17yr old learning to drive / lessons / insurance

[NanaStrikesAgain]

DS turns 17 next week. He doesn’t need to learn to drive really as he doesn’t go out much. He’s very happy to start learning to drive but isn’t desperate or super keen.

How many lessons did your 17yr old need to be test ready? DS has some additional needs so i expect it’ll take him longer than most to get confident.

I need to look into insurance options / buying a car too.

What did you do for your child?

He could be insured on DH’s car but DH needs it for long days at work so he’d be limited when he could use it which I don’t think will be a big problem.

Ive seen some learner insurance policies which look a lot cheaper.

Does it work out cheaper to buy DS his own cheap car and put my DH as a named driver on there?

Ive no idea where to start with this. DS will be learning in an automatic as he won’t cope with a manual (dyspraxia) so I think that will make insurance and cars more expensive.

It is never going to cost less in terms of lessons / insurance as it does now. Even if they seldom drive it’s a life skill they will need.

My DS passed his test after 8 paid lessons but I think that’s unusually quick- he took to it very easily. DD had maybe 15 lessons. My DH took both of them out for quite a lot of practice. We bought each of them a (very cheap) car for their 17th birthday. In both cases, the DCs were really keen to learn. If they hadn’t been bothered, I might have left it for a bit, although PP makes a good point that the lessons and tests are only going to get more expensive.

Also, I’m sure you know, but getting a test booked is an absolute ballache in many areas- seriously stressful and involves lots of faffing about online and even having to get up at stupid hours of the morning to get in a queue for booking. It’s like trying to get tickets for Glastonbury. Hopefully that will get sorted out at some point.

Both of mine learned to drive and passed their test asap. I think it’s an essential skill, and it doesn’t expire. Get it passed, then worry about whether you need to drive if it comes up.

mine both passed after about 8 months of weekly ish lessons. Probably could have taken the test sooner but a) waiting lists for tests and b) we felt it was better to be absolutely ready than fail and face another wait for a test which would have cost more money in lessons.

don’t worry about a car and insurance yet if you don’t need to. If you can afford to add him to your Dh’s car he can practice on weekends.

once he passes you can worry about whether he needs his own car or can cope with borrowing Dh’s, insurance etc.

many of the young people now seem to pass their test asap, then wait a year before they actually start driving. Avoids that initial very expensive new driver year which also has high penalties for road infractions or accidents.

Yes very true and a good way to look at it :)

Wow yes that seems very quick after 8 lessons!

From what I’ve seen the insurance even on cheap old cars seems really high

My ds had about 40hours of lessons. He didnt get extra driving time outside of lessons as we didnt have a suitable car for him to use so we didnt need learner insurance. He got a wee car after he passed and got his own insurance at that point.

Can I make a suggestion on first cars? Don't go for small, get the closest thing to a tank you can afford.

New drivers often have accidents, not necessarily their fault. You want your teen to be protected.

My kids would disagree. They like the small car as it’s easier to park, reverse into spaces and generally manoeuvre.

the insurance is far cheaper too, as is repair if they do scrape or bump it.

modern small cars tend to have a lot of safety features regardless of size.

Marmalade is good for insurance for young / learner drivers.

Veygo is another option say if you just wanted insurance for a day or an hour.

We got a learner insurance separately because our current insurer just didn’t cover learners.

Almost exactly the same for my DS... Passed in under 10 lessons, but in amongst it DH had him driving literally hundreds of miles to make sure he had actual experience of dual carriageways etc. We got him a car for Christmas a month after his 17th birthday, and he passed his test 3 months later.

For insurance I highly recommend a black box... I found it reassuring that he simply wouldn't be able to go too fast, and it also meant that he had a good excuse in case any 'friends' decided to pressure him into driving fast/unsafely (which they never did, to be fair, and they're actually all lovely).

Driving is a life skill. It will only get more expensive if you wait and potentially more tricky to fit in lessons. Learner insurance isn’t too bad, but it goes up massively when they pass, it can be reduced slightly by having experienced drivers on the policy too.

That’s an interesting idea about passing test and then waiting a year, we hadn’t thought about it like that

Thanks, I understand your logic, but I think small cars tend to have quite a lot of safety features these days. Also for my DS i know he’s not likely to be doing anything like motorway driving or travelling to a university miles away.

Thanks I’ll have a look

Ooh haven’t heard of that one will have a look

Interesting, I’ve no idea if Privilege cover learners. That’s who my DH has his insurance with currently.

Yes I think a black box will be very good for the first few years at least for the reasons you say

Thanks I’ll do some insurance comparisons to see

We could not insure our 17 year old on our Volvo xc90.

you’ll find that some cars are simply uninsurable for learners - small not powerful cars are pretty much the only real options.

it wasn’t even that it was expensive, no-one would do it.

we bought an i10 as a second family car which each in turn learnt on and drove when passed.

get on one of the insurance websites and look at quotes for various cars.

We decided against a black box for ds. He has a Citroën C1 so not sure he could speed if he tried 😆. His insurance dropped a lot on his renewal after his 1st year of driving it.

The average amount of lessons is 45 plus 22 hours practise. I’m sure my DD is about close to the 45 but only about four practise hours. She failed it a week ago - she had a major fault and four minors but it was a done deal either way the major. She is learning in London and was VERY nervous, if she could calm her nerves she’d do much better.
The theory test is quite hard these days and that’s the first step. My DD passed that first time, but my son, who passed the practical first time, took four goes at the theory.
Driving really does require a lot of practice and the more of that you are willing to do I guess the less lessons. Frankly my stress levels were through the roof when I went out with my DD which didn’t help (plus my car is a lot bigger than her lesson car).
For insurance I used Veygo (part of Admiral) which was very reasonable.

My son has had around 30 lessons and due to take his test in March. He’s works as an apprentice so has a pretty good wage for his age. We paid for the first £500 worth of lessons and he now pays the £45 per week for a lesson. He’s also insured on my car as a provisional licence which was just over £200. He saves £150pw of his wage towards a car and insurance and already has £3.5k. Of course we will probably contribute towards a car for him but he’s earned and saved a lot himself.