Wanna see Brad's new car? - Well do yah?

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 07 Feb 2006, 17:23

Woo hoo!

At 14:30 today with 10 minors (you're allowed 15) and in an Automatic. Screw silly manual cars.

Time to start looking now. I'm thinking of a nice Peugeot 106/206/206, Automatic of course.

I could tell things were going well as A: She wasn't writing much down and B: It went generally well too.

Moving over to Automatic (in March) and driving a scooter for the last 2 years are directly connected to me passing. If I was still driving a manual and didn't have the scooter experience I highly suspect I'd still be learning.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 07 Feb 2006, 18:47

Congrats Brad

Well done

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 07 Feb 2006, 20:08

Good for you Brad.

I've never managed to drive an automatic car myself.
Having a car that changes gears on its own would make me feel very uncomfortable.

Yi-Long · Post by **Yi-Long** » 07 Feb 2006, 20:12

Congratulations Brad! Havent got my driver's license myself yet. It's just too expensive (for me) in Holland to do so..., plus I have my doubts about the fairness/objectivity of those judging the exam.

How much does it cost in England (lessons, exam?) or in Germany or anywhere else!?

In Holland it's about 40 euro for a 50-60 minute lesson, plus you also have to pay for doing an exam which I think is (at least) more then a 100 euro...

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 07 Feb 2006, 20:18

Off your 2 wheels onto 4 wheels.

BiscLimpkit · Post by **BiscLimpkit** » 07 Feb 2006, 21:00

Many congrats Bradster. I know the feeling, having only recently passed myself. Remember to drive safe, keep within the speed limit and don't drink and drive.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 07 Feb 2006, 21:22

You do love taking the mick out of me with your signatures Bisc. I must be easy game

Tom2681 wrote:I've never managed to drive an automatic car myself.
Having a car that changes gears on its own would make me feel very uncomfortable.

Automatic is safer, your hands are more often on the wheel.

Besides it's all in your head, Brits are just as uncomfortable about automatics but most have never driven one (like you) so what do they know.

I'm willing to bet virtually no manual driver who tries automatic goes back to manual. They're so much easier to drive. It's nuts how much easier.

Yi-Long wrote:plus I have my doubts about the fairness/objectivity of those judging the exam.

Even if that's true you have zero control over it.

Yi-Long wrote: How much does it cost in England (lessons, exam?) or in Germany or anywhere else!?

In Holland it's about 40 euro for a 50-60 minute lesson, plus you also have to pay for doing an exam which I think is (at least) more then a 100 euro...

It's roughly the same in the UK. I was paying £23.75 an hour (so 34 euros).

You have to do TWO exams here: A theory exam which costs 35 euros (I think) and a practical which costs 94 euros BUT you also need to pay for a 3 hour lesson (as you're using their car which includes an hour before).

So the test overall costs: 196 euros/£134

All rough prices of course.

romerojpg wrote:Off your 2 wheels onto 4 wheels.

Oh yes. I can't wait to get into work nice and warm having listen to some decent tunes on the boombox (car mp3 player).

It's freakin' freezing at the moment and 30 minutes on a scooter with 45-50mph winds against you, by the time I get off I can barely move. My fingers feel like clubs, it takes me minutes (not seconds) to login and I can't talk properly for 5 minutes as my jaw is so cold.

That's the extreme but last weeks bitter weather certainly made that happen.

gojensen · Post by **gojensen** » 08 Feb 2006, 09:52

Let's see...

Base course €150
Nightdriving €125
Driving lesson €60
Theory pt 2&3 €160
Safety course pt 1 €375
Safety course pt 2 €650
Prelim driving test €120

Theory test €40
Drivers test €105
Drivers license €36

Minimum total €1821

(And that is if you can manage with just 1 driving lesson! Usually prices end up somewhere near €2400, and then you need a car... Did I mention that cars in Norway are RIDICILOUSLY expensive?)

brooce-leroy · Post by **brooce-leroy** » 08 Feb 2006, 16:36

Well done Brad.

Its very expensive in the UK to learn to drive IMO. Although, the tutor I was using still charges £16 an hour. But the theory and practical tests are expensive. About £20 for theory, and £40 for practical.

BiscLimpkit · Post by **BiscLimpkit** » 08 Feb 2006, 17:39

My Japanese mate told me that it costs on average around £2000 for lessons + driving test in Japan. Unless he was just a useless driver...

Yi-Long · Post by **Yi-Long** » 08 Feb 2006, 18:23

gojensen wrote:Let's see...

