Bought a car for number 1 son

[mapleleaf]

Just sorted a banger for number 1 son. He is 17 , passed his test in december and got his pass plus last week. For some unknown reason, he wanted a Fiat Punto, so after trawling around a few garages today we found 1 - 1995 M reg, 98,000 miles 3 door light blue 1.1 55S . I Had a quick drive in it and as it had 4 new tyres, only 3 owners , taxed & Mot'd till June and only a bit of rust around the boot lock, we went for it - a bargain at £500.

The insurance we found to be the cheapest was with direct line , 3rd party only and £1650 with me as the keeper & son as named and main driver. The good thing is he will be able to build up his no claims under their new scheme. The next closest quotes started at £2,400.

I've done an AA car data check & its clean, I checked the V5 & MOT with the vin plate on the car and we pick it up tomorrow.

Does anyone know what problems I can expect to rear their ugly head ?? I am sure it will need something doing but nothing obvious was apparant apart from a little play in the steering .

 

[Howard]

The insurance we found to be the cheapest was with direct line , 3rd party only and £1650 with me as the keeper & son as named and main driver. The good thing is he will be able to build up his no claims under their new scheme. The next closest quotes started at £2,400.

Nice one !

The insurance is exactly how mine works Steve .... when i mentioned this in this thread ; -

http://mbclub.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=18553&highlight=insurance+main See post #11 onwards

I got a slating for it and basically told that it couldn't happen... glad you proved me right .....

 

[GrahamC230K]

Insurance - I was only aware of Direct Line doing it, I guess other insurers do to.

I'm sure your son is very pleased. I wouldn't like to choose a trendy first car money car out of the last 10 years, I guess a Punto is fair enough! It would have been a Panda in my time and that would not have been cool!!

Anyway, for £500, run it for a year if it survives great, if not throw it away! If you still like your son after a year and MOT issues arise, depending on outlay so far, keep it or dispose and start again!

£2500+ and not even "properly" in your sons name is crazy.

Fingers crossed the DL named driver bonus sheme does not cuase problems when proving the NCD to other insurers.

I am shocked at the cost of insurance for a 17 year old. Ten years ago I was in the same position and managed to fund the car and insurance alone, I'm sure 3rd party cover on my mini was about £700. I didn't pay over a thousand for insurance until I decided a BMW was better for my image, although I insured that fully comp.

 

[pammy]

Nice one Steve. Well done to number one son!! We've just got to get Megs through her test. Her driving is going well. Was telling scumbag today how she did parallel parking this week - and she can do it :bannana: That's my girl :bannana: :bannana:

Insurance is attrocious for the young 'uns. Something else ruined for the majority by the antics of the minority

I've got her Saxo in just my name at the mo - about to see if I can get her out in it - then the fun will start again.

 

[GrahamC230K]

I thought insurance was high when I was 17, mid ninties, 1.9 GTI and 2litre GTE era, joyriding was rife and on the TV weekly and I was living in Greater South London.

So has it got worse?? I can't beilve £2500 is comparable to £700 1o years ago. Mind, it's all about the right company. Then and now call the wrong comapny and I could get a £5K premium.

I recall at the time Endsleight was doing a student schem which made them the cheapest.

As we know, no one insurer is the cheapest for two people with drastic variations, I take it you have called tens of companies though Steve?

Well done yo your son for the Pass Plus too. I took extra instruction after my test, but never took the test!

Remind him every time he leaves the house that he has to manage 2 years under 6 points (how harsh is that!) and he'll possibly behaive!

Anyway, the cost of the insurnace is nothing comapred to the stereo he's going buy!

 

[mobeyone]

my first car was an uno 60s!! which was then swapped for the turbo version!!

those where the days!!

 

[fuzzer]

cool

Punto is a brilliant first car :d

Insurance isnt anything of a shock to me

 

[GrahamC230K]

cool

Punto is a brilliant first car :d

Insurance isnt anything of a shock to me

Yeah, but the Gorbals is a pretty high risk area!!

 

[Tilly]

wow i havent really read the whole post but i saw the insurance figures... that sounds pretty crazy tbh. im only 18 myself. First car was a '97 1.8 escort Si with minor engine (MD remap and exhaust system etc) and bodywork done, second car was a 2.0 '03 BMW 3 series coupe and now my merc, none of which have been that expensive. Try looking on confused.com it really is good for the young drivers! Especially with the idea of driving on someone elses name etc and you'd be surprised at the amount of companies offering the NCB scheme for named drivers. If when the named driver goes in their own name, if they stay with the same insurnce company for the first year, they tend to offer the NCB, once you've got it you've got it, cancel the policy and go elsewhere

 

[Tiff]

I'm a big FIAT fan,so here goes.

