What car should I buy after an insurance claim?

nnw

My car is on it's last tyres so I need to buy again.
My insurance premium will rise substantially because I made a claim last year.
Also I have to add a learner permit driver this time.

What I need to know is the general loading the insurance companies place on engine size and type of car so as to keep the premium down as much as possible.

An automatic is preferred but not a hybrid as a tow bar is needed and I understand tow bars can't be fitted to older hybrids.

Thanks for any replies.

A claim and adding a learner driver?

A 1.2l max. Smaller if possible.

Del2005

Look at what people aren't driving and get quotes for them. Some of the smaller brands won't have a big insurance issue if not many people make claims. So boring unpopular brands or models will be the best option for cheaper insurance, how reliable they will be is a different issue.

nnw

Thanks but would a 1.2l tow a single axel 7x4 trailor? Surely need a 1.4minimum.

Twenty Grand

nnw wrote: »

Thanks but would a 1.2l tow a single axel 7x4 trailor? Surely need a 1.4minimum.

Get your insurer to quote you for a renewal.

You'll see the breakdown.
Hop onto their website and start putting in cars youre interested in. Grab number plates from Donedeal.

jmreire

nnw wrote: »

Thanks but would a 1.2l tow a single axel 7x4 trailor? Surely need a 1.4minimum.

That would depend on what it was loaded with.....but in my opinion, a 7x4 would be too big for a 1.2, but like I said, that's only my opinion

Prenderb

nnw wrote: »

Thanks but would a 1.2l tow a single axel 7x4 trailor? Surely need a 1.4minimum.

This is down to the individual car and what it is rated to tow.

Del2005

nnw wrote: »

Thanks but would a 1.2l tow a single axel 7x4 trailor? Surely need a 1.4minimum.

What's the MAM of the trailer? Because whatever vehicle you buy needs to be rated to tow the trailer, so you need to work backwards from the MAM of the car to see what can tow your trailer and then get quotes.

68 lost souls

You also haven’t given a budget for the car but since you mention older hybrids then I feel it should be noted that there also loadings on cars that 10 years or older.

Also if you have a learner driver would you not look at a manual so they aren’t stuck with an automatic license?

theoneeyedman

Lad here bought a petrol focus a while ago to get him on the road, was very easy (well relatively anyway) to insure 1.4 petrol.

Heres Johnny

I added a 24 year old provisional licence holder to a 2014 530d to my policy in January for 100 EURO on top of the 700 just for myself, shop around and you'd be surprised how good value can be got sometimes. My own company wouldn't allow me to add her due to age and licence type and some others wanted North of 3000 euro. She has since passed test and turned 25 and got herself insured on a 2014 a6 for under 1000.

Ring absolutely everyone, both these policies are through An Post, mine is underwritten by FBD and hers is underwritten by AIG.

mgbgt1978

Del2005 wrote: »

What's the MAM of the trailer? Because whatever vehicle you buy needs to be rated to tow the trailer, so you need to work backwards from the MAM of the car to see what can tow your trailer and then get quotes.

Not with a BE licence. If the Op has a Trailer Licence then he can Tow anything as long as the 'actual weight' (at the time of towing) does not exceed the Towing limit of the car. Below is taken directly from the RSA Website;

It's OK to tow a trailer whose DGVW exceeds a vehicle’s towing capacity provided the combined weight of the trailer and the load being carried does not exceed the specified towing capacity of the drawing vehicle.

Heres Johnny wrote: »

I added a 24 year old provisional licence holder to a 2014 530d to my policy in January for 100 EURO on top of the 700 just for myself, shop around and you'd be surprised how good value can be got sometimes. My own company wouldn't allow me to add her due to age and licence type and some others wanted North of 3000 euro. She has since passed test and turned 25 and got herself insured on a 2014 a6 for under 1000.

Ring absolutely everyone, both these policies are through An Post, mine is underwritten by FBD and hers is underwritten by AIG.

....and the funny thing is you would find it much harder get a quote for a 520D for the 24 year-old.
My son had a 535d at 23 years old insured for €745.....they wouldn't touch him on a 520D . He's now 27 and insuring a 2010 530D for €670.
It seems there aren't enough 530's (and 535's) in the country for the Insurers to have a 'Rating' on them.

CiniO

mgbgt1978 wrote: »

Not with a BE licence. If the Op has a Trailer Licence then he can Tow anything as long as the 'actual weight' (at the time of towing) does not exceed the Towing limit of the car. Below is taken directly from the RSA Website;

It's OK to tow a trailer whose DGVW exceeds a vehicle’s towing capacity provided the combined weight of the trailer and the load being carried does not exceed the specified towing capacity of the drawing vehicle.

