Learning to drive #2

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Money saving expert has some good advice ... E.g. I found the jump from provisional to full huge where I actually didn't drive for 3 weeks to bring the premium down. Insuring straight away also increases premiums and best prices are about the 23 day mark.
Also your job 'title' can affect quotes, they have a job picker style thing on there to help.

www.moneysavingexpert.com

Car Insurance

Need car insurance but not sure what to go for? MoneySavingExpert's revolutionary car insurance tool is designed to take the hard work out of finding a cheap price.
www.moneysavingexpert.com www.moneysavingexpert.com

I'm insured through People Direct which is Hastings.
 
hogwartsgraduate said:
Money saving expert has some good advice ... E.g. I found the jump from provisional to full huge where I actually didn't drive for 3 weeks to bring the premium down. Insuring straight away also increases premiums and best prices are about the 23 day mark.
Also your job 'title' can affect quotes, they have a job picker style thing on there to help.

www.moneysavingexpert.com

Car Insurance

Need car insurance but not sure what to go for? MoneySavingExpert's revolutionary car insurance tool is designed to take the hard work out of finding a cheap price.
www.moneysavingexpert.com www.moneysavingexpert.com

I'm insured through People Direct which is Hastings.
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This is fantastic thank you. Had a quote with Hastings which is still expensive but not as high as some. I’ve tweaked a few things which seem to have helped.
 
intheindustry said:
Just found your post, my 18yr old has a car, on a provisionally licence. Insured on a learner policy but if/when she passes (likely to be July) but I’m getting the most horrendous quotes for a 5k car. Thoughts? I’ve tried Tesco, comparing websites etc.
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Is that with a box? Some insurers offer a curfew too? You can try a higher excess?
 
Quotes vary from about 2k to 5k. I’ve adjusted the excess to £1000. Using the link above I’ve managed to get a quote for 1700 with a black box.
 
Just make sure you read the small print with the black box, some have some quite weird terms. I.e. Minimum use for one and curfew times.
Happy driving though 👍🏼 x
 
So the last couple of days have been stressful. All during my lessons I have had an electric handbrake 'auto hold', and now since passing so does my new car. However my car has been in the garage and I have had a curtsey car with a stick handbrake 😳

I broke out into a slight panic attack when I saw it, the husband was like 'what do u mean you've never used one'
Today it goes back but I'm physically doing the drive in my head thinking of the damn hills ... Finding the bite point, releasing it is bringing back the nerves. I know it's not too dissimilar but in my head it's something extra that can go wrong 😔
 
is it easier to get a test (cancellation?) when you've already got one booked, or do you need to be booking a new test rather than changing a current one? sorry if its a silly Q, really out of the loop
 
daisy2809 said:
is it easier to get a test (cancellation?) when you've already got one booked, or do you need to be booking a new test rather than changing a current one? sorry if its a silly Q, really out of the loop
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I found it easier having a test booked already. The app Testi is what I used for cancellations but you can only use it if you have one booked so I booked one far away anywhere I could
 
was trying to swap my test and someone messed me about and now i only have until Thursday to change it and nobody will swap so it's not looking good 😂 definitely not ready (my instructor says I'm close but not quite there yet) so can't imagine she'll be too impressed

looks like i'll be taking my test next week at 34 weeks pregnant and with my hormones at the moment I'll probs cry the whole time 😂
 
givemethegossx said:
was trying to swap my test and someone messed me about and now i only have until Thursday to change it and nobody will swap so it's not looking good 😂 definitely not ready (my instructor says I'm close but not quite there yet) so can't imagine she'll be too impressed

looks like i'll be taking my test next week at 34 weeks pregnant and with my hormones at the moment I'll probs cry the whole time 😂
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Treat it as a very expensive lesson. You may surprise yourself. If not, you’ve had a practice and know what to expect next time. Good luck with the new baby too.
 
hogwartsgraduate said:
@givemethegossx How did the test go? Hope baby is all ok too X
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I managed to get someone to swap, my instructor doesn’t think I’m test ready unfortunately! I feel really deflated when it comes to driving at the moment like I want to give up but just trying to stick it out as I’ve spent too much money now😂 thank you and baby is very much still inside my belly so hopefully not long now!x
 
Ah that's ok though, concentrate on baba and it will get there.

I actually had a break whilst learning (plus COVID years) so mine were very stop and start, a couple of instructors later and I vowed never to add up the cost 😅

Keep us updated x
 
klarakluckbag said:
Getting the right instructor makes a huge difference. I found mine (my third, the first two were 20 years earlier) after seeing my neighbour, who is a complete dingbat, pass her test with him. I thought that if he could get her to learn to drive, he could teach anyone, even me! We were the same age, from the same part of town, and so we had a lot in common. He would make rude comments about "women drivers" who can't reverse properly (knowing full well that I'd try harder just to prove him wrong lol) I would swear at him for making me drive up narrow hills with cars parked on both sides, the lessons were hard work sometimes, but having an instructor that I could just chat with, made it much easier for me. It took me a year with him, I was 46 when I passed my test and it was worth every penny, I'm so glad that I did it.

I passed the theory test first time, I had a DVD with the hazard perception videos, I'm sure it's all available online now. The ones that I used for practice (10 mins every night for a couple of months) were much harder than the ones in the actual test!
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This could be me. After having a few lessons aged 47, I tried again aged 55 but this time I was determined to pass first time. Mentally determined so took lessons in an auto and this time my instructor was gold. Male - we got on like a house on fire and we had so much in common and I believe this is the most important part of learning to drive (for me anyway). As my test area was miles away I had one double lesson each weekend. I told him I wouldn't take my test until I was confident I could pass so I had about 7 months of lessons going round the test area until I knew it like the back of my hand. Come the test day I was informed they'd widened the test area to twice it's normal size. GULP. No turning back now. Inwardly fraught with nerves outwardly calm and silent (yeah right) I actually passed. To this day I owe it all to my instructor. Some are excellent at reading you, some are bloody useless. Mind you this was years ago when you could chop and change everything as you pleased.

PS: Gear changing and clutch control was like patting your head and rubbing your tummy upside down so to me using an automatic gearbox was like driving Noddy's car - stop and go - bloody marvellous.
 
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