Short Term Ferrari Insurance
Discussion
I've been trying to find someone who can provide 1-2 day insurance and not had any luck. I'm wondering if anyone here has previously had any success.
I need very short term insurance on a 360 so that I can carry out a test drive on a 360 I'm looking at buying privately. My own insurance does cover my to drive other vehicles, but I really don't fancy doing so on a 3rd party only basis. I've tried asking them for short term cover but they can't unless I've owned a powerful vehicle for 12 months
Is there any easy way to do this without asking the buyer to add me to his policy? Age is 25 if that makes any difference.
I need very short term insurance on a 360 so that I can carry out a test drive on a 360 I'm looking at buying privately. My own insurance does cover my to drive other vehicles, but I really don't fancy doing so on a 3rd party only basis. I've tried asking them for short term cover but they can't unless I've owned a powerful vehicle for 12 months
Is there any easy way to do this without asking the buyer to add me to his policy? Age is 25 if that makes any difference.
I'd be honest(ish!), find a reputable independent dealer and say you are interested in a 360 and want a real world test drive, rather than just driving around the streets making a loud noise ask if someone will come with you and you can try parking it etc. Dependent on how cheap the private sale car is, you might get a good deal from the dealer?
good luck, I wish I had a 360 when I was 25!...
good luck, I wish I had a 360 when I was 25!...
jeremyc said:
You've tried Googling 'day insurance', right?
Yes I've tried a number of sites including confused and have tried calling a few insurers too, who have told me my only option is to either get the owner to add me to the policy.I've got my heart set on a 360 and it's not a question of whether its the car for me, but I just wanted to drive it make sure everything is ok. I'll be getting a PPI done before I buy anyway, so perhaps I may just have to buy it without test driving before hand if the PPI report comes back as all clear.
topless_mx5 said:
jeremyc said:
You've tried Googling 'day insurance', right?
Yes I've tried a number of sites including confused and have tried calling a few insurers too, who have told me my only option is to either get the owner to add me to the policy.I've got my heart set on a 360 and it's not a question of whether its the car for me, but I just wanted to drive it make sure everything is ok. I'll be getting a PPI done before I buy anyway, so perhaps I may just have to buy it without test driving before hand if the PPI report comes back as all clear.
Cheers
moreflaps said:
Get someone else to test drive and give you an inspection report.
This. Get a PPI from a reputable source (I can advise if needed) and they'll tell you if it drives as it should. I bought my 360 privately without test driving it myself - I had the PPI mechanic do it for me. Drek said:
I don't think one day insurance is offered by any insurance company anymore although they used to apparently. I spent a good deal of time googling this very thing about six months ago and couldn't find anything anywhere.
Then you didn't google the right search terms. The link above works fine.LondonSW7 said:
This. Get a PPI from a reputable source (I can advise if needed) and they'll tell you if it drives as it should. I bought my 360 privately without test driving it myself - I had the PPI mechanic do it for me.
I think I may do something similar. Feel free to drop me a message if you know anyone around the West Midlands area (although if your username is anything to go by I'm guessing you aren't from the area).I know an independent specialist local to me who can check the car out and do the test drive, it seems that is my best option. The question now is if I make arrangements to get the car to him so that he can get it on the ramp, or whether I get a PPI done at the sellers location.
How did you go about the above, and how thorough was the PPI? Do they generally do a compression test as part of the inspection? And finally, any comments on your 360 ownership experience?
topless_mx5 said:
I think I may do something similar. Feel free to drop me a message if you know anyone around the West Midlands area (although if your username is anything to go by I'm guessing you aren't from the area).
I know an independent specialist local to me who can check the car out and do the test drive, it seems that is my best option. The question now is if I make arrangements to get the car to him so that he can get it on the ramp, or whether I get a PPI done at the sellers location.
How did you go about the above, and how thorough was the PPI? Do they generally do a compression test as part of the inspection? And finally, any comments on your 360 ownership experience?
Yes my PPI was thorough and it picked up on things I would not have noticed (eg broken door check-straps - cheap parts to replace but a pain to get to), and it did include a compression test. People close to you that I've personally dealt with and that I wholeheartedly recommend are Tim at Walersport ( http://www.walkersport.co.uk/ ) and Eddie at Total Performance ( http://www.totalperformancecars.com/ ) - I'd suggest calling them up and discussing options for a PPI. Any reasonable seller should have no problem taking the car to a reasonably close (and reasonably reputable) mechanic for a PPI at the (prospective) buyer's expense - if anything, it shows that the buyer is serious about the car. I know an independent specialist local to me who can check the car out and do the test drive, it seems that is my best option. The question now is if I make arrangements to get the car to him so that he can get it on the ramp, or whether I get a PPI done at the sellers location.
How did you go about the above, and how thorough was the PPI? Do they generally do a compression test as part of the inspection? And finally, any comments on your 360 ownership experience?
I posted a few comments on my 360 experience here http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... a while back - copied below for the record:
LondonSW7 said:
I've had a 360 for 2.5 years and it's absolutely brilliant. It's the first truly modern Ferrari. The interior is leather-rich and understated, miles better than the plasticky 1980s style of the 355, and not as aggressive, videogame- (or fighter jet-) style as the 458 or, to some extent, the 430. I love the sinuous shape and I prefer it to the 430's, but that's subjective.
