17 and looking to buy first car, any advice? What Car, insurance, and so on!!

dubteen

As the title says I’m seventeen and am close to buying my first car. I’m about to get my provisional licence and am taking lessons.

As its my first car I’m not looking for anything special as I just want to learn the strings, because of this I have decided not to ask my parents for the money or take a lone or something like that, instead I’m just going to take 4 or €5000 of my savings out and buy everything together (Car, Insurance, Tax, Ipod tuner Thing-a-Me-Bob) ya know all the essentials

Originally I was (on the advice of a fellow young first time driver) going to buy a "van car" i.e. a polo/corsa with 2seats and panelled rear windows. This would take the insurance down form €3200 odd to €1900. And the plan was that after a year in the “van car” to get a full licence and take my one years no claims bonus and hopefully get a reasonable quote on a normal car and then up grade.

This is all fine but its a very round about way of doing things and involves me having to go true the trouble of selling a car within a year witch is almost certainty going to leave me at a loss. Also I have the hassle of buying a new one.

So dose anyone have any advice?

A few things that I would like help with are,

What car to go for, how much to spend on it,

What insurance company to go with (Quinn-direct seams to be the poplar choice),

A lot of the cars that seam to be good value have 80,000+ miles on them, whats the max I should go with or is it irrelevant ,

And any other advice ye wise and experienced drivers could give,


So far I have

No bigger then 1.3L,

Go with Quinn-Direct,

Buy from privet seller,

Also if its relevant I’m in Dublin,


Thanks in advance for your help,
David

bspoke

We all started off in the same boat as you and ended up buying a car we didnt particularily want and then getting rid of it after a year or so, so dont let that part put you off.
Have to say I didnt know about the huge drop in premium for a car/van but I suppose it makes sense. If thats the way you want to go knock yourself out.
Whatever you do go for pick up the relevant Haynes manual for it an dlearn basic manitenaince especially if you are going to be getting a high milage car. If possibile bring a mechanic or get the AA to check the car before you part with your hard earned cash. No point buying something if the head gasket is twenty miles away from crapping itself.

When you pass your test make sure to look into the Hibenian ignition scheme. I saw a substantial drop in my premium after doing that course and it is defo worth while.

Its good to see someone come onto a forum looking for advice like this rather than the usual 'im 17 and want insurance on a Glanza........'

Stark

Best advice: Be rich

Not sure about Quinn Direct these days. I often mess around with online quotes to see if I could be getting better deals for next year, and the estimated quote I'd get with them seems to have gone up by about €300. Maybe the boy racers have copped onto them

They still seem to be cheaper and a lot more pleasurable to deal with than Hibernian or AXA. The online no hassle, quote & buy system is great. And no having to do ignition tests or minimum number of lessons (not recommending you don't do lessons, but it's certainly nice not to be forced to do 10 - 20 before getting into your own car :eek:).

Online quotes are also particularly nice as it means you can spend about an hour at your computer typing in various makes of cars and knowing exactly what quote you'll get with each, rather than having to make a guess and hoping for the best when you go for a call-in quote.

Stark

dubteen wrote:

So far I have

No bigger then 1.3L,

Go with Quinn-Direct,

Buy from privet seller,

Also if its relevant I’m in Dublin

I'm not so sure about the "buying from a private seller" one. I bought my car from Kelleher Motors in Macroom, Cork and it was the best decision ever. Not only was the price very competitive, but I got a full service on the car and an engine guarantee. A few weeks after getting the car, we found a tiny leak on the radiator. The guys at the dealer had the entire radiator replaced for free Considering I paid sfa for the car, I thought that was brilliant.

If you can find a good dealer like the above, I'd heartily recommend it.

whassupp

What about getting your parents to insure it and you being a named driver. its usually cheaper and you could pay them the cost. Its even cheaper if its a woman so maybe insure it in your mothers name with you as named driver.

bazz26

whassupp wrote:

What about getting your parents to insure it and you being a named driver. its usually cheaper and you could pay them the cost. Its even cheaper if its a woman so maybe insure it in your mothers name with you as named driver.

