UKC

Hi

my lad has just turned 17 and looking to buy a car. Has anyone got any suggestions or recommendation as to which car to go for, for the cheapest car insurance?

thanks

In reply to Mick r:

something Like a 1.1 mk 1 Punto.

In reply to Mick r: have you checked the category lists? http://www.carpages.co.uk/car-insurance-groups/group-1-1.asp

In reply to yarbles: thanks - I realise he needs to go for a group 1, but I've heard that insurance companies will give different prices for cars in the same insurance group.

In reply to Mick r:
2cv.

In reply to Mick r: Something unsuspecting and embaressing... e.g. a punto would probably be expensive because they are chavved up all the time. A 2CV on the other hand is not.

In reply to Mick r:

This? http://tinyurl.com/ojysrcl

In reply to butteredfrog:

On a serious note, how much has he/have you got to spend?

In reply to Mick r: Isn't it the most basic Ka if talking about newish models? No idea how that compares to old wrecks!

In reply to alexcollins123:

Yep get something 17 year olds wouldn't normally want. Then again someone in insurance once pointed out that you can do just as much damage with a 1 litre micra as you could with an M5, so it'll cost a wedge whatever you get!

In reply to butteredfrog: lookng at spending 2k max on the car, little bit less for the insurance

In reply to Mick r:
my 18 yr old lad got himself a corsa, 1.2 for £1500 and insurance is £850 with one of those black boxes which monitor his driving (£1600 without it, so no contest). Although you might think that Corsa's are a popular boy racer car, their very popularity and the fact they are easy to repair make them pretty much the best value option. Same price to insure for instance as a Nissan Micra.

In reply to Mick r: I'm driving a VW golf fsi 1.6 which costs me £1400 to insure at the moment. I searched around online to get a good deal that was full cover, there were company's offering the same cover for £13,000. So it's worth shopping around!

I did the pass plus scheme after passing my test and I think that got me an additional 15-20% off.

I'm sure it's something you've thought about but it's worth spending a bit more on a safer car than one that will get you cheaper insurance.

hth

In reply to Mick r: A few people suggesting you buy quite expensive cars, I'd definitely avoid that! Budget £5-600 for buying an older car and less if possible, the older it is generally the cheaper it will be.

Have a look for old mk1 nissan almeras (or micras if his dignity can take it). They're both bomb proof cars, bodywork goes but the rest just keeps going and going. The Almeras are fun enough to drive but they're not seen as boy racer cars by insurance companies, there are also a few kicking about that have been "old peoples" cars, well looked after, low milage and kept in the garage. I still get quotes through for my old one (now scrapped) that are under £200, I'm 25. I've spotted some decent looking ones being practically given away and I'm sorely tempted to get another, if I see a good 1.8 in black I might just do it, cracking cars and cheap to run/repair/insure.

In reply to Mick r:

Toyota Starlet, absolutely bulletproof! Should be pretty cheap on insurance, as long as you stay away from the silly turbocharged jap imports.

In reply to Mick r: When my girlfriend passed the old shape KAs were the cheapest we found for cheap cars. Not the coolest but cheap parts and quite reliable little engines they do rust quite badly for the age but you can spot it easily. As long as you buy one with full mot and history they are great quite nice to drive. Quite cheap for a slightly rougher one you can always scrap at the next mot if the costs add up.

In reply to Mick r:

I'd avoid spending much money on a car for someone who has just passed their test, its probable they'll have a bump at some point in their first year of driving. I bought an 02 Renault Clio when I first passed which done me well, was one of the cheapest cars to insure (around £1600, I was 19 when I passed, so maybe a bit pricer for a 17YO).

Ford Ka's are very cheap to insure as well, but I didn't fancy one cause the boots were tiny!

In reply to Mick r: I'm told that often fully comp can be cheaper than 3d party... simply as they tend to assume that high risk individuals don't use it.... So some balance of relatively cheap and cheerfull car on fully comp with a huge excess if you can cover it is probably the best bet.
Odds are that you wouldn't claim on the policy for any 'minor' bumps and bangs to your car on the basis that if it still drives or can be hammered into shape its fine, and if you nudge somebody else in all likleyhood unless serious you'd probably trying to repair privately rather than go through insurance in any case.

So say a £1,000 excess may save a shedload of premiums over a couple of years vs a more normal one (and may focuss young drivers mind on his responsibilities a bit!)

In reply to Mick r: Skoda Fabia Classic, cheap insurance cheap car yet built as good as a VW.

In reply to Mick r:

Some sort of classic would allow you to get classic car insurance at a massively reduced rate - when I first passed (admittedly a long time ago) I had a 1.2 Clio that cost me £1k+, my friend had an MGB GT and paid about £300

Of course my car was more reliable, but his taught him how to fix cars (well old ones!)

If you're willing to put yourself as the main driver with your no claims bonus and protect it and have your son as a named driver.

Will really bring down the cost.

In reply to TomDisomma: yeah not keen on that. thought they were pretty hot on this these days, so if you do need to claim...

In reply to Mick r:

02 Clio has done me well.

In reply to Mick r: Basically go for a cheap second hand car, if possible a slow one. The less the car is worth the less the insurance will be most of the time, and the smaller the engine the less it will be as well. (in most cases)

In reply to Mick r:

Pretty sure a 1ltr Corsa was the cheapest thing I could find to insure when I was looking a while back - Group 1 Insurance.

My current stead (A 1.2l Seat Ibiza - 54 plate) is group 2 insurance btw (chain-cam engines/VW (almost) too)

In reply to Mick r: The insurers obviously noticed the classic policy thing as my first car was a Mini roughly 7-8 years ago on a classic policy. I only paid £400 at 18 with that when modern cars were around £1200 but from what I discovered most now ask for 3 years driving from memory and over 21. I tried to get my partner insured on my Mini she's 29 but couldn't get a classic policy due to first year driving.

In reply to Mick r:

Suzuki Wagon or similar would probably be very low insurance because they're normally driven about by old people and not crashed very often. My first car was actually the Vauxhall version of that, was very good as a car for a tall person with very low insurance cost.

Neil