Driving 2 years today

I'll be hitting 2 years passed in February. So far I've had no incidents other than some idiot reversing into my car in a supermarket car park and not even bothering to leave me a note. I've basically learned that everyone else on the roads apart from me is to be treated as if they're a complete moron who could do something unexpected at any minute.

I can't put into words how much I'm looking forward to replacing my first car (Fiat Seicento, it was a freebie) when the insurance runs out.
 
22 years this month!
First Time pass with 1 minor (use of gears I think)

Car 1 - A Reg Ford Fiesta Pop+ - Burst into Flames on Robinhood Roundabout, right outside the Fire station :D (put me off Fords for life!)

Car 2 - A Reg Mini Mayfair - Made a Cooper Replica out of it, 998cc Twin 1.75" SU Carb with Pancakes, LCB to 2" straight through Center Exit SS Exhaust, Cooper Seats and Interior (from a Breakers) Front Discs and Servo (from Breakers) Loads more stuff... Loved it till someone stoved in the passenger door in a carpark whilst I was off shopping!

Car 3 - N Reg Cooper Monte Carlo (LtdEd) - Stonkin!, but impractical living out in the sticks.

Car 4 - J Reg Honda Concerto 16-16 (Rover 216GTi) - Better built than the Rover version, went like stink, some old bloke stoved in the back whilst I was sat at a Red light J16 M4 (I nearly killed him for it!).

Car 5 - R Reg Honda Accord Si - Old Mans Car!. Some plastic Window White Van Man Spun me sideways on a roundabout whilst he was trying to talk on his phone! He tried claiming 50/50, but as I was on the roundabout and he didn't stop at his line (plus being on the phone, which the coppers noted as the time of his last call!) he copped the lot and lost his job!

Car 6 - 53 Plate Honda CRv Sport - My First New Car, Did 87,000 miles in the first 2 years! Then I drove into someone in Asda Walmart's carpark :(

Car 6a - 01 plate Rover 214 Bubble - My second car as the Honda was costing a packet to get me to work - Bought for £400 Sold for £550 :D

Car 7 - 02 Plate Honda Civic Vision - Loved this car! Lasted me from 22,000 miles to 116,000 miles! Technically also Car 8 as I sold it to my Brother in Law then bought it back when he got a company Car!

Car 8 - 13 Plate Fabia Greenline Estate - My Current Car (and second Brand New Car!)... Had it 14 weeks!! Loving it so far! :)
 
ive been driving 9 years and have 9 years no claims. Im 27 and have had 3 cars, 1st was a 1.4 corsa sri mk 3 (2004) nippy little car, and was a lease from work so i was paying £49 a month for insurance-not bad at 18 lol. Then onto the 996 c2 and now at the 996 turbo the family car.
 
Im 26 and have been lucky to have driven some nice cars for my age, aswell as owning a few (thats what being in a motorsporty family does!).

Car 1- Daewoo Kalos

Car 2- Focus ST170

Car 3- Evo IV

Car 4 (for track) Caterham 7

Car 5- Toyota MR2 MK3

Car 5- Audi RS4 shared with father!

Car 6- BMW Z3

Car 7 (current)-350z


Looking to do a MGB GT for track soon.

Lessons learnt-do all your car control on track, for safety, and for the fact that you cannot drive properly on UK roads anymore!

Cool story OP.
 
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I learnt to drive in 1996, and 3 weeks later binned my mum's Audi 80 into a bridge parapet and a telegraph pole. :o

Spent a while then with the only vehicle I regularly drove being a massive VW LT-wagon, which teaches you a bit about road positioning, and taking account of width and wheelbase!

For my own cars, I have had:

Vauxhall Astravan - absolute shed, should have already been in a scrapyard when I bought it, and went to one a year later despite having had the engine, radiator, two doors, fuel tank, and several others parts replaced.

Volvo 440 - Terrible car for an 18 year old to drive in theory. But in fact, same price to buy and insure as an Astra which was so much worse a car in every way, it's not even funny.

Mitsubishi Colt GTi-16v - Did eventually decide the Volvo image wasn't great, and went for a boy racer hot hatch.

Alfa 145 Cloverleaf - Still hot hatch, but a bit classier and a bit rarer. Never made a conscious decision, but I don't seem to have been able to move away from Italian cars since I bought this in about 2002.

Fiat Coupe 20VT - Stonking car.

Alfa 156 GTA sportwagon - Still got this, owned for nearly 7 years. It's an excellent mix of practicality (albeit not in terms of running costs), looks, sound and pace. Hard to see me changing it any time soon either. To find anything with similar qualities to replace it, I'd have to pay about 3 times the cost.

