Learning to drive...

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  • jonnyburgojonnyburgo Frets: 12258
    Mitsubishi Colt Diesel, cheap tax £110 per year 45-ish miles to the gallon.

    I passed at around 35yo, took me ages and an expired theory test to get there. passed on the 3rd attempt the day before my theory expired again!. Relief does not come close to describing how it felt. If I hadn't passed it I think I would have given up.
    "OUR TOSSPOT"
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  • RaymondLinRaymondLin Frets: 11813
    Mitsubishi Colt Diesel, cheap tax £110 per year 45-ish miles to the gallon.

    I passed at around 35yo, took me ages and an expired theory test to get there. passed on the 3rd attempt the day before my theory expired again!. Relief does not come close to describing how it felt. If I hadn't passed it I think I would have given up.
    The first car I had driven by myself was actually a rental, Peugeot 306 or something, from Glasgow airport to some loch in the middle of nowhere.  I recall being overtaken by everyone because i was worried about crashing.  no music, no radio so i can concentrate.

    A month later I bought my own car, a Yaris SR 1.8.  Cost me £6.5k.  People thought i was mad to spend that much on a first car because 1) I will crash it. 2) cars depreciate.

    Well, I had a minor bump at 2mph so I guess No. 1 came true but I keep the car for 5 and a half years and got £2100 back when i traded it in so it's not bad in terms of depreciation.  
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  • p90foolp90fool Frets: 31369
    I spent years on motorcycles so didn't drive cars at all until I was around 29. Being old enough to know better made me quite nervous, but I just told myself that almost every idiot I'd ever encountered in my life could drive so how hard could it be?

    I passed easily, having a biker's survival instincts and observation techniques, but felt like I'd only been taught to pass my test, not to be a competent driver. I cured that by driving to Barcelona and back the following week.

    Not having personal transport in mid-Wales is impossible, almost everyone does their test in their teens. Also, you're not really regarded as a musician at all around here if you can't drive, owning a licence is as critical as owning an instrument. Stevie Wonder wouldn't get a job in any of our local cover bands, we'd tell him to eff off in the first phone call!

    Good luck, you'll be fine. :)
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  • It's a fair point about learning how to be a driver after you pass. The best thing you can do is either immediately book motorway lessons, or take an experienced driver you know and trust on a long drive. I know people who avoided motorways for as long as possible and they're just never as confident as drivers as the people who just do it earlier.
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  • wibblewibble Frets: 1083
    Make sure you ace the theory test and pass the practical first time.

    That's what all the best drivers do! Who's with me?

    On a more serious note, your primary concern for a first car is cheap insurance - get some quotes first.

    I actually bought my first car before I took my test (in my 20s's) - one of the reasons being was that there was a free insurance offer on it which also covered provisional license holders! So I bought a brand new 140BHP Nissan Almera GTI and was able to extend the insurance offer (which was part of the servicing offer) from 1 year to 3 years for £300! It was a nice incentive to pass first time :)

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  • 57Deluxe57Deluxe Frets: 7329
    edited January 2017
    Not really... (thinking)
    Moped licence at 16 on new FS1e
    Full motorbike licence 5 days after 17th B'day on new Yamaha RD200
    Full licence with own car (1 year old Honda Civic) at 18

    I was blessed! (But I worked bloody hard weekends and holidays to buy those items whilst mainly still at school!)

    http://i66.tinypic.com/2rmp505.jpg





    <Vintage BOSS Upgrades>
    __________________________________
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  • boogiemanboogieman Frets: 12315
    My ex wife passed her test at 35. Took her 7 or 8 attempts (we lost count eventually). If she can pass, anyone can. She's still a terrible driver to this day: our kids refused to travel with her when they were old enough to realise. 
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  • randellarandella Frets: 4088
     take an experienced driver you know and trust on a long drive. 
    Yep. First time on a motorway was driving my dad to Kingfisher Music. Not much use to you I'm afraid, it shut last year but the advice is still sound in principle :)
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  • randellarandella Frets: 4088
    Thinking about it, it'd be interesting taking a test now. A) I'd fail and b) cars have got so much more lardy and numb. You know how cars with a manual transmission have a spring in the gear lever that returns it to the 3rd/4th plane? Not in my driving instructor's Metro, no sirree. No 5th gear or power steering, now I think about it, but it was a piece of piss to drive and you really could 'feel' the car which is why I suspect they all used them back in the day. 
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71963
    Mitsubishi Colt Diesel, cheap tax £110 per year 45-ish miles to the gallon.
    I definitely wouldn't buy any cheap small diesel if you're going to use it mostly for town driving or short journeys. They can become suddenly very expensive when the particulate filter clogs up and needs replacing, or something else goes wrong. 45 to the gallon isn't great either, I get almost that on average from my 1.6 petrol Renault Grand Scenic - better, on the motorway - and I can fit an entire band's equipment or a family of five for going on holiday in it.

    Yes, I do hate diesels on principle but there are good reasons for that too :).

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • 57Deluxe57Deluxe Frets: 7329
    randella said:
     take an experienced driver you know and trust on a long drive. 
    Yep. First time on a motorway was driving my dad to Kingfisher Music. Not much use to you I'm afraid, it shut last year but the advice is still sound in principle :)
    Bloody Lived in there in the 80s!

    https://image.jimcdn.com/app/cms/image/transf/dimension=379x1024:format=jpg/path/s3250de9d522cedff/image/ic6b9d1d720a792a2/version/1421147374/image.jpg


    <Vintage BOSS Upgrades>
    __________________________________
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  • randellarandella Frets: 4088
    ICBM said:

    Yes, I do hate diesels on principle but there are good reasons for that too :).
    You and whoever's in charge of parking at Westminster council, apparently ;)
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  • randellarandella Frets: 4088
    @57Deluxe big fat wis, that's cheered me right up that has. I've got a few of those invoice slips kicking around somewhere, strangely familiar seeing your photo! Sad sad loss to the guitar world when they went downhill. 
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  • Well, that's disappointing. Just had a look at insurance on a whole range of cars - last time I looked (about 18 months ago), an Audi A3 or Puma was about £580-£600 comprehensive. Now, though...it's jumped and nothing I've looked at (even something small like a Skoda Fabia 1.2) is less than £900.

