17 Year Old Car Insurance

[7builder]

I have searched this forum and many others trying to figure out the best car to get my Son when he passes his test. The obvious path is to look for a small engined hatch and to that end a Citroen C2 is coming out as one of the cheapest at around £1300. However there are loads of anecdotes of people knowing someone that insured a big barge XJS, BMW, Merc Carlton etc for pennies due to statistics for young drivers in not very common cars. Indeed someone on this forum had a similar story to tell but when I pushed for more details, name of insurer etc I got nothing back.
Are these stories just that, stories and urban myths as I have tried different comparison sites and insurance company web sites and anything out of the norm (read small engined run around) is coming back between £4-6k. I'm beginning to think that finding Lord Lucan would be easier than the cheaper "alternative" car insurance so many people talk about.
The annoying thing is my lad is interested in classic and retro cars and has no interest in modern cars.
What are your thoughts am I on a hiding to nothing?

[ontheedge]

My son started with a 1.2 corsa and paid around a grand (age 21 now) paying £800 for a 1.9 turbo diesel Astra, try Swinton

[sb]

Lad at work has a Mazda 323 estate at 800, couldnt tell you the insurer.

While you probably will find larger saloons for cheaper insurance its still going to be expensive.

[7builder]

Jul 7, 2015 19:41:13 GMT ontheedge said:

My son started with a 1.2 corsa and paid around a grand (age 21 now) paying £800 for a 1.9 turbo diesel Astra, try Swinton

Thanks, I'll give Swinton a try as suggested.

[7builder]

Jul 7, 2015 20:21:16 GMT sb said:

Lad at work has a Mazda 323 estate at 800, couldnt tell you the insurer.

While you probably will find larger saloons for cheaper insurance its still going to be expensive.

If I could get something below a grand that would be great but it is proving impossible at the moment.

[adam73bgt]

I think for absolute beginners, small engined small hatches will still be the cheapest


I was 20 when I got my MGBGT and that was a fair bit cheaper on insurance than all the typical small hatches (was on a normal car policy too, not classic) Interestingly, at the time I messed around with getting a quote for a Rolls Royce Silver Spirit and they came back with a £20 or so reduction on my insurance So I think there is something in the theory of going for cars which young people statistically aren't having crashes in

I then got a Jag XJ40 4 litre at 22 (I'm 23 now) and that was only about 700 or so on insurance which was pretty cheap compared to a lot of the stuff I was getting quoted on

Ultimately, I think its just a case of ring round loads of insurers on various cars, prices seem to be so variable, what is cheap for one person is expensive for another!

[vitesseefi]

Last year when my son (17, new licence) was looking around (and we/he got MANY quotes) the cheapest we could find was Fiat Cinquecento 900 (just over £900), followed by Seat Arosa 1.0 at just under £1000. The near identical VW Lupo was quite a bit more. Pug 106 / Saxo's started at about £1200 but care was needed with the exact model (Inca vs Aztec vs Independence) as there was £300/400 between some although all are mechanically the same.

We could not find any "unexpected bargains". We did find the reverse though - who'd have thought a Skoda Felicia 1.3 would be £ 2K......

Ended up with an Arosa 1.7 SDi which was about £ 1100. Been a pretty good car (after a slightly rocky start). Very good on fuel but the S is for slow and full monty road tax.

It's nearly renewal time....... eek! He's been getting quite good quotes from Endsleigh for various things so they may be worth a try?

Nick

[7builder]

Jul 7, 2015 21:25:30 GMT adam73bgt said:

I think for absolute beginners, small engined small hatches will still be the cheapest


I was 20 when I got my MGBGT and that was a fair bit cheaper on insurance than all the typical small hatches (was on a normal car policy too, not classic) Interestingly, at the time I messed around with getting a quote for a Rolls Royce Silver Spirit and they came back with a £20 or so reduction on my insurance So I think there is something in the theory of going for cars which young people statistically aren't having crashes in

I then got a Jag XJ40 4 litre at 22 (I'm 23 now) and that was only about 700 or so on insurance which was pretty cheap compared to a lot of the stuff I was getting quoted on

Ultimately, I think its just a case of ring round loads of insurers on various cars, prices seem to be so variable, what is cheap for one person is expensive for another!

You are right about the variability in prices. I just tried an MGB GT on a couple of comparison sites and the cheapest was £2780. I guess one major difference is you were 20 at the time where as my lad will only be 17.

