E30 Insurance and a few questions

[JOGA]

Hello all,

I'm just about to move to Edinburgh (from Iceland) and and will buy a 325i (Touring most likely) when I get there or sooner.

Because of this I wanted to ask you where you where you think is the best place for me to get a good insurance quote? I'm 26 years old and have a good track record here in Iceland. What do you think I can expect to pay?

I also wanted to ask you if you know if I can let a car stand for a month and get some kind of discount on TAX and insurance? I might buy a car before I get there so this would be good to know.

Also I have been wondering what cost are involved in the paperwork when you buy a car, what the tax is for one year on a E30, what a MOT test costs and where you can can have them done?

Sorry about all the questions! I'm used to knowing everything about these things here in Iceland and want to gather all the information I can get.

[Jon_Bmw]

MOT's are getting disgustingly expensive at £50 odd quid. Tax is £185 i think, all models are this price

You won't save any money on the tax, well apart from the month you don't buy it, but then you can't use the car. Insurance is guess work, I would hope under a £700, but its so variable.

[sportscarfan]

DirectLine seems to be a pretty good insurance company, I've heard people have good experiences with them. You can easily get an online quote, and guessing from your age and the fact you are buying an estate (which is cheaper to insure than 2 or 4 door), you could pay even less than 700 a year. Also, you can pay tax for half a year as opposed to a whole year, so it's about 100 pounds for half a year. There are also specialised classic car insurance companies.
If you won't use your car for a month, and you don't want to pay money for tax and insurance for that month, you have to declare your car SORN (Statutory Off Road Notification), but I don't know how this works exactly.

[Jesus325iTouring]

You can get MOT's done in most garages,don't be tempted to go to a garage that offer cut price MOT's,these buggers tend to have ulterior motives,a good trick to suck you in and make you spend wads of cash you probably don't need to be.

Regards to buying a car and leaving it standing,you only need TAX,MOT and insurance if your on public land,if you are going to be leaving the car in a friends drive,garage or garden etc,ie private land with no public access,the you need nothing of the above,although in light of recent E30 thefts,insurance would be sensible.

[Brianmoooore]

Regards to buying a car and leaving it standing,you only need TAX,MOT and insurance if your on public land,if you are going to be leaving the car in a friends drive,garage or garden etc,ie private land with no public access,the you need nothing of the above,although in light of recent E30 thefts,insurance would be sensible.

You will have to declare a SORN though, if it's on the DVLA's radar. Otherwise the grabbing ba**ards will do you for £80.

[Jesus325iTouring]

[

You will have to declare a SORN though, if it's on the DVLA's radar. Otherwise the grabbing ba**ards will do you for £80.[/quote]

this is true

Joga,it's free by the way to declare a car SORN (Statutory Off Road Notification)
SORN is used when the car is un taxed.

[JOGA]

OK, thanks alot for the pointers!

How about the cost involved in the transactions?

And where do I declare my car SORN and do I go to a DirectLine branch to buy insurance (do they have one in Edinburgh) from them or is it all done through the net?

What other insurers can I look into?

Alot of questions. Sorry!

Hope I get a chance to meet some of you guy's at a meet when I get there

[Jesus325iTouring]

OK, thanks alot for the pointers!

How about the cost involved in the transactions?

And where do I declare my car SORN and do I go to a DirectLine branch to buy insurance (do they have one in Edinburgh) from them or is it all done through the net?

What other insurers can I look into?

Alot of questions. Sorry!

Hope I get a chance to meet some of you guy's at a meet when I get there

MOT = £49.00
TAX = £180 yearly or £99 six monthly.
Insurance = Varied depending on your personal circumstances.

Tax can be bought at the local Post Office,you can also SORN your car there too.
It can also be done online,i've not done it this way myself,always nipped into the Post Office,branches are all over the UK and very easy to find.



Direct line insurance can be done here........



or you can telephone here...... 0845 2468888

There is no Directline office in Edinburgh.

Hope that all helps

[daimlerman]

One or two things not already mentioned,I would expect that you will need a UK address to buy insurance.You will need to prove that the car is insured to buy road tax.Be aware that in the UK the vehicle licencing people have vans with camaras that check number plates against a data base for vehicle tax/insurance.

[JOGA]

One or two things not already mentioned,I would expect that you will need a UK address to buy insurance.You will need to prove that the car is insured to buy road tax.Be aware that in the UK the vehicle licencing people have vans with camaras that check number plates against a data base for vehicle tax/insurance.

OK, thank you.

One more question.

What paperwork is involved when you buy a car over there? What does it cost etc? Does the seller usually take care of this or do you do it together?

Jon

[march109]

The vehicle log book (also known as V5) needs to be exchanged from seller to buyer, it is the legal responsibility of the seller and buyer to complete this on the date of purchase and for the seller to send it to the DVLA (the drivers and vehicle licencing authority), where by the DVLA will put the car in your name, print a new V5 and post it to your current address.