I would say that, throughout my driving life, I've always been able to look back and think "Christ, I was nowhere near as good a driver then as I thought I was."
There's no reason to believe that the same won't be true in another 2 years looking back to now. So it's good to recognise that you've improved, just don't ever think you've reached the end of that road!
 
Been dirivng 8 years.

First car was a 99' MK1 Focus (1.6). Owned it for 4.5 years/40K miles or so and loved it to bits. Had a few minor issues, but nothing I wasn't able to fix myself, and it never once failed to start on me or left me stranded.

Second car was an 06' MK3 MX5. Great fun, and driving with the roof down on a clear night still counts as one of my favourite driving experiences to date. Owned that for 2.5 years and put about 42K miles on it after getting a little tired of living with the MX5 every day; fun on the open road, but a little tiresome when I spent 95% of my time commuting in it or sitting in traffic.

Now onto my third car - GT86. So far it's as fun as the MX5, but more powerful and a more comfortable car to live with. It was also almost brand new when I bought it, so hoping to own it for a good few more years :)
 
I've been driving since October 06 and not once have I been pulled over by the police, no points or speeding tickets. I'm not sure why but I'm quite proud of this seeing as most young drivers get pulled from pillar to post.

My first car was a 1.1 Fiesta Mk3 it had done 65000 miles and I was owner number twelve so it must have had a hard life! Cheap to run, cheap to insure and the only things that went wrong were the battery and the ignition barrel collapsed.

My next car was a Clio 1.8 16v and wow was this thing fast compared to the fiesta but wow at the amount of time and effort to get it running reliably. Bought in 2007 and I still have it to this day although rotting away in the garage...
It taught me how to work on a car, I changed the engine on this car so many times before I decided to spend a little more money and go for a decent 2.0 Williams lump. That engine eventually after a few thousand miles of hitting the limiter quite a lot had some major issues (electrical). I bought another 2 litre engine and treated it much better and it was as reliable as any fourteen your old car was. By that time I had basically replaced everything on the car minus the shell. Eight engines later (6 x 1.8's and 2 x 2.0's) it was a reliable car and such fun to drive! Insurance was a shocker at £1350 for the first year though.

After that I decided I wanted something fast whilst also being quiet and reliable so I bought an Audi 8L S3. Although a good car it wasn't as fast as the Clio until it was remapped. It was a reliable car and looked smart and clean. I had to take a loan out for this car and when I paid it off early it started to go down hill and I couldn't bring myself to spend money on a car I didn't really love.

Now I have another newer S3 and it's a brilliant all round car again relatively cheap to run and maintain. It's now at 310/320HP and completed a very hard track day before it's remap. Unfortunately the clutch is starting to go and the cambelt needs changing in the new year!
 
Will have passed my test 9 years ago this month :D seems like bloomin ages!

first started when I was about 14/15, nagging my mum to let me drive the car over the track (dirt track lol) when coming home from school, close to a mile I think....maybe, so gave me some good starting practice :)

passed my test 8 months after being 17 with only 1 minor (for hesitating at a big round about, was a gap...I didn't take it...oh well...). Again, as soon as my instructor said I could drive with my parents in the car I got a lot of practice as it would be 30 mins drive to 6th form, so doing that at least once a day going from urban to rural gave me quite a bit of experience and a variety of road conditions.

but ofcourse like most I thought I was amazing when I passed my test, was ok to start, but then the arrogance/over confidence kicked in and looking back... I was a tool. ok on the most part my driving was alright, just I took risks or the attempting to "show off" to mates.

cars, well stated on parents 1.25 fiesta ;) then I had a 1.6 escort (hence the over confidence as I thought I was a total badass....oh dear.....) but then when that got broken into and was deemed written off, it was back to sharing the fiesta. Then parents sold that and now have the kia rio 1.5crdi that I share with them....but it's basically mine as I use it 99% of the time and spend any money on it when it needs anything :)

so at current I have almost 2 years NCB (only had own insurance since getting decent job after uni) despite a non fault claim last year (admiral said it didn't affect me.... ok...I'll buy that haha). I have zero driving offenses, though I was pulled over before for "suspicious driving" (I pulled off main road as cop was tailgating me...he picked me up further down thinking I was avoiding him haha technically I was but maybe if he wasn;t trying to give me a prostate exam with his car I would have felt more comfortable on my current path...). Had a few parking tickets....3 I think, 1 was disputed as it was for tescos and was complete BS.

things learned.... quite a lot and always learning new things, even if I don't realise it I'm sure my mind is sponging up info and data analysing. :p Soon (been saying that a lot) I shall hopefully have my own car again but waiting for an A4 that tickles my pickle....at the right price. I also try to believe in road karma and try to let people out when I can in the hope that the time I'm stuck waiting to get out of a junction some nice soul will in turn let me out :) also....if there aren't hashed yellow lines (even in places where there are) people will fill up the junction boxes with little to no consideration for the other directions of traffic.....am faced with this daily and it really grinds my gears ;)
 
I passed my test in 2007 on my third attempt. In all fairness my first and second tests had 5 & 7 minors respectively and 1 major on each. I'm not suggesting I should have passed on either occasion, but I certainly was close with both. In some manners, retrospectively passing on my third attempt possibly taught me some discipline. Perhaps not, we'll never know.

