Just because I have a Penis.

"djmt1" (djmt1) 07/19/2014 at 11:25 • Filed to: Hot Hatch, Insurance, Knobs

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I want my own car!

I have reached the point in my life where I need/want my own car. However I am Male and I live in Central London (Apparently) and as a result insurance is ludicrously expensive no matter which car I pick. So with this is mind, I might as pick a Hot Hatch since I barely saving any money with an Econobox. However I'm still looking to save money. This means that certain cars aren't happening due to Chav Tax such as the Seat Leon Cupra.

Insurance for this £3,400. This is rather annoying since they are dirt cheap.

Another car or rather set of cars afflicted by this tax are cars fitted with VTECs. Now you would think that being VTECs and all the insurance would be relatively cheap. I mean they are lacking the insurance black mark being Turbos but oh no no no.

Insurance for this £2,900. This was a real sucker punch. I thought the lack of Turbos would be a winner and even Jeremy Clarkson himself said it was cheaper to insure than its rivals and when is he ever wrong.

So what to do...

Well why not try something a bit more up market, I mean what do I have to lose. So MK5 Golf GTI, the car that brought back the Glory.

Well Good news... Sort off. Insurance for this £1,700. YES! I thought. I can afford a Hot Hatch and a Golf GTI no less but then I looked on the classified and my new dream came crashing back to earth as these go for £5,000 minimum.

Dejected at a wasted evening I went for a walk. Since the insurance on that is real cheap. I like to do a bit of car spotting when I'm out as any Petrolhead would do but my attention is usually reserved for stuff like this.

But that day, I looked at different cars, I looked at the Boy Racers and saw a lot of good cars sent to die. Anything with a Vauxhall badge was simply a no go, they are insanely popular among my spiky haired brethren. Also anything Japanese was out because JDM Bro. The Ford seemed to have come out well but like the Golf they are pricey.

Then a car I completely overlooked when by or rather 3 of them.

The first gen Audi S3. With my longing for the Cupra, I had completely forgot about its AWD sister. So back on to the Classifieds I went....

Hoorah they are cheap!

Starting as low as £1000 going up to £3,000 for a really nice one.

But there must be a catch. Of course there was but fortunately it was in my favour.

The first car I put in to the insurance calculator was a 2003 model and as was expected the insurance was £2,800. However I remember the ad had the number 225 in the description which I thought was odd. Went to look at the spec and as it turns out the S3 had a minor power boost of 15 hp in its later years so I thought why not try an older model say 2001...

£1,700

15 hp cost me a grand, great work from the insurance companies there.

So after 18 months of looking I might have finally found my first car, so people of the internet, is there anything I should know about the first gen Audi S3 and are there any other Hot hatches I should consider for my first car. Keep in mind my budget is £5,000 for both the car and insurance.

Thanks for reading.

Oh, yeah. No diesels. MPG is good and all but I have driven nothing but diesels (minus track days) and I'm sick of tractor noises.

Nibby > djmt1 07/19/2014 at 11:26

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BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion > djmt1 07/19/2014 at 11:34

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Well, I think you should follow Top Gear's advice and chop your penis off, it worked for James and it worked for me, just make sure it'll grow back and you're set :p

Seriously though, I can't help much with the S3, sorry... have a little experience with the 1.8 Turbo, but these don't share engines, do they?

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > djmt1 07/19/2014 at 11:35

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I live in the North East and am car shopping at the moment, the insurance is extremely confusing to me. There's no way at all of guessing how good the insurance is going to be by the power or size of the car so you have to run quotes on EVERYTHING. At one point the insurance on a 2 litre diesel laguna estate and similar mondeo estate had a difference of £1000 which was insane to me. Since I hit 20 though everything seems to have dropped in price quite a lot and evened out.

djmt1 > BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion 07/19/2014 at 11:37

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You can get a Boob job on the NHS but anything Penis related is a no go. Also the EU legislation thing means that the prices for women have been pushed up as well.

PetarVN, GLI Guy, now with stupid power > djmt1 07/19/2014 at 11:38

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S3=good idea

ASBO cupra=amazing idea. Shame it's too costly. I love how it looks

djmt1 > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. 07/19/2014 at 11:39

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I have just resorted to trial and error and as result ruining my email inbox. Apparently prices become a lot more reasonable at 25 but I'm 21 and I don't think I can wait another 4 years especially since prices come crashing down after the first year.

djmt1 > PetarVN, GLI Guy, now with stupid power 07/19/2014 at 11:41

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I really wanted the Cupra since it has 5 doors as opposed to the S3 with 3 doors. 5 door cars are really rare from that era with the only cheap option being the Skoda Fabia VRS but it's a diesel.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > djmt1 07/19/2014 at 11:45

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Oh god the emails, spam... so much spam. 20 was a big threshold for me apparently, I think it's also because the time I've had my licence ticked over to 2 years. Prices on the estates I want pretty much halved. I couldn't make it to 25 especially since I'm not insured on any other car so I only drive occasionally. The only reason I'm not driving now is because the parking situation at my student house sucks and while I have good savings I don't work yet so fuel and maintenance will mess up my savings pretty bad.

TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut > djmt1 07/19/2014 at 11:48

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I'm not surprised that insurance for the Civic isn't cheap - I remember it having a reputation for being cheaper yet more practical and faster than its rivals, so people loved to buy and thrash them. What does surprise me is the prices of the Cupra - they really are damn cheap (starting at just £1,500 if I remember correctly) and you don't have to buy them with a bodykit and big alloys. Some will come looking just like a base model Leon.

