@paulsimmonds60 Nae bother man, if your phoning up about the merc it'll still be astronomical. If you want an experiment just pick a small car you see out your window or on auto trader and get a quote for that to see the difference. Think 1.2l MAX.
Tbh even without your convictions I reckon a lot of insurers simply wouldn't insure an 18yo on that car =/
@paulsimmonds60 Hope you have learnt your lesson. Two quite serious offences for an 18 year old. From a finance side you should you just get additional driver cover and worry about your no claims later. Otherwise you are going to be paying thousands upon thousands. Probably way too much to actually ever justify having a car in your situation.
@paulsimmonds60 It’s not happing unless you’re on a footballers wage. Furthermore no disrespect to your dad. Its not a good idea to be trying to drive a car of that prestige when you have no significant experience behind the wheel. Plus the running costs will just eat your money.
Get something like a fiesta or a Corsa with a 1.2 litre engine and when you start to have maintenance costs on those you’ll realise how much of a bad choice you would made trying to go for a Mercedes.
@paulsimmonds60 I was asking a similar question here awhile back, I have a recent conviction for Intent to Supply Class A Drugs, and I'm 20. Cheapest insurance I found anywhere is £2500 on a 10yo Volvo saloon. Honestly in your situation getting a Merc is a very bad idea. I ended up just sticking to motorbikes and now pay £450 a year on a 125cc which is plenty for my commute. I most likely will not be able to afford a car until my conviction is spent. If you truly need a mode of transport that's what I suggest if you want anything that's going to be reasonable. Otherwise you're just fucked.
@paulsimmonds60 There are some insurance brokers who specialise in convicted driver insurance. I have no personal experience with them, I simply know they exist.
It might be worth skipping the comparison sites this time (after all, they cater primarily for the 'average' driver, which you are not) and have a google for that.
Ultimately you might be best off with a cheap, uncool runabout until your insurance history improves.
@paulsimmonds60 I'm just going to throw my own experience in here for you to think about.
I passed my test in 2014 at age 23 and didn't get a car until 2017 at 26. Even though I was over 25 my cheapest insurance for a 1.4 TDI polo was £1,400, and that was because I paid it all in one go and had a tracker fitted. After I got a years no claims it went down a fair bit but was still close to £1,000. What I'm saying is that at 18 you are unlikely to get anything reasonable for a car like that until you've at least got some no claims years under your belt, that's not even taking into account the convictions you have.
I'd reccomrnd you get a cheaper run around car until you build up decent enough NCD. The way this sounds for you at the moment is that you cannot afford it, or if you can afford it it is so absurdly high you'd be a fool for doing so.
@paulsimmonds60 You’ve got 2 convictions pal, that’s going to be the biggest killer not to mention your trying to insure a AMG class Mercedes (albeit only a CLA 200) there’s no chance you’ll get any decent quotes. Best option get a different car, doesn’t seem like money is a problem if you’ve got a 2018 Merc so do what everyone else does and get a banger for the first year.
I’m 19 now with 1 years NCB got a Audi A5 3.0T V6, got about 300bhp and eats everything on the road and looks nice so just wait a year then get looking. £1600 fully comp direct line
@wherelovegoes That's actually crazy for someone our age, a 3L is out of the question, was that the first car you bought? I was speaking to my pals mum who is a lawyer, and she said you can't be penalised for the points if they're expired. So when they expire at the end of this year do you think my premium will reduce?
@paulsimmonds60 First off insurance is stupid, can’t be said enough especially for young drivers... I figured I could either get a £200 Micra and pay £1600 to insure it or get what I wanted which was a (albeit abit more than the micra) 2010 Astra 1.9CDTi with 150BHP and still pay about the same insurance.
First couple years of atleast the first year of driving and you’ll need to have a black box, it’s stupid but it’s how it is and the only way to get insured for cheap(er). As for your points I can’t say as I don’t have any convictions however I do have 2 claims and after a few months they won’t have much of an impact even though you still have to mention them.
