Car suggestions for cheap insurance in high crime area?

[yoda960]

Hi chaps

A friend has asked for advice, his situation is as follows:

24 years old, no no claims bonus as he has been on his father's policy. On his father's policy it is costing £1700 a year on a 1.3 R reg Micra. If he had his own policy it would be £3000. He lives in a high crime area so the insurance is silly money!

He is considering going for some deal on a new Polo where it costs £200 odd a month and the insurance is free for a year, he kept repeating that at least he would be getting 1 years no claims bonus at the end of it and he would be 25 by then.

My opinion is still that he should get a second hand cheapy car and build his no claims on it, but with it being £3k on a 1.3 Micra I don't know what to suggest apart from a smaller engined car. I do think buying a new car can't be the answer though, the depreciation alone is huge.

Can anyone make any suggestions to what he should do? Perhaps something that isn't desirable to steal - needs to be fairly economical, but not too small an engine as he does a lot of motorway driving

Any thoughts appreciated!

[volvorocks]

Originally Posted by yoda960

Hi chaps

A friend has asked for advice, his situation is as follows:

24 years old, no no claims bonus as he has been on his father's policy. On his father's policy it is costing £1700 a year on a 1.3 R reg Micra. If he had his own policy it would be £3000. He lives in a high crime area so the insurance is silly money!

He is considering going for some deal on a new Polo where it costs £200 odd a month and the insurance is free for a year, he kept repeating that at least he would be getting 1 years no claims bonus at the end of it and he would be 25 by then.

My opinion is still that he should get a second hand cheapy car and build his no claims on it, but with it being £3k on a 1.3 Micra I don't know what to suggest apart from a smaller engined car. I do think buying a new car can't be the answer though, the depreciation alone is huge.

Can anyone make any suggestions to what he should do? Perhaps something that isn't desirable to steal - needs to be fairly economical, but not too small an engine as he does a lot of motorway driving

Any thoughts appreciated!

Its not an easy one to answer.

If he lives in a high crime area, would a new car be more of a target for say vandalism, thus he would never achieve a no claims bonus? On the other hand if its car theft, a new car would be more resistant to being taken? I would suggest that desirability is not an element in older car theft simply the fact that they can be taken for kicks.

Regards

[Daim]

Two versions:

Buy new and take the 200 quid policy and use that as a start.

Cons:
- car can be stolen but is at less risk (due to modern security functions)
- car can be keyed
- car can be vandalised
- parts can be removed
- costs more to buy

Pros:
- modern technology makes it harder for theives to steal the car
- insurance bonus
- more reliable (hrhr)

Old car:

Cons:
- car can be stolen (at higher risk as older cars have either low or no security)
- car will be less likely to be keyed as already well used
- car can be vandalised but again less risk due to age and wear
- parts can be removed even easier
- insurance

Pros:
- costs less to buy

This is a decission we can't make for him. Simply being, that only he know's how his financial situation is. I'd let the cash flow decide on what to buy!

[yoda960]

Thanks for the thoughts chaps Very helpful. I'll direct him to this thread - it was something I didn't think about with the vandalism aspect.

Anyone else have any thoughts?

[wooble]

Buy a ratty old fiesta/206/punto etc for £500 and spend the change on a giant krooklok and a very loud alarm to deter the casual joyrider. It's also simple to fit an under-dash switch that cuts power to the fuel pump so the car can't be started unless the driver knows about the secret switch.

This way the owner won't mind so much when it inevitably gets knocked about, and once he has a few years no claims he can use the money he's saved to buy a nicer car.

OH, and it's much easier than you think to steal a new car - the usual tactic nowadays is simply to kick in the front door at 3am, grab the car keys from in the house, and make off with the car before anybody knows what's happened. The car is usually either stripped for parts or in a container bound for eastern europe before the police even come round for an interview.

[volvorocks]

Originally Posted by wooble

OH, and it's much easier than you think to steal a new car - the usual tactic nowadays is simply to kick in the front door at 3am, grab the car keys from in the house, and make off with the car before anybody knows what's happened.

Unless you do what I do, and sleep with the keys!

Now,I am a heavy sleeper, although I am sure the sound of someone kicking the front door down at 3am would waken me!

[Thanatos]

It sounds daft does this but a 2.5 diesel s80 is probably cheaper to insure then a polo or a micra, polo's are notoriously expensive for insurance.

And who is going to nick a diesel Volvo win win all round

[robsv40]

Originally Posted by Thanatos

It sounds daft does this but a 2.5 diesel s80 is probably cheaper to insure then a polo or a micra, polo's are notoriously expensive for insurance.

And who is going to nick a diesel Volvo win win all round

Asked my other half and she said pretty much what you said (she's an insurance broker, not a call centre one, a trained one in a well respected VIP brokers)

She said stay away from the young drivers cars....206's , 106's, saxos, clios, early fiestas. Later fiestas are okay. The cars are rated on the accidents they are involved in, so a 1.6 focus is cheaper than a 1.25 fiesta for example. Don't get a 4x4 or a drop top. Also a car that's 4-5 years old can be cheaper to insure than a 15 year old car. That would be more expensive to buy than a brand new car though.
Just go on confused and enter different cars. Takes no time at all on there.