At least you're not living in the late 80s to early 90s when insurance premiums for insuring hot hatches went through the roof, past the chimney pot and right to the top of the television aerial. In the early 90s, one company quoted a 33 year old journalist living in Central London who parked his Escort Cossie on the street £25,000 a year to insure, £3,000 more than the car was worth. I wonder if you can guess who that journalist was...

djmt1 > TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut 07/19/2014 at 11:50

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And yet he bought two of them.

TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut > djmt1 07/19/2014 at 11:55

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Well no, it was a press car. But he drove it again a few years down the line when he looked back at hot hatches.

djmt1 > TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut 07/19/2014 at 11:57

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Oh yeah it was the Ford GT he bought twice.

KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs > djmt1 07/19/2014 at 12:00

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It's also the fact that insurance in the UK is completely out of proportion with reality.

Or that US insurance is just monumentally cheap. I have three cars and a motorcycle for the US equivalent of £1,100 a year. Drop the motorcycle and its £820 a year.

djmt1 > KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs 07/19/2014 at 12:02

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It is so unfair you guys can get 7.0l V8 RWD muscle cars for less than £1500 a year where I struggle to get that for a 1.4l Punto.

Conan > djmt1 07/19/2014 at 12:05

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How's motorcycle insurance?

djmt1 > Conan 07/19/2014 at 12:08

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Good, driving a motorcycle in London is relatively cheap however it is like signing up for a daily Russian roulette challenge as to most London drivers, Cyclists (powered or otherwise) don't exist.

Vince-The Roadside Mechanic > djmt1 07/19/2014 at 12:09

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Instead of chopping off your penis for a better deal just tuck it and tape it down.

djmt1 > Vince-The Roadside Mechanic 07/19/2014 at 12:11

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Hell NO! I have way too much hair down there.

Conan > djmt1 07/19/2014 at 12:11

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Sounds like a definite tradeoff. I know my girlfriend's brother rocks an electric motorbike in Denmark to get something enjoyable and avoid their savage Euro taxes, but it sounds like Copenhagen is more set up for motorbike/bike traffic than y'all. Good luck with the Audi. Looks like fun. They don't hit you up for extra insurance cost for mods, do they?

djmt1 > Conan 07/19/2014 at 12:13

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They do but only at the point of entry. Do what you want to the car and let the next guy worry about it and don't crash since that is one of the biggest reasons for not paying out.

trynthink > djmt1 07/19/2014 at 12:50

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OTOH your used cars are hilariously cheap. All of those Top Gear £1,000 challenges would be impossible here because cars that run just never get that cheap (I guess some of them have bought cars that "run," like in the Alfa challenge). Cars here seem to bottom out at much higher prices, above £2,000 for anything worth considering that isn't 20 years old.

Zibodiz > trynthink 07/19/2014 at 15:12

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Wow, around here (Wyoming/Colorado) used cars can't hardly be given away. I've had an '05 Sebring convertible in immaculate condition that I tried to sell in '10 for $2800 and nobody wanted it. Booked at almost 8 grand when I started trying to sell it. I wound up trading it for $1800 a year ago after having it on the market for a few years. Restored '87 4x4 x-cab Ford with all kinds of accessories that I sold for $1350 after advertizing it for $1900 for 8 months. Booked at $3200. '93 Civic hatch with all kinds of upgrades that I sold for $1100 after starting at $1900 and advertizing it for almost a year. Booked at $900 (I kid you not.) '87 Dodge pickup for $500 that I advertized for a year, then gave up and sold to the junk yard for scrap for $300 when it started having a shift problem (if nobody wanted it when it was running right, they definitely didn't want it broken.) Booked for $1900. I currently have a '98 GMC Jimmy (Blazer) in great shape, low miles, that I can't even get anyone to test drive. It's listed for $1600. Books at $2800.

Used car prices here are just ridiculous. I could sell these vehicles to the junk yard for not much less. It's getting to the point that I see cars as disposable; once you're done with them, throw them away. They're never going to sell.

Then again, so is insurance. The only car I've had full coverage on was the Sebring, and it cost me $250/month (so expensive), for a 3-year-old $17k convertible with a single 20-year-old guy driving it. My liability insurance now, on a '98 Escort, '03 Escape, and '99 F-250, is only $300/year.

dmcspeedy > djmt1 07/19/2014 at 21:31

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According to Parkers, the 210bhp S3 is Group 33, and the 221bhp is Group 35. I don't think anyone can truly explain UK insurance rates.

By the way, you might also want to have a look at the Mk4 Golf V6 4motion ... same platform as the S3, similar power, but with the VR6 soundtrack. Not sure how insurance would be, but I expect they'd be cheaper to buy than the S3.

There was also a Bora V6 4motion, I've seen those on Pistonheads for under £1500 and insurance might be cheap as it doesn't have a boy racer image - would make a pretty good sleeper.

MonkeePuzzle > djmt1 07/21/2014 at 09:55

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hey look, I have these wheels on my civic :D so jealous that you guys got the Type R over there

djmt1 > MonkeePuzzle 07/21/2014 at 10:28

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You're shitting me, you guys didn't get this Type R either! Are they illegal over there or something. Are you lot getting the new Type R?

MonkeePuzzle > djmt1 07/21/2014 at 10:37

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negative, the US got the Integra Type R, but nothing R type since the RSX replaced the Integra. We got a few S models. But never got Accord R, or Civic R. And if I remember rightly, the Integra R we got was less special than the Integra R the rest of the world go, different seats and lesser engine still.

djmt1 > MonkeePuzzle 07/21/2014 at 10:53

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I know hot hatches aren't really a thing in the states but what about vtec kicked in bro? There must be a market somewhere for the Type R.

MonkeePuzzle > djmt1 07/21/2014 at 11:02

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there sure is! gotta build your own though. Honda hot hatch options are the EG, 92-95 came with an SI version that had vtec, and the EP 2003-2005 got a K-series with VTEC. neither are as potent as the R.