Want to buy first car, someone tell me is there any hope in hell of getting insured ?

StephenC_IRL

Ok so im 17 and doing my leaving cert, ive been saving money for a while now and will be getting a job over the summer, I want to buy a car. Most people ould start with something like a micra or a punto or something but i dont like having my shins scraped off the bottom of the dashboard as i drive and my thighs and the steering wheel do not need to be that close. So i want to buy something nice and big.

A lexus GS300, they come cheap (sub 6000) and look nice, come in automatic and have a load of features i love. One problem, insurance, being 3 litre and all i think it would be a problem.

Anyone know of any company who would consider insuring me in it, at a fair price, ive had professional driving lessons, applied for my test and it wouldnt be driven at night past say 8 or 9

quarryman

a 3 litre car at 17?

Don't even waste your money calling them.

I'd reconsider the Punto.

StephenC_IRL

thats exactley what i was thinking, damn scumbags ruining motoring for people like me grrrrr... we need an insurance system more like the US

quarryman

try here:

www.insure.ie

Mess around with different models of car and see what it gives you. There's often good value around the 1400cc mark as most first time drivers will drive (and occasionally crash) in a 1 litre.

What about getting insured on a parents car?

Btw my first insurance on a punto 3 years ago was €3000.

StephenC_IRL

haha good luck with that

mam - lexus rx400h (not a chance)
dad - Hyundai Santa Fe (no hope either)

drdre

No way will you get insured on a lexus.Best way is to drive a small car for a year or two then your insurance will reduce and you will have your no claims bonus.

$Leon$

Off topic:

Just looked at that insure.ie web site and you have to confirm a few things to get a quote like not modified, no expensive sounds system and all the usual stuff but then i saw you have to confirm the car has not been imported!!

Never seen this on any other insurance site. Strictly speaking all cars are imported to Ireland. They're obviously descriminating against cars not first registered in Ireland. Why? Is it because of people getting jap import galanza and registering them as 1 litre starlets?

Volvoboy

StephenC_IRL wrote:

Ok so im 17 and doing my leaving cert, ive been saving money for a while now and will be getting a job over the summer, I want to buy a car. Most people ould start with something like a micra or a punto or something but i dont like having my shins scraped off the bottom of the dashboard as i drive and my thighs and the steering wheel do not need to be that close. So i want to buy something nice and big.

A lexus GS300, they come cheap (sub 6000) and look nice, come in automatic and have a load of features i love. One problem, insurance, being 3 litre and all i think it would be a problem.

Anyone know of any company who would consider insuring me in it, at a fair price, ive had professional driving lessons, applied for my test and it wouldnt be driven at night past say 8 or 9

Seriously pal, i've been there and done that, and pulled more scams to try and getting insured on a barge for my first motor but no dice, all i can say to you is get a nice 1.4 like me a astra or civic, it will work out cheaper than drving a 3000cc, BTW a years road tax for 3000cc is around €1000, even if your ins is cheap which it wont, you'll be working to keep the car thats it.


-VB-

StephenC_IRL

i know about the tax and i factored that in, yeah,

and that thing about the expensive soundsystem isnt a good thing, i was thinking carputer

Raskolnikov

What are some of the cheapest cars to insure? I always thought that the price was dependant on engine size?

Volvoboy

Raskolnikov wrote:

What are some of the cheapest cars to insure? I always thought that the price was dependant on engine size?

Nissan micra
Fiat Punto
Fiat Siridsdirnttoendruo
Fiat Chinrjekkento


-VB-

StephenC_IRL

ok whats a cheap to buy (1998 or newer and sub 6000 euro) jappenese car that comes in saloon or estate (no tiny hatchbacks)

drdre

Volvoboy wrote:

Nissan micra
Fiat Punto
Fiat Siridsdirnttoendruo
Fiat Chinrjekkento
-VB-

Never heard of them before

ZiabR

Volvoboy wrote:

Nissan micra
Fiat Punto
Fiat Siridsdirnttoendruo
Fiat Chinrjekkento


-VB-

I can never recommend a Fix It Again Tomorrow (FIAT). And no i don't want to start a war about FIAT, its just i have no time for them.

VW Polo 1.0, 1.1
VW Golf 1.4
Fiesta 1.0, 1.1, 1.3
Nissan Micra 1.0
206 1.0, 1.1, 1.4

They are your best bet at 17 years of age.

Fanboy

StephenC_IRL wrote:

ok whats a cheap to buy (1998 or newer and sub 6000 euro) jappenese car that comes in saloon or estate (no tiny hatchbacks)

Are you like 8ft or something?