The running costs are reasonable - around £700 annual service, cambelts every three years £1200 (this includes the annual service). Quite a few reputable independents around, which also help keep the main dealer prices honest. Full set of tyres £1,000. Brake discs are from Brembo, £80 a corner. Pads are ~£100(Brembo/Pagid/etc)-£250(OEM) an axle, depending on which brand you prefer. A clutch change will set you back £1,500-£2,000 depending on which extra bits need changing when they open it up.
Mechanically (engine/gearbox) extremely reliable, never had a problem or heard of anyone having a problem. The pump of the F1 system can wear out, but it's the same part as the Alfa Romeo Selespeed, can be bought for £250 (don't let main dealers sell you the £1,500 Ferrari one). Ball joints are essentially a consumable item and need replacing every 20k miles (can't remember - less than £1k for all I think?)
The electrics are fine, nothing ever played up and my car lives outside 365 days a year (and it's a spider!). A know weak spot is the battery sealed inside the alarm siren - it dies after 7/8 years, leaks and corrodes the alarm unit. A new unit is £250, but if you catch it early and you can hold a soldering iron it's fixable with £10 of components from Maplin.
How is it to live with? It's a thoroughly usable car - it's my only car and I use it for everything from going to the supermarket to weekends in Wales to long motorway journeys to Europe to crossing London in heavy traffic. It's wider than most cars but you get used to it. The boot is surprisingly large (as it's quite deep). It definitely likes to be used regularly, although I've left it parked for up to three weeks with no ill effects (I have a brand new battery though). People's reaction has been overwhelmingly good wherever I went - it always attracts lots of attention, and mine's not even red and still has the standard exhaust! (which is plenty loud for me - especially when it screams past 8,000 rpm...). Someone hear described it as a larger and faster Elise - it's a good comparison, as the car is very nimble, it loves twisted B-roads.
If you're mechanically minded check out this website www.aldousvoice.com for heaps of maintenance information (and much more). Also there's a recent thread in the Ferrari section by a PHer (Bebs) who just reached 100,000 miles in his 360.
The running costs are reasonable - around £700 annual service, cambelts every three years £1200 (this includes the annual service). Quite a few reputable independents around, which also help keep the main dealer prices honest. Full set of tyres £1,000. Brake discs are from Brembo, £80 a corner. Pads are ~£100(Brembo/Pagid/etc)-£250(OEM) an axle, depending on which brand you prefer. A clutch change will set you back £1,500-£2,000 depending on which extra bits need changing when they open it up.
Mechanically (engine/gearbox) extremely reliable, never had a problem or heard of anyone having a problem. The pump of the F1 system can wear out, but it's the same part as the Alfa Romeo Selespeed, can be bought for £250 (don't let main dealers sell you the £1,500 Ferrari one). Ball joints are essentially a consumable item and need replacing every 20k miles (can't remember - less than £1k for all I think?)
The electrics are fine, nothing ever played up and my car lives outside 365 days a year (and it's a spider!). A know weak spot is the battery sealed inside the alarm siren - it dies after 7/8 years, leaks and corrodes the alarm unit. A new unit is £250, but if you catch it early and you can hold a soldering iron it's fixable with £10 of components from Maplin.
How is it to live with? It's a thoroughly usable car - it's my only car and I use it for everything from going to the supermarket to weekends in Wales to long motorway journeys to Europe to crossing London in heavy traffic. It's wider than most cars but you get used to it. The boot is surprisingly large (as it's quite deep). It definitely likes to be used regularly, although I've left it parked for up to three weeks with no ill effects (I have a brand new battery though). People's reaction has been overwhelmingly good wherever I went - it always attracts lots of attention, and mine's not even red and still has the standard exhaust! (which is plenty loud for me - especially when it screams past 8,000 rpm...). Someone hear described it as a larger and faster Elise - it's a good comparison, as the car is very nimble, it loves twisted B-roads.
If you're mechanically minded check out this website www.aldousvoice.com for heaps of maintenance information (and much more). Also there's a recent thread in the Ferrari section by a PHer (Bebs) who just reached 100,000 miles in his 360.
onlynik said:
Drek said:
I don't think one day insurance is offered by any insurance company anymore although they used to apparently. I spent a good deal of time googling this very thing about six months ago and couldn't find anything anywhere.
Then you didn't google the right search terms. The link above works fine.I tried everything for 10 days cover in July and got nowhere. In the end I ended up going as named driver on my mates policy which cost £70 for the remaining 10 months of his policy, strangely enough it would have been about £120 to have just taken a months cover which is the shortest they'd have done.
Drek said:
Sure, because I confused one day car insurance with randomised control trials so no wonder I couldn't find it, stupid me. Of course I used the right search terms; maybe, just maybe, insurance companies have started offering it again?
I used it bang on 6 months ago to move a car from one end of the country to the other, it's always been available, I use day Insurance every 6 months.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff