Advice & Tips on Buying a First Car

After the driving lessons are all over, and they have said goodbye to their driving instructor, the first thing most young driver’s think about is buying a car. This can be tricky, because whilst at such a young age, and at such an early stage in a driving career, what initially seems desirable may not always be suitable.

The best way to approach it is to first decide what make and model to choose. Buying a car in this way needs to be done on a purely financial basis and that means you need to look at what the thing is going to cost to maintain and to drive.

Car insurance is the big one and should always be considered first. For a 17 – 18–year olds a budget of around £1,500 needs to be available for a fully comprehensive policy. This figure represents the car insurance cover for a small and very low powered vehicle.

Use Car Insurance Price Comparison Websites

There are various websites on line that will give you a guide about the insurance rating of different models, so this is a good place to start when buying a car. Try inputting details to a price comparison website dealing specifically with car insurance. This will give you a good start with an idea of which make and model you need to look for.

However, before you dive into the pages of the classifieds, remember there are other costs to consider when buying a car. Apart from fuel consumption, which is the obvious expense, it is worth doing some research into what servicing and repairs will cost.

Make a few calls to franchise dealers and ask about the cost of servicing will be for that make and model. Do the same with tyre centres for the price of replacement tyres. Consider that low profile tyres can be significantly more expensive than standard tyres and alloy wheels will increase the rating of car insurance.

You could also consider a banger when first buying a car. If you can find something that has been reasonably well looked after, and can pay less than £1,000 for it, car insurance that provides third party cover with fire and theft can be more attractive, at least until you have built up a non claims discount. After a couple of years of accident free driving this will bring down your risk rating for the purposes of buying car insurance.

However, buying a car that is an old model you have to take into account it may not be equipped with the latest safety features, such as airbags, ABS and stability control. It may not have a good crash test rating, and because of its age, the car may not be as strong as it used to be.

Car Insurance Pitfalls

One of the traps not to get into when buying a car, and this concerns car insurance, is that of registering the vehicle in the name of a parent. A recent survey has shown that around 40% of young drivers are driving a car which they paid for and which their parents have insured by having it registered in their name.

Car Insurance that is bought by this means is automatically null and void, so if you have a crash and it transpires that you as a young driver are the principle user of the car, that is not a good time to find out you are not covered. It could even be that a criminal offence has been committed; that of obtaining a service by deception.

Don’t modify the car either, as this can void your car insurance. You can update your policy provider with details of modifications, but modifications are not appreciated by the industry. You can never get the money you pay on accessories back when you either sell the car or you have to claim for its loss. You are better to wait and to buy a higher specification car later.

Buying a car really does come down to plain old common sense.

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This page was last updated
Friday, 20-Aug-2010

Advice & Tips on Buying a First Car