Complete Newbie

Hi!
I turned 17 a few months ago and have been looking at cars/insurance and the cheapest quote that i have found so far was just over 3 grand!

And someone recommended looking into getting an older landy and getting classic car insurance... Im going to phone up some insurers in the next few days to see what they recommend but I am the new kid when it comes to anything landy related. But something like a landy would be ideal for me as I race downhill mountainbiking all over the country and I need to be able to chuck 2 or 3 muddy bike sin the back with tents and all our kit.

All I know is it needs to be about pre 1990 or 25 years old, or something around that usually.
What models/engine sizes etc. would you recommend for a first driver?
Im looking at spending up to about £2K... could I get a half decent one for that?

What do I need to look for when buying?

And aparantly being able to weld is almost essential... is that true?

And if you've got any other advice and/or tips then it'd be much appreciated

Cheers!

Sam

Buy a Ka.

I may be wrong, but I think you will struggle with the classic car insurance until you are 25, or all 17 year olds would be driving mk1 GTI's and such like, so the insurance companies are not daft.

I have just picked up a 90 on a C for £2500 with the 200tdi but its going to need a bit of tidying up. My insurance is £130 a year, but I am an old git, well 36 !

SBradford said:

Hi!
I turned 17 a few months ago and have been looking at cars/insurance and the cheapest quote that i have found so far was just over 3 grand!

And someone recommended looking into getting an older landy and getting classic car insurance... Im going to phone up some insurers in the next few days to see what they recommend but I am the new kid when it comes to anything landy related. But something like a landy would be ideal for me as I race downhill mountainbiking all over the country and I need to be able to chuck 2 or 3 muddy bike sin the back with tents and all our kit.

All I know is it needs to be about pre 1990 or 25 years old, or something around that usually.
What models/engine sizes etc. would you recommend for a first driver?
Im looking at spending up to about £2K... could I get a half decent one for that?

What do I need to look for when buying?

And aparantly being able to weld is almost essential... is that true?

And if you've got any other advice and/or tips then it'd be much appreciated

Cheers!

Sam

Click to expand...

Well in view of the intended use I would avoid thinking about getting a classic land rover. For £2k you would spend so long keeping the thing on the road your mountain bike will develop spider webs on the chainset.

Even looking at 200 & 300 TDis which is probably the right type of LR you coudl be looking at, then £2k is not going to buy you a vehicle which won't require some work.

As for your question about welding, Land Rovers have steel chassis and are often used in places which are not kind to steel e.g. fields, buildings sites, water. However, unless completely shot, most are recoverable. Ask yourself if the same applies to 20 year old ford escort vans?

I might get shot by others here, but I think you should wait until you have a bit more money,say £4k, when the chance of you finding some thing more decent should improve. In fact, unless you are completely sold on buying a Land Rover, then you would likely get better value for money buying a transit/vw/LDV/bedford/renault van for transporting your MTBs up and down the country.

Thanks chaps.
How much do you think I will have to spend to get a low end one in decent condition then?
I'm not going to be using it heavily and usally the car parks are only usually grass fields so I'm not going to be doing the sort of stuff I imagine most of you guys on here do... but I probably would end up in the woods with at at some point.

I dont' really mind spending more if it means I will get one in good condition as at the moment its going to cost me around £3k to get a ****ty car like a corsa or clio that only costs £500 or so. So I'd much prefer to be putting that amount into a vehicle if classic insurance will be cheaper for me.

A van would be ideal, but I can't get insured on one yet

Maybe a Range Rover?

Sam

Just one bit of advice......dont lie! Not even a little bit, and look into the companies that fit the black box to your car that prevents you driving at high risk times,m ie late frid sat nights etc, a cheaper way to insure and rack up some no claims.

Range Rover will cost the same, one of my old Labourers wanted to buy my old D reg 3.5 off me and he was looking at about £3500 to insure, for a £600 worth of car.

I have seen N/A 90s sell for £2k

Check the classic insurance out, but really I think you will struggle, like I said above,

Most classic policies state that the youngest driver must be 25!

you wont get summit good for £2k you will get a project for that which im guessing is not what your after

u need to up your budget by atleast £1k

You should look at a 0.8 matiz , dont thrash it to death , and save your money so when you are old enough with some NCB you can buy a half decent 90 !

Buy something cheap to insure and then buy a tow bar and trailer. Not so cool but will serve your needs and once you have a few years no claims go for a Landy.

which Ins co. are you using??? Pretty Please.

I'm 17 and paying £1200 a year for insurance on my landy.

But, as everyone else says you'll spend more time fixing it than driving it if you only spend £2k. I spent £1100 on mine and although i've only spent about £500 in spares on it, theres always something that doesnt work right and i have a massive list of things that need to be done, and a suspected blown head gasket now.

You are better off saving up to get a better landy in my opinion.

there are some tidy disco's out there 94 to 97 year models for around £1,500, try to find one that does'nt need too much welding. sills rear arches and boot floor are common spots to look at, i own a mint 300 tdi es model and pay around £300 fully comp, i'm 46, good luck.

Just put my peneth in here, just remember that with a classic policy you dont accumulate no claims bonus on your policy.

Quote: Buy something cheap to insure and then buy a tow bar and trailer. Not so cool but will serve your needs and once you have a few years no claims go for a Landy.

At 17 he'll be very limited to what he can and cannot tow, very grey area.