Buying first car, 19 year old male

TheBiz

I'm looking at getting my first car for travelling to college this year and for getting to work (I've accommodation but I'm thinking of a car for the weekends)

I want something that's basically an all round good first car, and preferably decent to look at.

I've about €1700 for the car and part time work (lifeguard or shop depending as it will be after the Leaving Cert)

A friend of mine got a 03 Corolla at 18, working as an agri contractor part time while in college, I imagine the insurance is a fair bit!

Any suggestions?
How much (roughy) would be needed to get myself on the road?
Is it really worth it, I want a car so I don't rely on my parents constantly but economically I don't know if it's worth it.
(I'm also selling a guitar to fund the cost of the car)
Any ideas? Thanks

eeguy

Where is college?

Seems very expensive of you're just looking for a pet car for the weekend.

TheBiz

eeguy wrote: »

Where is college?

Seems very expensive of you're just looking for a pet car for the weekend.

Galway (hopefully) or Limerick, I live in Galway but a good distance from the city.

Well I'll need a way of getting on the weekends and getting to work which could be another 20 minutes away..
I'm not so much bothered about having a car for the sake of it but rather than getting dropped everywhere I'd rather have some independence. I'm just not too sure is it worth the cost.

cml387

And the elephant in the room?

colm_mcm

Sell the elephant to pay for insurance.

TheBiz

colm_mcm wrote: »

Sell the elephant to pay for insurance.

What elephant?

colm_mcm

The one in the room.

Apparently there's an elephant in the room.

TheBiz

colm_mcm wrote: »

The one in the room.

I'm lost,
And slowly getting paranoid

delly

TheBiz wrote: »

I'm lost,
And slowly getting paranoid

To put you out of your misery, they mean insurance. You could be paying many times your car budget on insurance.

colm_mcm

I'd say the elephant in the room is you maybe not having a full licence, so using the car for commuting is a no-no and you should be accompanied.
Also insurance would probably be a few grand.

cml387

TheBiz wrote: »

I'm lost,
And slowly getting paranoid

Sorry.

I was referring to insurance. It will cost nearly a multiple of 1700 you're looking to spend on the car.

TheBiz

delly wrote: »

To put you out of your misery, they mean insurance. You could be paying many times your car budget on insurance.

Oh haha, I know, I've the part time work for part of the insurance and general savings to pull from but €1700 for the car itself.
Thought I put it in oops.
Thanks

colm_mcm

What's the craic with a licence, have you done the test yet?

delly

TheBiz wrote: »

Oh haha, I know, I've the part time work for part of the insurance and general savings to pull from but €1700 for the car itself.
Thought I put it in oops.
Thanks

If you have extra, then grand, but I'd put a stab in the dark and say €3k to €4k for year one. Slightly less the next year, but you never know these days.

As above, licence is another factor, learner vs full.

cml387

How could you sell your guitar???????

If you don't absolutely positively need a car I'd strongly advise you not to bother until you have a full time job.

You could be spending your money on a lot better things at your age. And no I don't mean exotic stimulants.

Sh1tbag OToole

Insurance €10,000 for a Lidl shopping trolley retrofitted with a Honda GX25 engine. €12,000 if it's a Tesco or Super Valu one

TheBiz

cml387 wrote: »

How could you sell your guitar???????

If you don't absolutely positively need a car I'd strongly advise you not to bother until you have a full time job.

You could be spending your money on a lot better things at your age. And no I don't mean exotic stimulants.

Ah well I have more than one, I use the cheaper one more often and make a bit of money performing.
A lot of lads my age have cars anyway, a Audi would be ideal but unrealistic so I'm looking at something more reasonable..

Skatedude

You are probably talking near to 3 grand for insurance on a sub 1 litre car with a full driving licence, providing you can even get a quote.

Going as a named driver on your parents policy would be cheaper,Again, wasting your time unless you have a full driving license .

SureWhyNotNow

Skatedude wrote: »

You are probably talking near to 3 grand for insurance on a sub 1 litre car with a full driving licence, providing you can even get a quote.

Going as a named driver on your parents policy would be cheaper,Again, wasting your time unless you have a full driving license .

Looks like to combat fronting they're inflating policies. I'm 18 with a full license. Being added to my dad's policy will inflate the price from 850 to 4,400,for an old 1.9 vw and in the 3,500 range with '08+ 1-1.3l cars. I don't see a point in driving before being 25 and working full time with prices like these.

Filmer Paradise

SureWhyNotNow wrote: »

Looks like to combat fronting they're inflating policies. I'm 18 with a full license. Being added to my dad's policy will inflate the price from 850 to 4,400,for an old 1.9 vw and in the 3,500 range with '08+ 1-1.3l cars. I don't see a point in driving before being 25 and working full time with prices like these.

That's mad!

OP, don't flog yourself to buy a car at your age.

When I was your age, I had a Honda 50 to get me round. Lots of my pals did the same.

It might be an idea to consider. Better than a pushbike anyway.

bazz26

To combat fronting they just load whoever is the highest risk on the policy, whether they are the policyholder or a name driver.

SureWhyNotNow

Filmer Paradise wrote: »

That's mad!

OP, don't flog yourself to buy a car at your age.

When I was your age, I had a Honda 50 to get me round. Lots of my pals did the same.

It might be an idea to consider. Better than a pushbike anyway.

Bloody kicking myself. Should have spent the money on a motorbike license instead of a car. I'm sure my mtb experience would have helped. Motorbikes are too scary for the parents sadly.

Is it possible to own a 50cc job on a car license or something?

Filmer Paradise

SureWhyNotNow wrote: »

Is it possible to own a 50cc job on a car license or something?

Haven't a clue TBH.

Still. I'm sure a basic provisional can cover you on a moped of some description.