If you do this and have an accident where you are at fault then your parents NCB is effected.

Also if the OP ever wants to be get cheaper insurance I'm afraid he/she is going to have to build up their own NCB. Some insurance companies will give you a small discount for having named driving experience but having your own policy will get you on the ladder to cheaper car insurance.

Stark

whassup wrote:

What about getting your parents to insure it and you being a named driver. its usually cheaper and you could pay them the cost. Its even cheaper if its a woman so maybe insure it in your mothers name with you as named driver.

That's certainly an option. But if he can get a quote for €1900 on the vanette then I think he should go for it. You won't get much lower than €1900 if you're a 17 year old male driver, even if it is named driver insurance.

Having your own insurance also means you can build up a no claims bonus.

mikemac

whassupp wrote:

What about getting your parents to insure it and you being a named driver. its usually cheaper and you could pay them the cost. Its even cheaper if its a woman so maybe insure it in your mothers name with you as named driver.

In theory it's a great idea but I don't think you'll save as much as you think. My younger brother tried this by insuring his car in our mothers name and getting himself as a named driver. Wasn't that much cheaper than going in his own name.

But then I'm from a farming background so we get dirt cheap insurance through FBD:)

Besides insurance companies will see through this in a second. Not sure if your insurance will be invalidated but if they ask if you will be the main driver for this car, what will you say? Can't lie to an insurance company.

dubteen

lol Glanza, I appreciate the effort they put into their cars but that type of car not really my thing!!

Anyway thanks for everyone’s advice and so quick, yeh don’t really want to go on my mom’s as want to build up a NCB. Like I have the option of getting parents to buy me one or upgrade and get there’s but that’s not really want I want do as dont really see the point(I’ll keep that credit note for latter in life )

And the van/car is a very good deal but the 2seats might become slightly unpractical. Also its way easer to find a corsa or polo with 4seats and weirdly there cheaper. So if I can fine a balance by spending less on a car and more on insurance I may be edging more to that possibility.

Anyway again I appreciate the everyone posting and if any else has any advice please post.

Thanks,
David

dubteen

Also what cars are cheapest to insure?

bazz26

Afraid at 17 your insurance is going to be expensive anyway but to try and keep it as cheap as possible, stick to cars in the 1.0 litre range. This would include the likes of the Polo, Punto, Fiesta, Micra and Corsa probably from mid to late 1990s. Your best bet is to have a look around at some cars then ring a few insurance companies and get some quotes. Then you will know what car you can afford and what car you can afford to insure.

ninty9er

I'm 19 and had to go with the parents option on the insurance, but thats only cos i got the car i wanted and had to go over-budget. Plus now I have to share.

If the type of car doesn't bother you get somethin like an imported 95 micra or such like. The clock will already be in kms if its japanese and u might get a bit of spec.

Fiat cunttogetinto???

elmyra

Just to mention that you can do the Hibernian Ignition course before you've passed your driving test...there is one for people who are waiting on their test. I've been driving almost two years, waiting on my test date at the moment, and did Ignition about two months ago (passed too, and I'm a girl, isn't it a shocker? ) It did drop my premium significantly.

Before that I was with Royal and Sun Alliance who also seemed to always come up cheaper than Quinn, for me at least.

For once it's a bit of a bummer to be a dubliner, cos city drivers have larger premiums...added to you being a young male. My home address is in the country which also counted towards calculating my premium.

As for car....I started out in a 1992 micra (only 4 gears!) and it was great to learn in, no pressure to keep it scrape-free or anything!

You would be best to stick with a 1 litre such as a Micra (also Yaris, Punto, pre '02 polo, fiesta) not just from the point of view of starting out but for day-to-day running costs. I've recently moved up to a 1.2 polo and it straight away added €100 to my tax for the year and I can see that it's costing me that bit extra in petrol every week as well. There's no point in spending every cent on the car, so economically, go with a 1 litre.

Oh, just to mention as well I don't think anyone's said anything about the NCT...do try to get a car that's already passed or you will end up spending on getting little jobs done and paying for the test itself etc.

