General cinqucento as 17 year old's car - little help? insurance, sporting or sx, pricing?

[Billy Whizz]

have just turned 17, and about to send off for the provisional. during the time it takes me to gain my driving license, i am going to save up to insure the little beauty of my dreams. i have found out that the sx the 0.9 is insurance group 1 whereas the sporting 1.1 is insurance group 3. i have always had my eyes set on the sporting in yellow of course, but am willing to go 1 step lower if i means me saving money. i will most probably do a pass plus course afterwards to save a bit extra, but the insurance websites are giving me silly quotes, i really don't think something like this is going to cost me more than £2000 on insurance will it? if you could answer me some questions i would be grateful i am a sixth form student, who lives on his own with his mother, and the car would be parked on my street outside my house. i would only be using the car for getting to and from college and the occasional going places.

how much should i be quoted on either of these models?

if so is there much of a difference in premiums?

how much should i be paying for a decent secondhand cinquecento?

is there anything to look out for when buying one?

would you recommend it as a first car?

 

[whitz]

id recommend it for a first car and you should pay upto £400 for it

as for insurance £2000 sounds around right that's what they wanted from me in a "s"

 

[Steve 75]

Try confused.com for some quotes first.

I don't know how things stack up on the current 50-group insurance system, but when launched the S and SX were group 1, whilst the Sporting was Group 3 - so the difference in premiums may well be negligible.

You'll find a usable Sporting for £400-£500 - probably a bit tatty around the edges, but mechanically sound. Watch for signs of head gasket failure, evidence of a cambelt (officially 63k miles, as I recall, but I prefer to do them on around 48k) and water pump. Panel rust is likely to be cheaply repaired accident damage. Also watch for 'tapping' from the top end - that'll be valve clearances. Most people forget that the FIRE engines need re-shimming at around the same time as a cambelt, so there are lots of tappety engines out there that are easily and not too expensively silenced.

The same money will buy a better S or SX - but the Sporting is a much better car to drive.

 

[levemircento]

it never ceases to amaze me the price you youngsters are prepared to pay for having a car

I think my insurance is dear, it went up £9 this year, to £130

 

[whitz]

it never ceases to amaze me the price you youngsters are prepared to pay for having a car

I think my insurance is dear, it went up £9 this year, to £130

£9?!?!? you poor sod, better take out a new loan to cover it

i wouldn't of minded that price, but all these boy racers racing around wrapping them selves around lamp-posts with there mods are wacking it all up

 

[Billy Whizz]

it never ceases to amaze me the price you youngsters are prepared to pay for having a car

I think my insurance is dear, it went up £9 this year, to £130

ha, that's about the same my 45 year old mum pays on her polo. it's something i'm not really happy about paying, but everyone has to start somewhere i guess :/ and if it means finding a job this summer and working my tits off as i don't have the richest of parents let it be :worship:

thanks for your help so far people, really appericated

also, mods style. how should i go about doing any modifications without upping the insurance and making it look chavvy and tasteless. i was thinking of something simple like getting the original wheels sprayed black?

 

[Steve 75]

it never ceases to amaze me the price you youngsters are prepared to pay for having a car

I think my insurance is dear, it went up £9 this year, to £130

I've obviously been ripped off.... mine was £175 with mods declared and business use.

And yes, I did use the noisy little fecker to get to a meeting today.... raised a smile from my colleagues.

 

[Orgazmo]

every modification on the outside of your car will put your insurance up, trust me im 17 and i have a seicento sporting and all i want is window tinting on the back half of the car and its ridiculous nevermind putting racing decals on the sides, wait until your about 19 and then start modding as your insurance will start going down then

and dont even think about not telling the insurance company as you will technically be driving illegally and wont be covered in an accident

 

[rallycinq]

Condition is far more important than age or model.

Make sure you spend your money wisely.

Its impossible to give ideas on insurance prices as it not only depends on your age, your postcode can have a massive bearing on the quotes.

Do the internet thingy with all the comparison sites and the direct insurers. They advertise enough. Even try Asda and Tesco.

Cheers

SPD

 

[Steve 75]

Depends on the colour - yellow or with black wheels will look OK. Black with black will look rubbish. Blue is best with silver. Silver / grey cars will look OK on 'anthracite' wheels. (Charcoal grey metallic).

I think Cinqs look best if done in a very subtle way - body kits are a big no and most aftermarket wheels don't suit them. Aside from white Compomotives....

Re-badging with modern Fiat badges works quite well, I think, and if your insurance doesn't go up much, lowering helps - on a Sporting about 40mm looks good, but keeps the car usable.

