It's exactly that.

 

You ask why a 17 year old needs a car? I'm 23 now and counted down the days till I could drive when I was 16. It meant a sense of freedom, not having to rely on your parents to take you everywhere etc. I live in a pretty small market town in the Cotswolds and you need a car to get out and about due to poor public transport.

I'm sure you passed your test as soon as you could and got on the road

 

For every person like you, there are a million living in towns and cities

They want cars - I get that

They don't need them - a sense of freedom in terms of car ownership is hardly a need, although I accept it might be useful for getting to work if you live in a remote area

I passed my test at 21 actually, three years after I started working - dictated by being able to afford a car, insurance and all the other associated costs

 

Insurance has been a bugbear for years ... when i passed my test, t here was still a 50% loading for being T1 diabetic - things improved for a while but having done a few quotes, there is now a loading again and it's not 50% but it's still the same risk as epilepsy and as is always the case, any excuse for an increase is taken.

I got a quote at 25 for a 205 Gti and a R5 Turbo, both were well in excess of 3000 pounds so I bought a 1.0 Micra - which at the time was 1500 to insure - i earned the money to pay for both the car and the insurance.

My view was and still is that you drive what you can afford to run and pay for yourself, what use is claiming to be independent if you're fiddling the figures to do it.

There needs to be a grading system for cars, much the same as there is for bikes - it is laughable that some Chelsea bint can pass in a mini but transfer to a Rangerover immediately after passing a test - the fact she may be able to afford the insurance is only half of the problem.

 

Yeah that's fair enough, being a country bumpkin is a lot different to the inner cities etc where there are buses every couple of minutes haa.

I guess a car is classed as a 'privilege' rather than a necessity. Just feel as a young person insurance companies are taking the pee slightly. As in the 6 years I've been driving prices have easily tripled. Glad I've got a load of no claims under my belt

 

Just got my daughter a 2nd hand KA - insurance is just over a grand - she is the main driver and we are on the policy which reduce the premium. Knew about fronting and I'm afraid it is not what I am prepared to do.

 

It's really that prevalent. I know lots of people that have done it, many of whom you'd think wouldn't take a risk like that from a legal or moral perspective.

I will also admit that in my younger days i insured my cars at my parents house in Leicester whilst i lived, worked, and drove in London.

Thankfully, i never had to make a claim.

 

Jesus that's depressing. I'm 26 and don't know anyone my age who has been able to get on the property ladder!

I can understand it, at the end of the day "Main driver" can be interprated in a few ways and we live in such a bloomin rip off state its not suprising people will do things like this to help their kids out.

If they need to claim there's no real way it can be proved that said child is really the main driver as opposed to just borrowing their mums car for the day or whatever.

 

I bought my first place when I was 20, and am now only 25...but boy, have I had to work to get there...something many don't grasp the concept of nowadays

IIRC, Gaddafi mentioned a while ago that the younger generation seem to sacrifice their desire/need to own their own place by splashing out on a flash car instead...it would seem that this is ringing true if what you say is anything to go by. But as he also mentioned, it would appear that many aren't content with a flat or small house...they want something like their parents live in...despite the fact it takes years to get in that position.

It would also seem, to me, that parents these days are happier letting their children stay at home and supporting them to some extent because houses are expensive, but are also happy to see them buy cars that could contribute to 5-10% of a deposit...AND breaking the law so their precious diddums can get insurance for such vehicles!

Oh...it's only a bloomin' rip off state because of the twirps who insist on committing fraud in the first place! Hence why our premiums have gone up so much this year!

 

IIRC, my first car was about £400 & the insurance the same.

Adjusted for inflation/delivered necessaries, it would seem the same holds true today.

I think it's more a perception that insurance is expensive - probably because so are first cars these days.

A mate of mine bought his children old bangers for their first cars to get them started off, because he was realistic enough to know what would inevitably happen.