Congrats and +1 on not crashing. I've done it, and so have plenty of others. I was in a rush, going too fast round a tight bend, and I lost control of the car. Nobody was hurt and we managed to get the car fixed, but boy does it teach you a lesson.
Same as everyone else, congrats, obviously the system in the US is a lot different from yours, but I did watch the top gear episode on buying cars for 17 year olds - hilarious as usual. I remember Clarkson got a quote for £8000, hammond said "I don't think they want the business." gotta love it. It does seem like over in Britain it's a lot more common that you get your own car when you pass your driving test, whereas around here most just drive their parents' cars and don't need one when they get to uni. Speaking of driving tests, I take mine in about two weeks. Should be a piece of cake.
Been driving 9 years now, nearly 10. Two crashes - one a write-off - luckily both times it was just me and poor judgement about road conditions, no-one else hurt. The first one was a gentle nudge off a bend I went a touch too fast round for the wet, and damaged a bumper, and the second was black ice on a road I should've known to avoid. My advice: take it easy, make sure your belt is on, and don't leave anything loose in the car which can fly around. If you got stuff in your boot, strap it down with a bungee cord. And finally, avoid the following: 1. Old corsa 2. Old clio 3. Old peugeot 106 4. Big exhausts that sound like a coke can on either 1), 2), or 3) Why? In 10 years you'll look at your properly fast and nice car you can afford to own and insure, and look at those old sheds, and think "my god, what a piece of trash". Get yourself a Pug 306 or Golf mark IV turbo diesel in 2 - 3 years and never look back! Those noisy little sheds will seem like dust in the wind.
OK.. I know this is week now since passing my test and I'm excited as I've brought a newer car. It's a N reg Fiat Cinquecento Sport 1.1 It's in gun metal looks dead smart. Collect it on Saturday and insurance is good to go aha Will upload some photo's
My god, some of these insurance prices are frightening. It's not often you get a chance to feel amazingly great about being 42.. but right now, I do.
When I first took out my insurance policy on my 1 litre Corsa (I was a learner) it cost me £2,500 and that was the best quote, the one benefit I had is that it didn't go up when I passed my driving test. Now that's expensive!
It halves after you can get 1 year NCB though, best feeling in the world! Also the Bell 10month policies are good
I've got a nine month policy and then I one years no claims if I then stay with Aviva for another 9 months I get 2 Insurance will go down from £1100 to £550 ish..
LOL I know what you mean I'm 56 and got full comp with no excess and 75% NCB protected all for less than £200 a year great!!
By the way, my driving instructor (I passed 1st time in December 09, age 17, 4 minors) said NFU Mutual can give up to a 1/3 off with Pass Plus, depending on your circumstances. I'm insured on my Dad's 2.0L 7-seater It doubled (and a bit) his insurance price (and I have Pass Plus)
I'm 27 with a Skoda Octavia VRS 2.0L TDI, 6 years no claims, and last renewal was £330. Excess is standard compulsory for me though, £250. Its amazing how quickly it drops from 18 to 25, the from 25 upwards it slows to a crawl
I thought insurance prices where bad after i passed my test but those quotes are frightening! I'm 30 and i was about £800 for a 1.4 astra club when i passed my test 13 years ago. One of my friends bought a Cavalier GSI and he was £1800 immediately after his test so i feel really sorry for you guys paying that for a Corsa! Does that fact that a corsa is the weapon of choice for the young chav push the price up? Would having something not thought of as a young persons car like a volvo make it cheaper to insure?
It's all down to insurance group, which is heavily influenced by engine size and power. Pretty much every Volvo for years has had a pretty big engine in there. Very often there are only minor differences between similar cars, I seem to remember that a Saxo VTR, for example, was more expensive to insure than a 106 GTi, even though they're near-enough the same car. All because the chavs bought and crashed them, while the GTi tended to be uncool.
My insurance is around £1900 for 10 months on a 1.6 Citroen Saxo VTR that's been modified. I'm 18 with 1 year driving experience, but when I turn 19 I'll hopefully be able to get specialist insurance.
jesus all these quotes are expensive do the sensible way and get your parents to insure the car and list you as a driver. my insurance when i passed was £325 3rd party F&T on a 1.4L 16-valve G-reg honda civic. was with direct line. insurance is now about £300 on my ford Ka 1.3L (i know girly car but cant afford anything else right now) and its my insurance.
The problem with the "named driver" route is you can't earn no claims discount, and if you drive the car more than the main driver, you're usually in breach of the terms and not technically covered. I know you can lie, and say you rarely use it, but they're not all thickos The best way to put up with it is to insure a group 3 banger til you've got two years no claims, and if you crash your car in that time but don't hit anyone else, just replace the car and ring em to say your car went kaput.
direct line let you build no cliams discount as named drivers provding you get your main policy with them