7esque for 20 year old? Insurance? Realistic?
Discussion
Hey there,
If it's possible to get insured on a kitcar around the age of 20. What type is a realistic option (used) under £6000(the more under the better). And what does insurance cost? if anyone has experience of this as a daily - low miles - driver or second car! I'm just trying to see if this is a possible option at my age.
Sorry if this has been asked a lot or is too wishful, but my search does not work.
Thanks for ANY guidance,
Josh
Side question: If soon or in the future I was to get one. How do people manage with these as a daily. With no roof? Would a cover have to be used in the rain?
If it's possible to get insured on a kitcar around the age of 20. What type is a realistic option (used) under £6000(the more under the better). And what does insurance cost? if anyone has experience of this as a daily - low miles - driver or second car! I'm just trying to see if this is a possible option at my age.
Sorry if this has been asked a lot or is too wishful, but my search does not work.
Thanks for ANY guidance,
Josh
Side question: If soon or in the future I was to get one. How do people manage with these as a daily. With no roof? Would a cover have to be used in the rain?
20sPlenty said:
Side question: If soon or in the future I was to get one. How do people manage with these as a daily. With no roof? Would a cover have to be used in the rain?
At around about your age (I think I would have been 21 rather than 20; my memory fails me) I was running a Westfield SE as my only car, all year round including a 15 mile or so daily commute into Leeds city centre. After the Westfield, I got a Caterham which was used in the same way.Unfortunately that was a long, long time ago (before you were born!
), so I can't be much help in terms of insurance viability (in my day it was remarkably cheap), but...I didn't use a roof (though I had one; I tried it once or twice but found that the restricted visibility, noise, and poor demisting outweighed the benefits). I used a sheepskin flying jacket, motorcycling gloves, a full face helmet and goretex ski-suit when the weather got really foul or cold, but you'd be surprised how little it was a problem.
The car lived outside and didn't have a cover. I used a split tonneau, which leaked a few drips of water from the zip onto the transmission tunnel, but I just carried a chamoix leather on the passenger seat to deal with that (vinyls seats, so it the odd drop of water on the seats didn't soak in.
Biggest annoyance on both the Westfield and the Caterham was that if you used it in this way (without the roof), wind would whip rain round onto the inside face of the windscreen where the wipers couldn't clear it. If I did it again, I'd use a car with aeroscreens instead, to avoid this problem.
I used to get some fairly lurid slides when trying to pull out of T-junctions into fast traffic in wet or icy weather, but you got used to that.
You've got to look upon them as 4-wheeled motorcycles, but it's certainly viable if you are tough masochistic enough!
Hi Josh,
In some respects I'm fortunate in being quite a bit older than you. But I can answer your questions.
My first car was a kit (a Spartan based on a 2 litre Cortina) and I built it when I was 17/18. I was able to insure it with very little trouble by going to the specialist insurers Adrian Flux, Osbournes and Swinton for example. I can't remember who I started with but I moved to Osbournes in Sutton and stayed with them for a long time even when I changed the car some 12 years later for a Lotus.
Can they be driven daily? Yes they most certainly can though a roof is a good idea particularly when you leave it parked. However I barely had the roof on mine even in the snow. The rain etc. will go over the top but only when you are doing 40mph or above so if you are in a traffic jam you'll get wet. I can honestly say however I was far more healthy with the open top than I was when I then got 'a sensible car with a roof'
So it is possible to do yes. Go to the specialists to insure it and build the car yourself. It cost me £356 a year to insure my car and I lived in Surrey near Guildford. unfortunately my insurance has not gone down at all in all the years despite being told it would go down at 21 and also at 25. Frankly Insurance is a rip off and there's naff all you can do about it. I fell sorry for you guys as nowadays I hear of kids having to pay thousand to insure a something like a Saxo. As I've been told by the insurance clerks it's not what you drive it's what you hit that you pay for and nowadays there's far too many 100k cars on the roads that people will make a claim on for a simple stone chip and it's a company car half the time too.
