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I'm 23 and want to drive, but it's so expensive. How do younger people afford it?

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I paid for all my lessons, car, insurance myself. Roughly 1500/2000 for lessons, 800 for 1st car, 90 monthly for insurance. 800 for 2nd car when I killed the first, prob gonna be another 500 to get it through MOT. Insurance is going down to 575 for year compared to 1080 last year.

When I write it out like that it's a crazy amount of money. :eek:
Reply 21
Original post by TheEnigmaUK
Sounds quite good, it's just having the money to pay for everything. It's a lot of saving, but I'm unemployed at the moment, so it's even harder lol. Once I've got a job (soon hopefully) It will be easier to afford. Honda's are usually reliable cars, aren't they? How is your car?


Well, mine's not in the best nick because it belonged to my grandma until about two years ago. She developed macular degeneration and went virtually blind, so she threw it about a bit and it's got lots of nice dents and grazes (pretty damn deep too!) in the metal front bumper where she scratched it against the brick gateposts of her drive... :s-smilie:

In terms of driving, it handles very well and the only real problem I've had is with it not starting, but that was because the battery needed to be replaced. Since then, there's been nothing wrong with it at all. The only downside is it has a top speed of about 65mph before it starts struggling, but I don't do that much motorway driving anyway. :nah:
Reply 22
all my summer job money. gone.
Reply 23
for gods sake get a cbt for a £100, insurance for £200 and you can whizz around at 70mph (£400) 125cc and then take a practical for pence and ride a 600 restricted.

don't bother with a car, they're way to expensive.
Original post by TheEnigmaUK
I would love to pass my test and be able to drive, but it's so damn expensive at the moment. I was thinking of doing an intensive driving course, but then the prices were around £600 - 700 for the course, including theory test and practical test. Also, the thing is, I'm not a fast learner when it comes to driving, and I'm quite nervy on the road, so it sometimes takes me more lessons. I did lessons in the past, but the instructor messed me around, so I quit once the block of lessons had been completed. Since then I haven't done any more lessons, so how much would it cost for me to buy a car, insure it, and take lessons + practical and theory test? How do young drivers afford it when they're at college etc? I understand working part time, but then you have to have a lot of money to buy a car too, so it's not financially easy to drive.


I was lucky in the sense that my grandfather provided the money required for the lessons. There's a few reasons really why I thought I would never pass my driving test;

1) My mother didn't drive, and since my temperament is exactly the same as hers, I naturally figured I'd be a nervous wreck behind the wheel and not be able to deal with it. If you've never set foot in the driving seat before and controlled a car by yourself, you'd be surprised how intimidating, even to say scary, it can be for someone with low confidence.

2) I come from a very low-income household. I can say for certainty that if my grandfather hadn't offered to pay the fees for me, including the tests, then I can say almost for certain that I would have never been able to drive a car. My anxiety was probably the biggest obstacle, though I grabbed my nuts, and forced my way through it. Passed first time.

Ex mea sententia, you should really consider learning, even if you can only afford to take one lesson every two weeks. I think in this age, being able to drive a car is absolutely critical. My worry was always having to struggle getting to work etc on public transport and whatnot, which of course would have been a nightmare should I ever decide to have children. The burden isn't worth it, really.
Reply 25
My parents paid for the lessons and tests. Unless you live in a big city the lack of a driving license is a pretty huge gap on your CV, even then you will still be unable to get jobs that require driving ability. I think my parents realised this and figured it would be a good idea; I otherwise wouldn't be able to afford lessons until I've finished education (and I'm hoping to do a PhD so it would be ages).
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 26
Depends a lot on priorities I reckon. Some families seem to put a lot of importance on cars/driving and less importance on other things like.. I dunno, shopping at waitrose or something.
Reply 27
Original post by flown_muse
I paid for all my lessons, car, insurance myself. Roughly 1500/2000 for lessons, 800 for 1st car, 90 monthly for insurance. 800 for 2nd car when I killed the first, prob gonna be another 500 to get it through MOT. Insurance is going down to 575 for year compared to 1080 last year.

When I write it out like that it's a crazy amount of money. :eek:


Is it normal in england to pay 1500/2000 for lessons?

Im still 17, turning 18 in a week, and my parents have already paid everything as regards to lessons. Usually its 800, we pay 600 but no tax :smile:
Original post by lubus
Is it normal in england to pay 1500/2000 for lessons?

Im still 17, turning 18 in a week, and my parents have already paid everything as regards to lessons. Usually its 800, we pay 600 but no tax :smile:


Well I wouldn't know, if you look at my location it clearly says Scotland.

It costs roughly £200 for 10 lessons, I just had more lessons than most people I think!
I used to learn with my uncle, who is a driving instructor, so I got some free lessons with him. But I wasn't able to get them frequently enough with him and wasn't making enough progress, so I switched to a local AA instructor and I have my parents pay for me. I'm not sure about how I'm getting my car yet though, but I think my dad might be buying one for me. There's no way I would have been able to pay for anything myself because no one has given me a job yet.

