71 replies to this topic

[Bromie]

I've only just joined this forum, just so i can ask everyone here for some much needed advice!

I'm 20 in November, and don't have a car yet. However, i'm saving my university student loan this year (second year - Automotive Engineering) so that i can buy a car by about June next year. I have looked at so many classic cars that fit my price range (about £2600), and finally settled on a (red?) Austin Mini Cooper.

I wanted a car that sounded nice (modern cars are really boring), looked interesting, and was quite reliable and cheap to run (but still allowed me to tinker about with it, without me accidentally rewiring the fuel line to the dash vents). After looking around, the Mini seems like that car. Also, i was hoping to try and make it look like a Mini from the Italian Job (bonnet belts, three spot lights, mesh light covers, etc.) without buying a Cooper S, which i think is out of my price range. I have looked in plenty of places and have found thousands of Coopers that fit my requirements, with most recently restored or in good, rust-free conditions.

However, the massive problem i'm having is finding insurance quotes that don;t cost as much as the car! I've looked at Confused.com, Footman James (don't insure < 25), Tesco, Admiral and hundreds more, but they all quote around £2600!!! (except Admiral - that was £1700 third party). I'm 19 (will be 20 when i get car), no convictions, crashes or general naughtiness, passed in Feb 2006, am at university, etc, etc. In other words, a perfect candidate for insurance except for the NCB (named driver on mum's car). I even tried putting my dad (everything clean, passed '87) on as a named driver, which reduced the price by about £200. But, no matter what i do, i just can't find a reasonable quote for insurance.

I was reading the thread on how much drivers under 20 were quoted for their Mini's, and they all seem to get £500 - £1000 somehow, which i get nowhere near. The thread was from 2005, but has insurance changed that much in 2 years?

So basically, i'm asking anyone around the age 19 who has insured a Mini of any kind to come forward and help me find a quote i can afford. I've tried everything, so was wondering how the people i've been reading about have gotten quotes so low. Any help would be tremendously appreciated.

Thanks,
Dan.

P.S. Forum looks really helpful for when (if?) i get a Mini!

[Jammy]

Grrrrrr, I'm really tempted to close this thread! We have many many many topics on insurance, which a search will bring up.

No one can recommend an insurance company to you (waits for everyone to post recommendations anyway ) because insurance premiums will be different for everyone!

A Cooper will be much more expensive on insurance, get a bog standard mini! Preferably a 998 if you want low insurance, and don't modify it. Since your 19 you can try the more specialist companies like HIC (we get 15% off with them), as we do with Adrian Flux, and Sureterm. Other specialist companies include Liverpool Victoria and Footman James.

But seriously, you need to getting ringing around really!

[Mini_Magic]

(waits for everyone to post recommendations anyway )

"For even cheaper car insurance, it's elephant dot co dot uk!"

Edited by Mini_Magic, 18 September 2007 - 01:38 PM.

[Guess-Works.com]

You will also get your insurance cheaper if it's not your 'primary' car... sometimes it can work out cheaper to have 2 cars ! well that's the excuse I use anyway...

Also being > 19 does open the doors to HIC (Miniworld car insurance), I would strongly suggest you contact them, I have all my minis insured with them.

[Pie]

HIC or Adrian Flux, as everyone suggests on every insurance thread.

I wanted a car that sounded nice (modern cars are really boring), looked interesting, and was quite reliable

Since when has a mini been reliable LMAO

[stanley and naomi]

tesco value insurance and dont get a cooper if you want cheap insurance get a 998cc

[GoonerMini]

I think these days if you are under 25 it doesn't matter much what the car is, it will be expensive.

[Jammy]

I wouldn't say that, I'm 22 and I can do whatever mods I want to my Minus, my premium will still only be £270!

[Big_Adam]

My next car (if I ever freeking get it home) insurance is going to be around £215. I'm only 21 with 1 years no claim...or did I put two.

[Bromie]

Thanks for all the quick advice!

Except for the second post - the reason i started this thread is 'because none of the other posts were that recent (insurance quotes are very different when compared to a few years ago), and didn't answer the specific questions i had in mind.

Anyway, i was under the impression that the 998cc Mini (is that the standard Austin 7/Morris Mini Minor with the bigger engine) was a bit slow when compared to the Cooper. I've looked at every possible bit of info. about the Mini, and am relatively knowledgeable about the model history, but am still unsure about a few things. Is the 998cc the 35hp (slow) model, as the Cooper had 50hp didn't it?
I know the Mini isn't exactly a GT40, but still wanted it to feel as nippy as a modern hatchback (i've been driving my mum's Mk 2.5 1.1 Punto for a few recent months). Is the Mini sometimes unbearably slow, or can it be compared, speed-wise, to some modern cars?

Thanks again for the advice. I'll try those recommended insurance companies with the 998cc Mini and see what they give. Hopefully it'll be around £1000 (...).

[Mini_Magic]

Except for the second post

Er...I was recommending elephant.co.uk as they were much cheaper for me than any other insurer, just happened to tie it into a joke.

[Bromie]

Sorry! Didn't mean you. I meant the third post (second after mine).

[Jammy]

Well I'll just go and delete all the advice I gave you anyway then (which most then repeated anyway!)!

Well it seems you have a choice, either get a faster engine and pay for the higher insurance premium, or you put up with the slower 998 engine for a year and save a load on insurance.

I believe your general question was asking if anyone could find you a company that will give you an affordable insurance quote (something that HAS been asked hundreds of times). The answer to that being no, no one but yourself will be able to find you the cheapest insurance company, because, as I said in my post, every insurance quote is different and specific to each person/car.

[Phaeton]

It would help if you weren't a student & was employed nudge nudge wink wink.

Alan...

[Mini_Magic]

Ok well I have a Cooper Sportspack with mods declared at 19 with no no-claims bonus and I'm paying £1100. You really should be able to get a standard 998 at 19 for quite a bit less than that. Like I said, try elephant.co.uk because no other insurer could seem to even get close to £1100 for me.