Afraid you pretty much have to grin and bear it, or we all make a mass protest which personally I think is well overdue. If you want to have fun driving you ought to look at a track car. Driving nowadays is no fun anymore.
I hope I haven't put you off at all. Go for it you'll not regret it. It was certainly the best thing I did other than start jumping off mountain sides and cliffs! But that's another story. I'm still building cars but I stopped leaping off cliffs.
Build yourself your dream and be proud of it. The insurers do recognise this and that's why the specialists charge less than the mainstream. They know you're not likely to trash your car and you'll do all the work yourself if you do as it's your baby. A kid in a Saxo cares about his car about as much as the company rep does his. Good for you go on do it I say!
In some respects I'm fortunate in being quite a bit older than you. But I can answer your questions.
My first car was a kit (a Spartan based on a 2 litre Cortina) and I built it when I was 17/18. I was able to insure it with very little trouble by going to the specialist insurers Adrian Flux, Osbournes and Swinton for example. I can't remember who I started with but I moved to Osbournes in Sutton and stayed with them for a long time even when I changed the car some 12 years later for a Lotus.
Can they be driven daily? Yes they most certainly can though a roof is a good idea particularly when you leave it parked. However I barely had the roof on mine even in the snow. The rain etc. will go over the top but only when you are doing 40mph or above so if you are in a traffic jam you'll get wet. I can honestly say however I was far more healthy with the open top than I was when I then got 'a sensible car with a roof'
So it is possible to do yes. Go to the specialists to insure it and build the car yourself. It cost me £356 a year to insure my car and I lived in Surrey near Guildford. unfortunately my insurance has not gone down at all in all the years despite being told it would go down at 21 and also at 25. Frankly Insurance is a rip off and there's naff all you can do about it. I fell sorry for you guys as nowadays I hear of kids having to pay thousand to insure a something like a Saxo. As I've been told by the insurance clerks it's not what you drive it's what you hit that you pay for and nowadays there's far too many 100k cars on the roads that people will make a claim on for a simple stone chip and it's a company car half the time too.
Afraid you pretty much have to grin and bear it, or we all make a mass protest which personally I think is well overdue. If you want to have fun driving you ought to look at a track car. Driving nowadays is no fun anymore.
I hope I haven't put you off at all. Go for it you'll not regret it. It was certainly the best thing I did other than start jumping off mountain sides and cliffs! But that's another story. I'm still building cars but I stopped leaping off cliffs.
Build yourself your dream and be proud of it. The insurers do recognise this and that's why the specialists charge less than the mainstream. They know you're not likely to trash your car and you'll do all the work yourself if you do as it's your baby. A kid in a Saxo cares about his car about as much as the company rep does his. Good for you go on do it I say!
Thank you so much! for such a great/quick response. It sounds like you have had a great time growing up with these! A 4 wheeled motorcycle is exactly how Im looking at it! My parents wouldn't want me having a motorcycle for certain reasons and myself less so now. A 7 type car slips under the radar though.
If anyone has the only bit of info left I need. Insurance- that would be a great help too.
If anyone has the only bit of info left I need. Insurance- that would be a great help too.
20sPlenty said:
It sounds like you have had a great time growing up with these!
Looking back from the brink of senility, I guess one warning I forgot to add is that if you plan to make a habit of it, wear ear plugs... I don't tend to wear a full face helmet unless the weather is nasty, and as a result my hearing is now rather impaired.Edited by Sam_68 on Wednesday 29th September 20:52
you may struggle. I will be 20 in November. I do not have a 7, or anywhere near it, but i do have a Kit. The general consensus between insurers is that if you are under 21, they do not want to know. Adrian Flux and possibly Footman James might do it, but it will be at a cost. Do you have a current car and any no claims? I do not have any no claims, but have had my license for nearly 2 years and was quoted £800 from flux in June this year on my Lomax (29bhp). Altogether, not bad when you compare it to a normal car, but still a lot more than i was willing to pay, with me being at uni for 35 weeks of the year, it makes no sense. Once i am 21, i will be able to have a look around the companies and get a much better deal, but i have already started saving for insurance for next summer, when i will be able to drive the car a lot more. I am hoping that it will go down a bit to next summer.