Re Ipod tuner.....an older car will probably have a tape deck rather than a cd player, if that's the case then you can get a tape that connects to your ipod and plays it off the radio. That's what I have, the sound is crystal clear and they're only about €10 whereas i hear the tuner is closer to €100 (and illegal??!). You can also get in-car ipod chargers which are dead handy.

The Used Car Price Guide 2006 has a great checklist of what you should look for when buying a used car. I couldn't say whether buying privately is better, it would seem to give you less comeback as most garages have a warranty period, but it probably does work out cheaper. I can't say, I've gone through dealers any time I've bought a car.

If you can, do Ignition now while all the lessons are fresh and you're driving properly cos you'll pick up bad habits as you go along.

By the way, 1,900 sounds like a great quote. My first year cost 2,400 (as a 17 yo female in a 1ltr) and this year it's still 1,234 and I've just gone 19.

Happy drivin'.

chicken_food

Que the self promotion!
Im selling my car at the moment. Its a 1.1 citroen.(click on my sig for linky) The reason i got it was A) it was a bargain and in great cond most importantly my insurance was only 1100 or so on a provisional.Quote for a newer fiesta was over two and a half times as much. The great thing is it only costs a tenner every two weeks to fill up with petrol.
Hibernian are by far the best for our age group.

EDIT-car is nct'd till 07 and taxed till 08 this year. so its ready to roll!

seamus

Drop the engine size down to one litre or 1.1L. Until you've a few years' NCB under your belt, insurance will be crippling on anything bigger. I'm 24 with a full licence, and I'm paying €1700 on a 1.1! :eek:

As you've cottoned on, go for something cheap. Don't get a rustbucket, and try to get something less than ten years old. It is inevitable that your first car will have a few scrapes and bumps, and god forbid a few dents too. IF you buy someting shiney and proud, you'll only be annoyed when you hityour first pillar.

Curran

seamus wrote:

Drop the engine size down to one litre or 1.1L. Until you've a few years' NCB under your belt, insurance will be crippling on anything bigger. I'm 24 with a full licence, and I'm paying €1700 on a 1.1! :eek:

:eek: :eek: :eek: Im 23 with a full licence and im driving a 04 1.5l and my insurance is only 1600. You wanna shop around a bit more!


I starting driving my dads car when i was 17 on an open policy and when i got my car at 21 i started my own policy. Cos i was on an open policy i had no NCB. I bought a 1.4 Focus and decided to bite the bullet and start my own NCB straight away. So just as a guideline - had a full licence - 1st year 3K (with parents named), 2nd year 2,200 (parents named) and obviously this year 1600 (girlfriend named) - would be cheaper to have her as the policy holder but i wanna keep my NCB running and buy something alot bigger (1.9TDi or bigger depending on the price of petrol) when i turn 25 - seems so far away though :rolleyes:

Just a wee tip - if you are getting your own policy make sure to get a woman named on your policy - be it your mother, sister, granny, g/f, next door neighbour, whatever - it usually brings down the quote by a few hunderd quid!

pontovic

I don't mean to rain on your parade but if you do have your own car and you drive around on your own just be careful that the police may be cracking down on lone 1st provisional licenced drivers.

The car you should go for is a micra, definitely. They are very well build and they just keep on going. They're well ahead of their time and are cheap to maintain and run. You will pick up a 1995 micra in good condition for about €1800. When you come to sellling it around a year later, you won't lose that much money on it.

Stephen

Don't get anything older than 10 years - most of the insurers will load your premium slightly for older cars.

elmyra

pontovic wrote:

I don't mean to rain on your parade but if you do have your own car and you drive around on your own just be careful that the police may be cracking down on lone 1st provisional licenced drivers.

The car you should go for is a micra, definitely. They are very well build and they just keep on going. They're well ahead of their time and are cheap to maintain and run. You will pick up a 1995 micra in good condition for about €1800. When you come to sellling it around a year later, you won't lose that much money on it.

Very true, my 98 micra had power steering, didn't realise it was rare in cars of that age until the dealer asked me about 20 times if I was sure when I was trading it in for the polo.