Watch out for rear trailing arm bearings,probably been done by now,but a common problem.jack up the back end and give the wheels a good tug.

Brake pipes rot out.I believe there was a recall for this,they are plastic coated,and rot under the coating,gve 'em a scrape and a waxoyl if they are steel.

Head gaskets are a problem,(easy fix though)and also heads can become porous,keep an eye on coolant,and bleed carefully,they are terrible for airlocks.

Coils can go,there are 2 of them,usually it will go down on 1 or 2 cyls,again an easy fix.Plugs are a wee bit awkward to change too.

Other than that,they are great wee cars,I just got the wife A Cinquecento Sporting,and its brilliant,great fun!!

 

[pluggers]

Does anyone know what problems I can expect to rear their ugly head ?? .

Maybe he will see something like this one day bodykit
When I had a mk1 punto 60sx the gearbox bearings went at roughly 35k miles But other that that didn't have any probs with it.

 

[KillerHERTZ]

My eyes! My eyes!

 

[tzar]

Just sorted a banger for number 1 son. He is 17 , passed his test in december and got his pass plus last week. For some unknown reason, he wanted a Fiat Punto, so after trawling around a few garages today we found 1 - 1995 M reg, 98,000 miles 3 door light blue 1.1 55S . I Had a quick drive in it and as it had 4 new tyres, only 3 owners , taxed & Mot'd till June and only a bit of rust around the boot lock, we went for it - a bargain at £500.

The insurance we found to be the cheapest was with direct line , 3rd party only and £1650 with me as the keeper & son as named and main driver. The good thing is he will be able to build up his no claims under their new scheme. The next closest quotes started at £2,400.

I've done an AA car data check & its clean, I checked the V5 & MOT with the vin plate on the car and we pick it up tomorrow.

Does anyone know what problems I can expect to rear their ugly head ?? I am sure it will need something doing but nothing obvious was apparant apart from a little play in the steering .

tif is spot on with potential faults.,

 

[mapleleaf]

thanks for the support/ help with potential issues.

I'll let you know how it all goes. Peter has not had the opportunity to drive solo yet so tomorrow is a big day for him. I remember absolutely Cr*P**ng it when I drove for the first time solo - but that soon passes and the sheer enjoyment of driving and being independant kicks in :bannana:

 

[mapleleaf]

Nice one !

The insurance is exactly how mine works Steve .... when i mentioned this in this thread ; -

http://mbclub.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=18553&highlight=insurance+main See post #11 onwards

I got a slating for it and basically told that it couldn't happen... glad you proved me right .....

Howard, its the same with my wife - I have 3 cars now all in my name with wife as main driver on the audi and me as a frequent user and vice versa with the Mustang. My wife has built up her own no claims along the way and that was originally with Royal & Sun Alliance , then Zurich & now NIG. so we benefit from full no claims each for each of those 2 cars - the punto with Direct Line allows me a 2 year no claims on it at renewal & Peter gets 1 year .

 

[fuzzer]

Yeah, but the Gorbals is a pretty high risk area!!

Right smartie pants a moodie car like mine isnt gonna get touched in the gorbals .. lol

(p.s. its spookie because i had dinner at a friends in the gorbals tongiht lol )

 

[Doodle]

Had one of these for my first car, was fairly reliable apart from the gearbox, which is the Punto achilles heel (gearboxes seem to be a problem on many Italian cars).

Synchro went on 2nd, and ended up bending the shift lever....this was at 16k. Most important thing is not to rush the shift, and then it'll stay together

Other things that spring to mind are failed speedos, the sender unit is mounted on the back of the gearbox, and is vulnerable to being smacked. Cheap to replace, but worth noting.

The washer pipe in the tailgate has a habit of coming loose, no water will come out of the jets but the bumper will be covered. Simply wedge it back on.

 

[Tiff]

Italian cars all have a bad rep. for gearboxes,but you need to drive like an Italian,double declutch on every downchange,and blip the throttle every time you change...Remember they all learned to drive in Fiat 500's with a crash gearbox!!!


Works for me anyway....

 

[SG CL500]

Italian cars all have a bad rep. for gearboxes,but you need to drive like an Italian,double declutch on every downchange,and blip the throttle every time you change...Remember they all learned to drive in Fiat 500's with a crash gearbox!!!


Works for me anyway....

great - so the gearbox lasts for ages ... while the rest of the car rusts all around it

 

[Doodle]

Italian cars all have a bad rep. for gearboxes,but you need to drive like an Italian,double declutch on every downchange,and blip the throttle every time you change...Remember they all learned to drive in Fiat 500's with a crash gearbox!!!


Works for me anyway....

Oh, and drive like a lunatic...The 75 is fine when you're going like a greased weasel, but round town it's jerky and clunky...makes that a simple choice then!