Smokin Joe
Legendary Member
- Location
- Bare headed cyclist, Smoker
That's why the insurance is so high.
Buying a cheap car
- Thread starter Julia9054
- Start date
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midlife
Guru
And the postcode..
PaulSB
Legendary Member
- Location
- Chorley, Lancashire
I would go for an old, low mileage vehicle. We bought our son a Ford Ka on a 53 plate and 40000 miles. It's proved excellent value and is very simple to maintain.
Chose a long established local dealer. There's little to guarantee older cars but a local man will, hopefully, have a reputation to protect.
Chose a long established local dealer. There's little to guarantee older cars but a local man will, hopefully, have a reputation to protect.
Levo-Lon
Guru
See thread in current affairs, hit and run,no wonder people dont pay.
We really need this sorting out.
Kids need to get about and we need them to be safe.
mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
I understand there are lightweight affordable mechanical human-propelled vehicles for short distances and ones driven by experts for longer ones. Insurance on the lightweights is fairly cheap, bundled with home insurance or club membership. ;-)
Might not work in this case, depending on instrument, but more generally the blind rush to motoring is part of the reason this country's so messed up and it makes motoring punishingly expensive for those who probably would be more efficient to drive.
You and me pay £300 a year more for insurance and the expensive quotes may come down.
Levo-Lon
Guru
I dont know if it would.
It seems a bloody scam to me.
Yes youngsters make mistakes but then so do all drivers.
An 80 yr old lady at my work " resident " pays a grand for a honda jazz
I pay about £220 at 53 yrs for a small van.
Most over 20's can drive perfectly well, but i remember how i was at 20 something..
My first car in 85 mk3 cortina 1.6 auto cost twice my weekly wadge to insure tpft.
It seems very disproportionate now?
Nigeyy
Legendary Member
- Location
- Massachusetts, USA
I'd also go with an older car with low miles -as a general rule of thumb I think you can get more for your money. I bought a car (American) for about 2000 quid and had it for 8 years and put about 90K miles on with almost nothing spent on it besides the usual tyres, brakes, oil changes and regular maintenance stuff. My most recent car (same brand but model year 2002) cost the same and had 42K miles on it. Touch wood, almost 18K in and while I did have to spend an initial extra 200 quid to fix some tie rods and buy some new tyres things have been pretty good. I also spent about 100 quid fixing the sun roof to work but I could have just left that go but I just really wanted a working sun roof. I also echo a previous poster with less is more; if you want to spend less, try to get less bells and whistles, they are just more things to go wrong and rack up expenses to fix.
Having said that, I also think sometimes a newer car with higher miles can be better, it just depends on the car. And while Japanese cars do tend to be better and more reliable, I also think everyone else knows that so you can pay a premium essentially for a name; I personally avoid Japanese cars for this reason as it is very hard to get a bargain (plus usually spare parts can be more expensive as well).
Ultimately it's a bit of a crap shoot buying a used car, there are no guarantees.
p.s. I am a cheapskate and I hate spending money on cars....
Having said that, I also think sometimes a newer car with higher miles can be better, it just depends on the car. And while Japanese cars do tend to be better and more reliable, I also think everyone else knows that so you can pay a premium essentially for a name; I personally avoid Japanese cars for this reason as it is very hard to get a bargain (plus usually spare parts can be more expensive as well).
Ultimately it's a bit of a crap shoot buying a used car, there are no guarantees.
p.s. I am a cheapskate and I hate spending money on cars....
OP
OP
Julia9054
Guru
- Location
- Knaresborough
Cheapskate here too! Have now found insurance for Joe for £1805 which is doable between us so maybe plan A is back on! The internet appears to be just making it up!
He needs to move out of Longshite!
He needs to move out of Longshite!
NorthernDave
Never used Über Member
- Location
- The real Northern Powerhouse
I was going to suggest the Citroen C1 (or Peugeot or Toyota equivalent) but have been beaten to it.
If something slightly bigger is needed, the Citroen C3 is worth a look.
vickster
Legendary Member
Perhaps try phoning a few brokers?
swee'pea99
Legendary Member
Two things: First, when they say about property it comes down to three words - location, location, location - they're right; with cars, it's service history, service history, service history. Second, a high mileage Honda/Hyundai/Toyota or similar that's been properly looked after can be had for under 2 grand, and should provide trouble free motoring for years. (Tho' you do have to be prepared for things like tyres, clutches and exhausts.)
Piemaster
Guru
- Location
- UK City of Culture
I through it a few weeks back. Requirements was for a big estate/MPV with roof rails (windsurf board carrying duties).
As above, check MOT history online. One I bought (07 plate) had only ever failed 2 tests - one for a light and wipers, the other for wipers too!
With online ads if the plate was obscured it was dismissed as I couldn't check it - its not like you can remain anonymous selling a car. Also nothing with a test that was done before 20th May, when the new test came into force.
Ended up with an Avensis estate from a private seller. The new Yokohama tyres on it were an indication the guy actually looked after it. He was doing services himself, but did have a Midget being rebuilt in his garage as well.
I'd also stay away from dpf fitted diesels.
We have daughter on the electric car policy (its in a fairly high group) and had to go for a black box solution to get insurance anything like realistic.
As above, check MOT history online. One I bought (07 plate) had only ever failed 2 tests - one for a light and wipers, the other for wipers too!
With online ads if the plate was obscured it was dismissed as I couldn't check it - its not like you can remain anonymous selling a car. Also nothing with a test that was done before 20th May, when the new test came into force.
Ended up with an Avensis estate from a private seller. The new Yokohama tyres on it were an indication the guy actually looked after it. He was doing services himself, but did have a Midget being rebuilt in his garage as well.
I'd also stay away from dpf fitted diesels.
We have daughter on the electric car policy (its in a fairly high group) and had to go for a black box solution to get insurance anything like realistic.
Beebo
Firm and Fruity
- Location
- Hexleybeef
It isn’t a scam, insurance companies have very sophisticated underwriting tools, they know how much it costs to insure young and old drivers. The premiums are crazy when compared to the value of the car, but the real risk is the third party damages.
Sadly young drivers are a much higher risk, they tend to crash at high speed with a car full of friends. That could cost millions in compensation.
Old people tend to have low speed crashes with no passengers costing a few hundred quid.
A black box is the way to go for young drivers, maybe with a self imposed curfew too. If insuring young people made profits the insurance companies would be fighting to offer cheap cover.
