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My 17 year old daughter is learning to drive, and is unable to drive my car or my wifes (Mine Saab 9-5, wife, Aygo, leased and unable to put learner on insurance) She is having lessons but the instructor has emphasised the need to practice more, which is currently impossible. She has about £1400 saved and would like to buy a car which I can register in my name and insure for all of the family, her included, to drive. As it would be my 2nd car I would have to start off a new insurance policy and thus it's important to buy a low insurance group car. Current front runners are Corsa 12v , Fiat Seicento and Micra (the latter very reluctantly as she sees it as a 'Grannies car' and is group 3) These are all in the lowest 2 insurance groups, depending on models. I've found 2 local-ish Fiats, 1 at £895 with 88k miles, one at £795 with 110k miles, both with dealers and looking in good condition from photos (I've yet to look at a car) This would leave her some money over for any repairs. There are currently no bottom spec Corsa's about (these things don't hang about) and only 2 Micra's within 40 miles, both with higher mileages. My daughter is desperate for a car, I don't know what to do. The other alternative is to pay for more lessons, forger the car for the time being and get her up to test standard that way. Any thoughts, similar experiences etc?
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Its not just about cheap insurance, but you want something thats easy for her to learn in, so stick with the superminis... I'd tend to go along with the cars driving schools use, after all if they use them they must be easy for a learner to drive! Corsas, Micras, Fabias all seem common and you should get one for her in that range, maybe you'll have to be patient and not go for the first you see... I used a '97 Polo for ours to learn in and it was fine... £525 2 1/2 years ago and still going, despite high (over 100k) mileage when we bought it.
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Be careful here, although its not likely to be a problem when she is learning when she passes is the insurance is still in your name this could be considered fronting. Especialy if you already own a Saab and your Mrs has a a little Toyota to the insurance companies it would look like fronting. If you do take it out in your name you have to be main driver or anything else is fraud.
I am a member on a Corsa forum and as you can imagine its mostly young people on it, a huge amount of people on there have been caught fronting, some of them got away with it e.g the insurance company wrote them a nice letter other times it can end up with 6 points on your licence for not having valid insurance.
Does your daughter have an income, if not then £1400 will go no where.
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If you do take it out in your name you have to be main driver or anything else is fraud.
I dont think thats right, Rattle. I used to work for AXA, and as long as the Insurance company are aware that the policy holder is not the main driver, then there is no problem. You can nominate any driver listed on the policy to be the main user of the car, and it will effect the premium accordingly.
You can insure a car without a driving licence and list somebody else as the main/only driver........ My dad was unable to drive for a year due to a seizure and did exactly that with his car, he insured it, I drove it as the main user to keep it running.
Edited by NickS on 16/07/2009 at 12:01
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Have you considered L Plate leaner car hire, they vary but most are £6/8 per hour. However if you purchase a car then remember that the moment she passes her test She is no longer insured as she is not a leaner and can drive unaccompanied. I read a case where the new driver went home and then took the car out on her own and had an accident at the junction at the end of her road and the insurance company would not pay out. Regards Peter
Edited by Peter D on 16/07/2009 at 11:10
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Have you considered L Plate leaner car hire, they vary but most are £6/8 per hour
That sounds interesting Peter, where is it done?
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is unable to drive my car or my wifes (Mine Saab 9-5, wife, Aygo, leased and unable to put learner on insurance) >>
Does that mean you have tried and cannot get insurance from Collingwood?
see
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?v=e&t=76...0
www.collingwoodlearners.co.uk/
Insure Any Car, Group 15 or less and under £20,000 in value.
Drive your parents, grandparents, friends or relatives car without any risk to their insurance. Just take out a policy for each vehicle when you need it.
Above info found at www.2pass.co.uk/ which has a useful forum for learners.
Edited by jbif on 16/07/2009 at 11:46
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"The other alternative is to pay for more lessons, forger the car for the time being and get her up to test standard that way."
That's exactly what I would do - double up on the lessons and she will pass much quicker.
The £1700 won't go far for a car and insurance, it will buy plenty of lessons including Pass Plus.
