16 replies to this topic

[lukepilot]

I've finally turned 17 a couple of weeks back, and to celebrate that and christmas I'm getting a classic mini. Which models will have the lowest insurance? I'd love one with a 1.3 and a walnut dash but I understand you can't have everything on your first wrecker of a car

 

Thanks everyone for the help

 

Luke

[HarrysMini]

Walnut dash you can add afterwards so don't worry about that for now. 

 

If you want a 1.3, I would suggest buying one that has a 1.3 as standard, that way insurance will be cheaper than if you put a 1.3 in a 998 car. Something like an early 90s carb Cooper would be good. Or one of the later 1.3i injection Coopers are also OK. You can also get non Cooper 1.3s such as Sprites. A non-Cooper is likely to be cheaper for insurance but I doubt it'll make a huge difference.

[Tamworthbay]

Moved to insurance for you.

[lukepilot]

I always thought coopers would be expensive on insurance Harrysmini but thanks for the information :)

 

Also thanks Tamworthbay :)

[Tamworthbay]

Get some quotes before you buy! There can be a massive difference in price between models. There aren't many 17 year olds with 1275s and the reason for that is mostly the cost of insurance not the cost of purchase.

[sonikk4]

It all varies on where you are situated, where the car is kept etc etc. so for one person where he lives it can be cheap but for other areas there can be a vast difference in price.

Ring around for quotes is the surest way to find out whether you can afford a 1275 over a 998.

[HarrysMini]

For me personally it was between £30 and £100 difference between a 998 and a 1275.

[Tamworthbay]

For me personally it was between £30 and £100 difference between a 998 and a 1275.

just out of interest Harry, who did you get the quotes off? I was just wondering as with you only being 16 and a way off 17 most companies won't quote. They usually want you to be a month off your birthday. If other companies are prepared to quote early it could be useful for some of the younger members on here.

[HarrysMini]

 

For me personally it was between £30 and £100 difference between a 998 and a 1275.

just out of interest Harry, who did you get the quotes off? I was just wondering as with you only being 16 and a way off 17 most companies won't quote. They usually want you to be a month off your birthday. If other companies are prepared to quote early it could be useful for some of the younger members on here.

 

I just changed my birthday so that I look 1 year older. And the quotes were from almost every insurer I can think of.

[Tamworthbay]

For me personally it was between £30 and £100 difference between a 998 and a 1275.

just out of interest Harry, who did you get the quotes off? I was just wondering as with you only being 16 and a way off 17 most companies won't quote. They usually want you to be a month off your birthday. If other companies are prepared to quote early it could be useful for some of the younger members on here.

I just changed my birthday so that I look 1 year older. And the quotes were from almost every insurer I can think of.

Ah I see! be careful of doing that as insurers can see that as making a false declaration (even if you don't carry it through). It can also cause problems if you go back to the same company and the numbers don't match. That is one sure way to massively bump up your premiums! of course someone could just make up completely different details, but unless you are accurate on address etc it's not going to be a very accurate quote.

[willava182]

Go with privilege insurance!

 

Im 17 1275cc 100,000 miles limit

 

£1500 for my own insurance fully comp! (sounds bad but its the best i got on any car)
 

Also add your mum dad, gran ect, it bring the cost down quite a bit!

[HarrysMini]

Go with privilege insurance!

 

Im 17 1275cc 100,000 miles limit

 

£1500 for my own insurance fully comp! (sounds bad but its the best i got on any car)
 

Also add your mum dad, gran ect, it bring the cost down quite a bit!

That's a bloody good quote!

[Tanya]

I have to admit I can't work out how insurers come up with their figures. I have twin boys who were 17 in October, one has a standard 1984 998cc Mini, the other a standard 1988 998cc Metro. They were both looking for TPF&T and ended up with completely different policies, about £500 difference in price although when they pass, the policy prices will end up similar.

Another thing I learned to my frustration was that prices seem to change at the end of the month, so I thought that I had got the polices sorted out only to go back two days later (in a new month) to find everything had changed.

It seems to me that you can only really get an accurate idea of price when you are ready to insure, which is really unhelpful if your trying to work out which models you should be looking at. I could quite imagine that with some insurers and some times, there won't be a big difference between 998cc & 1275cc.

I have heard (haven't the foggiest if it is true or not), that Coopers are more expensive to insure (with the same engine as a Mayfair), purely because of their name. Also, I have heard (again, don't know if it's true) that if you buy a Mini that originally was a 1275 but had an engine change and is now a 998, insurers count that as a mod and it can go against you.

I'm just grateful that I'm in my forties and when I buy a car, insurance is the last thing I need to think about.

[lucas1amps]

Metros are alot cheaper to insure i found when i was 17 cost me £500 3rd party from footman james and was £800 for my 850cc mini a year later.

[IainStallard]

I found that any cooper was much more expensive to insure than a non-cooper