My FC was somewhere around 500€ a year to insure with 0% NCB when I was 19, that's around the same that I pay for my shitty Yaris insurance now almost 10 years later.
But yeah, UK insurance system doesn't make ANY sense.
If it were only £4000 to insure a impreza then everyone would be driving one, I paid much more then £4000 to insure my 120hp Celica. Insurance is just completely stupid here.
Then when you need to pay about £1.45/L (which is like $10.50/G) you can sort of justify why everyone drives around in a Prius
So really what you guys are saying is, I could go for most of the cars on that list, apart from the Opel Manta and Opel Ascona OR try to find a not so common car which is driven by teens in the UK which will lower the cost of insurance?
And yeah I would ask my Dad for advice, but sadly he isn't around any more , but I remember him saying that he either had a Ford Cortina or an Opel Manta GT as his first car, although times have changed where insurance was probably a lot cheaper back then......so either I will have to try and find a car which is not commonly used by UK teens or hope for the best at the ones off of my list.
Thank you everyone for commenting, one other thing though, out of that list and if you were me living in the UK at almost 17, which car would you go for and why? Feel free to add a car which isnt on that list though .
A friend used to have a 205 1.4. It was genuinely funny car to drive (especially during winter). Another friend currently drives a 1.9 GTi which is very nice car too, altho he isn't the type who really abuses his cars.
My first car was RWD and I owned it for 8 years. Never crashed it altho it took a real beating during the winters (rear bumper was barely hanging, it had a close relationship with snow banks).
I understand why people say no RWD for first car, but you have to learn to drive at some point I think lol. I have only owned RWD cars (well all of them Sierras but anyway).
I can't comment on the insurance because here in Finland our insurance quotes aren't mental.
What were saying is get a quote. Then you'll know.
You'll struggle with older cars as while classic insurance is cheap, very few companies offer it to <25's and usually it also comes with a very low mileage stipulation / no commuting use - a friends Dad bought him a Triumph TRsomething as his first car, had to sell it (after making some decent money hiring it out!) as not a single company would insure him on it.
Something unusual. Volvo 340 / 440? Seem to remember a 106 Rallye was quite cheap as well although somehow I doubt it will be anymore. My car was also quite cheap to insure (comparatively) which is why I bought it in the first place.
Best thing to do is go to somewhere like http://www.gocompare.com/ and fill in details as if you were already 17. Then you can try different cars and see what kind of quotes you get.
Remember to tick the 'do not contact me' button or you'll get insurance brokers calling you with quotes for your entirely fictional cars.
Just get a gutless little city car, the insurance will be affordable and you'll be able to go wherever you like, whenever you like, for the first time in your life, so you'll love it.
I'd suggest you look for the least-fashionable Daihatsu you can find. Very reliable and cheap to run, totally gutless, very cheap to insure because nobody your age will ever want one. The money you save can go towards getting a 2L bimmer when you've got a few years' no-claims.
Man... I'm so glad I grew up when I did. YOu kids today.... I know you're from the UK, so I can understand not even almost wanting an American Car...
But back in the day, you could get used muscle cars dirt cheap. I imagine the same could be said about the UK for jensen interceptors and Tr7s and that one jaguar model that looked like a 1070's MG. Oh well. Different day. Different age.
LOL whatever car you get, you need these: www.texanwireandwheels.com/wir ... 15-inch-84s-extreme-poke/
....OK so maybe not...
Also remember location is very important - middle of nowhere, expensive premiums, live in Bradford, get a buss pass...
EDIT - In the interests of fairness our cars and car-related-taxes are very cheap compared to similar European countries so we really can't complain that much.
But in UK you can get pretty fast JDM cars for price of a sandwich - since they're not useful anywhere else in Europe due to steering wheel being in wrong side.