£10 for me to go my pal's insurance for a week and that was for a BMW X5, but then I am quite old and allegedly borderline fat......
|
|
You're not fat Humph and don't hijack the thread. You might only be Wii Fat.
|
|
|
|
Thanks
117 miles is a lot with four people in the car, saturday holiday traffic and somebody who has only driven on local roads. I went up Princess Parkway for the first time on my own today and even that felt a little hairy. Its just the best way then I won't need to be worried about the driving the for the next few weeks.
There will also be no doubt a lot of milleage clocked up when we get there too, 500 miles in the week easily.
Other driver is 25
|
I hope you're not driving at all Rattle based on what you say. Sounds like the trip would be daunting if alone. Four up and the distractions from the passengers...
|
|
Yep and even with my mate who has a lot more experience of driving than me (about 12,000 solo miles compared to my 800). I have driven on the motorway before with my dad but there was no distractions etc which makes it easier.
|
|
|
|
Get them up early Rattle me old mate...leave the rain Manchester at 4am and you'll be lost in the depths of lovely Wales by 6am for breakfast.
Just PM PU for a list of eateries..he seems to know every good food spot.;)
|
I would pop in to a high street broker Rattle. Explain your enquiry to a human being. I'm sure they'll come up with something. I find Swinton very good for what it's worth.
You probably know better than most that trying to get something out of the ordinary to function via a screen menu literally does not compute.
Have a good holiday by the way. Could you just remind us of your dates so we can....um....not that we'd be avoiding those roads deliberately you understand....just giving you a bit of space......
;-)
|
|
|
|
Just drive it and take it as practice, you'll have to do that distance eventually, set of with plenty of time, taking as many breaks as you need. This is coming from the guy who didnt like doing 10 miles if I didn?t have to, now doing 200 mile jollies for the fun of it.
Doing all the driving may put a bit of a dampener on sly holiday pints, but it does mean you get to pick the route with a couple of back roads thrown in for fun.
Boris
|
Don't forget, Ian, with four up and all the luggage and camping gear for four, the old Corsa might handle somewhat differently from pottering around Chorlton on Brantingham Road at 20mph.
Just take it easy and have a good holiday.
Ted
|
|
We are staying in a carraven so there will be no tents and very little food but luggage will weigh a bit. I will just have to make sure I inflate the tyres etc. At least the rear springs should be able to handle the weight :).
|
|
|
|
Norwich Union, as mentioned, will do this for someone of that age. My daughter used to insure herself for my X-trail for anything from a day (£10.50) to ten. The great advantage to you is that they are insured fully comp. so your car will get repaired if they have an accident!
Most insurance companies will allow you to add a temporary named driver - but most not more than three times a year for the same driver. Sometimes it is as cheap just to put them on your insurance as a named driver for the rest of the policy - cost £60 to add a 25 year old to mine for 8 months. Costs vary - putting on someone for two weeks probably cheaper than Norwich Union, but won't be fully comp unless that is the insurance you have.
It is a good idea to have someone else insured to drive, if you are happy with their driving(!), so that if you cannot drive for any reason (twisted ankle, broken glasses, feeling very tired en route) you are not stuck or tempted to drive when not safe.
|
For goodness sake rattle. Just load the blinkin car up with people and bags, get in and drive.
Its only 117 miles, not a trip to the moon.
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 11/06/2009 at 01:18
|
|
kind of have to agree with AE on this one...just get it done...it will be scary at points but the practise is essential....i was driving 80+miles up the m1 from nottingham to leeds the week after my test to go see an old gf...yes it was scary at first but the sense of freedom was amazing...it also helped when my next (though now ex lol) gf went to lancaster uni and i was (and still am) in leicester uni....170miles nearly every weekend their and back...in fog/heavy snow/slashing rain/broken thermostat :P but its all invaluable practise
|
Your awareness of your shortcomings and lack of experience will see the 117 miles go by without a problem. Sort out the route before going (even if you do have a GPS) and get your mate to navigate.
