The ONLY good thing about learning to drive later in life...

The Sweeper

Okay, I'm learning to drive, finally.

And - I'VE JUST BOUGHT MY FIRST SH!TBOX CAR!!!!!

It's a 1992 Renault Clio 1.4 Fidji, it's got 100,000 miles on it, it's rear brake shoes and drums need replacing (maybe just the shoes, if I'm lucky) and it's got a very sensitive accelerator! (Formerly owned by a boy racer. It's the big 'Halfords' battery under the bonnet that gives it away - in part... That, and the jvc stereo that's probably worth more than the car.

The benefits of having started driving while.... er... "no longer a teenager" (*cough*):

• My insurance is a song, even for a provisional first timer...
• I could pay the cost of the car out of a months wages. (It was a cheap, cheap car mind...)
• I can afford to get the brakes seen to without having to save up for six months.
• All of my mates have been driving for years so I'm not under pressure to take them joyriding.
• If I buy a car 'half my age' it's probably got 'classic motor' status.
• There's no pressure to be the first to pass my test, coz lets face it, I've already lost that race by a considerable margin.
• I'm unlikely to get a crush on my driving instructor that renders me unable to concentrate on the road.

All in all, I own an ex-boy-racer-banger of a car, and it's just bloody MARVELLOUS.

Gordon

I'll really need to start. Of course in Greece you just pay an extra few bob in bribes and ask the translator to tell you the answers.

Good luck with the test Madjy!

Curran

Dont know what to say.......
You're probably missing a part of ur manhood!
Did you feel you were missing something deep down inside of you...possibly that you missed out on the "boy becoming a man" phase (the independence of having your own car and a full licence).....is that why you bought a car??? :rolleyes:

Although all the advantages you have mentioned are justified, its still not right to think its a good time to be learning to drive age your age, if cars half your age are considered classics

Better late than never though....eh?

As for the Boyracer.....it was probably a lady owner who went to Halfords for the battery cos they fit all them things for you (like batteries, wipers, change bulbs etc)...i think!

The Sweeper

Curran wrote:

possibly that you missed out on the "boy becoming a man" phase

...I think I may still be missing out on that...

quarryman

what age are you? If you don't mind me asking.

and what's the pocket change premium?

-i'm just jealous

The Sweeper

I'm 29 this year. I moved to the UK too, so these are sterling prices.

Car was £375, insurance £375 too.

Lesson prices though - ouchies. £44 for a 2-hour lesson, and I have to take them in 2-hour slots. And I tell you, when you're just learning, a 2-hour lesson will leave you exhausted!

leeroybrown

Curran wrote:

Dont know what to say.......
You're probably missing a part of ur manhood!

It proves an interesting gender assumption with cars...

One interesting/ironic thing is that I'm young, single and male and currently driving an Opel Vectra 2.0 TD while my father is off tearing around the place in a Alfa 147 2.0 TS with really nice alloys, leather, etc paying half the insurance I am. On arriving at a friend of my fathers house the automatic assumption was that the ownership was the opposite.

To be honest, I don't think people miss out on much by learning to drive a bit later unless they need a car for transport.

Curran

True true.....was an assumption!!
But boy was it a good assumption

Now now! I wont have you saying that you dont hang around yourself...with a 2lt Vectra

Love to have a spin in your old mans car.....say its savage!!


As for JD......i wount pay insurance that is the same price of the car......get a better car....insurance wouldnt be too much extra!!

Oh on do you have a m or f driving instructor?
If female....you got a crush on her....ha ha...you said you wouldnt!

528i

Gis christ, are you not ashamed of you life driving round in a hape like that ? didn't think there was many '92's left on the road has it got personalised plates to mask the year or anything, what do the neighbours think ? do you pretend like its been abandoned outside your house or park it miles away or anything? at the very least you should maybe tint the windows (in keeping with the whole boy-racing theme) so that noone recognises you. :cool:

Curran

LOL at 528i 's comment !!!

Well i cant give much abuse about what he's drivin.....im drivin an '01 Focus
But then again i'm not 29......just over half that :eek: ...22 but was just gone 21 when i bought it.......changing later in the year or next year.......going to spend a few quid on it this time!
Looking at Audi's or BMW.....possibly a 4 X 4
Any ideas 528i....got about 15K...along with my car.....hopefully 10K...so about 25K

JD....been driving since i was 12.....not joy riding or anything.... da thought me on the beach!......Id give ya a few lessons for half the price!

Borzoi

Minesajackdaniels wrote:

...I think I may still be missing out on that...

