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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

First Car

216 replies

Zippyx · 19/10/2019 20:58

Hi

As a bit of context, we live in a good area for insurance. DS has done 'young driver' 3-4 times (1 hour lesson each time) and has driven about 4 hours on private roads around our farm. DH and I have both gone through basic parking manoeuvres with him, which he has grasped with relative ease. DS is therefore pretty confident as a driver; DH and I are equally confident in him, given the rate of progress he's made in a relatively small time. Obviously as we are not professional ADIs, he will have at least 10-15 hours of lessons as a minimum.

Now it's time to buy a car, we are looking to spend around £6,500. Firstly, is this reasonable?

Secondly, the car we are looking at is a BMW 1 Series 2011 with about 60k miles on the clock. Insurance would be about £1,500 so not too bad at all. WIBU to buy it for him?

Thanks!

OP posts:
BackforGood · 21/10/2019 20:48

Surely everyone is incredibly proud and excited by their first car ?
My sister's car had a different colour door (where it had been replaced from a scrap yard I presume), but all of us had older cars and loved our first cars.
I can't imagine anyone being 'embarrassed' by owning their own car Confused

MelonSlice · 21/10/2019 20:58

OP, I think you have really come to the wrong forum for car advice. Most posters on here can't see beyond the badge. May I suggest asking the same question on pistonheads?

Alsohuman · 22/10/2019 13:44

I also think that forcing DC to get 'bangers' encourages carelessness when driving - particularly parking. It pushes them to think that it's acceptable to bash their cars a bit because they were cheap, rather than trying to actively improve their parking skills.

You value things you work hard for much more than things that are handed to you on a plate, ie the complete reverse of your argument.

CMOTDibbler · 22/10/2019 13:59

When I was 17, those lucky enough to get a car usually had a very elderly Land Rover on the principle that any dings could be beaten out easily and they wouldn't be targeted to race against plus easy to get some experience doing basic maintenance. We plan to get DS an elderly Defender or Series landy when he's 17 on the same principle, plus the insurance is cheap.

Oliversmumsarmy · 22/10/2019 15:41

Buy a normal car (fiesta, ka, corsa etc.) - the insurance will be 3 or 400 at most

Dp and I are in our early 60s, no accidents, no points on our license, we live in an area with no crime, bern driving decades.

Dp has one of the cars you mention.
For us alone it was nearly £300

It was £1200 extra to insure Ds at 17.

I think you are way off thinking that cheap cars = Cheap Insurance

£1500 sounds quite reasonable

Dd wanted a Land Rover but it would have cost her close on £20,000 per year to insure.

foxatthewindow · 22/10/2019 16:53

Omg my first car (a 16 year old fiesta with 4 gears and a manual choke) was kinda crappy and embarrassing but I loved that car and look back on it with such fondness. Honestly, I think something a bit crappy and embarrassing is a good idea for a teen. Nothing too fast and flashy, nothing that they’re going to want to race. Bonus points if it smells a little funky!

GladAllOver · 22/10/2019 17:03

That BMW 1 is cheap because it will be expensive to maintain and to repair.
He hasn't even driven on road yet? There's far more to learn that keeping it on a farm road.

Wait until he has passed the test and then think about buying a suitable front wheel drive car.

Schwibble · 22/10/2019 17:48

Wow a far cry from my rusty Renault 5 complete with manual choke, wind down windows and leaky sunroof Confused

Hope your son fully appreciates what you're doing for him OP and that you're not stealth boasting or being smug Hmm

smartcarnotsosmartdriver · 23/10/2019 08:50

@Oliversmumsarmy I agree. My sister got a basic ford Ka when she passed her test, she bought the car and mum paid the insurance. She was just over £1000 for her first year. I have a car in a similar group however I was older when I passed and my first year was £700. Down to £500 this year which I'm please with.

Original poster
Zippyx · 23/10/2019 12:08

@MelonSlice Made me chuckle. I doubt the Pistonheads folk would bat an eyelid!

@Alsohuman You might - but the way that I was brought up, and the way that I brought my children up, forced me and my children to take pride in everything they own. Your ideology suggests that people don't look after things that are given to them - i.e. gifts. I rarely see people mistreat gifts due to not only expense but also due to sentimental value.

@GladAllOver Actually the 1 Series was cheap because they were desperate to sell due to personal circumstances so needed to get rid ASAP. Doubt much maintenance required on a car with mileage as low as that - and we're quite a petrolhead family so are quite used to ensuring we don't get lemons!

Farm is actually quite a while away so he's been doing his lessons as well as 1-2 hours per evening with either DH or I around our town.

@Schwibble Snap! I also had a Renault 5 as a first car. Lovely red colour, it was. DS would fully appreciate any car we got him simply because we got it for him but getting a nicer car is more about creating memories of us all enjoying his first car. To be honest, I think DS(7) is more enthused with the prospect of his DB driving a car than DS(17) himself!

OP posts:
Trewser · 23/10/2019 12:11

He can't drive. His insurance will double once he's passed his test. Madness.

