Was a thread about car insurance...

A skoda fabia is an alternative, same platform as a VW polo i think. Got insured on a 1.4 petrol for £800, although im 18 with no NCB. No blackbox either Carrot insurance were offering me a quote for £2400 .

Haha yeah exactly, i'd much rather remember the good times and feel quite good the next day too

From what i remember they're lovely, we actually haven't had a pizza hut in a good couple of weeks, i think im definitely gonna have to get one soon, i'll probably go eat in with my friends when they're back from uni because it's where we also go now, but we have been saying we'll give Frankie and bennies a try, i love their pizzas too, feeling so hungry now ): Rock challenge tomorrow though so hopefully i'll have a good opportunity to grab some junk food : D hahah and thats pretty good, wish we had got longer ): it was in school time but i think every other school was also doing a school trip that day too -.- so it was very busy

yeah well i'd say the ones im using now are pretty good, not had a problem with them

Just want to say that if you see a Hastings quote, they are more trouble than what they are worth. See my rant here:
https://www.facebook.com/HastingsDirect/posts/10151472570914340

Hasn't really got much relevance, but it's relevant in the sense that maybe I could steer people away from this horrible, horrible company

Late reply I know, as you can probably guess I've been busy playing with my new toy for the past couple of days hehe. Starting to get used to it; it's actually not so much the clutch that I'm finding weird, it's the gas pedal. It's just so bloody sensitive lol, and there's a sort of dead-zone at the top that gives you next to no movement, then you move to like 1mm below the dead zone and you shoot off haha. I love the fact that once you're moving, changing gears is so nice. No need to even use gas or bring the clutch up slowly while changing gears, just speed-match your gear changing then you can bring the clutch up as quickly as you like and it'll still be smooth.
Moving off from a standstill isn't very nice in this car though. Just seems like to get a smooth move-off you need to give it quite a lot of gas, which doesn't sound very nice at all lol. During my first drive at midnight then yesterday morning, just felt like I'd been over-revving during move-offs because of the noise. So at one junction I tried not revving so much, and stalled. So yeah, just one of those cars that needs revving a lot to get it moving smoothly, probably because it's an old model with a small engine. Pretty unforgiving little car as well, you don't quite to something right and it'll let you know haha.
Think my speedometer is out a bit as well, it says I'm doing dead on 30 but everyone seems to be going faster than me, surely it can't just be that everyone is speeding and it does feel like I'm driving slower than 30.

Yeah definitely making a trip to pizza hut myself on my next payday, looking forward to it Never been to Frankie & Bennie's myself.
How was rock challenge in the end?
Bit unlucky that There weren't many people when we went, but one of the people that were there stunk about half the place out after they'd used the toilet

The ones I've got now are alright and have definitely helped. Could definitely do much better though tbh.

Sorry for my late reply too, Rock challenge was amazing but obviously 2 very busy days so yeah i haven't been around, but all in all absolutely loved it, was great to see my old school how happened to win day2 and the standard was so high this year been so good getting to watch some really good performances, wish it was me performing though ): aha

but nice to hear about the car glad you're getting used to it but mine seems a little different to yours then, i mean the gas pedal is a little sensitive compared to what i learned in, but maybe im just used to that now so it doesn't seem as sensitive and if that's the case then im sure you soon will not notice it's sensitivity and you'll just know how much you need you foot down for different situations, see i only need to press mine a little and it'll be going and it'll go without the gas too, but i agree with you on the gear changes i found that it's better to bring the clutch up quicker because if you do it slower it seems to do like a little 'shunt' forward and it's not very smooth, and well with mine it doesn't need a lot of gas to get going so moving off isn't too bad however i think they do rev up a bit and it's quite loud, but i don't care anymore aha. and mines totaly opposite on the 'unforgivness', mines really lenient with me, as i think i've mentioned before i've moved off in 2nd and even 3rd gear the other day -.- haha and gone 1st to 4th without it stalling on me, which is half the reason i love my car, i think you'll learn though as your driving what you can will and won't do. but i think you speedometer will be right! i know it might feel crazy but pretty much everyone in my experience speeds! I sometimes think when im just going down a road dead on 30 and there is cars overtaking and/or going much faster in the right lane but i put my sat-nav on to check the speedometer on that with the car and it's correct, i find that pretty much everyone speeds (I don't, it's quite funny sometimes when they overtake you and look at you when going past, if i get a chance ill give them a little smile :P )

aw you should try frankie and bennies sometime, it's quite good (: but yeah well whilst at rock challenge i went for 'lunch' with 2 other girls who showed me this cute little like 'proper' pizza place, you got a massive pizza slice in this deal, omg it was amazing! but i still want pizza again, so pizza hut will definitely have to be on my 'to-go-to' list haha and aw our trip was pretty crap because it was so busy, and aha thats not good lol

Sounds cool Shame about not actually being in it anymore, getting old sucks lol.