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Thanks for the thoughts and advice, plenty of food for thought so far. I'll look into the Collingwood insurance, that looks interesting.
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The other option is for the insurance to be in her name -which will be one way of building (one hopes) NCD.
At a rough guess her first year insurance will be £750 odd- but be aware it may rise when she passes her test.
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I found a particularly nice little 106 zest3 for my daughter, she does hundreds of miles in the thing and loves it, big windows comfy ride and a joy to manoeuvre.
Zest 3 comes with central locking, leccy windows, sunroof and the all important power steering.
Parts are very cheap, and it's quite pretty, important for a girl which though we here probably don't care about, she will...and by the way my darling daughter didn't want a Micra either despite my trying hard to get her to.
Look carefully you might even find a Diesel.
Cheap insurance...which obviously you are aware of any pitfalls and will insure correctly, but i always think it's worth letting the youngster's build their own no claims up, make 'em take more care.
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"At a rough guess her first year insurance will be £750 odd- but be aware it may rise when she passes her test."
I'm not clear what you mean here. I haven't actually looked into her insuring a car in her name as I assumed (maybe wrongly) that it was only possible to insure a vehicle in your own name once you'd passed your test. Is that wrong? I'm curious that you say it will rise once she's passed her test-I assumed she'd be less of a risk then.
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Perfectly possible for the learner to have their own insurance - my daughter has had hers since her 17th birthday. As it happens her premium did not then rise on passing her test, but I know it happens now.
With three years' NCB her recent quote for her Gp2 1200 8v Corsa was £220, but we had to had her younger sister onto the policy, so that lifted the premium as she passed her test just before Christmas.
Edited by oldnotbold on 16/07/2009 at 13:56
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OK, thanks, I've learnt something new!
I've also got a quote of £96 for a months insurance from Collingwood for my Saab which doesn't sound too bad either, I'll discuss these with my wife and daughter later.
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The insurance often goes up once they pass as the risk increases. They start to drive without supervision, and often with friends, both of which are factors meaning that (lads especially) will be over-confident, show off, and crash.
A friend was discussing this with his scouts. They thought that about 40% of their compatriots had rolled or written off cars since passing. They are still only 18!!
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A friend was discussing this with his scouts. They thought that about 40% of their compatriots had rolled or written off cars since passing. They are still only 18!!
So much for "Be Prepared" then :-)
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I'd say a good 25% of the boys I know had middling or worse accidents with a year of two of passing. One wrote off a new Saxo/Corsa type within 48 hours of getting it....
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Its a maturity thing, most 17/18 year olds are still kids and thinks its fun to try and break speed records in their 44bhp Corsas.
I read an aritcle some where saying the best age to pass a test is 25. This is because you are then hopefully mature enough to understand how dangerious driving is but also still have all the co-ordination etc to drive safely.
I passed when I was 26 and was insured to drive my dads car, my dads premiums actually fell when I passed.
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Have you looked at the Ford Ka?
My wife had one not long after they first came out (98), and she still says it's the best car to drive that she's ever had. I have to agree that it is/was a good car to drive - probably even by todays standards, still is. Feels nippier than it is, meaning you don't need to necessarily drive fast to feel like you're going fast - if you see what I mean.
I'm pretty sure they're only a Group 2 insurance, and you can pick them up for a few hundred quids.
I know a few people who have also suggested Pass Plus - or whatever it's called. Gives the driver experience on the motorway and I think makes a bit of difference on insurance premiums - whether or not the difference is negated by the cost of the additional lessons I don't know.
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Pass Plus and insurance is a bit of a con as they tend to charge more for insurance anyway.
A Ford Ka is great providing you can find one which isn't too rusty underneath and something which has had its brake pipes replaced.
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" Have you looked at the Ford Ka"
I did look at a number when myolder daughter was looking for a car a year or so ago( she ended up with a Yaris, which despite a high mileage has been a paragon of virtue) and I didn't see one cheaper one that didn't have bubbling paintwork, particularly around the filler cap. Put me off a bit.
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