If it's just a question of getting on the road, it's an idea to look into.

I was 19 in 1988. Having a car was a very far fetched idea for me & most other young lads of the time.

My income then was about £80 per week & I needed transport.

Mopeds/Step-thru's could be got for £100. Insurance on a provisional was £190. Road Tax was £5.

Those kinda numbers made sense to the 19 year old Filmer.:)

Nowadays, every young lad seems to have/expect to have a car. This level of expectation is just light years away from my time.

My sister is a secondary school teacher & she told me that during the boom they had to extend the carpark to accommadate cars that the pupils were arriving in.!

I couldn't believe it.

I often wonder where all the money comes from to put them all on the road.

g6fdyotp5nj2l7

Filmer Paradise wrote:

I often wonder where all the money comes from to put them all on the road.

From the bank of Dad I'm guessing

Filmer Paradise

Jade Lively Rakishly wrote: »

From the bank of Dad I'm guessing

Smaller families nowadays too, I 'spose. I know I'm coming across like a right old fart on this thread...

Still. I'd consider a moped if I was in OP's position, especially when you see the costs involved in putting a young person on the road.

I've always seen the situation as a national disgrace really.

SureWhyNotNow

Filmer Paradise wrote: »

Smaller families nowadays too, I 'spose. I know I'm coming across like a right old fart on this thread...

Still. I'd consider a moped if I was in OP's position, especially when you see the costs involved in putting a young person on the road.

I've always seen the situation as a national disgrace really.

By the way it's going I expect to see soviet style waiting lists for cars in 10 years time ))

Joking aside it's the mainland european direction of cars becoming more for older richer people while the rest use public transport or something else. That would be fine and all except public transport here is not near european level and distances are not suited for cycling,with the focus on Dublin. Now even moving there is hardly an option due to the rent things.

TheBiz

Looked into getting a bike, wouldn't be too keen on a moped but I low power cc motorbike would be nice.
Only problem is my parents, (father especially) is against motorbikes.

I can't imagine it being very enjoyable out in the p1ssing rain here in Ireland + protective gear etc costs a fair bit.

A friend of mine was looking into getting a Suzuki bandit, 125cc at 18, and with protective gear and everything a banger of a car was about the same.

myshirt

Get your licence before you get the car, as painful as that is.

Alanstrainor

You'd have to apply for a motorbike license and go through the hoops that that entails if you wanted even a moped. A car learner permit doesn't cover you on a moped these days.

I think the main thing here is to get insurance quotes and do your sums. If you can live without the car, it'd probably be better to use your hard earned cash traveling and doing those kind of things.

Sh1tbag OToole

Alanstrainor wrote: »

You'd have to apply for a motorbike license and go through the hoops that that entails if you wanted even a moped. A car learner permit doesn't cover you on a moped these days.

I think the main thing here is to get insurance quotes and do your sums. If you can live without the car, it'd probably be better to use your hard earned cash traveling and doing those kind of things.

Can't just sit the 'M' test?

Canadel

TheBiz wrote: »

Is it really worth it, I want a car so I don't rely on my parents constantly but economically I don't know if it's worth it.

At your age, and going to college, that's what your parents are for. Use them. Don't take advantage either. They are investing in you by presumably supporting you financially in college, so make sure you study hard and they see a return in investment when you get your degree and job etc.

Don't put your hopes and dreams and entire savings into a car now unless you absolutely need it is my advice. Which it doesn't appear you do. Go to college, get the bus with your friends and enjoy yourself.

Cars are cool and they give you freedom. You know this. So get your licence, rack up some named driving experience, hang on for a summer or two throughout college, save regularly, and then in a year or two decide if you really need the car.

Obviously I don't know where you live or how willing your parents are to allow you to use their car(s) but that's my advice.

Mycroft H

It's looking like I'm back paying north of 1300 for car insurance. Going back to the bus is looking more attractive the closer it gets to renewal time. I couldn't afford to start now let alone 6 years later.

myshirt

1,300 for a 19 yr old?

Just a whisker under double that for what I paid at 19. That's a good quote.

PeteK*

The only thing I've started to hate is paying for parking :P
Don't forget about parking, unlikely to be free if you're in a city.

doyle97

Can't understand why everyone here is so against you getting a car, I'm 18 and have a car with nearly a year now, been working since I as 16 and saved up the money to get the car, I pay for tax, petrol, the nct and most of the insurance my parents just offered to pay 500 which obviously I want going to turn down. My advice to you is lower the price you're willing to pay for your car, at the end of the day if it gets you to and from where you need to go what more could you want, get a small second hand car, an old ford fiesta or golf maybe, with a small engine, 1.2 is plenty, put a parents name as the named driver, that's what i did and got insurance for 1,500 with aviva, shop around for the insurance also. If youre working and have money saved up there's no reason you shouldn't get a car as you're obviously going to need it sooner or later.

frozenfrozen

myshirt wrote: »

1,300 for a 19 yr old?

Just a whisker under double that for what I paid at 19. That's a good quote.

that guy wasn't the 19 year old.. that was someone who's been driving for 6 years

shietpilot

Nothing wrong with owning or expecting to own a car at 19. It's easily achievable without help from parents if you don't spend every weekend at the pub. I'm a full time student and I've paid for insurance, tax, fuel and maintenance costs the last 2 years!

Shint0

doyle97 wrote: »

My advice to you is lower the price you're willing to pay for your car

If the OP lowers the budget further they might end up with a lot of maintenance costs or need an emergency fund for unforeseen/unexpected issues.

If you can afford all the costs of owning and running a car OP without it curtailing other areas of your lifestyle too much then go for it but no point having a car if you can't afford to drive it or pursue other activities because of it. You don't want to be able to just look at it from your living room window parked in the driveway.