Insurance?

[Norbury90]

Hi guys,

I know i'm probably barking up an enormous tree here, but I would quite like an MX-5. I'm 18, will be turning 19 around the time I would be thinking about purchase. Would I get insured on a Mk1 1.6? Obviously I don't want to be paying anything super-human, as the car itself would be being bought on a budget!

I'm looking at around the £2.5k mark for the car itself, i'm guessing that that would get me a relatively well looked-after early model? I'm not really interested in the Mk2 for now, that would probably come in a few years time.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Planet Claire]

There are certainly MX5 owners as young as you, so it's just a case of shopping around. Try, Adrian Flux, A-Plan and Sky Insurance - their details can be found over on Nutz, although I think one of them might only insure for 25+. I would certainly budget for the best part of £1K though. To be honest, you might be best just buying a cheap, small engined runabout and gain a couple of years worth of no claims bonus before you buy your MX5.

[MX-5 Lazza]

If you go for a 94+ UK market 1.6 Mk1 they have a lower power engine that is cheaper to insure. They are of course slower than the earlier cars but they are still just as much fun on the twisties.

Edited by MX-5 Lazza on Monday 27th April 09:06

[snotrag]

IMO - the MX5 IS a small engined cheap run-about! It just happens to also be a fantastic roadster/sportscar to boot.

If you go for a UK Mk1 model it shouldnt cost too much I dont think. And try the 'big' names too.

Often, these will give you a better quote - specialist insurers are great but they only want to take people on if they have a year or twos experience of sporty cars.

£2.5k is easily enough to get a tidy little car.

[Dorje]

Those 'specialist' insurance companies don't cover below 21/25 years of age I think.

I've always found Bell good for young drivers, get a quote online from them.

[snotrag]

Bell/admiral/elephant are the same lot, and thats who im with.

[rfn]

When I first started to look for MX-5s I was 19. Insurance was reasonable for me on a Mk2.5 1.6 with 1 NCB.

When I got my 2nd NCB, and was 20, quotes for a 1.8 were actually less than my car at the time, so I took the plunge. Haven't looked back .

[Norbury90]

Thanks for the responses so far guys, I would try and pick up a sound Mk1 as cheaply as possible to give me (hopefully) more chance with the insurance.

I will have to do a bit more looking, see what I can find!

[UncleDave]

Hi,

I'm 19 at the minute, and had my Eunos for around 2 months.
Picked the car up for just over 2k, it's practically spotless.. it's a 1993 S-Ltd 1.6, so still the more powerful variety with the bilstein shocks and one or two other touches..
Cost me the same to insure the MX5 this year as it cost to insure a 1995 Polo 1.4CL last year. I currently have 1 years NCB from the Polo, as I foolishly did the "named driver" trick for a year when I was 17 - if you have 2 years NCB you should be sorted.

Dave.