Oh, and if you're a slow and nervous driver, I definitely don't recommend an intensive course! It'd be way too much and you'll need more time to get over your nerves first in order to become a good and safe driver (advice given to me as I am also the same). I haven't really been counting but I've probably spent over £700 so far on weekly lessons in the past year, and I'd dread to think of spending that all in one go on an intensive course, only to fail cos of not being ready :s-smilie:
Reply 30
Don't bother with it. Live in the city.
I intended to learn to drive but lost my provisional a day after I received it.
Now I've finally re-applied and got one I don't plan on passing my driving test, but being able to drive a motorcycle first since it's faster and so much easier cheaper and I'll be funding that with any spare money/ if I can get a part-time job.

When I do decide to start driving, I'll again use a job to fund it or if I'm hopelessly broke, my mum who for some reason loves the idea of me driving, would probably contribute to a few lessons or give me a loan :smile:
I'm 21 and I haven't had lessons yet, tbh I just don't feel financially stable enough to be able to pay for lessons + registration + petrol + a new car, etc... I ride a bike and take the bus and it's okay.
Original post by Chicharito14

It is quite expensive do run a car, i have spent around 6-7k on my car (haven't had it for a year yet!).



How did you manage that? Assuming you dont mean including the initial cost of the car..
Original post by facetious
How did you manage that? Assuming you dont mean including the initial cost of the car..


Crashed my car, well minor collision.

That cost around £800, because i happened to hit my next door neighbours Audi, and i didn't want to claim on the insurance as my excess was £1,000 lol.

my car was £2800, so incl insurance, that is £4800 spent on my car.

The rest was from the initial crash. My car failed its MOT twice, needed £300 of repairs, basically because a short fuse made my indicators mess up (due to a replica headlamp being used, rather than an authentic peugeot headlamp).

I replaced the Cam Belt on the car, and sorted some other stuff out, which will make my car last another 5 years (so i am told!).

So yeah, it has been pretty damn expensive!

Plus, the car will be passed onto my younger sibling in about 2/3 years, so it is a medium/long term investment depending on how you look at it.

Wish i never had to deal with the hassle of maintaining the car though...
Reply 35
I had an account that parents/grandparents/family members put money into on my birthdays, so by the time I was old enough to drive I had about £4k saved, which paid for lessons, tests, insurance and car.
Reply 36
Original post by philistine

Original post by philistine
I was lucky in the sense that my grandfather provided the money required for the lessons. There's a few reasons really why I thought I would never pass my driving test;

1) My mother didn't drive, and since my temperament is exactly the same as hers, I naturally figured I'd be a nervous wreck behind the wheel and not be able to deal with it. If you've never set foot in the driving seat before and controlled a car by yourself, you'd be surprised how intimidating, even to say scary, it can be for someone with low confidence.

2) I come from a very low-income household. I can say for certainty that if my grandfather hadn't offered to pay the fees for me, including the tests, then I can say almost for certain that I would have never been able to drive a car. My anxiety was probably the biggest obstacle, though I grabbed my nuts, and forced my way through it. Passed first time.

Ex mea sententia, you should really consider learning, even if you can only afford to take one lesson every two weeks. I think in this age, being able to drive a car is absolutely critical. My worry was always having to struggle getting to work etc on public transport and whatnot, which of course would have been a nightmare should I ever decide to have children. The burden isn't worth it, really.


This is my worry too! I live in a rural village where the only mode of transport is a bus that runs every 15 mins. Even if I wanted to get the train, it would mean spending £2+ on a bus to the nearest station, then another £4 - 5 on a bus ticket! It would end up costing a fortune every week. In my situation it's obviously better to be driving because of where I live, but it's just so pricey! I wish the price of driving could be brought down, but the problem is, it will probably just continue to rise and rise...I've already spent out £200 on 11 lessons with an independent instructor who, to be honest, was a waste of time because he messed me about, so I ended my lessons with him and haven't started lessons again yet. I think because I live in a village, sometimes instructors probably feel like it's a drag for them to come here, so it's just frustrating to be honest.
Reply 37
I am now 17 yrs old and have had a part time job since I was 15. This is only 3 nights a week waitressing.

I have managed to pay for all my lessons myself, buy a car (worth £2000) and MOT and TAX it. But then fair enough my parents paid for my insurance. HOWEVER, I'm not skint at the moment and still have a healthy amount in my account.

Just save save and save.
Reply 38
Get a friend who drives or an older brother/ sister/ parent to teach you the proper basics in their/ your car. No sense in paying £xx per hour to learn how to find the biting point and get used to steering etc.

When you can drive around confidently on the road with them, then do an intensive course to polish up to test standard and go for it.

Way cheaper.
Reply 39
My parents paid, I was going to wait until I was older and pay for myself but they wanted me to learn as soon as possible and insisted. I don't pay petrol though because my I'm a named driver on my mum's policy and don't drive it much, literally I only drive my mum to work and pick her up so she doesn't think it's fair to let me pay when I don't use it for myself.

I'm very grateful for all this though. :smile:

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