Hi,
It's come to that point returning from university in London for the last time that I could do with a car of my own. I will be using it for a couple of months over the summer in the South West and then plan to take it back up to London in September when I start on the BBP. Back in London it won't be used for every day use; it's just that I've discovered it's quite handy to have a car to get out of the city at the weekends, to play golf, etc.
So firstly, what car would people recommend? I'm probably looking to spend about £1000 although that could be stretched a little if needed. A better figure to give would probably be on the right side of £2k including insurance.
I want something that has a bit of room, is reliable, and cheap to insure (I am 21 with 0NCB; no incidents, just haven't collected any). I'm not to worried about "performance", and I would rather sacrifice this if necessary for reliability and cheapness to insure. Saying that, I want something that doesn't need to go into first to get up a hill!
I would also be interested to know the answers to the following questions:
Do insurers generally add a standard percentage depending on location? I realise when I move back to london I would have to change insurance details which would probably put the premiums up (london being higher risk, etc). What i'm getting at is would the cheaper quote for here (south west) likely also to be the cheapest quote for London?
Regarding the congestion charge in London I know that if you live inside the congestion charge zone you get a pretty heavy discount on the charge (something in the region of 90%), which I think I would need if I was to live inside (very expensive otherwise!). Has anyone had any experience of this when renting a flat/house etc, as I will be doing next year. Can it be done simply enough when you are renting, or is it a real ordeal?
Many Thanks,
John
It's come to that point returning from university in London for the last time that I could do with a car of my own. I will be using it for a couple of months over the summer in the South West and then plan to take it back up to London in September when I start on the BBP. Back in London it won't be used for every day use; it's just that I've discovered it's quite handy to have a car to get out of the city at the weekends, to play golf, etc.
So firstly, what car would people recommend? I'm probably looking to spend about £1000 although that could be stretched a little if needed. A better figure to give would probably be on the right side of £2k including insurance.
I want something that has a bit of room, is reliable, and cheap to insure (I am 21 with 0NCB; no incidents, just haven't collected any). I'm not to worried about "performance", and I would rather sacrifice this if necessary for reliability and cheapness to insure. Saying that, I want something that doesn't need to go into first to get up a hill!
I would also be interested to know the answers to the following questions:
Do insurers generally add a standard percentage depending on location? I realise when I move back to london I would have to change insurance details which would probably put the premiums up (london being higher risk, etc). What i'm getting at is would the cheaper quote for here (south west) likely also to be the cheapest quote for London?
Regarding the congestion charge in London I know that if you live inside the congestion charge zone you get a pretty heavy discount on the charge (something in the region of 90%), which I think I would need if I was to live inside (very expensive otherwise!). Has anyone had any experience of this when renting a flat/house etc, as I will be doing next year. Can it be done simply enough when you are renting, or is it a real ordeal?
Many Thanks,
John
