XRS

OK, I have an age-related dilemma.

It’s j.r-xrs’ age, which becomes 17 in exactly two months.

We have the Scoob of course, and then Mrs XRS’ beloved Galaxy Ghia X Tdi. The youngster will not be able to drive either. So what’s the best plan?

1. Do we sell one of the existing vehicles, get something rather dull-but-cheap-to-insure and put him on the policy?

2. Do we get something as a third car (preferably modern and safe) in a low insurance group and start him on his own insurance?

3. Do we do 2 above but take out a fresh policy in one of our names with him as a named driver?

4. Do we look around for a new small car with one or two years free insurance? Do these deals still exist, and will they cover 17 year-olds?

Your contributions would be welcomed (especially Rum* and his friends) and don’t forget – this could be your problem sometime!

Riftzone

Option 2 - gotta start sometime so needs to be something slow and safe....

Ask me again in another 12 years...

mutant_matt

How about, let him get a job, buy a heap and insure it himself? (how most of us had to do it....) or failing that, you buy the heap and or pay for the insurance (3rd party only/TPFT whichever is cheaper) in his name. Pass Plus is a decent course and will give him a better idea of how to drive and an insurance discount too.

Seriously though, he needs to build up his NCB so needs to get on the ladder as young as poss, so that whilst driving cheap heaps, he can try and build it up.

Matt

NotoriousREV

I agree, let the lazy oik get of his **** and earn his own car. I had to and I don't see why anybody else shouldn't. Grrr.

Besides, when your car has a dodgy MOT, no floor and leaking brakes, you learn to be a better driver, honest

MartinM

Been there, doing it!

Bought a third car - M reg Fiesta - insured in my name with Co-op for any driver including under 25's (have a co. car so is my only insurance policy - got a 10% intro discount tho'). Didn't even have to name Junior as a driver. Made it quite clear to the Rep (you can't get Co-op insurance without having the rep come round!) what I was doing, that I would hardly ever drive it etc and he said there was no problem.

Premium was £600 pa. Now in second year, premium is still £600 but I have a NCD now as well now! Insurance for Junior in his own name is circa £1200. Ins Cos hate 17 y.o. boys!

Theory is that Junior waits until after Uni to get on the insurance ladder when the premiums will be lower (he'll be 21 then) and he can also claim 4 yrs accident free driving (hopefully) - OK, no policy of his own though - and there will be a net gain!

So far (16 months) so good...I'm £1200 better off so far...we'll see how we get on....

[Edited by MartinM - 7/17/2002 8:58:49 PM]

XRS

Nice idea guys. I started off in a Mini with the start button on the floor, plenty of filler, water on the floor whenever it rained etc. etc. I was thinking of getting something like an MG midget, but then I thought about how unsafe they were (I went through 12 of them altogether), and the same goes for most older cars.

Before you all get too upset about it, he has been saving since he was knee-high to a grasshopper for this car, and will be making a significant contribution to its cost. I just want be ideal solution from a cost/insurance point of view.

Keep the comment coming.

XRS

Martin, thanks for that - I'll check out the old Co-op. I'm even a member!

NotoriousREV

Just a comment about insurance being cheaper. The reality is, it wont be as premiums will have risen generally. I've found that I'm paying the same in insurance at 27 as I was at 17, it's just that now I can afford it

RichiW

Theres a reason why insurance companies hate 17yr old boys!

Its your no claims bonus of course!

Rich.



[Edited by RichiW - 7/17/2002 9:12:28 PM]

Nathan L

Phil

You can bring him round to the E'bourne massive meet and he can buy my 01, well he did like the colour

Nathan..

LG John

Get him on the free insurance deals as often they give a large no-claims bonus at the end of the first year. I've only been insured in my own name for 1 year yet I only pay £950 a year for a modified scooby at age 23....cheers Citroen Insurance

Alternatively get him a run around and get building up the no claims the old fashioned way. Putting him on your policy will only dely the inevitable....high premiums. Phone for a quote to get him on the scooby and report back.....I could do with a laugh

XRS

Nathan,

Don't go giving him ideas please! He already has enough of his own.



