Erm?

Why did you not get insurance quote for prospective cars before purchasing same?

We are currently attempting to source a car for our daughter for next year, apart from reasonable mpg's, insurance quotations are the main issue. I enquire if in doubt.

Life is tough.

This may sound odd but dont always assume the smallest, low powered car will be the cheapest to insure. Insurance is calculated on so many factors aside from engine size, one of the factors is how often they are in accidents and how much they cost to replace so you'll find that something like a 1.8litre Mondeo could be cheaper to insure than a 1.25 Fiesta for example. Sounds strange but its true, particularly with limited driving experience and no NCB.

Small cars with good mpg and low insurance groups generally hold their prices well now which can in effect wipe out the saving of having such a car if its so expensive to purchase in the first place.

When running the quotes on the Co Op are you excluding driving between 11pm and 6am as they really don't like that?

Thats always confused me that has. Plenty of 'road safety campaigners' say new drivers shouldnt be allowed to drive at night or on our fastest roads but at night the roads are quieter and our fastest roads are our safest. Surely you're most likely to have an accident in town at low speeds during the daytime?

Very bizarre.

All of those things can happen during the day and i would be bold enough to suggest that drink driving is far more common in summer daytimes than on winter evenings in the runup to Christmas contrary to popular belief. In the summer you've got outdoor lunch parties and BBQ's and casual daytime drinking with pub lunches sat outside in the sun sort of thing and people probably drink plenty without particularly realising it.

What if you work nights and come home at 5am? Would you have to take the Bus because your insurance would force you to wait at work until 6.01am to be able to drive home?

Madness

A computer deciding when you can go out or not just sounds a bit too much like communism to me to be comfortable with it. I know its a voluntary insurance scheme i just fear it may become compulsory one day.

Fiat Punto insurance group

There are 50 insurance groups now where there used to be 20, so most cars have increased by 2.5 on avarage, for example a car that used to be in insurance group 6 will now be around group 15. ...50 insurance groups now" List of cars and insurance groups...

Model List Group Model List Group Fiat Grande Punto (06-10) 4 - 19 Fiat Punto Hatchback (94-99) 6 - 27 Fiat Punto Cabriolet (94-99) 16 - 19 Fiat Punto Hatchback (99-03) 7 - 27 Fiat Punto Hatchback (03-06) 7 - 27 Fiat Punto Evo (10 on) 6 - 21 Listings above are only for UK specification cars, imported cars will be without any Thatcham approved security so will be in a higher insurance group.

http://www.4road.co.uk/insurance-group/index.htm

looking at the above web-site shows the punto starts at group 6/50 (new grouping system) the panda etc starts at group 2/50.

might be worth cutting your losses on buying the punto with its modified sound system and buying a panda/corsa etc see link above. until your lad has 12months no-claims then go from there....

paul.

(first car for me was a 39hp 1 litre metro.....hahaha but hey you gotta start some place.) 3 years later had a Fiesta RS turbo with 140hp (standard) and it cost the same to insure!!!! hahahaha.....group 1 metro. VS group 13/20 RS....still lived at the same place, only difference was time.....good luck.