Recent research has found that young, new drivers are spending an average of £4,750 in their first year of driving, with nearly a quarter of that money going towards insurance.
A breakdown of the average motoring costs for drivers aged 17 to 24 in their first year of motoring has been put together by Compare The Market. The price comparison website took into account the cost of purchasing a car, insurance, maintenance, breakdown cover and fuel.
Adding all of this together, the website found that young drivers spend £4,750 on average in their first year motoring, while running costs average £2,200 in subsequent years.
Insurance dominates motoring costs
It has also been found that on average, £1,246.54 is spent towards insurance alone in the first year. The average spend on a new car by drivers aged 17 to 24 is £2,564. That means they spend about half the car’s value on insurance in the first year of ownership.
Naturally, the choice of car makes a big difference to young drivers’ cost of insurance. The research found the Vauxhall Corsa to be most popular among young drivers, accounting for 15 per cent of car enquiries on Compare The Market.
The website found the Corsa to cost an average £1,979 to buy for young buyers and £1,162.23 on average to insure. That particular premium is around £320 more than the average insurance premium of £842.08 for what’s found to be the top ten cheapest cars for young drivers to insure.
The Director of Insurance at Compare The Market, Simon McCulloch, said: “Newer models can come with hefty price tags but older cars tend to have higher premiums and maintenance costs as there is a greater chance of them breaking down and causing an accident.”