Yeah still got a bit of a habit of over-revving on takeoffs, just to avoid stalling. I've started to get back into my old lesson habits of putting the handbrake on and preparing the car whenever I come to a complete stop. Must say it's definitely helping, gives me a chance to actually feel whether or not I'm giving it too much or too little before I move off. So I think I'll stick with the habit now, definitely caused me no problems during my lessons or tests. I moved off in 2nd today though and it went pretty smoothly. Might try again and if it works smoothly again then might just keep moving off in 2nd haha. Obviously 1st will be needed for hill starts.
Well I've just discovered that the sat nav on my phone does have a speed indicator, so might give it a go later and see if my speedo is right.

Yeah might do at some point, I've heard good things. There's one not too far from where I live, probably a 20 minutes drive and there's a cinema there too, so might have to go for a cinema then Frankie & Bennie's night at some point. All this food talk is making me hungry haha.
Yeah it was a bit disgusting, the Dragon's Fury rollercoaster goes right over the top of the toilets so you got a nice waft of it halfway through the ride lol, lovely...

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Mega-late reply haha, my bad.

Gonna resell this car I think, just can't seem to get to like the way it drives and still stalling it, really frustrating considering one of my strong points throughout my lessons was my clutch control and lack of stalling. So I'll probably sell it for the same sorta price as I bought it and go for something with a bigger engine.

Been looking at a 1997 Corsa Merit, considering going for a test drive when I've got the money from selling this one. It's a 1.7L Diesel which should mean a lot more torq, and it's pretty much the same on insurance Hopefully it doesn't sell. Also pretty interested in picking up an automatic if I find one, drove my mate's mum's one this week and I absolutely loved it.

Fair enough, how you getting on with them?

Yeah just seems like I'm getting worse and worse at driving this car because I lose confidence and make more and more mistakes every time I drive it, so it's definitely got to go.

I've driven a few different cars since I've passed now, both felt pretty similar to the one I learned to drive in despite being completely different makes to it haha, drove them fine without a single stall. So probably just need something of a similar engine size and year, will have to get in touch with my instructor to see exactly what I should be looking for. I think a diesel would be perfect for me really, just hate the fact that this car needs so much gas just to stop it from stalling and the clutch has a really low amount of torque.

Sadly the diesel Corsa I was looking at has sold already Gotta keep looking then, as I said an automatic appeals to me so I'll be on the lookout for both transmissions. People moan that you get less control in an automatic - that's what gears 1, 2 & 3 are for on automatics I know some of them don't have the option to manually select 3rd but as long as I can manually select 1st & 2nd it's all good, just to manage tight corners and bends as well as slippery roads.

Exams? not bad....i hope lol. Just one more now in a week and a half then its summer : D so excited haha

Yeah i didn't like my previous car and my confidence was zero because i believed id always stall it -.-

Yeah diesels are good because they're harder to stall than petrol's generally speaking, i think they're a bit more lenient with you, but saying that my cars pretty lenient with me, i think it does just depend on the car, mines not new at all its a 55 plate and like yours i think a 1.2 so for its combination it does pretty good. Are you sure it does need a lot of gas to get it going? I know my revs sounds so much louder than my previous car, now the noise isn't as noticeable when im driving


I think its better just to have a look and give some a test drive before you buy, and its a bit of a shame about the corsa diesel ): sure they'll be a good few decent cars out there for you though, looking at any in particular? And yeah im not too sure about automatics, my step-dads has quite a lot of power, it is a new car and a Mercedes tho, i remember the first time he dropped me off, i was like eh we've stopped at some traffic lights and he hasn't changed the gear.... then i realised lol. But he was gonna give me a older car he was doing up, that was an automatic not sure why they didn't tbh, when it was snowing he drove that instead, looked alright, but yeah iv got mine now which i like, it was older than mine i think too.

Haha nice, yeah that's probably the main thing I miss about school and college is that feeling of pure happiness and excitement when you break up for the holidays

Yeah it definitely needs a lot of revving, the times I have stalled I've got it on the bite and I can hear the engine revving, so when I stalled after bringing the clutch up I was pretty shocked lol. Especially on a steep hill, sounded like I was giving it loads of gas, so I take my handbrake off and I roll backwards. I then try the "increase revs until you feel the car pulling" technique and my god, the noise coming from the engine was unholy hahaha. Never happened to me on any other car but they were all completely different and bigger engines. So I think that's the way for me to go.
I'll just keep looking around, I guess the more time it takes to find one the more time I have to save more cash and up my budget.
The thing that appeals to me most about automatics is that they always have a pull on them when they're in gear. So stop-&-start traffic on flatground requires just the brakes and nothing more. Not sure if setting it to 2nd or 3rd in one of the manual gears would mean more pull when you take the brakes off, would think so but I really can't be sure. 3rd wouldn't be a good idea on a hill though since it'd be a struggle to get some acceleration haha, 2nd may work well though.