Trewser · 23/10/2019 12:11

I also think that forcing DC to get 'bangers' encourages carelessness when driving - particularly parking. It pushes them to think that it's acceptable to bash their cars a bit because they were cheap, rather than trying to actively improve their parking skills.

Ha ha that's the most twisted logic I've heard in a while.

Original poster
Zippyx · 23/10/2019 12:14

@Trewser Car was so cheap that even if it did it wouldn't be the end of the world. DSis got insurance quotes for DNephew last year and his quotes didn't double or treble after passing as posters on here are suggesting. Not sure why there's such a mismatch between others' experience and personal experience. Confused

OP posts:
Trewser · 23/10/2019 12:16

Dds quote doubled for the forst year then quartered!

Trewser · 23/10/2019 12:16

Sorry how much was car?

InOtterNews · 23/10/2019 12:16

My first car was a 2CV Grin

IIRC the lower the engine size, the cheaper the insurance - so it depends on what size engine the BMW is. Also, the smaller engine the less likely he is tempted to race it around

Trewser · 23/10/2019 12:19

Ok sorry are you saying car is 6,500?

You are not really on the same page as us, we spent 3k on a citroen c1. But dd wanted reliability rather than flash.

Original poster
Zippyx · 23/10/2019 12:19

@Trewser Car was £4,500 (from a relative at 'mates rates!'). Audi A1 110,000 miles with an insurance quote of £1200.

@InOtterNews Firstly love the username. Secondly the idea of higher engine size = higher insurance is outdated. Before car manufacturers didn't really alter how much horsepower the engine puts out via the ECU. In the 2008-2011 E87 1 Series, BMW used the same 2.0 engine in the 116d, 118d and 120d - yet each of the 3 models produced different amounts of horsepower, giving a different insurance quote on all three, as you would expect.

OP posts:
Trewser · 23/10/2019 12:21

Sorry thought you were getting the beemer.

Dd learnt to drive in an audi a1, nice car.

Original poster
Zippyx · 23/10/2019 12:28

We decided to hold off on the BMW for now - will perhaps review situation in a year or so on that!

Audi A1 is lovely. Sport model so the suspension's a bit hard for my liking but DS will be thrilled. Can't wait to present it to him! Grin

OP posts:
DobbyLovesSocks · 23/10/2019 12:45

I had a Fiesta for my first car - absolutely loved it and was gutted when the clutch went a year later. It was more expensive to replace the clutch than the car was worth so DH and I shopped around and bought a Focus. Was gutted again when 5 years later I had an accident and wrote the car off (minor-ish accident but again cost more to repair than replace). We then got a Hyundai i30 which we still have now and I bought myself a Hyundai i10 when we moved house and DH passed his test.
Looking to trade our i30 in a couple of years for an SUV-type vehicle. I'll keep my i10 til it costs more to repair than replace

Chocolatelover45 · 23/10/2019 14:19

Hopefully all these people scraping their old bangers aren't doing it on other people's cars!

Op it's a nice gesture, and I'm sure your son will be thrilled, but I think you are missing an important point that the transition into adulthood, paying your own way and making do with cheap cars/damp flats/making your own mistakes etc, is a joy because you are independent and paying your own way. Easing it with parental money is not really possible.
In other words, someone who's worked hard and bought a 1000 pound fiesta will probably get a lot more pleasure looking back than someone whose parents bought an expensive car for them.

Oliversmumsarmy · 23/10/2019 15:15

In other words, someone who's worked hard and bought a 1000 pound fiesta will probably get a lot more pleasure looking back than someone whose parents bought an expensive car for them

Providing they survive that long.

There are complete nutters on the road and for me safety is a number 1 priority.

Dc can learn about saving for a house or a flat of their own and get pleasure out of that

DowntownAbby · 23/10/2019 16:08

I'd be utterly amazed if the insurance was £1,500

It might be that much whilst he's learning and a named driver on a vehicle which isn't his but as soon as he's got his own policy on his own car it will be far, far more.

I'm bored on a conference call so I've just tried insuring a 17yr-old on the lowest power 2011 BMW 1-series on Confused.com with limited mileage etc and the very best was £2,800 with a big excess.

Most were easily £5,000+

Or are you planning to pretend it's not his car? That's called 'fronting' and the police and insurers are very wise to it. If you do that and get caught you'll likely struggle to get insurance in future as a policy cancelled by the provider has to be declared and they really look badly upon that.

Original poster
Zippyx · 23/10/2019 17:07

@Chocolatelover45 Whilst you may look back positively at struggling with cheap cars/damp flats, etc. I don't. Whilst I'm alive, why would I allow DS' life to be difficult needlessly? There's plenty of time for that when I'm gone!

Although my approach is unique, the tough love ideology doesn't sit right with me. I want to ease my child into adulthood, rather than making it the fiasco my parents made it for me. Rude awakening and a half! Grin

@DowntownAbby If you had done research properly, you would know that on many occasions, fronting is more expensive than making the 17 year old the policy holder.

You can get cheap insurance on anything if you know how to. Point of the thread was not to question the received quote!!

P.S. Confused.com is very aptly named. It's only ever made me more confused because it's never given me a quotation for anything that was any good. Hmm

OP posts: