First car that doesn't cost a bomb and can carry bikes?

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First car that doesn't cost a bomb and can carry bikes?

48 posts & 35 voices | Started 4 months ago by enigmas | Latest reply from ibnchris

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enigmas - Member

Hi, i'm 17 next month and i'm taking a fairly intensive driving course and hoping to pass in 2-3 months.

I've been looking at possible cars and i'm finding it hard to find a car that could carry preferably two bikes that has a small enough engine that i won't get robbed by insurance.

For example a 1L 2002 corsa would cost me £2.8k a year in insurence or a 2002 1.1L fiesta £4.5k!!

And this is with a pass plus, social only use, parked in a driveway and my occupation as a civil servant (As an apprentice i technically am)

The main reason i'm after one is to be able to drive to races and trail centres further afield so i'm after something bike friendly, i.e can carry 2 bikes comfortably and gear or have provision for a bike rack that can do the same.

So my question to the experts is, is there a car ideal for carrying bikes that won't send my premium sky high?

P.S any tips for bringing insurance down would be great as well

Posted 4 months ago #
b r - Member

Any small hatch/estate will carry 2 bikes etc, and tbh saloons will with a rack.

As you've pointed out, its insurance that's the problem - s/h cars are cheap. Just find the cheapest insurance deal, something with no 'style' for a young driver - Kia?

Posted 4 months ago #
matt_outandabout - Member

Have a sniff around some 'grandpa' cars and price up insurance - we had a Mazda 323 and the insurance (even with a pile of NCD) was less than the Fiesta/Corsa/Micra route we first looked at, even with a 1.5 engine. Insurance company pointed out they were less desireable, less nickable and less likely to be driven by 'cool' boy racer out to impress the girls...

Yaris I think may fall into this category as well....

Posted 4 months ago #
bellys - Member

What about a diesel a non turbo they have low hpower and might save you some cash on fuel.
As said above get some thing that young lads don't drive.
Look for a insurance company that fits a tracker ie http://www.coverbox.co.uk/young_drivers.php there is plenty more out there.
Good luck.

Posted 4 months ago #
Taff - Member

306 dturbo is pretty damn good. Workhorse of an engine and can fit 3 bikes with kit inside

Posted 4 months ago #
molgrips - Member

You will probably be better off hiring - if you can find a place that will hire to under 21 year olds. I hired cars at uni, there were one or two places that hired.

But as above - any small car will carry two bikes in the back with the seats down.

PS What car lists insurance groups, doesn't it?

Posted 4 months ago #
tron - Member

Get quotes for every car you can think of. Insurance groups are irrelevant as they reflect the costs of repairing your motor. The major worry for the insurer of a new driver is you driving into a new BMW or causing a major personal injury claim.

Oddly enough, it's the cars that are vaguely cool or are likely to have been paid for by mummy and Daddy that are pricey to insure.

I'd just get quotes for everything you can afford to put fuel in. I found a 1.8 Mondeo cheaper to insure than the 1.3 Ka I mangled in my yoof...

Posted 4 months ago #
banks - Member

Fiat Grande punto on swift cover - 850 a year with no no claims - this is my first car btw

Also, look at yaris'/berlingos & a Honda jazz on swift cover, all come under 900. It's also cheaper to say you work as a teaching assistant, car is parked on public roads & It's used as commuting only! Only way I can get affordable insurance.

Posted 4 months ago #
khani - Member

Fiat panda..I can get two bikes in mine with wheels and seatposts out, I've got a multijet diesel which is insurance group two, £30 P/A tax and does an average of 60mpg
Top little car

Posted 4 months ago #
banks - Member

Also they do a 1.3 non turbo deseil Grande punto, mostly owned by oaps

Posted 4 months ago #
Edric 64 - Member

I though a diesel made no difference and they rated cars on engine size predominantly

Posted 4 months ago #
enigmas - Member

Cheers for all the replies,

Good idea about getting a car that isn't a 'young persons' car I'll have a look and see what i get, if i could get it below 2 grand i'd be very happy!

