I only passed last week and I am looking at my first car which will most likely be a ford fiesta.
I am 25, live in greater london and have a drive way. How much is insurance going to kill me? And do these little black boxes really reduce the price of insurance?
I think most of these were covered in a another thread, only a few down from this one.
Run insurance quotes now and see what figures you get. I'd also recommend giving Aviva a bell to see what they offer, as they were the cheapest for me until my last renewal.
>>3350 When I first got a car I went with Bell because they offer(ed) a 10 month policy which still counts as a full years NCD. I think Admiral offer it too as they're the same company, IIRC.
>>3348 >I am 25, live in greater london and have a drive way. How much is insurance going to kill me?
As you are out of the 18-24 wallet rape zone, it won't be as bad as it could have been. An interesting idea is to look at the sort of cars that cool people wouldn't be caught dead in. The main reason it's so expensive for a youngster to insure a Corsa isn't that it's particularly high up the ratings, but that it's the spiritual successor to the Nova as the go-to twatmobile for boy racers. Also, try fiddling the details on your quotes to see what happens. Obviously, don't put yourself down as a chicken chaser unless your job actually involves chasing chickens, but you can get away with anything that a reasonable person would say equates to your job, even if it's not the most accurate. Add someone with a clean licence as an occasional driver (with their permission) as long as you can come up with an excuse for why they would need to drive your car. If you plump for the driveway, make sure that you do actually park the car there more than once in a blue moon - if you do need to make a claim, this is one of the simplest things to check, and if you're looking at more than a few hundred they almost certainly will. Follow the Martin Lewis guide to ensure you've covered as much of the market as you can, but also check reviews of likely targets, as it may be that they're £200 cheaper than the competition because they don't give a fuck about anyone. Check the price levels for third-party vs fully comp, because often there isn't much of a difference (typically TPT is taken by people who want "cheaper" insurance, while TPO is taken by people who have a track record), and comp is generally more valuable than the cost difference would imply (e.g. it'll cover damage to your own vehicle and things such as windscreen repairs).
>>3353 I am a clinical Scientist in the NHS which for some reason they don't list as a job. It will always be parked up on the drive behind my dads car and I will list him as a named driver 25+ years of driving, no points, drives HGV for a living. Guess I could add the girl I am seeing as well onto it as she may drive it.
You can look up insurance groups at the link below. It's well worth paying attention to, as there can be some surprising differences between very similar-looking cars.
Taking a Pass Plus course can take a bite out of insurance premiums for new drivers. It's a six-hour course that covers things that weren't on the test like night and motorway driving. It costs about £100, but many insurers will offer a significant discount for new drivers who have taken it.
If there's anything unusual about your circumstances, I can highly recommend Adrian Flux. They give personalised quotes drawn up by a human being rather than spat out by a computer, and they really understand motoring. They offer significant discounts if you have a dashcam fitted or if you're a member of an owner's club, and they'll cover cars and drivers that mainstream insurers won't touch.
>>3355 Pass Plus is probably no good for OP, when I started driving a year ago, out of the insurers who will give a discount to people who have taken the course they only give the discount for younger drivers.
I'm 26 and live in Not-London. I've found recently insurers will offer me ridiculous prices on any car routinely driven by blokes three times my age - I can insure a 2.5 litre Landy Defender for £380 a year, or a Volvo estate for £450 - yet a 1.0 Micra or Corsa would be £800.
Statistics. The result of data gathered yearly from the millions of drivers in the UK which shows clear trends such as a 25 year old driving a slow hatchback is much more likely to be involved in an accident.
>>3358 >>3359 >>3360 This is what I was getting at with this:
>An interesting idea is to look at the sort of cars that cool people wouldn't be caught dead in. The main reason it's so expensive for a youngster to insure a Corsa isn't that it's particularly high up the ratings, but that it's the spiritual successor to the Nova as the go-to twatmobile for boy racers.
The Corsa is typically in a lower group than both the Fiesta and the Ka (some of the 1.0 models are down in group 1), but the statistics from the boy racer demographic push up the premiums for young drivers.
Don't spend more than you can afford. Spend less than you've budgeted, and put the rest of the money aside for a rainy day. There are loads of good, reliable cars available for much less than six grand. Age really doesn't matter compared to mileage and service history.
A couple of minutes on eBay turns up some cracking little bargains like this one - low mileage, full service history, immaculate inside and out, no advisories at the last MOT, and all for less than two grand.
Insurance risk assessment is basically voodoo. The algorithms involved are so complex that nobody really understands them, so the computer can spit out some really strange answers in some cases.
>>3362 Test drive it first. There's a few cars I wanted, but changed my mind after actually sitting inside or taking it for a test drive and got a feel for the car.
Also, don't buy from Pakis. I live near Dewsbury so I know a few people who almost made this mistake. In almost every instance the HPI check revealed it was a repaired writes off, in some cases they hadn't even been declared road legal again.
Had a drive of it today, got it up to 50, it felt so light and easy to drive, my dad was with me as well in the front and even he thinks its a great car.
>>3368 Yeah, you're better off avoiding the typical teenage shitboxes altogether (corsa, clio, fiesta etc) and getting yourself a focus or vectra or if you don't mind looking like your dad get any decent estate. Numpties crash shitboxes everyday so they're flagged as high risk.
>>3376 Bloody hell. I've had this clip stuck in my vague memory for years. I was kid at the time so of course I was baffled by Clarkson's irrational hatred of Vauxhalls. Now of course I'm older and am baffled by Clarkson's irrational hatred of everything.