Best old car for a 17 year old?

[AtomicRooster]

Hello there,

Because i know my mini wont be finished for when i turn 17, i'd like to see what else there is out there...

The insurance on my mini is horrendous at £1715, so I'm after something nice looking with cheapish insurance that isnt a bomb to purchase.

The older the better

I'm sure you get many topics like this, but i really wouldnt know what to get!

[turkeywelder]

K11 Micra, Polo, Panda, Fiesta.

All should be around £1k to insure at 17, cheap to run, cheap to fix, fairly easy to own. Build up some NCB on them and do the mini thing!

[will]

Triumph Acclaim

[Team Blitz]

Old? Good value, good parts supply? What about a Beetle?

[Adam]

The cheapest car to insure is a Mk2 Polo 1043cc. If you go pre-1980 or so the mainstream insurers wont insure you, and the specialists wont insure anyone under 19.

Really you're looking at 1980s hatches, and depending on where you live £1700 is a good quote! I was paying that for my admittedly rather modified Polo at 17 and the cost of insurance has gone up since then.

[ben1]

I'm getting a mk3/4 escort regardless of the price of insurance - doing my bike for 2 years some companys will be willing to transfer my no claims bonus not all but some , also i did a quote for provisional on a 1300 escort bonus and it was £1300 , not to bad but it could go up when i have managed / done my tests , i would like some kind of old metro , austin or mg , non of the rover rubbish , but i have seen some high insurance quotes on these due to the number of thefts back in the day in the WS11 postcode. (postcode can smash the price through the roof.)

[AtomicRooster]

Well I'm in surrey, so maybe they're accounting for ridiculous parents in the horrendous amounts of 4x4's

[austinpowers]

fiat chinquecento ?

[PandaSelecta]

go for a panda as its group 1 insurance, it will do 55mpg plus, the engines are very reliable, and most repairs are very easy to do (unless its a selecta). Plus a good one starts from £300 (like the white one i have for sale )

[grifterkid]

Hello there mate... It's got to be a Triumph Toledo or Dolomite... Cheap to buy, cheap to run and you can get just about every part you will ever need to fix it up! Good luck on your quest

[Adam]

Jul 19, 2010 21:56:34 GMT grifterkid said:

Hello there mate... It's got to be a Triumph Toledo or Dolomite... Cheap to buy, cheap to run and you can get just about every part you will ever need to fix it up! Good luck on your quest

Except you wont have any money to buy the car because you'll have spent it all on insurance...

It may have been possible to insure cars like this a few years ago, but these days at 17 you just cant.

[AtomicRooster]

The squarelight toledo's look rather sexy actually, any idea about insurance on those?

[grifterkid]

Jul 19, 2010 22:04:07 GMT Adam said:

Jul 19, 2010 21:56:34 GMT grifterkid said:

Hello there mate... It's got to be a Triumph Toledo or Dolomite... Cheap to buy, cheap to run and you can get just about every part you will ever need to fix it up! Good luck on your quest

Except you wont have any money to buy the car because you'll have spent it all on insurance...

It may have been possible to insure cars like this a few years ago, but these days at 17 you just cant.

I agree Adam but insurance shouldn't be too bad on the 1300 versions... Coupled with the perceived OAP image they still have insurance may not be too expensive! Saying that the insurance game is a nightmare for the first time driver so I wouldn't like to say either way, it could go one way or the other I suppose... Whatever happens Down&Out I wish you the best of luck, do keep us posted... How about a Vauxhall Viva or Chevette...?!

[rmad]

I just got a rough quote for my son (17 in September) in a Triumph Herald 13/60 from Footman James. They reckon if he belongs to a relevant club (TSSC would do) then insurance would be about £600 TPF&T or around £1100 Fully Comp.

[Adam]

Jul 19, 2010 22:31:15 GMT rmad said:

I just got a rough quote for my son (17 in September) in a Triumph Herald 13/60 from Footman James. They reckon if he belongs to a relevant club (TSSC would do) then insurance would be about £600 TPF&T or around £1100 Fully Comp.

Now that's very interesting. When I rang last year I was told they can't insure anyone under the age of 19 without a years claim free driving!

[-Scott-]

series 2 or 3 land rover swb
cheap to insure... tax free if you get an early one and you can run them on chip fat

[rmad]

Jul 19, 2010 22:33:21 GMT Adam said:

Now that's very interesting. When I rang last year I was told they can't insure anyone under the age of 19 without a years claim free driving!

Maybe being the son of a long-time customer helped? They didn't say anything to that end though...just that he had to be a member of a recognised (not just some internet group!) car club. My name wouldn't have been on the policy.

[Adam]

Could be to do with my car being modified? Meh, they all seem to change their company policy weekly!

[bigkris]

Just a few random ideas to get you thinking and considering.

Mk1 cavalier?



Nice 4 door mk3 escort


Metro?


IMHO theirs a lot of potential in the Rover 214 (Slammed, Banded, stretch)


When i started driving my pal had a wicked uno turbo replica (was a 1.2)


others include mk2 fiesta, pug 309, or if you want a barge try audi 80 or if your brave a 155 alfa.

Try getting quotes beause sometimes prices are lower for cars you wouldnt think of. it takes 2 min to phone for a quote and i know personally it has helped my to decide in the past.

hope this helps.

[Deleted]

Insurance for men under 30 is insanely expensive, whatever route you go.

I'm 28, I'm looking at getting my first insurance policy this year and the price ranges from £1,800 to £1,300 for fully comprehensive on a 1043cc 1985 VW Polo, a car that's worth maybe £600 (on a good day).

I called www.lancasterinsurance.co.uk/ recently to see what they could do for me. Initially the quote was £1,300, but if I could park the car off the road (garage, driveway, &c.) and have my Dad as a named driver, it plummeted to a sensible £300

However, these things seem to help:
Get an older driver as a named driver on your policy, preferably one with some NCB
Car is 6-25 years old
Engine no larger than 1.2 ltr
Specialist/Classic insurance (though some won't insure without a year's experience and the driver being 21)
Keep the car on a driveway or in a garage
Join a car club to offset costs (www.clubpolo.co.uk for example costs me £5 per year membership and reduces my insurance by £30-50 per year)
Don't modify the car mechanically in any way, not even to improve safety.
Limited mileage policies can help
Have Domestic & Social Use but not Commuter or Business Use on your policy if you can.
Change your gender (no really, I know of someone that did this and got cheaper car insurance as a result!)
Put a woman on your insurance policy.

Really, when it comes to picking a car you haven't got much choice, anything you buy is going to be expensive to insure. Best bet is do your research into cars you like and would be happy to own and then tailor from there. Certain postcodes have higher policies than others too, seemingly more affluent areas have lower policies than poorer areas.

On a positive note, if you insure younger, your policy gets cheaper sooner, in theory. So if you can afford to insure at 17, do. By the time you're 28 (providing you don't have any serious claims, of course) your insurance should be nothing to worry about.