Swapping my car - worth it?

Captain_Slick

Captain_Slick

Captain_Slick

Associate
Joined
30 Nov 2003
Posts
2,211
Hi guys.

I currently drive a Mondeo, a 1998 mk2 Verona 1.8. Now, it's great an' everything, but I'm paying for more than I can really afford on insuring it. I've been driving for 10 months now, had the car for 7 months now.

I'm trying to find out how much it's worth, really, because I've spotted a Volkswagen Polo 1998 1.4 L, 108,000 miles, but with service history up to 101,000 and with 12 months MOT, for £695.

Do you reckon they'd take my current car for P/X and basically swap it for the Polo? The reason I ask, is that Admiral will insure me on that for the 10 months bonus accelerator scheme for basically £1000 less than I'm currently paying.

It is a lot less car, granted, but £1000 is £1000. Plus, the Polo is red.
 
You will lose your 7 months you worked towards your first years NCB but that probably will not matter if you are saving a grand.

Why don't you do some quotes for your mondeo for the next years term? You will only get 5 months less admin fees rebate on your current insurance and the second year might not be that bad.
 
Don't do it, even though the Verona isn't a particularly well specced mondeo I'd still rather have that than a 1.4 polo given the choice. You may think right now that the saving will be worth it, but give it a month and you'll be bored and want something "proper" again.

Then you are back to square one.
 
Your P/X question, I doubt it. Assuming it is a dealer, you have to remember that the profit margins of these cars are absolutely tiny. What you are effectively offering him is to exchange one worthless car that is taking up valuable forecourt space for another worthless car that is going to take up valuable forecourt space that will be more difficult to shift.

Run out the clock on your current policy, get the year's NCB and go from there? Your first year of motoring is nearly up. It is time to go up car wise, not down.
 
And other insurers?

Admiral group want nearly £800 for my 330d, I pay half that.

Also, why insure the mondeo fully comp? It's worth less than the insurance premium!
 
Captain_Slick said:
Admiral will insure my Mondeo next year, fully comp (The polo quote was TPFT), for £2000~ for 12 month, or £1800 for the bonus accelerator.

Hmm.
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1. Ouch! That is stupidly expensive for a first year driver. As someone with a year on their license and a year's NCB, that is positively insane!

2. Insuring a car you value yourself at no more than £700 Fully Comp is beyond pointless.
 
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Also, I'm currently with Quinn, so I wouldn't lose the bonus I've earnt so far if I swap my car and stay with them. They'll reduce my payments until the end of my policy by however much and then I'll have NCB for next year, and insuring the Polo with 1 ncb for tpft gives me quotes of £1531.48 on the bonus policy.
 
Joshy said:
2. Insuring a car you value yourself at no more than £700 is beyond pointless.
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Eh? No it's not, you have to pay it to cover you for liability against third parties...... you can drive a car worth £100 but you are almost certain to be paying more than that for insurance.

Fully comp I can understand avoiding if it's massively more than TPO but regardless of what the car is worth, you have to insure it and sometimes that premium will outweight the value of the car.
 
Lopéz said:
Eh? No it's not, you have to pay it to cover you for liability against third parties...... you can drive a car worth £100 but you are almost certain to be paying more than that for insurance.

Fully comp I can understand avoiding if it's massively more than TPO but regardless of what the car is worth, you have to insure it and sometimes that premium will outweight the value of the car.
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That will teach me for not re-reading before hitting submit :(. I meant to say:

Insuring a car you value yourself at no more than £700 Fully Comp is beyond pointless.
 
Joshy said:
That will teach me for not re-reading before hitting submit :(. I meant to say:

Insuring a car you value yourself at no more than £700 Fully Comp is beyond pointless.
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It's quite possible to get comp policies that are cheaper than tpft especially if you increase the excess. You also get the added benefits of windscreen cover and such. In 10 years of insuring cars I've never had a tpft policy as I've always been able to find a comp one cheaper.
 
Captain_Slick said:
Also, I'm currently with Quinn, so I wouldn't lose the bonus I've earnt so far if I swap my car and stay with them. They'll reduce my payments until the end of my policy by however much and then I'll have NCB for next year, and insuring the Polo with 1 ncb for tpft gives me quotes of £1531.48 on the bonus policy.
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Depending on your circumstances you will find that paying insurance fully, upfront will be the best move. It could save you a slab of cash at your current insurance risk level.
A few years ago on my first car it was 12 x 180 or 1 x 1800 odd. Monthly payments are not the most economical.
 
Captain_Slick said:
Neither is having to take out a loan to pay it all in one go...
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Why? I took out a £1000 loan to pay my insurance over 12 months and the total I paid back was £1080. Certainly better than the £200 odd extra which the insurer wanted. This was a couple of years ago now so I'm not sure how current rates stack up.
 
Thats absolutely bonkers man, why did you get a mondy in the first place if you couldn't get a decent insurance quote?
I can understand someone paying 2k on something nice as a first car but lets be honest a mondeo is just a bang for buck runabout.
 
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