I've had six cars since passing; a Nissan Micra 1.0, Toyota Aygo 1.0, Toyota Yaris 1.33, Nissan Juke 1.6T, BMW E46 330i 3.0 and now a Renault Clio RS 200 2.0. I've had two accidents, one of which was my fault (didn't give right of way down a country lane, I was in the Aygo, crashed into an Audi TT Mk1) and the second was a colleague reversing into me in the works car park.

No points, no fines, no speed awareness courses, not even so much as a parking ticket. Never stopped by the Police (except for a routine check when the Police were stopping all vans that passed through a particular road).

What. A. Loser.

I think my learning curve, other than possibly the first 6 months, has been fairly linear. I passed in the Spring, and have had a reasonable amount of practice driving in snow and icy conditions since. I've had the opportunity to drive a few other cars and vans on the road, such as a Land Rover Defender and small vans for a previous job and a LWB transit van across the country for chipping in for my father’s business as and when required. I’ve also test drove a lot of hot hatches.

I’ve never done a track day I’m afraid to say but it is certainly on my list of things to do.

That’s pretty much my story with my experience so far, I’d like to think I’m a reasonably good driver. My general manoeuvres could do with some brushing up on, as I don’t do many miles (currently around 7,000 a year) it’s difficult to get the practice in really.

I’ve driven circa 80,000 miles in cars I’ve owned and another 20,000 in cars I haven’t, so I’m averaging 16,500 a year overall but this will drop if my current situation continues.
 
Oct, 1979. First time in a mini 850. 848cc to be exact. First reg. 1965...LOL Proper slide windows, and pull-chords for door handles. No ABS, Assisted brakes, No power steering, Headlamps like candles. Epic little car, it only cost £65 to buy so about the same as a tank of petrol today..

Seem to remember petrol being around 90p a gallon. I think the tank was only 7.5 gal so under £7 to fill up... Happy days..

I can remember my dad having a rant and saying if it ever gets to £1 the car is going..
 
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I passed my test in 2010 first time after putting it off for the best part of about 6 years, during that time I went to uni where a car wasn't necessary (or affordable!) and never really felt like getting my license as I knew I couldn't afford to insure and properly run it. When I did get my first proper job, I got the driving test out of the way and two weeks later, purchased my first car off a mate of mine.

The car was a 1998 BMW 318is which I got for the princely sum of £950. It had a horrible misfire on one cylinder, a few minor niggles, and needed a few things doing to it cosmetically to clean it up. Through it's previous years with previous owners, the car was turned from a standard Sport model, into a near enough M3 rep (as nearly all e36 318is' end up as :p) This is the car just before I sold it:



That was the best car I've had to date, I learned everything I know about cars from working on this, I got my hands dirty doing all sorts of jobs and I loved the feeling of upgrading it and feeling the differences. I spent a lot of money on it but I don't really regret any of it.

All in all, I think I had refreshed the suspension completely, fitted powerflex bushes all round, sorted a hard to track down misfire (CCV), serviced it twice, retrofitted an 18 button OBC, upgraded the I.C.E system + speakers, changed out all manner of bits that had perished, fixed little things that were broken such as trim pieces, had a new clutch + DMF fitted, installed a Supersprint Race exhaust, along with a ton of other things.

It also showed me a thing or two about driving techniques and when not to be a 'tard lol. I felt what it's like for a car to completely step out, which was scary, and at the same time taught me not to drive like a clown when the conditions don't permit it.

I now own my second ever car, which is an E46 330i Clubsport and while it's a great car in comparison, it's not nearly as fun as my old 4 banger!
 
I bought my first car almost exactly 16 years ago.
Early Nov 1997 I got a D reg 1.2 Vauxhall Nova. Got it while I was still a learner and then passed my test about a month later.

I still remember my first time on the motorway with it. Up until that point I'd only really driven at more than 30mph for short periods at a time and my first motorway journey was about an hour or so.
I came off the slip road having got used to motorway speeds and completely misjudged how fast I was coming up to the roundabout off the slip road and very nearly overshot the give way point.
Thankfully since then I've learned to adjust to differing speeds much better!

