Thursday 6 October 2011

The eInsurance Group guide to owning a car at university.

It’s that time of year again - a new group of students begin their journey into higher education, with most moving out from home and into their university digs.

For many it’s time to think about purchasing a car in order to get around their new city and also make it easier to drive back home to give the parents some clothes to wash! But with the cost of being a student becoming more and more expensive, it has never been more important to ensure that students can buy a car that will please both their university lives and their wallets.

Here are some handy tips from eInsurance Group:


Get the right Insurance.
It can be difficult for students to find the right type of car insurance policy without it costing most of their student loan! Therefore, it’s very important to shop around and find the right policy for you. When purchasing your car, it’s always a good idea to think about the insurance cost. For example, cars with a smaller size engine and fitted security features will usually get the driver a much cheaper policy.
Students should also consider Pay As You Go options where they can pay monthly instead of being stuck with one large annual payment.
Click here to get a quick and easy quote online with eCar - As well as our Standard Annual Policy, we offer a Short Term Policy from 1 to 28 days, to a flexible Pay as you Go (PAYG) monthly policy.

Student Car-Share Schemes.
This is a great way to save money as well as being environmentally friendly. Student car-share websites such as www.studentcarshare.com can help students find others who are willing to car share in various universities across the country.
Alternatively, you can simply ask those who are on your course if they might be interested in car sharing. Most students generally live in the same areas so it’s worth asking, plus it’s a great way to potentially make new friends on your course.

Choose the right car ...
Choosing a car as a student is not just about what colour you’d like or how fast it can go. The type of car you get can affect what you pay on your insurance, road tax, petrol and all other additional costs you need to make.
Cars such as Ford Fiestas, Vauxhall Corsas and Renault Clios are all popular choices for students as they’re cheap to run and cheap to repair should something go wrong.
Also remember to check the car’s service history. There is no point in buying an old banger for it’s cheap price tag, only to have a massive car-service charge for it further down the line.

...& Haggle!
Once you’ve found the right car, it’s always a good idea to negotiate with the salesperson to ensure you’re getting it as cheap as possible. Most car dealerships set the price high enough to leave some room for haggling, so it’s worth asking how much they are willing to reduce the price to.

Drive safe.
A student who has a car will likely be asked by their peers for lifts to the supermarket, to lectures or from nights out in exchange for petrol money. It’s the latter request that you need to be careful with.
Decide before you go out if you are going to be the designated driver or not. If you’ve made the decision to drive everyone home that night – stick to the soft drinks!
Driving under the influence is a serious crime that can be a major risk both to yourself and all those around you. Police have a zero tolerance policy for this, so it’s not worth taking the risk.
The rule is simple – Don’t drink and drive.

If you’re a young driver looking for a cheap quote, visit eCar - an online insurance solution that will let you manage your car insurance whenever is suitable for you. As well as annual car insurance, we provide short term car insurance from 1 to 28 days and monthly car insurance in the form of a flexible Pay As You Go car insurance policy.

Visit eInsurance Group for your insurance needs.

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