Base course €150
Nightdriving €125
Driving lesson €60
Theory pt 2&3 €160
Safety course pt 1 €375
Safety course pt 2 €650
Prelim driving test €120

Theory test €40
Drivers test €105
Drivers license €36

Minimum total €1821

(And that is if you can manage with just 1 driving lesson! Usually prices end up somewhere near €2400, and then you need a car... Did I mention that cars in Norway are RIDICILOUSLY expensive?)

No you didnt

Guess emigration to Norway is also out fo the question

BiscLimpkit · Post by **BiscLimpkit** » 08 Feb 2006, 18:37

By the way I prefer manual transmission over automatic. I have driven both. The reason being that manual transmissions are more fuel efficient thanks to the clutch (whereas an automatic uses a torque converter, which results in power loss). Personally, I prefer the better acceleration and fuel economy of a manual.

But I'm not making this a manual vs automatic debate... I mean it's just what people prefer.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 08 Feb 2006, 21:55

Personally I think both Automatic and Manual have their pros and cons neither is better I just prefer Automatic.

brooce-leroy wrote:Its very expensive in the UK to learn to drive IMO. Although, the tutor I was using still charges £16 an hour.

£16 an hour on the one hand that's awesome but he's seriously losing out on dosh.

His books must be chocka.

gojensen wrote:Let's see...

Base course €150
Nightdriving €125
Driving lesson €60
Theory pt 2&3 €160
Safety course pt 1 €375
Safety course pt 2 €650
Prelim driving test €120

Theory test €40
Drivers test €105
Drivers license €36

Minimum total €1821

(And that is if you can manage with just 1 driving lesson! Usually prices end up somewhere near €2400, and then you need a car... Did I mention that cars in Norway are RIDICILOUSLY expensive?)

OMG there are so many parts to a Norwegian license. That does look uber complicated, is it?

Why on earth should have to pay for a mock driving test? They're free here (part of your lessons). What makes up all the theory tests? Safety courses???

Does everyone have to do that? It seems really over the top.

I suspect we in the UK just have more lessons, instead of breaking it down.

gojensen · Post by **gojensen** » 10 Feb 2006, 11:04

If you wanna drive you have to go through all the above... the only "optional" part is the number of driving lessons you need... which is typically 10-20. So you could add some €900 to that for an average...

The safety course (pt1) is on a closed track with ice and soap to prepare for those nasty winter roads... part 2 is about long-range driving and usually takes a day... of course the night driving course is also important here, since it's usually dark when you drive 70% of the time atleast...

Theory covers all parts of driving, signs, first aid (!) and how the car works etc. And the mock test is required so you don't rush off to the state officials unprepared and waste both their and your time...

What's really annoying is that you (with your "mock" drivers license) can come up here and legally drive a car. (I'm assuming the UK are apart of the international drivers license game?!)

slasher13 · Post by **slasher13** » 10 Feb 2006, 11:58

Congrats Brad, so have you got a car yet?

I remember passing my test, this was in 1996, only got 2 minors which was cool and on my first go...

Although the instructor did have some computer problems, which i knew the answer to... so maybe a bribe.. i don't know.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 11 Feb 2006, 14:58

Here's the passion wagon:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 4609970555

I saw it earlier today. It's in fine nick, runs well and cost me £2300; check out the very low mileage.

I went to the bank and drew out £2300 in cash. I've never walked so quickly to someone's house in all my life

(it was all in tenners too).

I tried to get a bankers cheque as these are guaranteed but Nationwide isn't a bank so they couldn't give me one.

Shen · Post by **Shen** » 11 Feb 2006, 21:33

i want a citroen c4, simply for the fact that it dances like micheal jackson in thriller...

gojensen · Post by **gojensen** » 12 Feb 2006, 10:04

I can't believe you bought that car!! Didn't you notice it's a defective product?!

I mean, the steering and pedals are on the wrong side of the car!?!

:mrgreen:

So you bought that over ebay eh? Man £2300 is cheap...

I checked the used listings here in Norway and on average you'd end up around £6300 for '99 306... 1.6L! So worse engine, and £4000 extra...

Maaaan, I so want a new car

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 16 Feb 2006, 13:29

*post deleted*

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 16 Feb 2006, 14:03

Eva there is a deleted button below each post when it you edit them.

£6300 for a used car OMG that's way more than we pay here. You pay a bit more for automatic so I could've got it cheaper if I wanted manual.