The wife has her first car. A couple of questions, if you will.

Droolinggimp

Droolinggimp

Droolinggimp

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The wife passed her test 5 weeks ago, or there about, so naturally, we have been broke like most of the UK and were forced to window shop a car for the family. Until today that is. We went to the local dealer to view and test drive a Ford C-Max he had in that we had an eye on for good few days. She really liked it, good size for us and the 3 kids and potential dog in the near future. So, she signed for it today. A couple of bits they are going to do to it before handing it over and its all ours/hers. Not got the insurance yet as we are literally waiting till Friday when her banked shift pay is put into her bank.

The only reason we have decided to get a car is that we have both stopped smoking. We were spending going on £300 per month on baccy/filters etc. that money right there was our budget. Car is in good nick, her brother is a mechanic and he had a look over before she bought it. 60 plate 48k miles, £4500 iirc. It was an ex Motability car, so a full service history.
Anyway a couple of questions.

Dashcams. What one? What are the options these days?
green L plates. Are they really worth their while?
Anything a first time driver should know or have in the car?

More questions will pop up I guess but thats it for now.
 
Dashcam, is this really essential if money is tight?

The P plates depend entirely on her confidence, use them if she isnt that confident behind the wheel, theres no harm. People do take notice.
 
shifty_uk said:
Dashcam, is this really essential if money is tight?

The P plates depend entirely on her confidence, use them if she isnt that confident behind the wheel, theres no harm. People do take notice.
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She is confident but I think its mainly because of having 3 kids in the car at some point very soon. like many I will imagine it will take a few drives to be used to the car. Money isnt tight, it was tight when we smoked but now we have stopped, its all good.
 
Ah, understood :)

Keep the P plates on for a period of time. I wouldnt say a dashcam is an essential purchase but others might disagree. The priority should be getting her use to the car and confident driving, invest in some kit later.
 
Droolinggimp said:
She is confident but I think its mainly because of having 3 kids in the car at some point very soon. like many I will imagine it will take a few drives to be used to the car. Money isnt tight, it was tight when we smoked but now we have stopped, its all good.
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I mean a dash cam isnt going to help your kids if you have an accident...if you crash...you crash. All that does is help with the insurance and as useful as they are you can usually tell who's at fault without the need for one...apart from at a roundabout.

You be better off putting that money in good car seats tbh or given the prices at the moment...fuel.
 
Green P plates will help her be treated better by other drivers, I take notice of them.

There are threads on dashcams here.

Just in case of an accident, have a means to record the other driver's details in the car, i.e. notebook and pencil.

Keep a hazard warning triangle in the car.

Check your tyre pressures monthly.
 
omnomnom said:
I mean a dash cam isnt going to help your kids if you have an accident...if you crash...you crash. All that does is help with the insurance and as useful as they are you can usually tell who's at fault without the need for one...apart from at a roundabout.

You be better off putting that money in good car seats tbh or given the prices at the moment...fuel.
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The dash cam isnt for her confidence and saving the kids, it was purely to record in case of anything for insurance. Car seats are sorted, well just need a booster for our eldest, hes only a few cm from the legal height for not needing one though.
 
My main bit of advice would be to encourage her to explore in the car by taking different routes for regular journeys and visiting new places. By doing this she'll become a much more capable, confident and better driver.

I know many people who are super confident on their regular journeys, but if they have to stray from their comfort zone, their confidence disappears and so does their driving ability.
 
If money is tight then you can skip the dash cam imho. It's not like there will be a lot of no claims to loose if she has just passed.

I respect P plates, give them more room and anticipate them making the odd mistake.
 
Do you need a car? This is probably the worst time in history to want to be getting involved in a motor vehicle. You say money is/was tight, honestly a car is a money pit and if its not essential I would not get one until things are much calmer and fuel has returned to a sensible price.
 
iamtheoneneo said:
Do you need a car? This is probably the worst time in history to want to be getting involved in a motor vehicle. You say money is/was tight, honestly a car is a money pit and if its not essential I would not get one until things are much calmer and fuel has returned to a sensible price.
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We have 3 kids, so yeah a car is really needed. They are missing out on loads with us not having a car which was our own doing as we both smoked and couldn't afford one. My wife has to catch busses and at weekends, taxis to and from work. This costs £50 per week.
We are both fully aware of the costs of owning a car, £300 spent on a car per month is better than £300 on tobacco is it not. Plus we can enjoy going out to kids parties because we can now actually get them there, a day trip to nature reserve, any Tussauds attractions out of our reach are not now. We can go camping over weekends, get the kids out and about. We have a full world of adventure open to us now. If its costs an extra £50 on top of our daily use in fuel to drive to the Lake district with the kids for a week end, its a small price to pay. Rather that than stay at home or go to the local chav park.

So to us, yes it is essential.
 
Well done pal.

Get her to go on a 'pleasure drive' as a matter of course, regularly. When my wife passed she only drove 'to places' and ended up hardly practicing at all. She's now a very nervous driver.
 
I wouldn't bother with a dashcam either.

I think it's good advice to check the tyre pressure as above, also keep an eye on the oil level/coolant/brake fluid etc just st for the first few months.

I mean it's a good idea to check these things now and then anyway, but it's an unfamiliar car and a new driver might not realise the signs of these things when driving.

She will be fine.

Good job quitting smoking.
 
This might sound like a bonkers idea and impossible based on your situation (3 kids, etc), but when my sister passed her test in order to get her a bit more experience she took a part time job as a delivery driver for dominos. Basically a few hours a night a couple of times a week, bit of extra money (which at the time more than covered the fuel she was using) and got her driving a ton of unfamiliar roads. These days if we don't know where something is we tend to call her :D
 
Spleen Sauce said:
This might sound like a bonkers idea and impossible based on your situation (3 kids, etc), but when my sister passed her test in order to get her a bit more experience she took a part time job as a delivery driver for dominos. Basically a few hours a night a couple of times a week, bit of extra money (which at the time more than covered the fuel she was using) and got her driving a ton of unfamiliar roads. These days if we don't know where something is we tend to call her :D
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As much as that seems a good idea I don't think she would welcome an evening delivery job after working 13 hours at a hospital every shift. I can barely get her to dust the dining table let alone a second job lol .
 
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