Aibu? I want to do driving lessons

[grainykite]

But my DP is insistent it should be him my reasoning is I'm the one stuck at home with the kids so surely it would give me more freedom, instead of relying on him or waiting for him to become available?
Who is BU

I didn't spend 2k on a car

FFS. Was it free?? You spent £x on a car, that £x is lost if the car is stolen/damaged. Please do try just a little bit to understand the point I'm making, even if you still decide you don't want to insure it.

A big car with a new driver, you are probably looking at around 1500-2000 a year on insurance. If the car is over a 1.2 add a bit more on.

If you both lwarn surely you will both be insured?
I think people are getting confused because you mentioned £1800 further up the thread.

Don't forget about car tax, for older cars that can be really expensive each year as well

I'm well aware. But I'm just pointing out it wasn't 2 grand.
According to Google it can be very hard to be insured for TOF only so bit of a moot point I guess.

The 1890 was in relation to looking at similar cars, I checked fb, gumtree, used cars, Arnold Clark and they were all coming up the same price.

I didn't plan on letting it sit unused but people will pearl clutch if I say I'd plan on driving it

They would be right to pearl clutch, as that would be illegal considering it's SORN

My mum got a car without having passed her test. Eventually she done her test in that car and passed. It can be motivation knowing it's there ready for you to use.

Forget about the car it's already been bought and it's done.
I think you should have lessons first you've got the kids all week he'll be driving it to work and parking it there all day while you struggle along with the kids.

Well it had to be driven to our house in the first place so 🤷‍♂️

I didn't plan on letting it sit unused but people will pearl clutch if I say I'd plan on driving it

You're planning on driving a SORN car with no insurance and no licence...

@grainykite

Well it had to be driven to our house in the first place so 🤷‍♂️

You're an idiot. How would you feel if someone did that and knocked down one of your children? Probably not so 🤷‍♂️

I didn't plan on letting it sit unused

So then it needs taxing.... And who will be driving it in what insurance? If someone else drives it on their insurance, the chances are it's third party cover. This covers anyone they hit; it doesn't cover damage to your car.

We are simply pointing out that your bargain car isn't costing you nothing whilst it's unused and or one of you learns to drive.

Because the car was an absolute bargain

As my Mum is very fond of saying, it's only a bargain if you need it, and can use it. A car, when neither of you has a driving licence, is not a bargain.

And disapproving of driving without licence, insurance etc isn't pearl clutching.

It wasn't me that drove it to my house.
Christ it's happened already, The car has been here days. It doesn't matter how it got here or why I've got it. I was asking about who should do lessons 🤦‍♀️

So you collected the bargain car and drove it back to your house? Unlicensed and uninsured? Wow. If that's true I really hope neither of you passes. Ever.

Well it had to be driven to our house in the first place so 🤷‍♂️

Are you seriously saying one of you drove the car on a public road, with no license, no insurance and no tax?

My mum got a car without having passed her test

So did I. It was bloody brilliant. But it wasn't free. I taxed and insured it, and drove it accompanied by a qualified driver.

Oh sorry xpost. But you're being cagey.

No. The lady who sold the car drove it to us.

Bargain cars often turn into a false economy, sadly, unless you luck out. Mostly you pay for what you didn't pay upfront in MoT and repair costs, increased road tax, poor fuel economy, etc. The cost of the car is only the beginning.

Maybe there's someone you could lend the car to in the meantime so it's being used? Just a month or so of a presumably old car sitting unused could render it undriveable and not economical to fix.

Actually I agree that most medium-sized cars would struggle to fit 3 car seats, unless one of them is in the front passenger seat.

First off, I hope you know someone with a license who can drive it round the block every few weeks. It doesn't do good to have a car sit for months.

As far as who learns first, to me it depends. It doesn't make sense to me that DH would drive it to work, let it sit for 8 hours, then drive it home. But if you wouldn't be using it daily for school runs, then it'll just be sitting at your house except for occasional errands, won't it? So I guess you and he need to sit down and figure out who would actually need to drive the car the most per week. Then, that person learns to drive first.

I'm in the US so I admit I don't understand the whole UK 'driving thing' nor the costs involved. Getting a license there seems to be a 'big deal' where here it's just something you do at 16. It's also not that expensive to learn to drive and if you're over 18 you don't have to have formal instruction, a friend can teach you to drive.

Once one of you learns to drive, can that person teach the other? My dad pretty much taught me to drive before I took lessons at 15.

Once one of you learns to drive, can that person teach the other?

You have to have held your licence for at least three years before you can supervise a learner.

Have you checked out any insurance quotes?
Once you take into account insurance, tax, petrol, mot, servicing etc it will probably cost a little less as both of you taking driving lessons.

I passed last year, my insurance is £72 a month, car tax £20, diesel £80ish (obviously varies if doing long journeys) Cars about 10 years and and my mot was just £160.

So £170 odd a month to run.

My lessons were about £96 a month.
So worth working out the costs for running the car and compare how much two lots of lessons are.

Bloody hell, this thread turned into a bit of a pile on.

OP, I bought my car before I passed my test in the hopes that I'd pass ASAP. I did. If you don't then cross that bridge when you come to it. A 7 seater sounds sensible, a 5 seater with 3 car seats wouldn't allow much room for anything else and 3 kids sounds like they'll come with a car full of stuff!

Seeing as nobody seems to be answering your actual question here's my two cents. If he can get to work easily without the car which he obviously has been doing so far then I'd say it would benefit the family more for you to drive. If you're the stay at home parent then the car will allow you to have more freedom and ease to take the kids on days out, doctor/hospital runs, eventually school runs if they aren't school age yet. I do agree you should both learn but in time when finances allow, it makes more sense for you to go first.

Why the arguments, you may as well talk to a brick wall! OP is planning on using the sorn'd car, if not taxed and insured then will get stopped by police and car will be impounded. The cameras are great these days and people tend to get caught within days of driving uninsured vehicles.