I am worried about getting a very small car such as a Ford Ka as my bikes a large framed giant anthem and i'll probably go with a mate who'd have another bike. They'd only just fit in my parents mazda 6.

Would a diesel make any difference to insurance?, i've only been looking at petrol engined cars as they're the more popular, but i'm not bothered about trying to look cool in it, it'll rarely be used apart from going to races and riding spots as I cycle to work and get the bus to town etc.

I had looked down the hired car route but very, very few companies will have me as im young so that options out i'm afraid. I'd also use it probably every weekend so it would cost a lot as well.

I havn't read 'what car?' but i'll pick up a copy tommorrow if it's got some good advice in it.

Posted 4 months ago #
jambalaya - Member

For insurance try Quinn. My kids drove a Yaris and insurance was below £1000. The Jazz is a very practical car for biking, just lacks some street cred !

Posted 4 months ago #
don simon - Member

Have you thought about talking to the insurance companies to see what they would recommend and taking it from there?

Posted 4 months ago #
Tom B - Member

Get a tracker fitted and unless you really need to drive at night, get a curfew applied to your policy between 11pm and 7am.....some insurance companies do this and it will bring down your premium. Ka will be shite for 1 bike let alone 2-my missus drives one and its a squeeze to get a bike in even with the wheels taken off. Kia carens/ceed if you can find one cheap?

Posted 4 months ago #
petrieboy - Member

"technically a civil servant" Worries me a bit - what exactly do you mean?

Posted 4 months ago #
Edric 64 - Member

Anyone old remember the Citroen LNA /Talbot Samba thing? they were tiny but I got 2 bikes and a weekends kit in one of those and im 6ft 4 so my bikes are big .Also used to get a tt bike on the back seat of an old mini .Wheels out and bars and seat post out 2 bikes go in anything.

Posted 4 months ago #
tron - Member

There are no hard and fast rules on what cars will be dear to insure.

Insurers will go on what the risk is based on how many claims people with similar demographics to you do in that model of car. Golf SE drivers may make a load more claims than Golf CL drivers, and so the policies will be different prices. The insurers may have zero data for 17 year olds in Kia estates and therefore give out massive quotes.

In other words, they're placing bets on whether you will crash or not, and as to how bad it will be when you do. But nobody is giving out the form book or publishing odds. The only way to sound things out is to get a lot of quotes for a lot of cars.

Posted 4 months ago #
catflees - Member

A friends son in a similar situation just brought a Toyota Corolla, he also looked at Nissan Almera's.

Posted 4 months ago #
chiefgrooveguru - Member

There are quite a few boring hatchbacks which are very capacious - insurance costs involve some odd statistics and tend to be unpredictable but I'd guess at OAP cars like the '01-'05 Civic (which is huge inside) being relatively cheap.

Posted 4 months ago #
Ewan - Member

If you actually want to do it cheap consider getting a 'classic' car. A friend got a morris minor insured at 17 for 700 quid or so (a few years back not no that many).

Obviously you'll have to learn to fix it.

Posted 4 months ago #
ketchup - Member

You'd be suprised by just how much bike you can squeeze into the back of a car if you get creative, I've got a mate who can comfortably fit two big dh bikes and kit in the back of a clio.

I'm presuming that you still live with your parents? In which case putting them as named drivers on your policy can bring it down quite a bit as the insurance company will see it as you not being the only person who drives the car. I managed to take my first insurance policy down by around £500 doing this.

Posted 4 months ago #
molgrips - Member

Don't get a classic car. It'll cost a ton to keep running, in money and time, it'll be rubbish and you'll die if someone bumps you in a supermarket car park.

Posted 4 months ago #
Ewan - Member

Also Pakers let you look up insurance group of any car...

http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/advice/car-insurance-groups/

No idea if that actually impacts the price for a 17 year old much? I'm 30, driving for 5 years, with 4 years no claims and i'm still paying 700 quid for a ford mondeo estate!

Posted 4 months ago #
mcmoonter - Member

You'd be suprised by just how much bike you can squeeze into the back of a car if you get creative

This was my first car. 6 bikes in a mini. Dear Carlton, Is this a record?