That's true and very useful in Ireland.
Worth remembering though is that many EU countries have different regulations in this regard, and if you're planning on towing a trailer abroad, something that is legal in Ireland, might not be in other EU country.

jmreire

mgbgt1978 wrote: »

Not with a BE licence. If the Op has a Trailer Licence then he can Tow anything as long as the 'actual weight' (at the time of towing) does not exceed the Towing limit of the car. Below is taken directly from the RSA Website;

It's OK to tow a trailer whose DGVW exceeds a vehicle’s towing capacity provided the combined weight of the trailer and the load being carried does not exceed the specified towing capacity of the drawing vehicle.




....and the funny thing is you would find it much harder get a quote for a 520D for the 24 year-old.
My son had a 535d at 23 years old insured for €745.....they wouldn't touch him on a 520D . He's now 27 and insuring a 2010 530D for €670.
It seems there aren't enough 530's (and 535's) in the country for the Insurers to have a 'Rating' on them.

€745??? for BMW 535?? That was a remarkable quote for a 23 year old !!! and if he is now 27, 4 years older, that would mean that he got that quote back in 2015? So in other word's...before the insurance company's needed an ( unofficial ) cash bailout? Had it been in 2016..would have been a different story, I think. I insured an A6 in 2015 for €320.00...in 2016 it had risen to €1175.00. with no claims or disqualifications. But he is not doing too bad by today's standard's at €670.00 for a 2010 530.

Del2005

CiniO wrote: »

That's true and very useful in Ireland.
Worth remembering though is that many EU countries have different regulations in this regard, and if you're planning on towing a trailer abroad, something that is legal in Ireland, might not be in other EU country.

If you are legal in Ireland are you not legal in every other EU country? Otherwise our trailers would already be banned in most of the EU because they are on the tow vehicle registration number not their own.

CiniO

Del2005 wrote: »

If you are legal in Ireland are you not legal in every other EU country? Otherwise our trailers would already be banned in most of the EU because they are on the tow vehicle registration number not their own.

But they are not banned.

What I meant was that in Ireland you can have following situation:
Towing vehicle rated by manufacturer to tow 1000kg trailers.
You get f.e. Ifor Williams BV84 rated to 1400kg gross weight (unladen weight 515kg). If you don't load more than 485kg into it, you won't exceed 1000kg, therefore you can legally tow with such vehicle in Ireland.

But many EU countries have legislations, which say that it's illegal to tow a trailer with higher max gross weight than towing vehicle is rated for, even if trailer is not fully loaded.

In that case, if you had a car suitable for towing 1000kg trailer, and took a trailer designed for gross weight 1400kg, but weighting only 900kg (500kg trailer itself + 400kg load) then you'd be legal towing it in Ireland, but not legal in some other EU countries.

Del2005

CiniO wrote: »

But they are not banned.

What I meant was that in Ireland you can have following situation:
Towing vehicle rated by manufacturer to tow 1000kg trailers.
You get f.e. Ifor Williams BV84 rated to 1400kg gross weight (unladen weight 515kg). If you don't load more than 485kg into it, you won't exceed 1000kg, therefore you can legally tow with such vehicle in Ireland.

But many EU countries have legislations, which say that it's illegal to tow a trailer with higher max gross weight than towing vehicle is rated for, even if trailer is not fully loaded.

In that case, if you had a car suitable for towing 1000kg trailer, and took a trailer designed for gross weight 1400kg, but weighting only 900kg (500kg trailer itself + 400kg load) then you'd be legal towing it in Ireland, but not legal in some other EU countries.

They aren't banned because they are legal here yet illegal on the continent. So if our trailers are allowed on continental roads because they are legal on our roads then our car towing a too heavy rated trailer with a legal load will have to be legal.

The police cannot say that you are illegal for weight but you are legal for the reg when both are illegal in their country.

CiniO

Del2005 wrote: »

They aren't banned because they are legal here yet illegal on the continent. So if our trailers are allowed on continental roads because they are legal on our roads then our car towing a too heavy rated trailer with a legal load will have to be legal.

The police cannot say that you are illegal for weight but you are legal for the reg when both are illegal in their country.

Well, it makes logical sense what you're saying but unfortunately that's not the case.

Registration system, which works differently by not having trailers registered in Ireland and putting towing vehicle reg on a trailer is one things (while most of EU have their own reg's for trailers). But weight limits is completely different matter.

They have to accept our Irish reg system for trailers, but that doesn't necesserily mean they have to accept out trailers's weight regulations.

And it's not like Ireland vs EU. I'm saying regulations in many EU countries vary, so with Irish setup you might be legal in some EU countries, and illegal in others.
I know how bizzare this sounds, but that's unfortunately the case.
Same scenario between other countries, i.e. towing vehicle + trailer setup might be legal in Austria but not legal in Czech which borders with Austria.

Del2005

CiniO wrote: »

Well, it makes logical sense what you're saying but unfortunately that's not the case.

Registration system, which works differently by not having trailers registered in Ireland and putting towing vehicle reg on a trailer is one things (while most of EU have their own reg's for trailers). But weight limits is completely different matter.