[7builder]

Jul 7, 2015 21:44:37 GMT vitesseefi said:

Last year when my son (17, new licence) was looking around (and we/he got MANY quotes) the cheapest we could find was Fiat Cinquecento 900 (just over £900), followed by Seat Arosa 1.0 at just under £1000. The near identical VW Lupo was quite a bit more. Pug 106 / Saxo's started at about £1200 but care was needed with the exact model (Inca vs Aztec vs Independence) as there was £300/400 between some although all are mechanically the same.

We could not find any "unexpected bargains". We did find the reverse though - who'd have thought a Skoda Felicia 1.3 would be £ 2K......

Ended up with an Arosa 1.7 SDi which was about £ 1100. Been a pretty good car (after a slightly rocky start). Very good on fuel but the S is for slow and full monty road tax.

It's nearly renewal time....... eek! He's been getting quite good quotes from Endsleigh for various things so they may be worth a try?

Nick

Thanks Nick that is really good info. Who would have thought there would such a difference between model variations.

[carledo]

A couple of years ago, I got my 18 YO stepdaughter insured on my old 91 Cav 2ltr auto (with me on it) for just under £500, can't remember the company but just got it off comparethemeerkat or whatever. Obviously she's a girl though and I think it did make a difference then! Also I have a very favourable postcode!

Steve

[adam73bgt]

Jul 7, 2015 21:48:26 GMT 7builder said:

Jul 7, 2015 21:25:30 GMT adam73bgt said:

I think for absolute beginners, small engined small hatches will still be the cheapest


I was 20 when I got my MGBGT and that was a fair bit cheaper on insurance than all the typical small hatches (was on a normal car policy too, not classic) Interestingly, at the time I messed around with getting a quote for a Rolls Royce Silver Spirit and they came back with a £20 or so reduction on my insurance So I think there is something in the theory of going for cars which young people statistically aren't having crashes in

I then got a Jag XJ40 4 litre at 22 (I'm 23 now) and that was only about 700 or so on insurance which was pretty cheap compared to a lot of the stuff I was getting quoted on

Ultimately, I think its just a case of ring round loads of insurers on various cars, prices seem to be so variable, what is cheap for one person is expensive for another!

You are right about the variability in prices. I just tried an MGB GT on a couple of comparison sites and the cheapest was £2780. I guess one major difference is you were 20 at the time where as my lad will only be 17.

Yeahh as I say, I think the teen years are really hard for insurance so the typical small engined hatches are likely to be the only way to go. Unless you have a car that you could put him on as a named driver? I think directline and maybe a couple other places will allow named drivers to accrue their own no claims bonus so may make it cheaper for him to get his own car in a couple years time? (although I have a feeling the NCB will be 'locked' to use with that particular company)

[carledo]

Jul 7, 2015 21:56:32 GMT adam73bgt said:

Jul 7, 2015 21:48:26 GMT 7builder said:

You are right about the variability in prices. I just tried an MGB GT on a couple of comparison sites and the cheapest was £2780. I guess one major difference is you were 20 at the time where as my lad will only be 17.

Yeahh as I say, I think the teen years are really hard for insurance so the typical small engined hatches are likely to be the only way to go. Unless you have a car that you could put him on as a named driver? I think directline and maybe a couple other places will allow named drivers to accrue their own no claims bonus so may make it cheaper for him to get his own car in a couple years time? (although I have a feeling the NCB will be 'locked' to use with that particular company)

Yeah, I did this with my eldest daughter when she got her first car, a 1200 Nova. Tesco insurance did it for me with her as a named driver for something like £350  (in 2006 or thereabouts) she ran like that for 3 or 4 years then insured with them in her own right for a year then carried her accrued NCB to another company!

Steve

[taurus]

Both our daughters went with Directline and they were very competitive prices.

I tried Swinton last week when I got yet another vehicle so had to start another policy from scratch - 54 year old in a good postcode, they wanted £2100, I got it for £117 elsewhere.

You know to add yourself on as a named driver? Having an older named driver on the policy always lowers the premium. It's also useful as it means I can drive their cars when it comes to working on them.

[penski]

At 31 years old, adding my dad on still halves my premium...

*n

[Dez]

Jul 7, 2015 21:51:23 GMT 7builder said:

Jul 7, 2015 21:44:37 GMT vitesseefi said:

Last year when my son (17, new licence) was looking around (and we/he got MANY quotes) the cheapest we could find was Fiat Cinquecento 900 (just over £900), followed by Seat Arosa 1.0 at just under £1000. The near identical VW Lupo was quite a bit more. Pug 106 / Saxo's started at about £1200 but care was needed with the exact model (Inca vs Aztec vs Independence) as there was £300/400 between some although all are mechanically the same.