Posted 4 months ago #
enigmas - Member

When i said i was technically a civil servant i stated this because it's classed as one of the more 'less risky' occupations compared to being a student or mechanical engineer (im a engineering apprentice for the civil service currently studying at college).

Cheers for all the tips regarding choice of car, i'll get some quotes tomorrow and see what i get

Not too sure i like the tracker idea but i'll look into it, if it can save a decent amount it would be worth it.

Posted 4 months ago #
tails - Member

Not sure if it's been said (it is technically a bit cheeky) but could you be a named driver under your mum or dad, as the fees they charge are ridiculous. They may as well put the driving age up to 25!!

Posted 4 months ago #
catflees - Member

I've also heard of policies for young drivers with a curfew & that they work out cheaper. Perhaps look at that?

Posted 4 months ago #
andrewh - Member

My first car was a 1.6 Proton Persona, about as uncool as one can get, but a 1.6 is pretty good for a first car. Had three points on my licence (driven my father's Landy for a year). Could fit five bikes and two peeps in the Proton. There is a 1.3 version, that could be cheap and reasonable size.
Cost me just over £600 to insure y 1.6 version (three time what I paid for it)
Next was a 1.9 non-turbo 306 diesel, gp4 insurance and even cheaper to insure. Try an estate one of these (note 2L HDI ones are much more common, and more expensive to insure)
Old Landys and cheap to insure so if only doing low miles this may offset the cost of the fuel.

Posted 4 months ago #
andyl - Member

Avoid common young peoples cars - Saxos, peugeots, Golfs, Civics, Corsas, Astras etc.

Go for a small petrol engine or 1.5 diesel.

For bikes think about an estate but obviously new driver and long car is not always the best idea. But I'd rather that than a roof mounted system as you might forget they are on the roof one day and go under a low barrier!

PS take a look at Polo estates or something Korean.

Posted 4 months ago #
martinxyz - Member

For the past hour and a half i have been on gocompare.com etc trying to get my insurance back down to where it was last year.£485 for the coming year.. last year was around £340.Its strange as i have made a few changes and the same company have offered cover for £314.

Anyhow. I added another driver to see if it would bring the cost down, i`m not sure if you could add anyone to your policy.Maybe someone on here could tell you if that would be a bad move for a new driver before wasting time online or on the phone. Check out moneysavingexpert.com and run through all the tips to see if any could help you out.Putting down a high excess etc. I just filled out a heap of online bumph and also wrote down what info i gave them so i can keep track of it all.

carwise.. M reg onwards peugeot 106`s with the 1.5 diesel engine are so good on fuel. More than fast enough for a new driver. The 1.4 versions werent supposed to be very good so maybe try and steer clear. They are cheap to fix,two dh bikes with triple clamp forks can be slid into the boot with both wheels removed no problems.Also really good in the snow.

Theres heaps to choose from so for around £500 you could easily pick something up that will have a years mot with a bit of service history. At these prices its no big deal if the thing dies on you! You mentioned a car from around 2002. I would be looking at cars around 95-99? to keep the costs down. Maybe even older if they are in decent condition.

Tell them the truth and do not modify it!

Posted 4 months ago #
_tom_ - Member

My first car was a Fiat Seicento and even that was still really expensive to insure - about £1200 3rd party for the first year. My 2nd car, a 1l Micra, was much cheaper at about £700 but I'd also been driving for about 2 years before getting that. The Micra was cheap for tax and petrol.

Posted 4 months ago #
jamie1991 - Member

Put you parents as named drivers on your policy, just about half's my insurance even though they never drive my car.

Posted 4 months ago #
andyl - Member

definitely put your parents down.

Just to make you feel sick my GF who is learning paid £260 for her first years insurance on a 1.6 306 with me on which halved her policy.

I have 11 years no claims and on the same car my best quote is £240! Hopefully the new gender rules will help bring mens down and not just take womens right up.

Posted 4 months ago #
Kevevs - Member

I could stuff 2 bikes with wheels off in the back of a 1999 corsa with seats down.

Posted 4 months ago #

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