Andy Duke

Mr Ree, I think you're onto a good thing and have a great arrangement in place and it sounds like he is the kind of person that will take a good attitude towards driving. Its horrible to hear of these stories with young drivers in accidents, I remember when I was in school there were so many accidents with people who had just passed their test. Even for the most experianced of people driving presents huge risks on a daily basis, learning to drive is like any new skill thats why its good to hear of someone like your son who is approaching the subject with a decent mindset. With regards to my earlier post and that query of young peoples outgoings, I'm glad that Graigus, Yegnold and robmawer picked up on the living with parents topic as that is what I was getting towards. This thread just got me thinking about a newsarticle I read the otherday claiming figures as high as 1 in 5 UK adult males still living at home with parents. Couple this with the economic situation and it makes you start to think about spending habits and attitudes etc. Again, I'm not criticising * anyone, I was just astonished at the amounts that some people are actually paying for their car insurance. To derive the humour from the whole economic situation, the last thing I'm going to do is lecture people into spending money on their cars as opposed to establishing a firm base in life in the form of buying a house, as the phrase 'safe as houses' doesnt really have the same meaning any more with the amount of people now in negative equity . Anyway, so from taking the thread completely off on a tangent...

People seem to be offering up all sorts of comparisons along the lines of "I'm 19/20/21/22 etc with 1 yrs NCB etc", the thing to remember here is that for young drivers any advantage towards a policy makes such a difference. For example an 18yr old having 1yrs driving experiance, and a yrs NCB will result a considerable drop in premium price when compared to a 17 yr old brand new drive (...that said, it is still going to cost hideous amounts for an 18yr old with 1yrs NCB on a VRS). I find that car insurance is a funny thing and often not as predictable as expected, look beyond the numbers of insurance group ratings etc, although its a good indicator its not the be all and end all. I had just turned 18 when I got my first car, Peugeot 205 GTX 1.4, I think that was insurance group eleven, similar to the 106 rallye that has been previously mentioned in the thread, a very quick little engine that would upset alot of proper hot hatches around town. I insured this car for £710, as an 18yr old brand new licence etc, all in my own name which I was quite pleased with, part of the good price was due to adding both Parents onto my policy as second drivers, which brought the quote down by 50% or so! This little 205 was a cracking car and was great fun to drive, it taught me a lot about driving (with no ABS, TC etc). I had this for about 8 months when I was faced with a long daily commute and needed something a bit more sturdy than an old 205. I got a Peugeot 306 DTurbo Sport at the age of 19 with 1 years no claims and was paying just a tad over £500, these things are insurance bargains (group 5 or 6 I think) and would strongly recommend one to a yound driver interested in something different. When you get into a 306 D turbo the performance seems incredible after you've been sat in your friends 1.2 corsa's paxo's etc. My advice would be to try and be reasonable and your son seems pretty switched on, when I got my 205 I really wanted the Gti, but the insurance would have been £1600, I mean £1600!! thats a stupid amount of money to be paying, extend the car search and shop around for insurance, try different tactics (adding/removing named drivers, etc), I have never paid over £800 for insurance and at 20 I had a group 16 seat Ibiza Cupra Sport Gti 16v. Take it slow and build up the NCB, there are still cracking little cars to be had. Getting good car insurance should be made an endurance event! On another note (rant begins) as much as I love cars I think paying over £1000 on insurance is a rip, let along the £2000+ figures that people are coming out with. Not to sound rude to some of the younger members on here but how much are you earning if you are paying £2000+ on car insurance? Again, not having a dig at anyone, but just pondering the current situation, the economy is in ruins, ultimately because people can no longer manage to live within their means, taking loans for this that and the other. I think aspiration is a good thing but when things like insuring a car you really like start costing you what must be at least 30% of a 17-19 yr olds income before tax (thats assuming they are in work) then something isnt right. I'm not pointing fingers, just genuinely curious about how this young people are affording these premiums.

This had white wheels and I thought it was very fast.... ...but still it was a hooligan of a car, and it was bright green - need I say anymore? In all seriousness, go for the gunmetal colour, white is fun for a bit, but just looks a little immature. That gun metal colour looks sleek and not over the top, and I will agree makes a fast car look fast!

I too get this high pitched tone when applying the brakes, seems to come from the left side of the cabin as well. Its definately electronic, nothing else seems out of the ordinary so untill I hear any further suggestions for explanations I'm not going to worry and am choosing to ignore it.

I used to have a seat Ibiza cupra sport with white wheels, an absolute pain to keep clean, and they show wear and tear so much. As much as I like the look of white, I think the other option is far better.

First visit into this dealership today, had my Fabia's doors resealed under warrenty. Very impressed with all the staff and the service, changes my perception of dealerships!

Hi, I'm new on here, got a Furby VRS a few weeks back (06 Black Magic, 37,000mls) and have fallen in love with the interior. The front seats are by far the most comfortable car seats that I have ever sat in! This got me thinking.... I quite fancy modifiying a Furby VRS seat to serve as my office chair at work; like this kind of thing: How to Make a Desk Chair from a Car Seat - wikiHow Has anyone tried anything like this before? I have no idea how to weld so was thinking of creating a subframe out of wood and fixing with some sturdy bolts. I would obviously have to source a VRS front seat (either passenger or driver), and would like to do the whole thing on a budget. Anyone have any ideas or advice? Cheers, Andy

Just got my Furby, and am in need of some roof bars. Are they still available? I'm based in Nottingham so could collect most evenings. Let me know if they are still available. Cheers, Andy