Finding a GROUP 1 ins car????

Mk1 fiesta & after the first few lessons I had to tell the bird from the driving school she wasnt really teaching me much apart from driving along on a straight road .

She blurted out some crap about not wanting to push me or put me under any sort of pressure - bollocks - I reckon her boss told her the more lessons they can drag it out for the more money they get from me .

After that she was fine .... although a bit on the ugly side :-)

The message from Krustov contains these words:

Funnily enough, of all the tricks BSM suggested, that was never one of them.

What tricks do BSM suggest then? Do tell!!!!

The message from "Robert Knowles" contains these words:

Well, this was eight years ago, but don't do two hour sessions 'cos they're more efficient, flog a "Controls lesson" where you don't actually drive anywhere, flog a mock test with another instructor (not a bad idea for some learners who need the experience of having someone else next to them who's just saying "At the roundabout [1] take the third exit, the one that leads off to the right")

That sort of thing.

[1] Why the hell do Midlanders call the sodding things "Islands"? An island is a thing with a bollard on it which seperates the traffic streams and makes a handy spot to put a traffic light. Not the same thing as a roundabout at all.

Thanks for that . no doubt more honest nowadays eh!?

Nissan Micra Daughter has bubble-shaped micra K reg, good insurance via the student ins co - Endsleigh I think - while at Uni

The message from "Robert Knowles" contains these words:

You mean since I left the average honesty has risen? (insert smiley here).

The message from "R. Murphy" contains these words:

I just had my renewal quote from AutoDirect - nearly £500. A whizz round the internet turned up Norwich Union offering £276 for the same cover.

What on earth are these twits up to? Do they just pluck a number out of thin air and hope no one ever shops around?

Yes.

The message from snipped-for-privacy@italiancar.co.uk (SteveH) contains these words:

I wonder how low I can get 'em to go before I tell 'em I'm not interested anyway 'cos they've pissed me off?

Guy King ( snipped-for-privacy@zetnet.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Mmm. Norwich Union are to be avoided like the plague, though.

BTW - I just had my renewal through.

£431 inc £20 legal cover.

For a group 16 car. Fully comp. With business use. 2xSP30

Not dischuffed.

In message , Guy King writes

Renewal from Adrian Flux for the Civic was 535 quid. Best quote from Confused for me alone was 517 from More Than. Worst quote 1050. Admiral quoted 640.

Adding my wife to the policy increased the AF quote to 900. Best quote from Confused was Admiral, with 602. Worst quote from Confused was 1800. Speaking to Admiral on the phone got that down to 530, possibly because we insure another car with them.

I should add that the Civic is group 17, and that my wife only passed her test a few months ago.

I don't understand it either.

That's decent. For the past two years I've used

which I found through The renewal quote I got this year was less than through the website because they "give a discount for repeat business".

-- krystnors

Middle age is when a broad mind and a narrow waist change places.

Yup, don't waste your time trying to find a Group 1 car. The reasons for this are simple:

a) No self respecting 17 year old lad would ever want the sort of car that comes in insurance group 1 b) Compared to the cost of the car the difference between Group 1 and, say, Group 6 is pretty irelevent c) Think outside the box - don't get the typical teenage tree magnet like a Fiesta, go for something different and you'll often find its cheaper to insure.

My first car was a Citroen Xantia 1.9TD. Cannot remember how much the insurance was but it was under £1500. I then insured my second car on a policy I took out @ 19 - a 2.0 16v Mondeo.

None of them are typical teenage cars. Hence, I could actually insure them and not suffer having to drive around in a 1 litre 3 cylinder Corsa with the refinement of a bicycle.

I sometimes think they do. When I switched from the Saab 9000 (2.3l petrol) to the Rover 218 (1.8l diesel) Norwich Union wanted a higher premium! I told them where to stick it. Funnily enough AutoDirect were the cheapest. Did you try the line at the bottom of the AutoDirect renewal letter "if you find a cheaper quote elsewhere... etc"?

As has been pointed out elswehere, insurance group doesn't seem to make a lot of difference to the quote. I generally use Tesco's online quotation system to compare insurance costs for different cars, as it seems to be pretty close to what I can find elsewhere anyway (I think all the insurers use very similar software).

I'd definitely endorse the last point, the first car I drove any significant amount was a Toyota Corolla, which back then was as cheap to insure as most of the common cars.

The message from Chris Bolus contains these words:

I will do when they ring me - which they will do in the next few days.

That makes for an interesting survey by Virgin cars of the top ten first cars bought .

1.. Vauxhall Corsa 2.. Fiat Punto 3.. Ford Ka 4.. MG ZR 5.. Ford Focus 6.. Ford Fiesta 7.. Renault Clio 8.. Vauxhall Astra 9.. Ford Transit 10.. Volkswagon Polo Now how many kids do you know bought a tranny van as a first car? the first three are more predicatable! Derek

Probably the ones who play in rock bands... I'm serious, I know quite a few, and my daughter is one. Already her PA rig fills the back of our MPV, and she's not yet 16!