I'm 17 and want a Surf, Am I completely bonkers?!

[RodLeach]

i think we all have to get a grip here- Im sure the young guy said " I have been drivign 5 months now" so realistically he aint what you call an experienced driver. Also stepping froma 1.0ltr normal car to a powerful; 4X4 is a big change.
Also some people dont seem to have twigged that the cost of insurance is not all linked to the value of the car but more to the likely hood of killing/maiming someone else and the claim that would incur.

We all have seen the articles recently on the experienced driver who had a mishap and sadly his kids died and the one posted only days ago where another 4X4 driver was killed when his flipped inthe very wet weather -the risk is high from an insurance perspective.

i do hope you manage to get a something sorted

I completly agree mate, But its not about finding 'cheap' insurance.
Just realistic insurance.

I'm proof that it can be done as ive been driving 4x4's since i was 17. Other then a month or two with a 1.3 petrol engine the smallest engine ive had has been a 2.4 litre.

My insurance was expensive but still half the amount of some of the quotes mentioned.

[RodLeach]

Just sorted out my renewal for next year!



£651 with breakdown cover, legal stuff an all mods declared!



Bluewave - get a 'max power' magazine, i know there full of cr*p but they are also loaded with porno phone lines!!

I mean, insurance company details. Im sure one of those "been in jail?! like to crash cars on a regular basis?" companys could offer something worth listening to.

[biosurf]

Just found this for sale on another site.
almost tempted myself just for fun. 1.3 engine so prob somewhat lower insurance! http://www.blessedarethefew.com/Stewartslwbsuzuki.htm

he only wants £900 and its been regeared to cope with the 35" tyres! Might have to join airgunbbs to see the full ad, but to be honest theres not much info on there.

Not sure you would really want to be doing many road miles on those tyres though!

[Highlander1]

Hi I have just ploughed my way through this thread. Sorry to hear about the lack of insurance response. When My daughter was 17 I tried to put her onto my surf insurance. No change I was told she would have to be 25!

Having traded the Old girl in for a 3 yr old xtrail thingy with leather seats etc etc. I called up and got my wee lass added on as named driver extra cost £150s per year.

So she now has access to a 4x4 ok light weight soft roader with no ground clearance but it is still £12k more expensive than my old surf to buy and it does 120mph ish.

It must be something to do with the damage potential of hitting something with a 2 ton truck but i still think there is more potential for my lass to come unstuck in the x trail than is the surf which was 0-60 in well quite a lot.

I know she would be more cautious in the surf because she has been off road and driven on tarmac with the surf in the wet so she understands the dreadful road handling in the wet.

best of luck.

Cheers JB

[Nellington]

I didn't learn to drive until I was 24, Surf was my first car. Loads of places wouldn't insure me at all, the phone conversation would be fine until they asked how long I had been driving for, I would reply "about 4 hours" and the phone would go dead. The only way I could get myself insured was as a named driver on the misses insurance, still cost me nearly a grand.......

[RodLeach]

I had soo much sh!t trying to get insurance with mainstream companys.

Churchill etc etc.

My fiesta was with endsliegh. They gave me the "were one of the only ones who can insure imports" then he just came back on the phone an said "my advice is dont buy one, we cant insure you on it so you wont get insurance!"


Churchill said to me i needed to be over 21. I said "is that with having a license since 17?!" she said "no, profisional would be ok. You just need to be over 21"

Proved those barstewards wrong an all the other people who called me a dreamer when i said i wanted a 4x4

[si tate]

Every year i get my quote for my renewel, say its £450, i just ring then up & say ive had 3 other quotes & the best is £364, if you can beat that i will stay with you for another year & guess what they always seem to beat it even though the 3 quotes i gave them are bogus. EASY.

[boris]

import surfs are expensive to insure.
my last car was a vw corrado vr6 (group 18)
when i transfered my insurance over they wanted an extra £50.
when i asked why this is they simply replied,cos it's an import!
(brentacre)

[MattF]

They believe if they wouldn't actually drive the truck it would be fraud for one of them to be the main driver

They are just trying to be subtle, instead of telling you that there isn't a cat in hells chance that they are going to risk you buggering up their NCD/NCB and future premiums.

[BlueWave]

They are just trying to be subtle, instead of telling you that there isn't a cat in hells chance that they are going to risk you buggering up their NCD/NCB and future premiums.

Yeah because i'm young i'm obviously a terrible driver They're happy to let my drive their cars so they don't think I'll mess up their no claims, they just don't want to lie to their insurance company.

[Don Logan]

You rang Sureterm Direct yet mate?

0800 9993000

[hellmett]

Re

I would give "QUINN DIRECT" a wee ring young dude!

They were the cheapest for me by a loooonnnng way!

£297.00 TPF&T with 8 years NCB (they only allow 5 years though!)

Keep trying!

Gary

[bu5hwack3r]

Yeah because i'm young i'm obviously a terrible driver They're happy to let my drive their cars so they don't think I'll mess up their no claims, they just don't want to lie to their insurance company.

Haha, nice one fella.

Hope you get something sorted, looks like you might have to go small engine for a bit until you can build up some no claims.

Suzuki SJ are tough little buggars, and better off-road than a Surf, just not the most comfortable

Good luck with it.

[BlueWave]

I've been contacting more insurance companies over the last few days (including every single company mentioned in this thread) and sadly I've had to come to the conclusion that it's just not feasible with my age and experience. Maybe in a couple of years my premiums will have dropped enough to make it possible, but in the mean time I'm going to have to stick with my Corsa (Fun fact; 0-60 of over 18 seconds, which is slower than a 2.4 surf!). Thanks for everyone's help