Always obtain the MOT from the previous seller, although you are now able to get copies online.

You do not need to prove to the seller that you have a licence or indeed insurance as it is not their job to check.

When purchasing road tax at a post office you will need a MOT certificate, and proof of insurance and your V5 (if you have not been posted a reminder from the DVLA, but they can only do this if the tax expires when you are the registered owner not if you are buying an untaxed vehicle)

You may also purchase road tax online, its faster and easier if you don't have the documents to hand as they are cross referenced in a big database.

You do not need to carry your documents in your car when you drive, infact most people don't, if the vehicle is stolen with the documents inside its easy for the theif to then become the legal owner. If you are stopped by the police and the require to see your documents they will give you 7days to produce them at a local police station. And these days they too can also check the presance of MOT, insurance and tax on the same database that the insurers and DVLA use. Its all big brother man!

[march109]

should mention the DVLA do not charge to put the vehicles ownership in your name, this is free.

They may however charge if you later need to make ammendments to the V5 for instance if you change the engine or colour of the car or any other detail that is presant on the V5 form.

Not sure if changine your address on the V5 is free but it used to be.

[bmwsport]

Based on a '90 325i Sport.

last years insurance cost me £697. Fully comp 3 yr no claim aged 21 with Lloyds.

This years insurance cost me £481. Fully comp 4 yr no claims aged 22 with Privilege. Not 3 bad at all.

[ItsAllAboutTheE30]

Seeing as i'm 19 and own a 325i sport, I'd say try prudential. They insured me for a very respectable price considering my age and the fact i currently (until november) have no no claims bonus. Direct-line were very good as well, I was going to use them until my girlfriend suggested pru, who turned out to be about £200 cheaper. Depends on your age and everything, obviously some companies say you have to be over 21 to get insured on these sort of cars so i didn't get quotes from them. Best bet, as boring as it is, just shop around on the internet. Don't use any of these comparison sites, don't rate them at all, as the quotes on the comparison sites differed from going on individual websites and filling out the forms, even though all the info i included was the same!

Best of luck
Dave.

[Chris71]

Have you thought about getting a UK driving license?

I know this is a bit unfair having already done one in Iceland, but a mate from South America found it was easier getting a UK qualification. Might not be true for an EU state (I think Iceland is...?) but it's worth looking into - maybe phone one of the smaller insurers who are staffed by more knowledgable people and just asking.

[JohnnyThunders]

Seeing as i'm 19 and own a 325i sport, I'd say try prudential. They insured me for a very respectable price considering my age and the fact i currently (until november) have no no claims bonus. Direct-line were very good as well, I was going to use them until my girlfriend suggested pru, who turned out to be about £200 cheaper. Depends on your age and everything, obviously some companies say you have to be over 21 to get insured on these sort of cars so i didn't get quotes from them. Best bet, as boring as it is, just shop around on the internet. Don't use any of these comparison sites, don't rate them at all, as the quotes on the comparison sites differed from going on individual websites and filling out the forms, even though all the info i included was the same!

Best of luck
Dave.

Totally agree, these insurance finding companies are a bloody joke. free sites that can afford to advertise on national tv? Must be getting huge kickers from the over priced insurance policies they "recommend" imo. Best way to get insurance, is as you say directly contact insurers then play them off against each other. Funny how you can be told £700 by insurance company A, then after ringing insurance company B and being quoted £600 suddenly insurance company A can offer a £200 discount........ I have managed to get a quote down from £1100 to under £700 on a GTI this way some years back... Boggles the mind tbh - the insurance industry is a joke.

[bmwsport]

I'm sure these online companies randomly make the quotes up. My brother had a '93 E34 525i SE. It turned out cheaper for him to insure my '95 525i sport and even cheaper again to insure his new 535i sport with the same company on the same day lol. For some reason the SE models cost more to insure and the engine size made no difference! Its like a bloody roulette wheel waiting for the final premium! Same with my 325i sport. Some companies would not touch me because i was under 40 LOL, others were £1/2000+ and then i end up with a fully comp price of £481!?

They make me piss...

[orangecurry]

HIC have been good for price and service on the 'older' car (anything over 15).

https://www.hertsinsurance.com/

[JOGA]

Thanks alot. I really didn't expect such good answers

I think I will not need to take my licence again. I know a few Icelandic people who studied in the UK and did not need to do that. Iceland is not in the EU but has a special agreement along with Norway and a few other European country's (EFTA). We have just about the same rights as all the EU country's as but have not wanted to join the EU because of, among other things, our fishing grounds.

I will start getting quotes as soon as possible. Do you know if you need an ID number to get a qoute or to buy a car? I don't think I get one until I arrive?

Well you have been a great help! Now I just need to find the right car