As for insurance premiums just going up, you are of course correct. When I was 21 I insured my 6 month old Mk1 RS2000 for £56.

Fully comp. Now the Scoob costs nearly 14 times that. It used to be that it would get cheaper when you reached 25. - Nope

Then it was 30. - Nope

Then it was 40. - Nope

Saga here I come!!

XRS

Any more ideas out there?

MarkCSC

In two month he can have my sh!tter of an Escort if he wants for free.
1.3L 5 door Red Escort
done about 170,000 miles
T&T
New clutch and rear tires
lovely little car....

Brendan Hughes

SB's idea sounds good. Nice cheap premium!

Definitely get him (or make him get) own vehicle, own insurance.

Remember also that little shopper cars have far lower depreciation curves, so when he goes from Fiesta to Turbo you/he won't lose much when selling the former. Doubtless far less than paying full whack insurance on a performance car for the first year.

BJH

gareth60

Buy him a good cheap car. I.e. a newer fiesta.

My opinion is to get on the insurance ladder as soon as possible. When I was seventeen (11 years ago) I insured my Mk1 fiesta (xr2!!) and have built up my no-claims and car experience since then...

I reciently wanted to put my Wife on my insurance (sti uk) and they said that because she had had no previous experiance of my type of car, they wouldn't insure her.

Basically, if he wants to grow up to be a fellow Subaru owner then he will need to build up to it...

Hope this helps
Gareth

Philip Attaway

He should pay for the car and insurance himself! Get a JOB!

It's the 17 year old's in car's bought by mummy and daddy that have no respect for anything these days.

IMHO you respect and look after something more when you have worked your butt off for it ' cos at the end of the day if you stack it or get caught speeding it's you whose going to face the new car/insurance bill, not mummy and daddy!

Phil

(only jealous as I wasn't bought a car )

XRS

Phil,

I hear what you are saying, but I want him to continue with his education and am prepared to help him out. As I said above, he has been saving for this for over half his life (can't think where he got such enthisiasm for cars from ) and he will pay a good proportion of whatever it costs.

Thanks also for the generous offers - you never know what we'll end up with. Looks like I'll be contacting my local Co-op rep. in the not-too-distant future.

Reffro

I can speak from the JR's side of the equation, I would have preferred getting the insurance down in my name from the beginning. I am 29, and through circumstance I only took out my first policy of my own last year, and I'm paying through the nose for it in comparison to other 29yr olds. By the way I've held my licence since two weeks after my 17th birthday, so 12 yrs, 3pts for speeding in 1991, one accident claim also in 1991. Since then I've had a clean nose despite driving 15,000 miles a year on average. I pay £650 quid when someone with similar experience and full no claims would be paying £250-300.

For your own well being get him his own insurance, I know it will be painfully expensive but it pays in the long run. Keep your own insurance bonus seperate from him, I nearly lost my Dad his bonus with the accident above. Its painful certainly, but in the long run he'll come out laughing, and so will you, seeing as you keep your car and can say when he asks if he can drive it, No you're not insured!!, best response in the book.

By all means look into a free insuarance deal with a new car, but some have tie-ins to taking out finance, or other similar nasties in the small print. You cold do like my father did, bought me a good honest car, with no street cred, infact it was a total liability (Lada 1500 estate, yellow with brown vinyl roof). But the deal was, look after the car, go do a basic car maintenance evening class at a local college, and in 6mths to a year's time, I would get something better, once I'd proved I could behave responsibly with the Lada. Of course I drove everywhere like a total loony (like JR will probably do) and nearly came to grief a couple of times, but always in the back of my mind was the something better, which was a brand new Fiesta 1 year later. Kept me in check really, because the speeding and accidents came after I got the Fiesta.

