14 Year Old First Car Advice

[incarsolutions]

when i first started driving, many moons ago, van insurance was alot higher than car insurance. mk4 escort diesel van was more to insure than and xr3i.

[waveman1500]

Sorry if this is a silly question, but why would you need to take 5 bikes in the car at a time? Surely you can only ride one.

[tenman]

hmm, get the weediest engine you possibly can and make NO modifications to it at all until your 21 or above, insurance will still be painful though

[composimmonite]

At 56, clean licence, full no claims, retired etc I still pay more insurance on my Peugeot Expert van than I pay on my other two cars combined !

Paul H

[thetechden]

In 2005 when I passed my test I had a 1400 diesel metro, insurance was £800. An 1800 non turbo escort van took my fancy when the metro blew up 3 days after I passed my test and the insurance was only £600 on it on a 9 month policy from Eco van insurance, where you got a years no claims after 9 consecutive months of claim free driving for young driver scheme thingy.
No idea if it still exists but it's not always more expensive. Even the usual gocomparethemeerkat etc things showed a few cheaper than the car.

[Mystery Machine]

Unfortunately for you, insurance has changed a lot since I passed my test. Back then (1989) I insured a Mk2 Escort van which had an RS200 nosecone, wheels, interior and complete running gear. It was way cheaper than any of my friends cars to insure because it was a commercial vehicle. Engine swaps and modifications made no real difference to the policy premium!

That was always the cheapest way to get cheap insurance and why a lot of people modified vans. I'm not sure when it all changed, but I do know it's actually harder to insure commercial vehicles for 'non business' use than it is to insure a car. With that in mind, you might want to consider looking at all the threads on Retro Rides regarding 'first time cars' etc...

In order to help you, have a look at this link. Use it to search the forum by keeping the 'site:http://retrorides.proboards.com' part but changing the words 'first car' to something like 'beginner insurance' or '17yr old insurance' etc...it should bring up lots of links from this very forum.

Using Google to find helpful threads on car insurance

You'll probably have a lot more luck doing it that way than by trying to use the sites own search tools.

Best of luck.

[misterbob]

Thought about a series Land Rover? A LWB can carry huge amounts of stuff.
They're very easy to work on, parts are cheap and insurance is generally very low - especially if you can get it on a classic policy.
They won't be fast, and they won't be frugal, but they are fun!

Might be worth looking into

[Copey]

what about an Escort Combi estate?

[hairnet]

bicycles - estate car

if youre looking for car derived theyll be cheaper than the same cdv

if youre using a van for private stuff the first thing theyll think is might it be used for commercial - so the price goes up (cos they're sneaky)

[petea]

Yeah an estate would be the best shout IMO. My Peugeot Partner van cost me more to insure than the modified P38 RangeRover it replaced!

Skoda Felicia estate? Cheap to run/insure, Reliable and they look sweet with the treatment

[dodgerover]

Move to NZ - you can drive next year!

[hairnet]

[RobinJI]

The thing with small estates is that to get a bike in them you often still have to take a wheel off, and you usually can't get 3 bikes and 3 people in without someone being jabbed with a set of forks or balancing a wheel on their lap. For me, if you can't do those 2 things, then you may as well have pretty much any hatch-back, as you'll have the same limits with bikes. The same goes with vans and pick-up trucks, space for 5 bikes isn't much use if you can only get 2 people in there. Basically, as a keen cyclist I'd say you either want to get a full-size estate car, or forget about the need for bikes and just buy whatever you fancy, plus a roof/boot rack for the bikes.

I've had a Volvo 240, Audi A4 and B3 Passat all in estate form, and all were awesome for riding, 3 bikes 3 people inside in comfort, 4/5 bikes 4/5 people with the use of a boot-rack. I've also had a Mk2 Golf, Mk2 Polo Coupe and Mk2 Scirocco and the size difference between them made no difference to riding, they're all big enough to get a pair of bikes in with the wheels off, and they all need a rack for more than 2 bikes (or more specifically more than 2 seats when there's any bikes in there). It's very much the same with friends cars of all shapes and sizes. For riding cars seem to fall into 4 groups for me:

1) They're either too small to get bikes in comfortably at all. (City cars, soft-tops, small saloons etc.)
2) You can get 2 bikes in easily enough with a wheel or 2 out. (Most hatch-backs, coupes with opening rear glass, small estates.)
3) 3 bikes and 3 peoples comfey, 2 bikes 2 people means no need to take wheels off. (Full size estates)
4) They'll manage 5+ bikes and people. (Full size vans and some larger MPVs.)

As for what car to get, just get whatever you fall in love with.


(PS, I'm up to 5 bikes at the moment too, it's a good number )

[ben711200]

Are you looking to buy something now to do up over the next 3 years? Or just forward thinking? My hobbies, tastes and priorities changed massively between when I was 14 and when I passed my test.

Insurance and fuel costs are going to sting whatever you decide so I'd get a clearer idea of what you like (taking Robin's sizing guide into account for the bikes) and see what you come up with

[dodgerover]

Actually my series landie was the cheapest thing i ever insured and I was reasonably young when I had that. Ditto whats been said about vans though, I wanted a transit to carry my trials bike about but the insurance basically refused to do a commercial as a private vehicle

[surprisingskoda]

Jul 31, 2013 14:02:52 GMT Mystery Machine said:

Unfortunately for you, insurance has changed a lot since I passed my test. Back then (1989) I insured a Mk2 Escort van which had an RS200 nosecone, wheels, interior and complete running gear.

RS200 Van sounds awesome!
But I guess you meant RS2000. Which is still good, but not just quite as good as a Group B panel van... [imagination runs wild, R5Turbo under R4 Fourgonette, 405T16 under 404 Baguette delivery van..!]

[theheap]

Daihatsu Hi-Jet?

[AtomicRooster]

Jul 31, 2013 18:45:28 GMT ben711200 said:

Are you looking to buy something now to do up over the next 3 years? Or just forward thinking? My hobbies, tastes and priorities changed massively between when I was 14 and when I passed my test.

This is completely true!

Bought my first car when i was 12, even between the ages of 16 and now (19) my tastes have changed loads.

I used to, for example, love a good slammed VW, now however i really really wouldnt want to own one (no offence to anyone who likes that, of course)

Minis used to be my favourite and now they also really arent, despite still owning two.

Advice would be wait and see whats cheap in three years time. Cars i like a lot now where cheap when i was 16 and arent now, some the other way round.

At least you have the idea in your head, my top advice would be to get a job as soon as you bloody can and get saving because i had to borrow for insurance and I'm in horrendous debt now. Three years of paper rounds and saturday jobs would do you a world of good.

[fred]

Jul 31, 2013 13:22:10 GMT waveman1500 said:

Sorry if this is a silly question, but why would you need to take 5 bikes in the car at a time? Surely you can only ride one.

Valid question really