Master OTS is going to be learning from March.
Newish, unfashionable and low powered e.g. Honda Jazz or Suzuki Ignis or something older but maybe bigger and less fashionable e.g. Volvo V50
What have you got and how much are you paying. And I appreciate there’ll be a difference between learning and having passed the test.
TIA
I've put 3 through.
1 Get their prov liceence
2 First lesson on their birthday
3 Only drive with an instructor, in their car
4 When they pass their test - get them a car
Insuring them as a learner isn't too bad, it's insurance as a new driver that's the problem.
MCJnr has a 16 plate Fabia, 85hp I think. The best driving position, visibility and VFM we found.
He's insured with Admiral, will go up if he passes, obviously.
Ford KA came out cheapest when I was looking for quotes. She ended up with a base-spec 2010 Fiesta though.
Don't think it really matters when they are learning.
We recently bought a Smart ForFour and it's probably the cheapest car to insure!
Think when we swapped it on to our multi car we could get our eldest added as a driver for an extra £4, whereas to get him as a driver on the Corolla we got rid off was about £200!
My kid was given (GIVEN!) a Kia Picanto, that was very cheap (even though the brakes didn't work properly) - he traded it in pretty soon after passing...
Tip - One way to cheapen premiums is set very high excess. Friend got insured for a Scirocco as first car by doing that.
Also a good way to reduce insurance is to add a parent as named driver. I did this for years (10 maybe) with my dad on the policy. Granted I passed nearly 20 years ago so could have changed a bit since then.
Do not assume smallest is cheapest. There is a lot of risk-based insurance costs related to 'cool' and 'boy-racer' cars which have higher level of theft and crashes. A clunky grandpa car in beige can be cheaper on the insurance risk....
Our Seat Ibiza estate was £300 cheaper insurance than the identical (colour, engine, age, model) Ibiza hatch our neighbour has for example. The 1.4 16v engine is bigger volume than most newer cars - but has far less power as it isn't turbo/intercooled/supercharged fancy pants of new motors.
Make sure that you have a good few names drivers on the insurance - ours now has myself, mrs_oab, grandad_oab, eldest_oab and now middle_oab (learner) on the insurance. £550 per year, that is one a year out from his test and one learning still. It was £1280 last year. The learner knocked £200 off the cost.
Having seen how many of their pals who were given cars as they passed crash, I am glad the car does not belong to our boys and the eternal threat of them being removed from the insurance and hell to pay has worked well for his responsibility. Without it he doesn't get to bike and hike as much...
I assume none of the extra named drivers are the first named on the policy?
Do not assume smallest is cheapest.
This. And a vehicle that is cheap to insure in location A may not be in location B. A vehicle that is cheap to insure in employment A may not be in employment B. Insurance is calculated on many risk factors.
I'd suggest spending a few hours calculating quotes based on different cars given your circumstances and see what comes out best for you.
I assume none of the extra named drivers are the first named on the policy
This car is actually in mrs_oab's name, she is main driver (work commute daily) and insurance policy is in her name.
Myself, grandad, eldest and middle are all the extra named drivers.
3 Only drive with an instructor, in their car
I have driven with both ours and will with the third, in between instructor. It means they are practising and improving much more before test, it means I also get a feel for what kind of driver they are. This is important to me when handing the keys over of a) a valuable asset to our family and b) a car that could kill them and others, and I need to trust them on.
It helps I have spent a decade teaching outdoor centre staff to drive minibuses and trailers, to a higher level of test and standard of driving. I understand the process of learning to drive and lot of the techniques they are taught to use.
Love it - the monumentous occassion of getting your first car. I'm going to get you the most unfashionable one I possibly can. Cheers dad
Were you ever a teenager? 😉
JuniorG passed yesterday. Peugeot 108 1.2. £950 with Admiral. We looked at cars carefully for insurance costs - did lots of quotes before we bought and the C1/108/Aygo were all pretty low.
Age matters here. Son2 is now 23 and has just paid £800 to insure a Cooper S 200bhp. He wrote off my RS Twingo 133 in an aquaplaning incident so already has one full-loss claim against him. When he was first learning it was £2600 for him to be put on the Twingo - so he had lessons with an instructor!!! When Son2 came along, we had a multi-car policy, and the extra for a 17yo learner and 20yo was £400 for the Twingo. I taught Son2 and he took and passed his test in the Twingo.
But an old shape micra.
There is a lot of risk-based insurance costs related to ‘cool’ and ‘boy-racer’ cars which have higher level of theft and crashes
Definitely - lads mate is getting stung for going for an equally underpowered Corsa rather than a Fabia, with both parents insured on it, not just one like we have to.
I own the car, he has the insurance policy in his name with me as main driver - I'd commute in it if we went back to an office.
We have twin boys so had to cope with this question x 2 (just like all the way through growing up, I suppose!)
Our strategy, and it has worked well, was:
Insure with Direct line whilst learning and while they were away at Uni - this was as named drivers on my wifes car - an older Aygo - premium was about £500/year for all four of us even after they'd passed.....the benefit of the 4 years insuring them this way is that the Direct Line scheme actually gave them their own no claims, even as named drivers - so now they are on their own insurance, that is waaaaay cheaper than it otherwise would have been - they both drive Aygos now as they were v cheap to insure - they are insured with us on an Admiral multi-car policy (we are all in the same household) and it works out about £160/170 each - very very cheap for 22 year old lads
Were you ever a teenager? 😉
Yes. And learned on a Citroen BX estate, followed by driving mums AX or Renault 4 van when I passed...
Hubnut and I understand each other.
I suffered, so they suffer. 👿
Were you ever a teenager? 😉
Ha ha, yes. My first car was a Vauxhall Nova 1.2 L in that China Blue. It had 3 spoke alloys that got robbed off it when I was a student 😤
The way things are going, junior will become a named driver on Mrs OTS’ Renault Zoe. She hardly drives it so it would be a waste to get another car.
most unfashionable one I possibly can. Cheers dad
Were you ever a teenager?
Really?
When I was 17 if it had 4 wheels and I didn't need my dad next to me when driving it....it was the coolest thing ever. I had a rusty 13 year old diesel fiesta.
Cool as **** .....
R plate Mini with rust everywhere. FML, the Metro that replaced it was at least watertight....
Learner insurance is relatively cheap as they are under instruction of a qualified driver, it's when they pass it rockets. A tip though is to add more qualified drivers to policy, ours has 3 to 1 learner. It went down when we added 2 & 3!
And buy a Panda - only old ladies drive them so insurance is rock bottom, though I'm contemplating swapping Panda for a new Yaris GR which might kill any hope of learner or new driver insurance!
Pandas are always in good condition too. It’s very rare to find a shagged one.