They have to accept our Irish reg system for trailers, but that doesn't necesserily mean they have to accept out trailers's weight regulations.

And it's not like Ireland vs EU. I'm saying regulations in many EU countries vary, so with Irish setup you might be legal in some EU countries, and illegal in others.
I know how bizzare this sounds, but that's unfortunately the case.
Same scenario between other countries, i.e. towing vehicle + trailer setup might be legal in Austria but not legal in Czech which borders with Austria.

Once you are legal in your home country you are legal everywhere in Europe, isn't that the whole point of the free movement.

In Ireland we didn't have direct access for motorbikes so a person passing the A test in Ireland was restricted to 33bhp for 2 years after passing the test. Meanwhile the rest of the EU had direct access, so if a person from the continent or UK came over the day after passing their A test on a full power bike they were legal.

So what's the difference between someone riding a too powerful bike in Ireland or an Irish person towing an overspeced trailer, especially when they are legally displaying an illegal registration?

mgbgt1978

Del2005 wrote: »

Once you are legal in your home country you are legal everywhere in Europe, isn't that the whole point of the free movement.

It hasn't worked out as simply as this unfortunately.
For instance, a Full Car Licence (issued more than 3 years ago) will allow you to ride a Scooter up to 125cc in some parts of Spain. It will only allow you to ride a 50cc Scooter here (provided your Full licence was issued pre '08/2006 )

Towing a small car on an A-frame behind a Motorhome (as a Trailer) is perfectly acceptable in some EU Countries, but will land you with a Fine in others. Even that one is a Grey Area here, they tend to leave the foreigners alone but if you're local some Traffic Corp guys have an issue.



There are loads more differences regarding driving in other EU Countries. Usually the Law of whatever country you are in overrules the Law in your home country, unless there is a particular EU-wide Law that applies.

CiniO

Del2005 wrote: »

Once you are legal in your home country you are legal everywhere in Europe, isn't that the whole point of the free movement.

In Ireland we didn't have direct access for motorbikes so a person passing the A test in Ireland was restricted to 33bhp for 2 years after passing the test. Meanwhile the rest of the EU had direct access, so if a person from the continent or UK came over the day after passing their A test on a full power bike they were legal.

So what's the difference between someone riding a too powerful bike in Ireland or an Irish person towing an overspeced trailer, especially when they are legally displaying an illegal registration?

I think you're trying to make it too black and white. While in reality it's not. It's very complicated. Each EU country has plenty of regulations which very often are contradictory to regulations in other countries.
EU tried to take care of many differences through variety of EU directives, and they did successfully in many areas, but didn't manage to unify all the regulations.


In general regulations applying to vehicle registration, technical specifications and equipment are generally applied in country of registration and mutually respected in other countries.
Examples being as you mentioned Irish car towing a trailer with car's registration number will be legal in Germany where trailers have their own reg number.
Also f.e. Polish registered car which must be obligatory equipped with warning triangle and fire extinguisher but not first aid kit, can not be fined for not having first aid kit when driving in Germany - even though Germans require their own german registered cars to be equipped with first aid kits.
At least that's the theory, as there were multiple articles in the papers of Germans fining Polish drivers for not having first aid kits.
I experienced it myself as well, when Polish police wanted to fine me for not having fire extinguisher in my Irish registered car when driving in Poland. Luckly I managed to talk them out of it and they never fined me.
Yet another example of Irish or UK cars being allowed to have 4 different tyres on each wheel, while most EU countries require them being same in pairs - f.e. both tyres on front axle need to be the same brand and model.
But again - you can't be fined for driving with 4 different tyres on Irish o UK reg car in Austria or Italy, even though they require them in pairs from Austrian or Italian registered cars...


But when you look at regulations not applying to vehicles tech specs and equipment, but general regulations of road traffic, then everyone must obey them no matter where the car is registered.
So if in Poland you can't tow a trailer with certain weight which in Ireland would be legal to tow, then it makes no difference if you're in Polish, Irish or Spanish registered car. You still can't tow it there.

When regulations say that everyone must use winter tyres during winter during certain period or on certain roads in Austria, then everyone must do it, no matter if car is Austrian, German or Irish registered.
And fact that Irish legislation doesn't require winter tyres on Irish registered cars makes absolutely no difference here, as Austrian regulations also don't require winter tyres on Austrian registered cars, but they just require winter tyres on every car that is driving at certain time of the year.

Driver licencing is also not as straight forward.
F.e. in Poland my category B licence allows me to ride motorbikes of up to 125ccm even though I don't have A category licence.
In Ireland regulations don't allow it.
So if someone comes to Ireland with Polish licence, it doesnt' mean he can now magically ride 125ccm bikes in Ireland. He can't. Because Irish law doesn't allow it.
And vice versa - if I come to Poland with my Irish licence category B, I'm allowed to ride 125ccm bike.



In short - it's definitely not as straight forward and so black and white as you're trying to picture it.