Just concentrate on your driving and let everyone else around you get on with theirs.
My first long trip was Sheffield to Conventry a few weeks after I passed my test. I even managed to survive the Coventry ring road which is known as one of the worst in the UK!
|
|
I can remember planning my first LONG journey(62 miles) and I got maps,tools and a load of other things and that was when there were less than three million cars on the road;not today's thirty.
|
www.dayinsure.com
Not sure what their age limits are though.
|
I was at RAF Leeming (N Yorkshire) when I passed my test. Bought and insured a car the next day, drive home to Hampshire the day after that, in the dark ages of 1979, using A1, M1, A42 and A34.
You will be fine, so long as you don't get distracted by your passengers.
Edited by oldnotbold on 11/06/2009 at 11:27
|
I've used dayinsure on some pretty weird and wonderful cars over the past 2 or 3 years and I *think* I'm younger than Rattle.
|
Dayinsure is what gave me the frankly stupid quote. I can't do the Aviva one yet as it needs my mates driving licence number which I don't have so I will have to get a quote with him here.
I will phone up my car insurance company today to see what they say.
|
I wonder if it's changed then. When I've used them, there haven't been quotes so to speak - just a 12 quid flat fee and then a few quid on top for something or other. It's been the same price on group 5 cars to group 16.
|
|
Well I did it for 14 days so maybe that is why? My car is group 3, I have a high risk postcode but my dads Fiesta Ghia only costs £180 a year to insure fully comp now I am no longer a named driver.
|
Ahhh...that could be why. I don't think postcodes come into it for such short term purposes....I've not got the best postcode myself but it hasn't seemed to make a difference when I've used them in the past.
As others have said, it really isn't that far - it might be worth using this as valuable driving experience and saving a lot of dosh!
|
|
I got that wrong it is another company I used for the stupid quote, day insure wants the licence number again so I assume its apart of Aviva. Forgot I had even tried it but I was tired when i was doing all this at 2:00am yesterday.
|
Rattle, the "quote" needs a licence number so to get a price you can use yours I'd have thought. They don't really care where the car is or age as long as you've not got too many points, etc. But for 14 days it could work out more than adding a named driver to yours.
This company is Aviva too - it was part of NU before they rebranded.
|
|
Thanks Rob I will try mine for now, I may as well just put my details on as I don't see they will be that much different. He has no points but does have a fault accident about four or five years ago but his driving improved a lot since that accident.
|
It would be a lot cheaper to do a practice run over, say, the first half (which is the busy bit) a few days before, with just you and a navigator.
Assuming you've driven 800 miles, at an average speed of 25 mph, then you've been on the car for 32 hours, so I think you can manage a journey of three hours just fine.
Live a little....
|
Thats I wanted to do but arranging that has difficult. I have just tried dayinsure using my licence number and it wants £122. Now I only have 4 months left on my policy so I am now going to ring my insurance company to see how much it will be.
There might be an element of Corsa=Chav in this too.
Even if I did do most the driving I will be a lot happier knowing somebody else was insured in case the worse came to the worse.
|
Sorted it, I phoned Directline (my insurance company) told them all the details and they wanted £14.00 as he is over 25, if he was under 25 they would have wanted a lot extra.
|
"Even if I did do most the driving I will be a lot happier knowing somebody else was insured in case the worse came to the worse. "
What is likely to happen that leaves you unable to drive, but the car driveable?
We are talking about a round trip that many would think of as doable in one day. Apart from the infamous speed cameras, there's nothing on the route that is likely to be any different to what you have already experienced. Stop half-way for a coffee and a sticky bun.
|
What is likely to happen that leaves you unable to drive, but the car driveable? >>
Camping in the wild Welsh hills is dangerous - you could strain your foot or wrist or neck walking through boggy ground while looking up at the hill tops. Or maybe this long drive to the moon will knacker your feet and knees and give you cramp. ;-)
Edited by jbif on 11/06/2009 at 13:27
|
I passed my test in the city with most 30-40 zones, I did have a 40 dual carraige way in my test but that is not the same as a 60-70 road like the A55. I am very experienced with speed cameras, I probably go through about ten on an average day.
