KnowYourCar App<\/a> or here: www.gov.uk\/vehicle-tax-rate-tables); choose wisely and you can get away without paying anything for VED. Then there\u2019s maintenance (an annual service) and insurance. Reckon on around \u00a3150 for a supermini\u2019s minor service (engine oil and oil filter) and between \u00a3200-\u00a3250 for a major one (more fluids and components).<\/p>\n\n\n\nInsurance is one of the biggest shocks for a driver with zero experience. By all means, take a look at Auto Trader etc and see what cars take your fancy, but before you go to look at anything, it\u2019s imperative that you get insurance quotes. According to one of several car insurance comparison websites, the average comprehensive policy for a 17-year-old costs \u00a31855, while one for a 21-year-old is \u00a31599. Third party insurance is the minimal cover you can take out on a car – and it should help you cut costs – but it only covers you against damage to other people, cars and property. It won\u2019t cover you if, say, you hit a wall. Other ways of keeping your insurance costs down include limiting the annual mileage limit, adding an older, more experienced person as a named driver (they can\u2019t be the main driver), opting for a policy that uses a \u2018black box\u2019 to monitor your driving and making sure the car has an alarm and immobiliser. Keeping the car garaged or at least off the road at night may also help. The car\u2019s power, its value and your postcode also have a bearing on your policy\u2019s cost. Finally, you\u2019ll probably be given the option of paying for the policy in one go or monthly, but if it\u2019s the latter you\u2019re likely to pay more overall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The good news about insurance is that the costs start to fall as you collect no-claims bonuses – you normally get one for every year you\u2019ve been claim-free, and once you\u2019ve got a few you\u2019ll be able to protect them; even if you do make a claim you won\u2019t lose them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While there are a few things to consider when buying your first car, the comparatively high initial costs are often worth it for the freedom it gives you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Whether you\u2019ve just passed your driving test (congrats!) or need a car to learn how to drive, buying your first car can be a daunting experience. But it needn\u2019t be if you have the right sort of advice, which is where we come in!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"single-with-sidebar","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-vehicle-ownership-help"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/know-yourcar.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/know-yourcar.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/know-yourcar.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/know-yourcar.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/know-yourcar.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/know-yourcar.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/know-yourcar.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/know-yourcar.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/know-yourcar.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/know-yourcar.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}