Edit: just to add about how insurance is stupid, I had a 2003 BMW 325Ci between the astra and the A5 and the BMW was £300 more to insure compared to the A5 and the A5 has 100+ more BHP. MAKES NO SENSE
@wherelovegoes Yeah that's the the thing, I'd rather pay £200 more to drive the car I want to drive than a tin can. My mate has a 1.4L Astra GTC, and £2055 was the cheapest quote he could get and he has a clean record, to put it in perspective a CLA 180 is £2033 for me to insure with my convictions. Which just shows how great insurance companies are at reasoning.
I am happy to get a blackbox but I'm not going to drive like an idiot. But yes I agree insurance is silly stupid, but you've had some nice cars for someone your age, and it seems like you enjoyed them too.
@paulsimmonds60 Yeah I’m big into my cars, had an 1995 MR2... went like a rocket and you could get the back end out on it aswell loads of fun but got pulled out on which wrote it off instantly but this stuff happens. Honestly £2k for first years insurance isn’t unheard of, definitely reasonable given the vehicle and convictions.
Edit: It’s not reasonable at all but I think you get what I mean given that insurers just pull most quotes out their arse anyways.
@wherelovegoes I mean most people getting insured on 1litre-1/4litre my age their insurance ranged from 1.4k-2k, and I think it's ok because of my own convictions in the past but like you said, the do pull quotes from their arse. What's your plan on your next car, and how old are you?
@paulsimmonds60 Next plan is to run the A5 for a while, it’s the perfect car for me with more than enough power, the Audi Quattro system also helps it handle like its on tracks... Thinking of getting a Nissan Navara some point towards the end of the year and running that along side my Audi as the daily... 19 currently and 20 in Feb, started from nothing and pay for all my stuff myself no hand downs at all so it can be done!!!
@paulsimmonds60 Everyone's throwing in their two-bob here. They're all pretty much right, I'm only about 5/6 years older than you and definitely thought about doing what you're doing at 18 except it was motorbikes for me, it's honestly not worth it UNLESS you spend so much time behind the wheel (6+ hours per day) that it'd make sense.
I spend around 8 hours per day in my car due to the nature of my job so I went out and bought an RR Velar a couple months back over the "sensible" option, all in my car costs £550 for the lease and another astronomical £425 for insurance (business insurance over 20,000 miles) and I have 3 points in my first 2 years of driving.
I can afford it comfortably while still saving a couple grand a month and overpaying on the mortgage but it was more about the comfort and enjoyment levels with how long I was spending in the car, so even if you don't get the Merc be mindful that sometimes the enjoyment/comfort factor is important as well.
@paulsimmonds60 On paper you're high risk. There is no changing that. When you're young you just have to accept that sporty fancier cars are not something you can get insured on unless you're prepared to pay a higher insurance cost.
You say the car is to be shared with your dad and you'll pay "towards it". If it's your car you pay for it. If your father is paying more than it's his car. Insurance companies are well wise to the "dad is registered keeper but really it's the son/daughters car" putting your name first on the insurance won't fool them.
Your convictions will be there for 4 years so the premiums will remain high during that time. Totally not worth it. Build up no claims on a smaller engined less tarted up car like everyone else did. The only "secret" to how some others have a flashy car when they start driving is their parents throwing money at them (or they bury themselves in debt with insurance and loan/hire purchase payments)
@paulsimmonds60 There's no financially sensible way of doing this. Your best bet is to get a much more low key, cheap car and get a few years under your belt before trying for something sporty.
@paulsimmonds60 I would echo the advice others here have given. A car is the second most expensive purchase you are ever likely to make after a house, this is especially the case if it is a new one. Also, unlike a house, a car will depreciate faster than a boulder with another boulder strapped to it. Driving it that 10 feet out of the showroom will probably cost you more than 12 months of petrol to run the thing.
You may see lots of expensive cars rolling around and think that is an indicator of success and something we should all aspire to. In reality what you're actually seeing is debt on wheels.
If in 5-10 years down the line you've started a successful career and you have disposable income up the wazoo, even then I would say a new car is an extravagance but at that point you would not be living beyond your means in order to afford one, which you absolutely would be at 18 in 99.9% of all cases.