Another friend of mine who is not coming with us thinks the drive would be too much for me, and she knows me probably better than anybody else. I remember telling her in Jan 08 that I will never be able to drive etc, she is the one that pushed me into having some lessons after several years brake and I passed first time with four minors which did boost my confidence a bit. However although she pushed me into driving she still thinks this trip is too much for me.
|
Do you live in Manchester Rattle?
|
Rattle - break it down into three 40 mile trips - each will take one hour approx. Stop for coffee and buns at 11.00, lunch at 12.00, and you'll be there in time for tea.
40 mph on a busy dual carriageway is much the same as 60 mph on a free-flowing open road - just keep your distance.
You are attempting to make a mountain out of a molehill. Try choosing friends with a more positive outlook.
|
|
Rattle will be fine. I assume you'll go from Manchester towards Wales on the M56 which should be easy.
|
I assume you'll go from Manchester towards Wales on the M56 >>
;-) Don't forget to tell us your route, date and time you are setting off, so we can all keep a mile away from that Corsa on that route.
Edited by jbif on 11/06/2009 at 13:45
|
Earth calling Apollo 13...
;-)
(anxiety generally reduces if you don`t let it curtail whatever`s causing it)
All the best Rattle
Edited by oilrag on 11/06/2009 at 13:43
|
Just been down princess parkway again and made a schoolboy error, was doing 40mph and the bus in front stopped luckily I kept my distance and stopped in plenty of time but I got stuck, I should have assumed the bus would stop but lack of experience meant I did not make the connection bus = might stop. I basicaly got stuck behind the bus when I should have over taken it when it was safe to do so, when it stopped there was too much traffic on the other lane so I just had to wait behind it.
I find the lights are not a problem as they seem to be on amber more than the roads I am used to giving plenty of time to stop. It seems to be overtaking things I struggle with most at that speed but if in doubt don't move out.
The route is M56/A55 then another road which I forget.
Could a moderator please change the title to trip to wales advice or something it will save me having to make new posts nearer the time and will keep the thing neater.
|
Mr Rattle,
You're worrying about this far too much. If you constantly over analyse any trip outside the M60 as being a wild adventure that needs lots of planning, you'll never venture out of the North West.
If you can drive around Manchester without getting stressed, caught by the many speed traps or wanting to yank someone out of their car for stealing the last space in the 7th car park you've tried, then driving to North Wales will be fine. An adventure!
I love driving. Whether it's nipping to the shops or going on a bit of a run somewhere it's all great. But nothing frustrates me more than driving around Manchester. I don't know what it is but I turn into a different person and start trying to push into gaps everywhere and pull out on people to the extent that I avoid it where possible. But a little jaunt down the A55 is bliss in comparison!
Just watch out for certain vans with certain darkened windows and enjoy yourself!
|
There's only one way around it - go and get some practice! Tank it up, tootle out along the M56, up the M6 to Preston, back down the M61 and M60 - practice on and off at a few junctions on the way - the worst bit of m-way driving is getting on, and getting off can confuse you with the feeling of speed. Should take a couple of hours and you will be sorted. Or terrified :-) Don't get into the "easier to drive at 55" mentality either - lorries are big and travel at that speed, get it up to 70 so you are not in their way. Get your Dad to go with you and give you some pointers on the way. The amount of time spent worrying about it so far, you could have gone and done it!
M-way driving is easy - look a loooooong way ahead and plan - particularly what everyone else is going to need to do, eg that car in front that is catching that lorry up and not realised, and will need to be in your lane in a minute - and you should hardly ever need to change speed, and it is not that hard work. Granted you will feel knackered the first time... but it does pass!
|
|
|
|
|
