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Guy I used to work with lived in one of the less salubrious areas of town not too far from me and woke up one morning to find out someone had stolen his bonnet. True story.
Ridiculously, 18 months ago I could've had insurance on a 3.2l V6 Audi A3 at £630.
EDIT: OK, I've just proven it - if I lived next door (neither of the people living in that house have a licence), the insurance on that same Puma is £810. They're basing it on this house, or the only driver living in it. Cockends.
As re. those Audis, the old man had one (V6 Quattro) and I wouldn't recommend one as a first car - brutally, brutally quick but snappy clutch and characteristically over-keen VAG brakes meant it wasn't the easiest drive. Fun for your £630 though
I wouldn't have got the V6 A3 - it was just a matter of curiosity, really I'm looking at 1.2 - 1.7 cars. Ideally, I'd have a 1.4 Puma; fun to drive, not too quick, reasonably economical. Also relatively thin, so easier to fit between our not-very-wide gateposts; the first time I land it on the fence, the wife's going to give me all sorts of shit because I've - somewhat short-sightedly - taken the piss mercilessly every time she's done it (at least once for every car she's ever owned).
I wasn't trying to be a smartarse about the Audi, I'm certain you'd be just fine; it was overpowered though. Horrible in traffic, it came together once you were driving it hard but by then you were well the wrong side of the law.
I never had a go in a Puma, but I did have a bash at the cooking Fiesta whose platform it shared which was a fantastic steer itself, leading me to believe the Puma deserves its fine reputation.
For me, my sister and brother in law lower it more than my parents did. Until this year when it cost more having them on so now the policy is just me. £420 fully comp.
Cheapest i've ever paid was £100, most expensive was £1,100 (first year of driving, 18, 9 year old rover metro)
My advice, get an old car. Something from 1995 will probably be considered as a classic car now - as long as the car is 21 years old and you're over 25 the insurance will be about £100 - you do have limited mileage and some companies insist that it's not your primary vehicle, you also don't get an annual 'no claims bonus' as the insurance is cheap enough anyway.
Just tried - with my dad on the policy, as above - on a 1994 Honda Civic 1.6, with 5000 miles annually. The best price was £944 with a £300 excess.
That said, I've always desperately wanted a Lotus Carlton...
try your theory and put in Bradford city centre as the post code for a 17yr old and see...
Or, thinking on it - you could just get a brand new peugeot with that 'just add fuel' scheme, works out cheaper in some cases than paying insurance alone.
I live in lovely Doncaster. Known throughout the UK as a centre of culture, technological advancement and having the lowest crime rate in Europe. No wait, it's a shithole.
First lesson was last Thursday, in flat country with 80mph winds. Entertaining. Stalled it five or six times, even I'd describe my clutch control as "fucking terrible". Most other stuff was OK - BSM do this "rating out of five" thing for how much prompting or intervention you need, and everything was a 4 or 5 except clutch control (which was a 3).
Second was today. Much better on the clutch, got all the parking manoevres right first time, had a bit of fun figuring out exactly how hard I could push the car (turns out "not far" is the answer to that - it's a 1.3l Astra). Stalled it once, but restarted the engine while we were still moving and pulled away before anybody behind us really noticed.
Got 5 on almost everything (that's "does the job without prompting"), the rest were 4...and then she decided that, since it'd gone so well in Peterborough, I'd have to drive home on the A1, with a nasty crosswind, and goddamn lorries bouncing all over the road.
Oh well, I'm still alive. Which is nice.
Still at the stage of thinking about some things instead of them being automatic responses. Most gear changes are fine, but roundabouts are a bitch...changing gear half way round while watching the mirrors, drifting across lanes, checking mirrors and signalling sends my brain into "ohfuckohfuckohfuckohfuck" mode. Still, didn't hit anyone, so I count that as a win.