I'm 6ft 1' or 2' .... i have a 306 'tiny' hatchback and my legs are fine, it's a quick enough car and insurance/tax is reasonable.

My brother, who is about another 3 or 4 inches taller then me drives it the odd time and is comfortable in it.

Move the seat back mate, and stop dreaming about the 3 litre lexus'. To come on here and ask the question 'im 17 and can i get insured on a 3litre?' shows your ignorance to the 'motor world' and lack of maturity.

Volvoboy

StephenC_IRL wrote:

ok whats a cheap to buy (1998 or newer and sub 6000 euro) jappenese car that comes in saloon or estate (no tiny hatchbacks)

Toyota Avensis - i have my eye on one myself;)

Nissan Primera.

Mazda 323

Nissan Almera - Have one myself

Honda Civic



And anto-t was looking at a 1.6 Subaru Impreza Estate



-VB-

jhegarty

Forget anything over a 1.4... you just won't get insurance without a full licence or a few years ncb..

Stark

StephenC_Irl wrote:

ive had professional driving lessons

You'll need proof of at least 10 before any company will care. If you're lucky, you might get the equivalent of a year's NCB. I know Quinn Direct offer it. Other companies accept this as the bare minimum for first time insurance. AXA made me take ten lessons before my parents could put me down as a named driver on their car (a 1.4L).

StephenC_Irl wrote:

applied for my test

Hibernian will give you a discount if you pass their Provisional Ignition test, which is roughly the same standard as the Irish driving test. Noone cares if you simply "applied" for you test.

StephenC_Irl wrote:

and it wouldnt be driven at night past say 8 or 9

I remember there was talk of insurance companies offering discounts for this but I don't think it happened in practice.

Even with the driving lessons, you don't stand a hope of getting insured on a 3 litre. Even much older drivers with full licences and full NCBs find it difficult to get insured on "performance" cars, "performance" being anything over 2.5L in Ireland.

maidhc

StephenC_IRL wrote:

Ok so im 17 and doing my leaving cert, ive been saving money for a while now and will be getting a job over the summer, I want to buy a car. Most people ould start with something like a micra or a punto or something but i dont like having my shins scraped off the bottom of the dashboard as i drive and my thighs and the steering wheel do not need to be that close. So i want to buy something nice and big.

Most small cars have adjustable seats!!!

Don't forget if a Lexus breaks you can just forget about having the money to get it fixed.

ninty9er

maidhc wrote:

Most small cars have adjustable seats!!!

Don't forget if a Lexus breaks you can just forget about having the money to get it fixed.

Ditto on the seats. My Corsa's a little tight on the headroom at 6'2", but only cos of the sunroof. Not sure if the more basic models have a height adjustable seat though, which I'd be f&*%d without. I just drive with the roof visor back.

I've tried bigger cars such as the 306 which are way too tight on headroom. Suppose it depends if you're height is wieghted in your legs or torso & neck.

To further substantiate Maidhc's claim on repair bills. A Lexus is one of the most reliable cars you'll find, but at sub €6k and newer than 98 you're scraping the sh1t off the bottom of the barrell so expect problems.

I'd say the best you could hope for is a BMW 318, a C180 or an A4. None of which are probably not sub €6k for a 17yo with a provisional or even €4k with a full licence.

My friend is 19, his brother 17, both in the same circumstances as you. Their quote for a 1.6 Vectra(€4000) with Hibernian was €10,500. I think Quinn were something like €5,000.

Keep dreaming about that Lexus

colly10

$Leon$ wrote:

They're obviously descriminating against cars not first registered in Ireland. Why? Is it because of people getting jap import galanza and registering them as 1 litre starlets?

I assume that the general reason is that they don't like repairing them, I know that there's no problem repairing a Glanza over here for example but there probably just using a blanket on Jap imports for safety.
Like take the RX7 for example, if ye crash that and do damage to the engine they'd have some job finding a mechanic to fix it (even forgetting that it wouldn't be cheap).
Id say that the mechanics they use would hide in the jacks for an hour if they seen one on the way in.

@ the OP - A 1.4 is probably the best you can hope for at the moment realistically, ye it's a pain in the ass but everyone has to do it. Just save the few quid and bide your time till they'll insure ye on something nice.
A black 1.4 Golf wouldn't be the worst, the thing wouldn't pull ye out of bed and they're known to have electrical problems but at least they look well with a set of alloys. Thats what id go for if I was you.

ninty9er

Oh forgot to suggest somethin...

Maybe a Corolla 3dr G6 1.6.

