Oh dear...

[JoshWard]

There is a very real problem which might mean I have to sell my beloved Marina

I have been getting quotes from insurance companies (only been online ones so far, not from classic specialists but comparison sites) and they all seem to be about £1200 which is great, only that's on a provisional license. On a full license as a 17 year old it will cost me at least £2300....

With both my parents as named drivers (and me as the main) it will be about £2000.

However getting a quote on a 1.3, it is about £1500 for me by myself and with my parents only about £1300.

This means I should really sell mine (which is still in rather poor condition and I would make a HUGE loss on the amount I have spent on it) and buy a 1.3....



But I just don't want to
I know there are plenty of lovely tax exempt 1.3s out there which would be so much cheaper to run in fuel, tax and insurance but I just love my 1.8, it's the first car I've ever properly owned and I've done so much work on it and am planning to do much more.

Help

[Clan Chieftain]

Change the engine then Josh and save a Grand.

[JoshWard]

So it will be a modified car?....

I have no facilities for an engine swap, plus it would mean I have wasted my time completely rebuilding the engine

Thanks for the advice, easy for you to talk owning one of the best 1.3s around and no doubt having incredibly cheap insurance

[JubileeNut]

Real shame about the insurance.
When I got my first car insured (Jubilee in 1988) I got it 3rd part fire and theft for £201.
Just as well as it only lasted 11 days so I did not waste to much.
Insurance has got stupid now a days but you can thank all the drink, drugged up Tw4ts driving and nicking cars for that as well as the green thing.

You could try and get insurance with your dads car and allow you to build up no claims! I think changing the engine will won't be the best solution and could cost you as much as the difference unless you can get all the bits for a good price.

Paul.

[JoshWard]

I could only imagine what insurance for a Jub would be like for me

Sadly the only other car in our house my mum is the main driver on and it is registered as a sort of company car so I wouldn't be able to use it

[Number 63]

Why don't you swap the V5 to one of your parents and go as a named driver? We did this with my daughter and brought the insurance down to around 1K for a 1998 1.6 Megane Coupe...

[JoshWard]

But then they would have to use the car more than me. To drive about being a named driver but using the car everyday (more than the supposed main user) is fraud and if I am involved in a crash the insurance companies would easily find out what I was up too.

I can add my parents as named drivers which brings down the cost but still over £2000.

[jiversteve]

I think the best route must ba a 1.3 engine swap. Even done commercially you will probably be saving in the long run.
Without wanting to dampen your enthsiasm, have a read of http://www.finance-1.co.uk/named-driver.html that highlights some of the potential problems.
Others will say, bend the rules. The danger is that you get caught out and that has serious repercussions, with the possibility of insurance being decilned and ending up on a blacklist, finding that insurance is almost impossible to buy.
Honesty is the best policy!
You might find that if you put it on a limited mileage, and limited driving times etc that you could cut the premium further.

[Clan Chieftain]

Steady on Josh you were a bit harsh with your comments. I was only trying to help.
All you need to change an engine is a trolley jack. :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

[JoshWard]

I still think another car is the best option. I dont have a 1.3 engine, I have a perfect 1.8 engine (which I dont want to leave standing for years) and if I changed the engine it will then change to be insured as a modified car.

I wont fall into a named driver trap, rather I would have my dad as a named driver on mine as he would probably use it from time to time if work had been done on it. This would reduce insurance, whether I have a 1.8 or a 1.3

Hopefully when I ring Footman James tomorrow they will give a sensible quote on the 1.8...

Sorry if i'm sounding harsh, i'm not meaning too, i'm in a bad mood right now I will have to talk it over with my dad.

Want to swap Larry?

[JoshWard]

Just had a quick think and yes, I agree now an engine swap would probably be the best thing (so long as it wont classify the car as 'modified') if Footman James give me a scary quote!

[locost_bryan]

It would be a strange insurance company that would charge more to insure a car that has been depowered :shock: , but then we are talking insurance companies, so anything is possible.

All I can say is grow up!

Other factors aside, here in NZ your car would have to be insured in your name as you are the legal (and registered) owner, unless you could prove your parents owne the car. Better to play by the rules. It also gives you an insurance history under your own name.

Shouldn't be too hard to find a 1.3 engine and gearbox to swap in. iirc it's a very easy swap - just change the engine mounts and radiator fittings (hoses/mounts/shroud). Wonder how old you will need to be before they will let you put the 1.8 back in? :roll:

[JubileeNut]

Years ago I did the honest thing and told the insurance company I was changing uprating the brakes to disks from drums on the front on a mini and then later changing the engine to a 1275!
They dumped me on the spot and left me unable to drive it.
I then had to have an engineers report done on the car which came back 100% OK and then got insurance on it! :shock:

A bloody pain!

Then again a work friend didn't tell his insurance about his modified Punto turbo with drilled disks uprated hose's exhaust etc and when he did have a small crash - not his fault, he went to court and got fined and lost!
He is still not driving now as it would cost to much and he has lost interest!! this was 4 to 5 years ago now.

I think any modification from standard is classed as a mod even if the engine is swapped for a lower cc.
It seems making a car slower or safer will not count as it depends who does the mod and if the company insure modified cars like Arian Flux who will!

Who knows how they come to some of their decisions!

I lost an insurance fight when I got hit by a driver who had just passed their test doing an overtake on a car which was pulling in to a junction I had just come out of (Also the driver in the road pulling in to where I wanted to come out had to wait for me to come out before he could fit in so was slowing down) there was only room for 2 and a half cars to pass in the main road and I was on the correct side of the road and got hit behind the drivers door! She (yes she!) decided to go down the middle! This was in an industrial estate and the limit was 30 and she was not doing 30! Hence her decision to go through the middle.
The road I pulled out of was also up hill so I could not see her until I was fully out of the junction which is where I was when she hit me. The amount of people I see who are so far up the cars boot in front that when the car turns in to a side turning the car following has to pull out in to the middle of the road to miss hitting it is LOADS!
I lost because I pulled out!! Yet I was up against the curb and parallel to it and nearly stationary, but she could not stop or fit through the gap!

Cost me 3.5 years no claims and the side of my 1275GT (That was after the engine swap and disk up grade.
After that I went protected no claims

I think sometimes insurance companies do deals with other companies but no prove on that.

[locost_bryan]

The insurance companies definitely do deals with each other, although here in NZ the market is very competetive and most are offering protected no-claims to try and retain customers.

Down here, any modifications beyond a minor nature (10% more power, wider wheels) have to be certified by an approved engineer (about $NZ500 or 250BGP). That includes upgrades using standard parts for a higher performance variant of the same vehicle (so fitting a TC engine and disc brakes to a van needs a cert, but upgrading a 1.8 to TC spec doesn't). My certifier claims he charges a set figure, so recommends if you're going to make one change (e.g. different seats), you might as well go the whole hog and go to town :shock: (e.g. V8, 4 wheel discs, Recaro seats) :twisted: .

[vermillion]

Hi Josh, just a thought but instead of asking Footman James for an outright quote just do it as an enquiry for a 1.8 and a 1.3 see what the price is for both without telling them that you own a 1.8 :roll:. When you have a quote work out what to do in your own time. It might pay to buy yourself a 1.3 and while your getting your no claims together get the 1.8 done up to the standard that you would like it to be i.e. the Uncle Frank rebuild and respray that you often dream about . You really need to get it insured through a classic specialist as well otherwise if anything did happen an ordinary policy will only pay out the book value of your car. At todays values probably a couple of hundred quid at the most. By the time they have taken your excess off you would be well out of pocket.

Gary.