Good afternoon, guys and gals. I'm Stephen, and I will "officially" become an adult at the end of this month. I've decided to join here as I've pretty much made my mind up on what my first car is going to be - go on, have a guess :P

 

However, I'm not planning to buy a 300ZX just yet, as I'm still waiting for my provisional license and I want to learn driving in a basic car first, before I can move up a gear (no pun intended). I'll update you all on when my provisional gets delivered.

 

Have a nice evening.

I think another reason why I wanted the 300ZX was because it is a rare car; since the MX-5 is very popular, it's seen everywhere

 

like, literally everywhere :|

MX-5's are great! I bought one for my girlfriend (to learn to drive in actually) and it's so much fun. I keep finding excuses to drive it all the time! The nice thing is that you can really drive it hard without worrying about going too fast, whereas with the Zed you're over the speed limit in a matter of seconds. Give the zed an empty stretch of motorway and it's very easy to get into very illegal speeds. The MX-5 is a pain in the ass to drive at 70, let alone anything faster given the gearing.

 

That said, the Zed was my first car (sort of). As I mentioned to you over email I passed my test in an old Skoda, drove that for a while and then bought my Zed about a year later (when I was 19). I would say it's fine as a first car, but only IF you can trust yourself to be sensible. As others have said you can get yourself into trouble very quickly if you aren't careful.

 

The Zed has more drama, rarity and excitement. However that comes with a much higher cost than an MX-5 in all areas (insurance, maintenance, fuel). The big one is maintenance, I'd budget about £1,500 per year (excluding fuel & insurance). It probably won't cost anywhere near that, but these cars can (and will) throw up big bills from time to time.

Honestly, I'm not too worried about speed since I'm most likely to keep around the speed limits - it's tempting to go fast in any car at all, never mind a Zed. Another thing that attracted me was the acceleration, especially the one for your Zed - 0-60mph in 4.9s is pretty phenomenal :scared:

Oh just buy one already lol, you've been warned it's not sensible, we've been sensible grown ups and told you so. It sounds like your mind is pretty set on it, just please don't try to climb any trees or mate with anything solid.

 

Have you made any enquires as per insurance?

Do you have a budget to purchase the car initially?

I'd like to see an insurance quote too.

I'd like to see an insurance quote too.

Hmmmmm... I am going to take a guess at £9500 as a first car...........

just please don't try to climb any trees or mate with anything solid

ROFL........ Sorry..... not constructive of me......

 

If not a daily driver could try classic insurance???

Or have a black box fitted to monitor how he drives???

Or you could limit the speed your car can do by removing the engine

Most classic policies require you to be 25, some stipulate 21.

It might be possible to insure an NA with limited mileage and no night driving etc.

@pig @veilside01702 Those posts were so funny I forgot to laugh.

Definitely getting a black box.

It might be possible to insure an NA with limited mileage and no night driving etc.

 

Have to check both, insurance is weird like that. It was cheaper for a TT than an Na when I got mine.

how ever you look at it the insurance helmets are going to rape you for as much money as they can. they claim to be losing money every year. all this whip lash claims going on its not helping anyone in the long run we all have to pay for are own sort term greed

how ever you look at it the insurance helmets are going to rape you for as much money as they can. they claim to be losing money every year. all this whip lash claims going on its not helping anyone in the long run we all have to pay for are own sort term greed

 

Indeed. Ah well, if I don't have any luck with insurance after I get my full license & do Pass Plus, then I'll leave the Zed for a year and stick to an MX-5/FTO.

Damned double post!

Edited November 21, 201411 yr by Funkysi
Dupe!

Welcome to the forum! :)

 

TBH, I think you might struggle with an FTO also. They're import-only and not all insurance companies will insure an import, less likely if you're only 17 or 18 too. I think you'd fair better with a UK spec MX-5. You certainly won't get a classic policy at your age.

 

Not trying to be a killjoy, just trying to be realistic. The Z32 TT whilst immense fun to drive is not very forgiving when things don't quite go as planned; being an inexperienced driver too, no amount of playing Forza is likely to help if you come up against a sticky situation.

 

Saying that, we have had a few young guys insure their Z32s on here in the late teens early 20s. Not sure I'd recommend it though as I'd hate to read an article/thread about a young lad loosing control of high powered RWD sports car.

 

By all means, go and get one, as has been suggested, there are enough what I'd call 'project cars' out there for you to cut your teeth on. Buy trusty daily hack to use for a few years and go for it!

Edited November 21, 201411 yr by Funkysi

Yes. I've got an mx5. It's great fun to drive. Enough power there to learn your road craft but, most importantly, it's much more predictable than my zed and a great confidence giver

Also just to add it's your first car, the only way is up even a 100hp hatch back is going to feel fast to you.

 

You need to work out if it's even feasible though. On average a sensible 1L hatch will cost a new male driver £2.5k in insurance. I really wouldn't be surprised to see you receive quotes such as £4k or more, seriously.

Someone ought to go on GoCompare to see how much. Interested myself.

Yeah, I'm still really unsure about if I should even get a car at all (thanks to the ridiculous insurance premiums) and stick with using the bus, never mind getting an MX-5. Ah well, I'll see what will be available after I get my license.

My insurance at 19 was £1600 fully comp. That was with Admiral... The game may have changed since then though!

Yeah, I'm still really unsure about if I should even get a car at all (thanks to the ridiculous insurance premiums) and stick with using the bus, never mind getting an MX-5. Ah well, I'll see what will be available after I get my license.

 

It's all a massive con, there's not much sense in it either. Small engined cars with no power can be more expensive due to statistics, ie if kids crash them they will cost more. The mx5 or similar may be more to insure than the zed. However a 300hp sports car will likely end up in a straight up no from most companies and those that say yes it will be very high. You've got to get started though, after your first year it will drop drastically. For me now it's cheaper for a zed to insure than a corsa!

Insurance is a rip off, fuel is a rip off unfortunately life is a rip off. You have to pay to play. Get yourself a good job and worry about fast cars when your older. For now a sensible hatchback will look after you for the next few years.

Have you had a driving lesson yet?

My insurance at 19 was £1600 fully comp. That was with Admiral... The game may have changed since then though!

 

Yeah, my brother in law is now 21 his insurance in a low crime area at 18 for a fiesta 1L was a whopping 2.5k that was after lots of shopping around.

It's all a massive con, there's not much sense in it either. Small engined cars with no power can be more expensive due to statistics, ie if kids crash them they will cost more. The mx5 or similar may be more to insure than the zed. However a 300hp sports car will likely end up in a straight up no from most companies and those that say yes it will be very high. You've got to get started though, after your first year it will drop drastically. For me now it's cheaper for a zed to insure than a corsa!

Insurance is a rip off, fuel is a rip off unfortunately life is a rip off. You have to pay to play. Get yourself a good job and worry about fast cars when your older. For now a sensible hatchback will look after you for the next few years.

Have you had a driving lesson yet?

My provisional license hasn't even come through the door yet; I ordered for one at the end of September, but the DVLA were finicky about it because I've picked something in the medical options, so they needed me to clarify what medical conditions I had before they could continue with going into my records.

 

Been just over 8 weeks now. :censored: