[manfromthesham]

Hi all

Late learner driver here, should have done this years ago but alas here I am. I've got my test booked for 12th December and have recently taken a job offer up which means I will need to be driving asap.

My question is, how would you suggest I go about getting a vehicle?

I've a budget of about 1K which should be ok for a small motor that will get be from A to B. However I'm not sure how long it would take for insurance and tax to be applied to the vehicle should I wish to get one asap.

I'm tempted to try and get a car sorted this weekend before my test along with insurance and vehicle tax. Could anyone be so kind as to explain how long it would take to tax, insure etc as i'd like to try and sort this before the test itself

Regards

[smudger]

You can tax a car on line, as for insurance, you could start making enquiries at any time, bear in mind that it could be expensive as you will be a higher risk, with being a newly qualified driver.Of course it also depends on your age, younger drivers tend to be a higher risk. Sometimes it better to be named driver on someone else's insurance policy.If you do go to look at cars for sale, make sure you take someone with you who knows about cars, as with the budget you have, it will older cars, good luck.

[manfromthesham]

Cheers for the advice Smudger. Im going to speak to an insurance company in order to ascertain if its possible to insure a private vehicle for a test drive (ie 1 day insurance etc)

[Santa]

You should brace yourself. The insurance, for the first year at least, will likely cost more than the car. A car that only costs £1000 is considered to be a banger these days and may well cost you a lot more in repairs as well as being unreliable.

You say you need a car for the new job - I know it may not be easy, but I would look at all other possibilities first - bus, bike, whatever.

[Dennis W]

I think you are wrong to speculate that a car costing £1000 would be unreliable.

[Santa]

Your opinion is noted Dennis

[WSRFan]

When I first passed it was 4 years ago now and I am on my second car. I was 34 when I passed and the More Than quote was in the area of £1,600 for 2010-2011. The next year I went with Nationwide and it went down from about £1283.15 for 2011-2012 through £1104.28 from 2012-2013 and £761.62 for 2013-2014. For this current period 2014-2015 I changed to Swift Cover and it is now down to £360.69. Before I changed I got the quote for Nationwide for 2014-2015 and it is much the same as it was for last year. I would still be paying just over £700.

My advice for the insurance is to either shop around or go on a parents insurance. That will bring it down.

As for the car itself. My first car was a 04' Clio which was just over the "acceptably adequate" line and between myself and my parents we shelled out just over £2000. So for a decent motor that is fit for purpose you really ought to be thinking about another grand.

[Santa]

Originally Posted by WSRFan

My advice for the insurance is to either shop around or go on a parents insurance. That will bring it down.

This is called 'fronting' and is illegal. It may be hard to find those high premiums but if you were ever in a serious accident, and the insurance Co found you out (and they will) you would be on your own.

Adding a parent as a named driver sometimes helps get the premium down and is perfectly legal.

[Dennis W]

Originally Posted by Santa

This is called 'fronting' and is illegal. It may be hard to find those high premiums but if you were ever in a serious accident, and the insurance Co found you out (and they will) you would be on your own.

Adding a parent as a named driver sometimes helps get the premium down and is perfectly legal.

There can be genuine and LEGAL ways that a parent and their children share a car. If they keep a diary or log book of their usage, they can declare who is the main user of the vehicle.

[smudger]

Somehow I don't think any insurance company would class that as legal to them, if a claim came in that was going to cost them money???

[Dennis W]

Road Tax: You can now pay this monthly on Direct Debit, at approximately £20.00 per month.

Secondly, you can usually pay your insurance monthly by direct debit.

You need to budget about twenty pounds per month for maintenance.

[Hometune]

Originally Posted by Dennis W

Road Tax: You can now pay this monthly on Direct Debit, at approximately £20.00 per month.

Secondly, you can usually pay your insurance monthly by direct debit.

You need to budget about twenty pounds per month for maintenance.

You seem to be on a mission to post the worst nonsense ever on this forum. Your advice about taxing a car on today's forum shows just how incorrect you are.
Car tax at £20 a month. How do you arrive at that? Many modern small cars are £0. Many, many more are £20 for the YEAR.
And £20 a month for maintenance? For what? What is £240 going to get you? A service, MOT and £90 to buy tyres, exhaust, battery, brakes, wipers, bulbs etc etc etc.
Stop posting misleading rubbish.

[Hometune]

Originally Posted by smudger

Somehow I don't think any insurance company would class that as legal to them, if a claim came in that was going to cost them money???

Agree there Smudger. Dennis in cuckoo land as usual.

[Dennis W]

Originally Posted by Santa

This is called 'fronting' and is illegal. It may be hard to find those high premiums but if you were ever in a serious accident, and the insurance Co found you out (and they will) you would be on your own.

Adding a parent as a named driver sometimes helps get the premium down and is perfectly legal.

Only in certain circumstances would it be classified as "fronting" NOT in every case.

There are many legitimate and genuine and proper reasons why vehicles can be honestly shared between parent and their off spring, or indeed shared between friends. The Insurance industry sometimes wants "to Have its Cake and eat it" as the saying goes.

A child may be having professional lessons with a Driving Instructor, but the Instructor will advise recommend for the pupil to gain more experience and practice by going out with a parent. That is normal practice and as long as you declare that to the insurance company, that is not fraudulent?

[Santa]

Irrelevant once again Dennis. A parent (or any other person) can legally name anyone as another driver. That, of course is what many parents do while the young person is a learner (The premium goes up accordingly of course).

When WSR says "My advice for the insurance is to either shop around or go on a parents insurance. That will bring it down." he is clearly suggesting that the OP should tell the insurance Co that a parent is the main driver. That is illegal if it is not true.