Cheap to insure retros?

Mk 3 or 4 Escort van maybe, astramax, Mk3 transit's (in standard fronted form) are getting pretty rare, Peugeot 305 van

I was speaking to a 19 year old lad the other week about van insurance. He was driving a nice moggy saloon, which he had made look well, and go pretty well. We got onto the subject of moggy vans, as he always wanted one. He said he couldn`t get insurance on the van, as insurance companies wouldn`t touch him on a commercial vehicle because of his age. It`s a bit odd, because he also had a Rolls Royce of some sort and an Armstrong Siddeley; both insured with the same company who wouldn`t insure him on the Moggy van.

I`ve no idea whether this was just specific to the insurance company or not, but worth a mention either way.

Even at my age (56) and retired I couldn't get anything other than commercial insurance on my van (03 Peugeot Expert). Premium was more than I pay for my other cars all together !

Paul H

I don`t know whether you will be able to get a classic policy, with limited miles due to your age, but i`d certainly be looking into it and trying the specialist companies. If you limit your miles to say, 5000 a year and can adhere to specifics on a classic policy, it would save you a big chunk of money.

Also, i`m not sure how you`re getting these quotes, but don`t use comparison sites. Take an afternoon, and phone as many companies as you can with the same car details. Don`t be afraid of playing them off against each other, and tell them you`re looking to take the policy out by the close of business that day (even if you`re not, this provides a little urgency for the salesman to get you the best deal.

I can`t advise about any specific companies to use, as i`ve only ever dealt with trade insurance for the last 10 years. i`d certainly phone brokers too though, and let them do the leg work.

At 18 I paid £340 fully comp on DAF 44 Saloon and that was only 6 years back

Footman James, got similar quotes from Peter James and from One insurance at the time.

Dafs in general are cheap to buy run and insure. I had the whole package, roadworthy, solid car, tax, MOT and insurance for less than £1k

The other problem you're likely to run into with classic policies (if you can find one that will touch you at 18) is that most don't like giving classic policies if you don't have another car Insured in its own right.

FWIW I'm with footman James and they were by far the cheapest of all the classic quotes I had (wont say how much because I don't want to depress you) came with a surprising level of cover too, 10k miles PA, breakdown, European cover etc etc

It was but I was 17, no ncb & only 7 months driving experience (was actually 6 years but that didnt count lol) plus car was in SK14 which is one of the highest risk areas lol.

Insurance has always been expensive, I was only on £350 a month back then lol.

You did well to get an Impreza insured, I couldnt get quotes on much over the 205.

If I can find someone to insure me on that e28 I would snatch it up in an instant. I am a sucker for old bmw's. I never thought about saabs, I will look into those thanks a lot man