We could not find any "unexpected bargains". We did find the reverse though - who'd have thought a Skoda Felicia 1.3 would be £ 2K......

Ended up with an Arosa 1.7 SDi which was about £ 1100. Been a pretty good car (after a slightly rocky start). Very good on fuel but the S is for slow and full monty road tax.

It's nearly renewal time....... eek! He's been getting quite good quotes from Endsleigh for various things so they may be worth a try?

Nick

Thanks Nick that is really good info. Who would have thought there would such a difference between model variations.

this.

diesel variants of a lot of cars are cheaper to insure than petrol versions, especially small hatches. when the missus passed 3-4 years ago, a 1.4 tdi sport lupo was around 2/3 of the price of a 1L petrol version, even though it is a significantly faster, more powerful car?!

[paul99]

Jul 7, 2015 23:25:35 GMT carledo said:

Yeah, I did this with my eldest daughter when she got her first car, a 1200 Nova. Tesco insurance did it for me with her as a named driver for something like £350  (in 2006 or thereabouts) she ran like that for 3 or 4 years then insured with them in her own right for a year then carried her accrued NCB to another company!

Steve

This, Endsleigh did me a good deal when I came off my mums insurance (a 22 yo ex student, just starting proper work) When I told the AA insurance people this, he told me to go with them ! He couldn't beat it... (granted this was 20 odd years back and before the days of internet shopping.....

[adam73bgt]

Jul 8, 2015 9:37:41 GMT Dez said:

Jul 7, 2015 21:51:23 GMT 7builder said:

Thanks Nick that is really good info. Who would have thought there would such a difference between model variations.

this.

diesel variants of a lot of cars are cheaper to insure than petrol versions, especially small hatches. when the missus passed 3-4 years ago, a 1.4 tdi sport lupo was around 2/3 of the price of a 1L petrol version, even though it is a significantly faster, more powerful car?!

Thats interesting, I was always under the impression that diesels were more to insure due to them generally covering more miles than petrols and thus having a higher chance of being involved in an accident

[southside]

When I passed my test in 2004 I did all the usual insurance quotes on the common young driver cars at the time. Corsa's, Nova's, clio's, 1.0's, 1.2's etc and everything was well over a grand for insurance.

Started looking out of the ordinary and was amazed how much more a car I could get for much less insurance premium. I ended up with a 95' Rover 214 sei for my first car. All the electrics, half leather seats, alloy wheels all as standard and cost me £750 for a years insurance.

A lot of my mates were driving poverty spec 1.0 corsa's which didn't even have power steering other than one mate who went the same route as me and had a 1.6 LX mondeo for his first car, again for much less insirNce than the others were paying.

[7builder]

Jul 8, 2015 10:16:27 GMT southside said:

When I passed my test in 2004 I did all the usual insurance quotes on the common young driver cars at the time. Corsa's, Nova's, clio's, 1.0's, 1.2's etc and everything was well over a grand for insurance.

Started looking out of the ordinary and was amazed how much more a car I could get for much less insurance premium. I ended up with a 95' Rover 214 sei for my first car. All the electrics, half leather seats, alloy wheels all as standard and cost me £750 for a years insurance.

A lot of my mates were driving poverty spec 1.0 corsa's which didn't even have power steering other than one mate who went the same route as me and had a 1.6 LX mondeo for his first car, again for much less insirNce than the others were paying.

Now this is what I was referring to in my original post. Why is it I can't find favourable rates for out of the ordinary cars? Has there been a clamp down recently by insurance companies?

[adam73bgt]

Jul 8, 2015 12:52:06 GMT 7builder said:

Jul 8, 2015 10:16:27 GMT southside said:

When I passed my test in 2004 I did all the usual insurance quotes on the common young driver cars at the time. Corsa's, Nova's, clio's, 1.0's, 1.2's etc and everything was well over a grand for insurance.

Started looking out of the ordinary and was amazed how much more a car I could get for much less insurance premium. I ended up with a 95' Rover 214 sei for my first car. All the electrics, half leather seats, alloy wheels all as standard and cost me £750 for a years insurance.

A lot of my mates were driving poverty spec 1.0 corsa's which didn't even have power steering other than one mate who went the same route as me and had a 1.6 LX mondeo for his first car, again for much less insirNce than the others were paying.

Now this is what I was referring to in my original post. Why is it I can't find favourable rates for out of the ordinary cars? Has there been a clamp down recently by insurance companies?

Its what I was getting at in my reply, I don't think those out of the ordinary insurance bargains can be found when insuring at 17-19 years old (from what I've seen)