekman]

It's easily possible - I'm a student and have had quite a variety of cars. However, with no proof of NCB, only a £250 excess, non-uk licence and I presume no resident british relatives to add onto your policy you're going to struggle insuring anything at all I'm afraid.

[Slow]

Get your self a uk licence and you can insure most things for sub £1k at 21 with no no-claims.

[BoRED S2upid]

MX5 on a classic limited mileage policy sub 3000 miles a year unless you plan on exploring europe while your over here? also they can be picked up for less than £1000.

[mrmistercharles]

Yeah the prices of COE here is, astronomical to say the least. currently it's SGD76,000 to be entitled to own a car, even before insurance, taxes, additional taxes, and the cost of the car!

I do have a business friend, good mate, who lives in Birmingham. He's 40ish, and drives a '86 quattro, is it possible to put him on the policy, or do they only allow family? I also do have friends' family living in Edinburgh but if they only allow immediate family members then I don't think I have much of an option.

I wouldn't mind putting a bigger excess on the car, but changing that on the insurance quote website doesn't change the total amount by more than £20..

I will be getting a UK license, that should not be a problem.

Yes, I will be hopping over to Germany quite a bit, for family visits to relatives in Hamburg and also trips to the ring, if i have the option of doing so..

cheers for all your replies, really friendly forums here

[jmflare]

I've just turned 20 and also a student and i can insure a 323i for £600. Where are you studying? certain areas increase insurance quite a lot. Also try going direct to the insurers if you haven't already, comparison sites are pretty crappy for younger people.

[mrmistercharles]

O.O that sounds more like it! I'll either be in Newcastle Uni or Aston Uni (Birmingham).. I have given the idea of calling the insurance companies personally some thought, but international calls will probably cost me about the same as the insurance hah! I might send them some emails though.

Does anyone have a classic car insurance company to recommend, and also more about it?

[Codswallop]

I found Be Wiser ( link) to be the cheapest when I was looking to insure a Porsche 924 on a classic policy.

Incidentaly, Porsche 924 would be a good, fun, easy to maintain starter classic.

As for who you can put on your insurance policy as an additional driver, it could be anyone, so long as they will actually use the car to cover some of your yearly mileage. Or at least that's the info I was given Always worth enquiring with the insurer in question beforehand.

[5charlie46]

The only way I managed to run a car at uni was due to the fact that I was on my dad's traders policy. If your licence is outside EU they get funny over that as well, you'd probably end up saving money by taking the UK test. Then buying a 1.2 something... Ask yourself if you really need a car at uni though, as tbh I could of got by fine without one and they do drain on an already tight budget.

[sawman]

mrmistercharles said:

Newcastle Uni or Aston Uni (Birmingham)..

I would imagine both of those loctions are at the higher end of the insurance industries risk scale - I certainly pay more in newcastle than I did in the west midlands for car insurance.

just as an aside newcastle has an excellent public transport system, and links to other parts of the country. It might be better for you to rent cars as and when you need one - as we all know rentals are the fastest cars available, and you can often get good long weekend deals

[BeirutTaxi]

I found owning a car whilst a university was a big mistake - there is a lot more fun to be had whilst you can get away with not needing to own one.

I'm not generically referring to drinking either.

[christofmccracke]

Try elephant for a quote

[seismic22]

I have had 2 x 323i's and I was 23 when i got my first one, 6 points and no no claims and I could still insure them for under £700.

Try Admiral, Bell or Elephant, generally the cheapest by far for us young ones.

[Snowboy]

To massively over simplify the insurance market.
They look at how much the claims have cost for a car and age bracket, then use that to decide how much the premiums should be.

Look for a car that's a little out of the ordinary - and has drivers of that car haven't claimed as much the insurance is cheaper.

When I was your age it was cheaper to insure a 1.6 cavalier than a 1.3 escort - one was a boy racer car, the other was a family car.

[Geekman]

BeirutTaxi said:

I found owning a car whilst a university was a big mistake - there is a lot more fun to be had whilst you can get away with not needing to own one.

I'm not generically referring to drinking either.

what are you referring to then? Because I've found the complete opposite!

[147lusso]

Hey man,
i'm also a marketing student!
when I was 19 I got insured on an E39 523i for £700.. try admiral, I'm assuming yours would be more expensive due to non-uk license etc but in my experience admiral/elephant/bell are the cheapest, as long as your paying in one lump sum.
Good luck!

[Slow]

Might be down to not being british, all those crash for cash scams.