This is my first one, several years back with such treatment:

 

[luke19790]

just done the insurance on my step daughters first car a cinqucento sporting, registered the car in my name but the insurance in hers about £640 tpft thats with the brake mods and wheels.

 

[ycming]

it never ceases to amaze me the price you youngsters are prepared to pay for having a car

I think my insurance is dear, it went up £9 this year, to £130

Abs no need to say things like this. IT amazes me that you are amazed a young person wants to drive a car.

Man you sound like me when i was 17 . I had always set my eye on a cinquecento and till now (24), still drives one on my third one now . And buidling the other.

When you do your pass plus, laods and loads of company will offer very generous discounts. So the comparison sites are probably not as useful in this case. Have a search on google with "UK pass plus insurance scheme", it will bring up laods of insurance site that is in the sheme. So that should be the first place to look.

For myself, my first insurance quote was £1400, but norwich union offer a 49% discount, so i piad just over £700, which is not bad at all. OH and i started with a 899. It was such a fun car to drive! And it lasted me 4 years (from 6th year all the way through uni) with minimal maintenances and the car taught me everything i know in terms on how to fix it (or break it most of the time ).

Hope this helps! and good luck on the hunt! Do post up on the car you will buy or look at here. Loads of members could comment advise on it .

Ming

 

[SeanW]

A list of insurers currently offering Pass Plus discounts is included with the Pass Plus certificate in the post

As for insuring your car, tips to bring the cost down generally go something like this:
- Add an older driver to the policy, parents are usually useful for this (if they have a clean license/no claims - even better lol)
- If you intend to drive only a few miles a year (for example, my car averaged 5000 per year before I got it lol)
- Offer high voluntary excess (Quinn have a fixed excess as far as I can tell, I wasn't asked what I wanted, I was told it's £250 lol)

Quite a few people I know have found Quinn to be among the cheapest from comparison sites. Some say don't use them, but they are quite good. Some insurers don't use them, but chances are, they'll be aimed at the older driver - I tried several and got ridiculously high quotes back from them (Direct Line wouldn't even give me a quote!!).

Unfortunately, the only way to get cheap, cheap car insurance is to be older, with many years no claims built up and a group 1 car driving only a few miles a year whilst living in a very nice area with a nice secure garage lol

 

[AppleSei]

The curveball offered here is do you really need the car right now?

'Occasional use and to get to college and back' - unless you live in the middle of nowhere there is surely a bus service that goes to college or nearby

Occasional use - maybe get a lift.

It might sound boring but you will be building your NCB up

Got a mate who passed his test 7 years ago and hasnt even been behind the wheel since he passed his test, he has just bought his first car what he wanted and had his heart set on (abeit a newer version) and his insurance is less than £500 on an 18 month old car

 

[Orgazmo]

your no claims bonus doesnt go up if you arent driving/insured by the way,

 

[clock34]

when i was 17 on a sei sporting they wanted 2200 so i went on my dads policy. now im 21 on my own with a new engine and many other mods its 860 quid with european cover and i get 1 year no claims for every 6 months i drive haha

 

[Billy Whizz]

The curveball offered here is do you really need the car right now?

yeah i think it is the right time to start driving, i used to be a fanatic of cars when i was younger, and having constantly been getting the bus, i've got to the point where i'm fed up of waiting for the things to show up. my mum mentioned about me insuring her as a second driver, so i guess that will be handy. i would like to drive everywhere frequently, i just ment i wouldn't be ragging it around like a boy racer.

thankyou for all your help, such a friendly little forum here

just one last question though, how much should i put down as estimated annual mileage, about 5000?

 

[rallycinq]

just one last question though, how much should i put down as estimated annual mileage, about 5000?

Thats only 100 miles a week. That is going to limit your options in 11 months time.

Cheers

SPD

 

[AppleSei]

your no claims bonus doesnt go up if you arent driving/insured by the way,

doesnt it? how does the insurance company know this? You havent claimed etc

Maybe his age now is a big factor then.

Either way the point mainly was to illustrate that occasionally the resist of the temptation to go all in early doors in your driving career and waiting and saving, the benefits can be reaped later

 

[ycming]

doesnt it? how does the insurance company know this? You havent claimed etc

Maybe his age now is a big factor then.

Either way the point mainly was to illustrate that occasionally the resist of the temptation to go all in early doors in your driving career and waiting and saving, the benefits can be reaped later

Age it is a big factor, but he is indeed correct. From my experiences when you tell the insurance you have X number years of no claim, they would need to see proof of that from your previous insurer. So if you never had an insurance policy before, am not sure where he is going to get the proof.

Ming