Just my two penneth, hope it helps.

Philip Attaway

Reffro

If you are paying £650 for a scoob that is *VERY* cheap!

Phil

PS. XRS - I stayed on and did a degree AND had a job to pay for my car habit. It can be done

[Edited by Philip Attaway - 7/18/2002 5:12:08 PM]

[Edited by Philip Attaway - 7/18/2002 5:18:33 PM]

XRS

Reffro,

You've got me thinking......

What car has just about the least street cred these days?



Answers on a postcard.....

Attu

My feelings exactly
My farther was a director for a very big company with a big company car and a car for my mother but I wasnt allowed to drive either.
The reason was that just before i passed my test a friend of the family's son smashed their car up (company car)so my folks took the decision to not alow me to drive one of their cars
To tell you the truth I bet I still wouldnt be allowed to drive their cars and Im 36 and Ive got a Scooby Turbo and have been lelf home for over 16 years :
Andy

Reffro

Like I can afford the insurance on a Scoob, its just a run around Citroen Xantia at the moment, I'll wait for some NCB before getting anything better. Oh and its insured TPFT, fully comp was 900 quid.

Regarding doing something to what my Dad did with XRS JR, it wasn't done out of spite though at the time I did suspect that, just friends of the family were selling the Lada, and we knew it was a good car, just the one owner. And it was the only car I have driven that has been sold for a profit.

As for the current bottom of the barrel in the street cred stakes I'll have to have a think about that and come back to you in the morning, one that does spring to mind is an Austin Metro, but I'll see what other choice there is. They are too flimsey for a young driver, oh oh I got it, Daewoo Espero.......

But seriously the odds are that JR might a fender bender in the first year, better to have it on a **** car than one of yours, plus I have to say it taught me not to be proud to a fault about what I drive. If he's careful after a year he'll be 18 and probably qualify for more free insurance scheme's provided with new cars, plus he's started with his NCB. If he's hankering after a Scooby or similar, the faster he gets to 5 yrs NCB the better. 22-23 yr olds with full NCB can get insured far easier.

D Noble

Best value,reasonably cred car for a 17 yearold would be a cinquecento sporting,wive had 2 ,great runabout but eats pirelli p700s!! lots of tuning parts available to make it stand out ,group 2-3 ins,and not many rusty ones(galvanised body) we just traded in an n plate and got a measly £1000 for it.
i would go along this line,as most companies wont touch him until he has a few years ncb
regards
dave

MarkCSC

There was a buying guide in Evo mag a while ago for "Your first EVO car"

Selection was:

Skoda Rapid
Mini
205 diesel
fiat cinquecento

The insurance quotes for a 17 were awful.
The Fiat (worth £2000 at the time) £1900 fully comp £1700 TPF&T
The Skoda (worth £400 at the time) £1600 fully comp £1100 TPF&T

Odd that differnce between fully comp and TPF&T for the Skoda is actually more than the car is worth!!!

I don't think a lot of insurance companies want young drivers on their books. There is very little money to be made in car insurance and even less off young drivers.

My advice would be to buy him heap (a safe heap of course) and let him build up some no claims. Then in three years time (or after Uni , if he is going to go) buy him a better car.

Mark

Dan B

I got a good education (and still am getting one) even though I took a few jobs whilst at school. i didn't have any savings to buy a car, so my Dad did me a finance deal of his own. He lent me 2grand, which I payed back 100quid a month.

I bought a 1.8 Sierra Greg. Cost me 900quid, and was 600quid to insure. But it had power (ish), and was rear wheel drive.... wehey.

The big end bearing went on it, but I still managed to get rid if it for 300quid 18months later hehehe.

care3

you could buy him a heap get it insured in his name and lose it somewhere.the cars not on the road so it wont get pranged racking up the ncb.then he can drive under your policy as a named driver

[Edited by care3 - 7/19/2002 5:09:34 PM]