HTH,
Niall
HTH,
Niall
I had a Westfield SEI when I was 23. Insured through footman James.
Only car and used every day for over a year, including rain, fog, snow and ice. Daily commute was about 30 miles, and loved every minute. Just like another poster, didn't bother with the roof, but bought a bloody thick pair of gloves and a wooly hat- got a few strange looks some mornings, but loved the experience.
That said, I'm older-and a tiny bit wiser- and now prefer a little more confort in winter, but would recommend the experience thoroughly
Only car and used every day for over a year, including rain, fog, snow and ice. Daily commute was about 30 miles, and loved every minute. Just like another poster, didn't bother with the roof, but bought a bloody thick pair of gloves and a wooly hat- got a few strange looks some mornings, but loved the experience.
That said, I'm older-and a tiny bit wiser- and now prefer a little more confort in winter, but would recommend the experience thoroughly
I was insured on my VVC libra at 19. Now looking at getting a fury and the insurance is cheaper again as I'm a year older.
The libra at 19.... A 5.5 secs to 60 coupe... Was cheaper to insure than a 1.6 fiat stilo.
Oh and I'm with adrian flux. The policy is unlimited mileage too, but come renewal on my new car.. Whatever I end up with, I plan to decrease the miles. But to answer your question, it is certainly possible.
The libra at 19.... A 5.5 secs to 60 coupe... Was cheaper to insure than a 1.6 fiat stilo.
Oh and I'm with adrian flux. The policy is unlimited mileage too, but come renewal on my new car.. Whatever I end up with, I plan to decrease the miles. But to answer your question, it is certainly possible.
Edited by Yazza54 on Wednesday 29th September 21:34
Thank's a lot for all the replies. I have 1 years no claims on a golf mk2 1.3 which cost £1300 as a first car. I didn't have the 750 for the renewal. And now with 1 years no claims its...£1300. So looking at other peoples costs it seeeeeems do-able. 
O and if you don't mind what did it cost to insure the libra? Good luck with the next car. (hopefully no one pulls out!)
O and if you don't mind what did it cost to insure the libra? Good luck with the next car. (hopefully no one pulls out!)
Edited by 20sPlenty on Wednesday 29th September 22:34
20sPlenty said:
Thank's a lot for all the replies. I have 1 years no claims on a golf mk2 1.3 which cost £1300 as a first car. I didn't have the 750 for the renewal. And now with 1 years no claims its...£1300. So looking at other peoples costs it seeeeeems do-able.
Now go away and don't come back till you've got a new toy to show us 
A customer of mine who was 17 at the time was quoted around £850 for insurance on one of my Furore F1 kits. This was about a year or so ago, but I don't believe the position has changed significantly, if they will insure something as radical as the Furore I wouldn't think you'd have too much problem with anything else as long as it's not bike engined. The quote was for the kit being built with a car engine, the Toyota 1.6 4AGE from the donor vehicle. Interestingly had he wanted to insure a Toyota MR2 MK1 (which the kit uses all the bits from) I doubt if he could have found an insurer to take the policy & certainly not for less than probably £2500-£3000. The only bugbear is the limited mileage aspect of it if you want to do significant regular journeys.
No idea these days, but if you find a company who will insure you the exact type of kit will probably be fairly academic. My first 'own' car was a Quantum (insured for the princely sum of £300 back in 2003) and it was/is quite tame for a kit to be honest, yet the insurance was fixed rate at the time and it would have cost the same to insure anything else with a 1.6-litre engine ...some insane track-spec 490kg Sylva Striker or something.
Give it a go. As mentioned above, age limits of 21, 25 and even 30 are increasingly being used, but I think kit insurance for young drivers does still exist somewhere and it'll be by far the most bang-per-buck you can get for your premium.
Give it a go. As mentioned above, age limits of 21, 25 and even 30 are increasingly being used, but I think kit insurance for young drivers does still exist somewhere and it'll be by far the most bang-per-buck you can get for your premium.
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