    The only thing that I can think of which might've affected it is that my wife's had a couple of accidents in her car since then; neither were her fault, but one of which was judged by the insurance companies as mutually at fault (even though the guy ran a stop sign at a junction and drove into the side of her car and she had him on video as accepting it was his fault). Could that affect it?

    I can't believe that just being 18 months older puts an extra 50% on my insurance quotes.
    <space for hire>
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  • randellarandella Frets: 4088
    It'll be nothing to do with your age; you're the 'right' side of 30 as far as they're concerned, and it shouldn't go back up until you're much older. 

    Might be be something to do with the missus, they're not beyond fiddling premiums for the most bizarre reasons. Have you tried with and without her as named driver? Are you named on her policy?
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71963
    Well, that's disappointing. Just had a look at insurance on a whole range of cars - last time I looked (about 18 months ago), an Audi A3 or Puma was about £580-£600 comprehensive. Now, though...it's jumped and nothing I've looked at (even something small like a Skoda Fabia 1.2) is less than £900.

    The only thing that I can think of which might've affected it is that my wife's had a couple of accidents in her car since then; neither were her fault, but one of which was judged by the insurance companies as mutually at fault (even though the guy ran a stop sign at a junction and drove into the side of her car and she had him on video as accepting it was his fault). Could that affect it?

    I can't believe that just being 18 months older puts an extra 50% on my insurance quotes.
    It will be the accident and you being a new driver. Your age won't be a factor - it's younger drivers who are more risky, so by learning late you've at least avoided that problem.

    It's infuriating when insurance companies screw you over for things that weren't your fault - I've had one too, where a guy drove into the side of my car when he was parking, despite my car being stationary with the handbrake on and I had a witness to that effect.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • RaymondLinRaymondLin Frets: 11813
    Well, that's disappointing. Just had a look at insurance on a whole range of cars - last time I looked (about 18 months ago), an Audi A3 or Puma was about £580-£600 comprehensive. Now, though...it's jumped and nothing I've looked at (even something small like a Skoda Fabia 1.2) is less than £900.

    The only thing that I can think of which might've affected it is that my wife's had a couple of accidents in her car since then; neither were her fault, but one of which was judged by the insurance companies as mutually at fault (even though the guy ran a stop sign at a junction and drove into the side of her car and she had him on video as accepting it was his fault). Could that affect it?

    I can't believe that just being 18 months older puts an extra 50% on my insurance quotes.
    Insurance is not based solely on engine size, it is base on statistic.

    Think of cars that own by people who are more "boring".  When choosing where to park, weirdly parking on the drive often gives a lower the premium than a garage because people often ding their car pulling in and out of a garage.

    Sometimes Fully Comp costs less than 3rd Party Fire and Theft.

    Also as a job....if you are a company director, it goes down, want to make it legitimate? just buy one off the shelf from Company House for £40 and put your name on it lol Technically you are a company director then!

    p.s. insurance have gone up in the last year or so, new legislation came in stopping insurance company selling data to marketing company so a source of their revenue has gone.  I have seen quite a few people's premium went up with no change in circumstances.
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  • randella said:
    It'll be nothing to do with your age; you're the 'right' side of 30 as far as they're concerned, and it shouldn't go back up until you're much older. 

    Might be be something to do with the missus, they're not beyond fiddling premiums for the most bizarre reasons. Have you tried with and without her as named driver? Are you named on her policy?
    I won't be named on her policy because she'll never let me drive her car, and she won't be able to drive my car (she's got an auto-only licence).
    <space for hire>
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  • randellarandella Frets: 4088
    edited January 2017
    ICBM said:
    It will be the accident and you being a new driver. Your age won't be a factor - it's younger drivers who are more risky, so by learning late you've at least avoided that problem.

    It's infuriating when insurance companies screw you over for things that weren't your fault - I've had one too, where a guy drove into the side of my car when he was parking, despite my car being stationary with the handbrake on and I had a witness to that effect.
    He was a new driver 18 months ago too, so it won't be that pushing the price up. I agree with you, it has to be the accidents. I'm just trying to work out how they've made the connection. They've probably pulled the information off a database somewhere, but even in the murky world of motor insurance it doesn't seem quite kosher to bang your premium up just because someone else at your address stacked their motor, fault or no fault. 
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  • randella said:
    ICBM said:
    It will be the accident and you being a new driver. Your age won't be a factor - it's younger drivers who are more risky, so by learning late you've at least avoided that problem.

    It's infuriating when insurance companies screw you over for things that weren't your fault - I've had one too, where a guy drove into the side of my car when he was parking, despite my car being stationary with the handbrake on and I had a witness to that effect.
    He was a new driver 18 months ago too, so it won't be that pushing the price up. I agree with you, it has to be the accidents. I'm just trying to work out how they've made the connection. They've probably pulled the information off a database somewhere, but even in the murky world of motor insurance it doesn't seem quite kosher to bang your premium up just because someone else at your address stacked their motor, fault or no fault. 
    I just tried exactly the same quote on a Puma 1.7 but used my dad's address instead (about a mile up the road from me). Quote went from £1,004 to £798.

    That's still £200 more than it was 18 months ago, but...kinda proves the point that it's the address link that's the problem.
    <space for hire>
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