Go you! Did the right thing starting with a POS too. Learn to drive, pass test, then buy a decent motor.

ando

Curran wrote:

got about 15K...along with my car.....hopefully 10K...so about 25K

Get a BMW, look and be an ignorant twat. It’s amazing, somehow even in today’s age, the designers in Germany forgot to put indicators on BMW's so beware when buying

Ernie Ball

Good on ya, Minesajackdaniels!

I'm a bit older still.:eek: Put it this way: I've been driving nearly as long as you've been alive.

I now have the kind of salary that enables me to buy the kind of motor I used to dream about. Nothing too extravagant, mind. I still can't afford a Porsche. And I wouldn't be primarily interested in straight-line speed: that obsession recedes with the hairline. So I just bought myself a totally impractical sports car: Toyota MR2 roadster with 1.8 VVTi (in a car that weighs less than 1000kg). No boot space whatever. Handles like it's on rails. And the straight-line speed isn't too bad: 0-60 in 7 seconds. I love it. Would I have loved it more when I was 20? Maybe.

Go on and call it a hairdresser's car. I'm old enough not to care.

The Sweeper

I never really got the chance to learn when I was younger in Ireland - just never had the money, and nobody in my family owned a car so I didn't get access to a 'practice motor'.

Now that I'm here, and I can afford to learn, I just went for the cheapest motor I could find that wouldn't be a complete POS and might last a year - it's taxed and MOTed up to the end of November, and besides, if I ding its wing mirrors, bash it when reversing, crunch the clutch and generally bop it off things, then - who cares, it's a POS!

Plus, if it starts costing me huge money to fix bits on it, at the price I paid I can just scrap it and start over.

As for the insurance - that's really not a pricey quote for a provisional driver with no NCB...

Curran

ando wrote:

Get a BMW, look and be an ignorant twat. It’s amazing, somehow even in today’s age, the designers in Germany forgot to put indicators on BMW's so beware when buying

LOL...i have noticed that....and thats kinda put me off the BMW's....so whats the story with the Opel's and Porsche's....they are Germanan engineered too?

Would love to get an Audi S3 or S4 but insurance would simply screw me! :mad:

Ah well i can always dream about getting a flash car :rolleyes: ...maybe when im 50! :eek:

ando

Curran wrote:

so whats the story with the Opel's and Porsche's....they are Germanan engineered too?

different designer team

Curran

Yeah......slightly different.....especially when you see the difference between the Opel design and the BMW design!

The Muppet

Good luck with the driving. Keep the shiny side up.

Curran

The Muppet wrote:

Good luck with the driving. Keep the shiny side up.

Id say the "shiny" side could be the roof or the underneath!

Capt'n Midnight

A guy I knew reckoned you want a car you can walk away from. That is the beauty about an older car , you don't get paranoid about every little scratch and if it gives up the ghost the garage can't stiff you cos a replacement would be cheaper. Fuel ecomony might be worse but you aren't loosing a few grand a year in depreciation. Also older cars tend to be less isolating from the enviroment. The average new car is soundproofed and comfy and airconditioned. More like a place to relax, a bit like your living room sofa with a window where the TV used to be rather than the driving seat of a lethal weapon.

Over here today I saw one of those Red cars with an L plate with barely 5mm of white left on it - an 05 D. You'd almost be tempted to slam on in front of it just to see the look on her face "Sorry love if I'da seen yer L plate I'd have left twice the normal gap to the car in fronta me 'cos I know youse are only learnin" I've heard of a few people who got brand new cars with comprehensive insurance and rolled them within the first few months and still having to pay back the car loan.


Todays word is: Bangernomics

Curran

Jasus.....hate that rolling your new motor in the first few months....

Know a lad who let his missus drive his brand new Toyota Landcruiser....i know....who lets their missus drive a new 4x4.....

Yeah she drove it into a ditch !!! :rolleyes:

Well to say the least he was a bit :mad: but i said i have no sympathy for ya ....saying i could have told ya when she asked for the keys! :rolleyes:

Curran

As for driving an old car an not worring about someone scratching it and that if ya crash it....sure it makes no difference!

True

But people take pride in their cars...and dont want a POS...nor do they want be embarrassed by the blue oil burning smoke pluming out the back of it when you start it up or the noisy exhaust and then have to drive out of the estate with it!

Cars that old....if they are not serviced properly and the timing belt is loose etc etc.....a 1.2l can be like drivin a 1.4l....

And the safety is an issue too.......prefer to be in a new clio than a 92....actually would prefer to be in something a lil more safer than a new clio too