THINGS I WISH I KNEW BEFORE I PASSED MY TEST

I hate to toot my own trumpet but I am in that 47.5% of people in the UK that passed both there theory and practical test first time. So there I was at 17 and 7 months old with my shiny pass certificate in my hand thinking I now had the golden ticket to freedom. You know ‘The world is your oyster’ and all that. I naively believed, I could now go anywhere, and it wouldn’t cost as much public transport, oh and that my little 2008 second hand MINI Hatch would never break or need repairs. Well how wrong was I! The day after I passed my test I was at the garage having a new tyre fitted due to a puncture. THIS WAS DAY 2. Driving and owning a car is not a fairytale, it’s expensive, it can be unpredictable and it’s not as simple as we’re initially led to believe, so here is some things I wish I knew before I passed my test.

PETROL IS EXPENSIVE

Fuel prices, guess what? Petrol costs money, I’m not trying to be patronising because obviously we all know that, but I honestly had no idea just how expensive it would be. Whatever you do, do not buy a diesel engine car for your first car because the petrol is significantly more expensive making it costly to run. You’ll live to regret it when you have to pay that bit more than the guy at the pump behind you who’s filling up with unleaded.

Obviously how expensive it is to own a car all depends on how much you use it. So just for reference, when I first passed I would do 2/3 (I car shared) 28 mile round trips to college and then some smaller journeys on a weekend. I would fill my 1.4 litre MINI with around £25-£30 worth of petrol a week. So we’re talking £100-£120 a month. Fortunately I did have some help with the costs when I was in college but not anymore. So a way I’ve reduced fuel costs is by filling up at supermarket petrol stations. They always seem so much cheaper than for example a Shell garage. You’ll end up saving so much.

WHEN YOU PASS AT 17 YOUR INSURANCE IS SKY HIGH

This is common sense and I had heard this before my test but I hadn’t realised just how much it would cost. This not to say you should delay passing your test, that’s not what I mean but just bear this in mind that insurance for your first year is going to be £1000+.
There are ways to bring it down though. Black boxes monitor your driving and sometimes have some safe driver rules you have to stick to (e.g curfews) but if you can get through the first year with one you’re gonna save so much money. What I had was like a black box, it was called a telematics box which gives you a point score for every journey you make. Over your first year your average score could result in a lower insurance quote the next year.
Another little trick to try out is adding one of your parents to the insurance policy as a second driver. Adding my mum to my policy brought it down by about £200.


CARS AREN’T ALWAYS RELIABLE

And believe me I learnt this the hard way. As I’ve already said, on my second day of driving I had a puncture and had to get a new tyre, setting me back £70, on only DAY 2. I had this confident attitude that my car would never need repairs, it would be just fine. Sadly that’s not true. No matter how new the car is, at some point you might stumble across a problem that needs a repair. It could be something so minor like a broken headlight that costs £20ish to repair but it could also be an engine fault which is what I had with my MINI which cost an eye watering £300 to fix. So just be mindful of the realities of owning a car to avoid being as unprepared as I was.

CHOOSE SUBSTANCE OVER STYLE

This is where I really went wrong. For my first car I went for a sporty MINI Hatch, impressed by it’s cutesy look. Fast forward only 6 months later I’m selling it and buying a new car because it was a complete NIGHTMARE. It’s age didn’t help so in hindsight I would definitely be careful when buying older cars (check mileage and any past repairs it’s had). So my advice is do some research into the car before buying it, especially if you are buying second hand, I wish I had done more.

THAT ROAD TAX IS AN ACTUAL THING

I’m not joking, I was so naive to road tax. I remember being in the car sales office and the guy saying ‘How would you like to pay for your road tax? Annually or Monthly?’, I turned my head to stare at my mum ‘Road tax!’ Again I was just so naive in fairy land to have even considered having to pay road tax but worse I didn’t have a clue what it was! In case you’re as clueless as I was, road tax is a tax you have to pay based on your car’s carbon dioxide emissions, so cars that produce the most CO2 incur the highest tax bills for their owners. The road tax on my MINI was around £120 a year. Which I know isn’t loads but some cars are road tax free. It’s definitely something to consider when looking for your car, again it all comes down to research and not rushing in to buying the first car you see because it looks cute.


SO WHAT TO LEARN FROM MY MISTAKES

The biggest thing I regret was rushing into it. What I wish I had known is how valuable research is. So talk to your parents and friends about their car, find reliable car dealerships who are open and honest and most importantly research the car you are wanting to buy.


Remember a car always decreases in value so make sure your purchase is worth it or even considering leasing a car and paying monthly to avoid the financial commitment.