Incidentally, I'm not onto my 2nd provisional for another month, i've been driving in dublin all year and have come across random garda checks maybe 5 or 6 times. They really only look at tax, insurance, nct and L plates, I've never been asked for my licence even though I have L plates up. I hope they'll still be fair and not crack down as long as you seem to be driving well, it's not fair to penalise people for driving alone on a provisional until the test backlog is dealt with, we are trying to get a full!

JohnCleary

OP: Fair play to you anyhow, you're going the right way about it by starting off on a small CC van, getting an NCB and *then* buying something decent when you have a bit of experience

If we were all as wise as you at 17

Stark

Curran wrote:

Just a wee tip - if you are getting your own policy make sure to get a woman named on your policy - be it your mother, sister, granny, g/f, next door neighbour, whatever - it usually brings down the quote by a few hunderd quid!

Really? I've my mother named on my policy and my insurance is exactly the same.

coolmoose

seamus wrote:

Drop the engine size down to one litre or 1.1L. Until you've a few years' NCB under your belt, insurance will be crippling on anything bigger. I'm 24 with a full licence, and I'm paying €1700 on a 1.1! :eek:

I'm 22 full licence on a 1.6 Laguna, an I'm only paying €1300, going to €980 in October. Lads (& girls!) - Tesco recently quoted me €970 for renewal in October on the 1.6, might be worth checking out! They accept the Ignition, and seem to be linked to Hibernian. Tesco - 1850 640640

To the OP, I started out with 1 litre Seat Ibiza, you're better off going with a 1 or 1.1, they're much cheaper to run (petrol and tax!) and build up NCB, even 1 year! Good luck with your hunting!

le-dub

I'm sorry to spoil your party, but at 17 and only €4,000 or €5,000 to spend, all thats going to get you is your insurance and tax. I would'nt get anything less then a 1.0litre. I can't imagine you geting insurance and a car + tax for less then €5000. I would guess your insurance alone even on 1.0litre will cost over €3,000 and there wont be much difference if you get TPFT and then the car?

The best advise i can give you would be to apply for your full licence now and geting insured on your mothers or fathers car until you pass

IF you happen to get insured and buy a car for less then €5000 please let us know.:D

dannyd20

seamus wrote:

Drop the engine size down to one litre or 1.1L. Until you've a few years' NCB under your belt, insurance will be crippling on anything bigger. I'm 24 with a full licence, and I'm paying €1700 on a 1.1! http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/images/custom/minimalist/smilies/eek.gif

Curran wrote:

:eek: :eek: :eek: Im 23 with a full licence and im driving a 04 1.5l and my insurance is only 1600. You wanna shop around a bit more!

yeah make sure you shop around on insurance. seamus you're being ripped off (unless you've got points etc) I'm 25 now and my insurance (with axa) has been under a grand (fully comp) for the last 4 years and I've changed my car 3 times! 1.6l->1.8l->2.0td with no increase in premium! I had been covered as a named driver on my parents policy since 17 and although I had no ncb, axa took that experience into consideration when quoting me on my own.

to the OP - insurance is gonna be your biggest cost. shop around and don't trust that the online quotes are final prices, take them as a guide maybe but a lot of companies will give you a different quote over the phone!

dubteen

Again thanks for everyone’s help. I have being thinking and researching a lot over the past week and I think ill spend maybe a bit more and go for a 99ish 1L Polo there around €3500 and insurance is about the same. Also they get so many good reviews from everywhere.

seamus

dannyd20 wrote:

yeah make sure you shop around on insurance. seamus you're being ripped off (unless you've got points etc) I'm 25 now and my insurance (with axa) has been under a grand (fully comp) for the last 4 years and I've changed my car 3 times! 1.6l->1.8l->2.0td with no increase in premium! I had been covered as a named driver on my parents policy since 17 and although I had no ncb, axa took that experience into consideration when quoting me on my own.

That price is with Tesco. I've no NCB which probably makes a bit of a difference. I've no points though.

I'm in Dublin. nuff said :mad:

Actually I just redid a quote on the Tesco website to see what my insurance will be at renewal in August, and it's down to €1,250 :eek:
At that point I can also talk to other insurers such as Axa cos they'll actually look at me then.