Yes, it's beautiful - but can you afford to insure it?

Generally speaking, the lower the insurance rating of the car you own, the lower your premium will be. What does this rating mean? The Association of British Insurers give every type of car an insurance rating; this is an advisory figure only and some insurance companies follow it religiously, others vary it according to their own experiences but generally it is an attempt to work how much a particular vehicle is likely to cost insurers on average. Factors include not only engine size, but also what safety features it has, how easy it is to repair in the event of an accident, how much spares cost, what it's performance is like, how difficult it is to steal, how much it would cost to replace, whether nearly new or reaching the end of its days. It follows that if saving money on insurance is the priority then buying a vehicle in the lowest possible insurance group, which still suit your requirements, but although this holds true if you are buying a new vehicle you will probably find that used cars with larger engines can tend to be cheaper because they are more expensive to run so you need to do your home work and calculating such factors as the amount of extra fuel, and extra cost of maintenance, servicing, replacing tyres and brakes, repairs and road tax a larger vehicle will cost you before you decide whether or not it is worth paying the extra price that a second-hand, smaller engined car can cost you.

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Fortunately modern cars are far more reliable than they have been in the past and a well designed vehicle with a larger engine, if driven sensibly, does not necessarily have to to drink more petrol than a smaller engined car particularly if it is being used for long distance cruising on motorways. If you use the vehicle mainly for short, in town trips then a smaller car could well prove to be a lot more economical because it should reach its optimum operating temperature, at which fuel is used more efficiently, more quickly than a larger one (and it would be a lot easier to park, too!). In general however longer distance driving is far more comfortable in a larger car and this could well be the factor that tilts the balance for many people.

Many larger vehicles have air conditioning or climate control systems; do bear in mind that keeping these running continuously can add 10% to your fuel bills!

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