In all of those 16 years of driving I've only ever owned three cars, I guess I like to keep cars a while :)

Also, no binning of cars, no points and only one parking fine from when a mate convinced me that 'traffic wardens never come down this street on a Saturday'
 
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I started learning to drive one week after my 17th Birthday, and passed my test with no minors. At the ripe old age of 23 I now have 5 years no claims bonus and no points on my license, and have not had a single parking fine. I have absolutely zero accidents. I am however still driving my first car, a 1996 1.4 Nissan Almera GX.

I would love to get a new car and If I want to upgrade to something like a 2004 325i my insurance will be £800 3rd party F&T based on some comparison site searching. I have no idea how on earth 17, 18, 19 year olds can afford a £3000 car and insurance, it must be £1500 at least to insure something like your bmw! I am the most boring driver alive and yet my insurance would be excessive! eugh.

Don't mind me, I'm just jealous.
 
Had my licence for 2 years, no accidents, no points, one section 59 and almost 20 parking fines (only 1 paid though!) :D

Started out with a 88BHP Astra, got a Mazda 3 sport identical to the OP's, then got a Volvo 850 T5 as a second car. I then changed the Mazda for a Jaguar XJ6, kept the Volvo for a bit and then swapped it for an MR2, so right now I've got these two:

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So that's a total of 5 cars owned and I only turned 19 a couple of months ago. I've told myself I'll keep the Jag and MR2 for quite a while, but then I said that about the other ones....
 
Passed my test just over two years ago. I've done about 14,000 miles each year, never had a run in with the police. Had a note on my windscreen from my sister's neighbour the day I passed my test saying I was parked in their parking spot when I was clearly parked in my sister's allocated space, that promptly went in the bin.

First winter I didn't have a problem with, January this year I lost control of the car temporarily on ice/snow trying to leave my area. You have a choice of going up a steep hill or downhill steeply so I elected downhill as mavity would be on my side.. Only for ten seconds in this case before it worked against me. ABS going mad, but not doing anything, gaining speed rapidly and I couldn't get a gear to stop me going any faster and a kink in the road half way down the hill. Handbrake is the first thing that comes to mind, tweaked it on a bit and a bit of a flick of the steering and hoped the back end would slide the right way and it did. Got to the bottom and stopped just before the white line of the junction at the bottom as they had gritted the junction itself.

Probably the completely wrong thing to do with regards to that event, but the 306 HDI I bought in January 2010 is still here. Never had a problem with it, pulls OK when going, but useless in lower gears (no remap or anything).




Next car was to be my dad's remapped Fabia vRS, but having driven that on Saturday it handles like a boat compared to the 306. Nippy, but I'd still like some cornering ability. So I aim to follow my step-dad and get an E46 330D in the near future.
 
Started in 2005 when I passed my test with a Ford Capri 2.8i (which I still have) -



Wouldn't say I've learned anything to be honest, have had 1 minor bump & had someone else write my car off, owned my share of sheds as well as decent reliable older stuff. Spent my 1st year driving my Capri everywhere like i'd stolen it but always kept a clean licence and have since calmed down and honestly never speed (ok I learned something).

I've had this little collection of cars alongside my Capri after I retired it as a daily driver after a year or two as 16mpg was killing me.

Rover 220DS (was free & got sold for £360) -



Suspension falling to bits combined with rust saw it sold on e-bay for spares or repair.

Pug 406 LX 2.0 (Paid £360 and sold for £450) -


Was a nice car but meeting my GF saw my mileage double so sold it on. Can't say ownership was uneventful though as the timing belt snapped about 2 miles after I bought it, sold it for another Rover -

Rover 220SDi (Paid £795 & got £795 from insurance for it)-



Got thoroughly abused as you can see after me attempting some off roading where the GF keeps her horses, it was bomb proof until a van drove into the side of it and wrote it off. Used the money from the insurance plus some additional pennies to buy a MK3 Mondeo TDCi for £1400 in 2010, which despite being a "ticking timebomb" with moon mileage on the clock refuses to throw up anything but minor niggly faults.-

 
Aeleys said:
How have you afforded all of these, Generous parents? lol
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I wish! Parents paid for my driving lessons and haven't given me a penny since! Worked in a shop until I was 17, then started buying and selling electronics privately along with working for a company doing test purchasing. I don't earn that much really, but I'm at uni so I share a house and therefore don't have very high outgoings.

Also, my cars aren't that expensive - the Jag cost the most and that was only £4500
 
geekman said:
I wish! Parents paid for my driving lessons and haven't given me a penny since! Worked in a shop until I was 17, then started buying and selling electronics privately along with working for a company doing test purchasing. I don't earn that much really, but I'm at uni so I share a house and therefore don't have very high outgoings.

Also, my cars aren't that expensive - the Jag cost the most and that was only £4500
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Ah right, that's still a lot to some people :p
 
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