Late reply sorry, exams are taking over ): haha 4 more days though, just 4 : D

I wonder why it's doing that, i only say the revs thing because mine does have a very loud engine noise when i rev it, compared to other cars and what i learnt in. I stalled on a uphill roundabout yesterday, don't know what happened fully -.- it was chucking it down, and super dark so think i was trying to focus more on the road and marking and then yeah stalled haha

Yeah as i say i don't know much about automatics, do you use just your right foot? kinda wondered that aha

Have you seen anything yet?

Exams all done then, good luck with the results

Yeah just a small piddly little engine tbh. My god, had an absolute nightmare over the weekend. Had someone round to view the car, and it wouldn't bloody start Bit embarassing... Got my uncle round straight away to have a look and he immediately noticed that the battery had gone, central locking wasn't even working. Got it replaced now though and the car is up and running again, got someone coming to view later, hopefully sells today

Yeah you just use your right foot with automatics, it's apparently because it's bad practice to use the gas and brake at the same time which makes sense. If I did get an auto it'd definitely feel a bit weird. When I drove my mate's mum's one I kept going to put my foot on the clutch whenever I stopped haha. Also I got into the habit of taking my foot off the brake once I'd stopped on flat ground, can't be doing that in an auto though because of the natural pull when in D.
For now though I've got my eye on another manual; 2000 Peugeot 306, 2L diesel engine so should have much more power. Insurance on it was surprising actually, only £20 a month more than my little Corsa.
If the next few days go well then hopefully I'll sell this car, go to view the 306 on Saturday if it's still there and it'll hopefully be in tip-top shape. Then I can finally go for that long-awaited Pizza Hut haha. Fingers crossed

Can't believe i haven't been on here in ages! omg, i think exams took over -.- so yeah mega late reply im sorry. But thank you, i actually got my results on tuesday and i was pretty shocked, managed to just scrape a first overal : 0 ready for secnd year now haha <br />
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But how's the car coming along? you got one now? and its typical isn't it my car wouldn't start one time when i'd arranged to go quite far out -.- was really annoying. But yeah if i drove an automatic think it would take some time before i stoped trying to feel for my clutch haha

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Sounds like you've been busy lol, glad to hear you made the grade for next year

Managed to pick up a silver 2000 Peugeot 206 1.4 just last week actually. This one definitely agrees with me more and I'm loving the car in general. Despite being the same year as my old Corsa it's a lot more modern, got electric windows and door mirrors and came with some nice speakers and cd player, also had it's head gasket changed before sale so that eliminates the worry of French head gaskets always going haha. Only real bad points about it is reverse gear is a bit cranky, sometimes grinds when I try to put it in and I have to put it in again. It also doesn't like moving off just the clutch, so when I'm maneouvering the car at a slow pace I have to tickle the accelerator a bit. Since I figured that though I've pretty much stopped stalling This one does have a rev counter thankfully, at the moment I'm a bit reliant on it despite having never really used it during lessons, but soon enough I'll develop a feel for the revs and hopefully not need it anymore. At the moment though revving to 1.5-2 always gets me moving nicely and stops me rolling back on medium hills, so for now I'm happy I've got a rev counter so I can be consistent.
Gonna pick up one of those Garmin sat navs today, my uncle has one and the lane assist and junction view features are bloody brilliant. The rims are a bit battered as well so gonna get some nice new black gloss ones, should go lovely with the silver.

Yeah bit of a strange feeling to drive an auto. Nice but strange haha.

Thank you :-)

And thats great news too! Glad you got your car sorted now, sounds pretty decent, is it petrol? I actually haven't driven in about 2 weeks, now uni's finished im like just sat at home, miss my car think im going to have to just go for a random drive haha. I think it just takes time to get used to your car and what it will do and won't do

I have a garmin satnav, i love it, i always have my satnav on even if im not going to a place where i don't know, i like how it tells you the speed limits of the road and bleeps for the speed cameras

Yeah it's a petrol, I was just looking for diesels for a week or 2 then I thought "I learned in a petrol, and if I go with a diesel then any bad habits I picked up from my little Corsa might never vanish since diesels are hard to stall and those habits might not notice". Within 2 days of having that thought I picked up this car
Yeah go for a little refresher ride. I've discovered that the only good thing about going for a night drive for me is getting to practice my hill starts on quiet roads. Otherwise, knowing that there is no traffic makes me drive like a loony haha, I get far too aggressive and start flying around corners and stuff, my poor tyres...

Ordered my sat nav yesterday Yeah I'll be doing the same thing, comes with an in-car power lead so why not? Ordered my black gloss rims as well, should look nice with the silver paint.

Yeah i think it's a good idea to stick to a petrol, i think diesels can be easier but im glad i didn't go for a diesel and stuck it out with the petrol. but thats good to hear And yeah i went shopping at the weekend then went to see some friends so took the car on a nice long journey, makes a change but it brought back how much i had missed my car : 0 haha i need to take it out more often

See with having a box i do drive quite carefully which is good lol, my smoothness score is never 10 though but i think it's because of the revs in the corsa i used to get 10's in the old car so idk

And yeah love my sat nav, they're so handy to have My car needs a wash but i just can't be bothered yet haha