Car restrictions by age?

arleitiss

hey, my friend told me yesterday that as my first car I can't get anything like big jeep cars or vans, and that I can only get some small cars with that cut off back (not sure what it's called) basically like this: http://www.fastmotoring.com/wp-content/gallery/2012-volkswagen-golf-mk-7/golf_7_2.jpg
is the only thing I can buy while I am 18 years old even with full license. Is that true?

My friend himself has one of those cars, so think it's just waffle as excuse of him not having bigger car? or actual fact?

**Timbuk2**

Your friend is wrong, you can get any size / type car you like. To be more precise, a B licence is a 'car' licence and is defined as

citizensinformation.ie wrote:

Vehicles with seats for a maximum of 8 passengers and a maximum weight of 3,500kg (can tow a trailer where the maximum weight of the trailer when fully loaded is 750kg or less - total maximum weight of 4,250kg)

Have a read through this page: http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/travel_and_recreation/motoring_1/driver_licensing/categories_of_motor_vehicles_and_minimum_age_of_drivers_in_ireland.html

There are some categories which require you to be 21 (e.g. a D/D1 licence for a bus), but for cars it's definitely 17 years old. In fact, for Category W (work vehicles) it's only 16 years old, and that allows you to drive JCBs and tractors, so it would be a bit odd to be restricted to hatchbacks once you turn 17 :P

Edit: But bear in mind that insurance will be more expensive for a more expensive car and a car with a bigger engine, and that's a factor in why a lot of learners start out with small, old cars.

arleitiss

**Timbuk2** wrote: »

Your friend is wrong, you can get any size / type car you like. To be more precise, a B licence is a 'car' licence and is defined as


Have a read through this page: http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/travel_and_recreation/motoring_1/driver_licensing/categories_of_motor_vehicles_and_minimum_age_of_drivers_in_ireland.html

There are some categories which require you to be 21 (e.g. a D/D1 licence for a bus), but for cars it's definitely 17 years old. In fact, for Category W (work vehicles) it's only 16 years old, and that allows you to drive JCBs and tractors, so it would be a bit odd to be restricted to hatchbacks once you turn 17 :P

Edit: But bear in mind that insurance will be more expensive for a more expensive car and a car with a bigger engine, and that's a factor in why a lot of learners start out with small, old cars.

Well wouldn't just standart BMW 520 of year 2002 be kind of like small? Also if I buy it second hand, do insurance calculate the price I paid or the car value that they will estimate?

**Timbuk2**

arleitiss wrote: »

Well wouldn't just standart BMW 520 of year 2002 be kind of like small? Also if I buy it second hand, do insurance calculate the price I paid or the car value that they will estimate?

Well it's not as clear cut as 'big' or 'small', car value and engine size will both come into play.

It's based on the value of the car, not what you paid for it, but the more valuable your car is, the more it'll cost to fix in the event of an accident, so that is reflected in the premium. As is the engine size, and I think the BMW 520 is around 2.0 or 2.2L (assuming petrol, I could be wrong) which I guess will be quite costly for a learner with no no-claims-bonus.

You can ring around a few insurance companies and ask them to give you quotes, and try a few different cars to see how much different cars affect your premium - there are also online quote generators, but usually ringing around is a better method, but you can always do both!

arleitiss

**Timbuk2** wrote: »

Well it's not as clear cut as 'big' or 'small', car value and engine size will both come into play.

It's based on the value of the car, not what you paid for it, but the more valuable your car is, the more it'll cost to fix in the event of an accident, so that is reflected in the premium. As is the engine size, and I think the BMW 520 is around 2.0 or 2.2L (assuming petrol, I could be wrong) which I guess will be quite costly for a learner with no no-claims-bonus.

You can ring around a few insurance companies and ask them to give you quotes, and try a few different cars to see how much different cars affect your premium - there are also online quote generators, but usually ringing around is a better method, but you can always do both!

Alright thanks

Permabear

This post has been deleted.

arleitiss

Permabear wrote: »

This post had been deleted.

Yeah but isn't for small car insurance still like 2000 euro?

MascotDec85

arleitiss wrote: »

Yeah but isn't for small car insurance still like 2000 euro?

Quite possibly but depending on your age they might not even quote you on a BMW 520

challengemaster

arleitiss wrote: »

Yeah but isn't for small car insurance still like 2000 euro?

Yup, so what do you think you'll be paying on something like a big engined BMW? I'll take a guess it won't be under 3500 anyway.

Car insurance for new drivers is expensive, that's just how it goes.

arleitiss

challengemaster wrote: »

Yup, so what do you think you'll be paying on something like a big engined BMW? I'll take a guess it won't be under 3500 anyway.

Car insurance for new drivers is expensive, that's just how it goes.

And after a year, will it be significantly less or slightly less?

Alanstrainor

arleitiss wrote: »

And after a year, will it be significantly less or slightly less?