If you've factored the tax on the Lexus in, €8k is probably achievable....and Off T...have you bee saving since you were 10 or something

JHMEG

StephenC_IRL wrote:

Ok so im 17 and doing my leaving cert

Did you try your options on 123.ie and insure.ie? You'll get better answers there than you will here.

horgan_p

to be honest with ya - bite the bullet and get the punto.
we'd all have loved to have started out in a big 3 liter monster , but between tax , petrol and insurance its just not on.
sorry but thats how the system is.

ageism when it comes to car insurance isnt illegal.



my insurance 5 years ago in a 1.4 renault was 3,300.

i dont think things have changed a huge amount since then.

Del2005

What about the company with the EUR4000 excess. Or can you not get your parents to "Buy" the car and put you down as a named driver?

The running costs for a 3l car are huge. But if the OP has the money then why not let then spend it.

$Leon$
Just looked at that insure.ie web site and you have to confirm a few things to get a quote like not modified, no expensive sounds system and all the usual stuff but then i saw you have to confirm the car has not been imported!!

I emailed then about this before and got back a silly email, but yeah it's just for 2nd hand Japanese imports only and not ALL the other cars that are imported. You can insure an 2nd hand English import with then. It was several months ago when I emailed them and I though they said they where going to change it, but they haven't

DonJose

StephenC_IRL wrote:

we need an insurance system more like the US

I agree with that point, if we had an insurance system like the US we wouldn't have any unaccompanied provisional drivers on the road. Being 17 you wouldn't be able to get a learners permit, you should be happy with our flawed system.

http://www.nydmv.state.ny.us/broch/c41.htm

Stark

Del2005 wrote:

What about the company with the EUR4000 excess. Or can you not get your parents to "Buy" the car and put you down as a named driver?

He said his parents drive fancy cars themselves and he wasn't able to be put down as a named driver. Which says it all about his chances of getting his own insurance.

GB15

Even if you did get insured a car like that would probably average 25mpg at best. Do 10,000 miles a year you'd already be talking about 2000 euro per year on fuel alone.

colly10

Del2005 wrote:

What about the company with the EUR4000 excess.

They won't take him on, he's too young

StephenC_IRL

Ok i need someone to name a car, any car that meets these following requirments :

1. 1.6l or under (something i could be insured on sub €4000)
2. sub 6000 to buy 2nd hand for a 1998 or newer
3. estate or commercial vehicle
4. air conditioning as standard or commonly found
5. standard 1 or 2 DIN rail radio, no custom stereos, i want to replace it with a touch screen
6. Jappenese/korean or just a really reliable car (no fords, fiats or renaults)

Volvoboy

Misty 1.5 nice and has your twin DIN

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=661207


Tidy looking Bora


http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=676873


Sir Civic, a lad in my job owns this car and its mint


http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=655405


Just a few sugestions.



-VB-

StephenC_IRL

volvoboy, i love you, i think the mitsubishi is my type of thing

Volvoboy

StephenC_IRL wrote:

volvoboy, i love you, i think the mitsubishi is my type of thing

Carefull now!!:D


-VB-

Lorax

If ya have money to burn go ahead and get a GS300, Im sure its a very nice drive! Sure why stop there, get the 4.0 litre Lexus Soarer
http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=534108
A steal at €5,995

Back to reality... How about a Toyota Levin ?
http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=541940

Great car.

Wossack

let us know what quotes you get ^^

StephenC_IRL

ok i got 5 grand on the mitsubishi which isnt bad, emm ok now is there any way to get an estate car commercially taxed and insured like a van ??

Atomic Pineapple

StephenC_IRL wrote:

ok i got 5 grand on the mitsubishi which isnt bad, emm ok now is there any way to get an estate car commercially taxed and insured like a van ??

5 grand? ouch its a good lot

think you have to have the rear seats removed and only allow room for 1passenger or something along those lines, remember my cousin converted a golf to a van, took the 2 back seats out and got it insured as a commercial, could only bring the one passenger though

StephenC_IRL

but would that count as a modification, which isnt alllowed under the insurance

Atomic Pineapple

StephenC_IRL wrote:

but would that count as a modification, which isnt alllowed under the insurance

i'm not sure to be honest, i doubt it, i'd say modification refers to the engine mainly or other performance type parts, i remember he was with quinn, i think your best bet is to ask the insurance company but i know it can be done

ZiabR

StephenC_IRL wrote:

ok i got 5 grand on the mitsubishi which isnt bad, emm ok now is there any way to get an estate car commercially taxed and insured like a van ??

That is crazy mate, 5 grand is more than the car is worth. Can i ask what the quote was for a 1 litre car?