These questions are very hard to answer accurately OP. After a year you'd have to shop around again and see what quotes you get. There will be a reduction, but how much we can't possibly say. You haven't exactly given us a lot of information to go on anyway.

Insurance cost isn't based on the car being big/small, it's based on risk. An unlicensed driver with no previous experience is going to be an incredibly high risk in a 6 pot rear wheel drive BMW. Start small, and move up to something nice when you have your full license and a couple of years NCB.

MascotDec85

Alanstrainor wrote: »

These questions are very hard to answer accurately OP. After a year you'd have to shop around again and see what quotes you get. There will be a reduction, but how much we can't possibly say. You haven't exactly given us a lot of information to go on anyway.

Insurance cost isn't based on the car being big/small, it's based on risk. An unlicensed driver with no previous experience is going to be an incredibly high risk in a 6 pot rear wheel drive BMW. Start small, and move up to something nice when you have your full license and a couple of years NCB.

That's not necessarily true, insurance companies often increase premiums even after a year of zero claims.

arleitiss

What does insurance cover specifically? the damage I do to others?

MascotDec85

arleitiss wrote: »

What does insurance cover specifically? the damage I do to others?

Depending on the level of cover you take (cheapest to most expensive):

Third party car insurance
Law in Ireland requires insurance; the minimum level of coverage permissible is Third party car insurance, which covers damages or injury caused by you or another insured under your policy to any person or to property when using your vehicle.

Third Party Fire and Theft car insurance
Third Party Fire and Theft car insurance will cover as for third party and also against fire, theft and / or attempted theft.

Comprehensive car insurance
Comprehensive car insurance will cover as for third party, fire and theft and also for loss or damage to your car that may be a result of an accident or malicious intent.

Bonesy.

Is there any car parts that have an age restriction or are banned in Ireland that would be used for for Modified cars?(17)

challengemaster

arleitiss wrote: »

And after a year, will it be significantly less or slightly less?

It might be less, it might not be. With the government increasing taxes all the time, it's being passed on in insurance costs too. Many premiums rose by >€100 last year. Usually the second year of insurance is less by a substantial amount, but realistically, it could be 2-3 years (with 2-3 years NCB) before you'll have a somewhat reasonable quote for a 520i (reasonable being ~1400-1600)

Bonesy. wrote: »

Is there any car parts that have an age restriction or are banned in Ireland that would be used for for Modified cars?(17)

Not that I know of. I'm not sure on the legality of NOS in Ireland, so that might be one, or you might have to have a sign on the back of the car saying it's carrying compressed gases, you'd have to look that up yourself.

As for any modification, it all has to be declared to the insurance company. Otherwise you're in for a nightmare if you ever need to claim from them, as they will find any means possible to avoid paying out (or reclaiming money they've paid to 3rd parties from the policy holder)

Obviously, the different types of modifications will all have different loadings put on them. What I mean is, the extra premium cost for adding lowering springs won't be the same as an induction kit, race exhaust and a remap. Also usually but not always, aesthetic mods are free to declare. I say not always because obviously, the nicer a car looks, the more likely it is to be robbed over the identical factory spec one sitting beside it.

I've never heard of any age restriction for anything modification related though.

matt70iu

arleitiss wrote: »

hey, my friend told me yesterday that as my first car I can't get anything like big jeep cars or vans, and that I can only get some small cars with that cut off back (not sure what it's called) basically like this: http://www.fastmotoring.com/wp-content/gallery/2012-volkswagen-golf-mk-7/golf_7_2.jpg
is the only thing I can buy while I am 18 years old even with full license. Is that true?

My friend himself has one of those cars, so think it's just waffle as excuse of him not having bigger car? or actual fact?

Hi

As others have said, there are no restrictions on the car you can have once it's road legal and covered under your Cat B license.

Where you will run into problems is insurance, tax and parts for high performance cars.

Let's take insurance. Many companies will not touch a car with letters like GTI or VTEC in their model names as they consider them high performance and too much of a risk.

Others may cover these cars but have conditions attached. An example would be over 21 with full license or over 30 with full license.

As a result, those who will quote you without these conditions may charge over the odds. I would suggest getting quotes before settling on a particular car.


Another thing to consider is tax.

Done on engine size a 2.2l car will cost in excess of 600e a year to tax.
On emissions on 2008 + cars, anything that's higher performance is going to produce more emissions and more costs!

I've had everything from a Nissan Micra 1.0 to a Golf GTI which I now own and I can tell you the difference in running costs is like night and day.

As others have said, pick a car that best suits your circumstances and budget to spend on driving across the year.

Best of luck with the car purchase:)

Matt

challengemaster

matt70iu wrote: »

Others may cover these cars but have conditions attached. An example would be over 21 with full license or over 30 with full license.

This isn't actually legal for an insurance company to do though. Insurance companies by law must quote you, it just doesn't have to be anything reasonable what they quote.

matt70iu

Know what ya mean. I queried this when numerous companies refused to quote me.

What a good few said was they are obliged to quote when you already have a policy with them, but not in the case of new business.