Learning to Drive and Buying a Car

[Chili]

Just passed my theory/hazard perception test. Thank fuck!

[DavidB6937]

Nice one @Chili! I remember that being a right pain.

[lars85]

Yeah, congratulations. I failed mine the first time. I'm not going to go too deep into it because it'll bring back all the anger. But basically it ended with me arguing with the woman behind the desk at the test centre, falling down the stairs on the way out and my sister not talking to me for the rest of the day.

[waters44]

Not sure if i've ever told this story but I was almost put off of driving for life when I was a teen

My Dad bought a new work van and we went together to go and pick it up from the garage. All good. 

We pull out of the garage, traffic is very busy and moving quite slow. Up ahead there are loads of people stood on the pavement crowding over something. The cars pull slowly forward and we get right next to where all these pedestrians are, it turns out someone is very ill on the floor and people are desperately trying to help.

An ambulance comes flying down the other side of the road and screeches to a halt two inches in front of us. Police arrive a few seconds later. Dad's been driving this van for about ten minutes and travelled about 100 feet at this point. There is a bus right behind us with countless cars behind that. Just chaos. 

The police are shouting at us to go backwards. Dad puts it in reverse, but because it's so new he hasn't got the feel for how big it is, so he's reluctant to go back in case he hits the bus. He's trying to move forward and back to get around the ambulance, literally like Austin Powers in the corridor

The situation is already so stressful but then it heads into unbearable territory. Because it's so new Dad is resting on the horn whilst manoeuvring around and doesn't realise its him. 

So picture this. Someone is half dead on the floor. Good samaritans and paramedics are trying to help them. My dad is right next to them, in a big van, with his horn in a perpetual beep. Everyone is shouting. Dad's swearing. And i'm sat in the passengers seat trying not to burst into tears with everyone looking at me. I'm shouting at Dad "Go back!" and he's shouting back "I can't son, I'm too close to the bus, I can see the whites of the driver's eyes!"

I find it really fucking funny to think back on now but at the time I didn't think I'd ever get in a car again!

 

[ReturnOfTheMack]

Im looking at cars this weekend, and the current frontrunner seems to be a.used Nissan Leaf. Anyone got experience with them?

 

[BigJag]

Have you looked into whether the battery can be relied upon? There were some stories about their longevity being suspect.

[ReturnOfTheMack]

Its literally the only thing I know to ask, beyond the normal 'will I die if I drive it' stuff from a non EV. 

[BigJag]

They're perfect for town driving. If you've got a charger at home you'll probably never have any range anxiety. Make sure you have a warranty that covers the battery. A failed battery is obviously something that you don't want to be paying out for. I've not heard of any horror stories. They've been around for about 15 years now. The third generation is due out later this year.  Nissan themselves have had a bit of a tumultuous few years. There were talks of a merger with Honda.The Japanese government are taking a keen interest and seem committed to keeping them around. Nissan are already in a partnership with Renault and Mitsubishi. You may want to take a look at those two companies for a very similar car that'll have a different badge.

[The Gaffer]

After an awful experience getting a start pre covid (told the instructor I'd never sat behind the wheel before, white knuckled through rush hour traffic on a busy national road in the first lesson whilst he took phone calls from his daughter then fucked me out of it at the end for not being able to park his car properly) I got a Seat Mii in decent shape two weeks ago and have been going out practicing early in the mornings with my Tangerine Dream CDs (the car came with the bluetooth/media touchscreen stripped - any excuse to present-day another physical format). 

I started my lessons proper two months ago and was advised by pretty much everyone due to lesson spontaneity with even the best instructors and six month times in Ireland between finishing your lessons and getting a test booking to just buy a banger as soon as possible and use it as your main point of practice. 

I'm really relieved I did, as a wait time between lessons being pushed even to two weeks would invariably allow imposter syndrome to creep back in and whilst I appreciate their importance, being able to get used to my own washing machine on wheels without narration has been a massive help. My girlfriend has had a full license for a few years too so it's nice to already be able to get us around if she's accompanying, so long as I stay off the motorways. 

I even like the clutch now. Like a lot of people my initial reaction was "PlayStation games didn't tell me about this" but I genuinely enjoy the clunky analog of it now. It feels like operating machinery and when you come up smoothly off the thing and feel the car satisfied it's a nice little feedback resonance. 

 

 

[Jazzy G]

My provisional licence arrived this morning. We're trying to find an Autism friendly driving instructor and if we can get my late gran's car running again getting it valued and "buying" my mum's step-sister's half of it so I can have it. It's a 2004 Honda Jazz, so will be ideal for pootling about town or across to Vicky's. She's said she'd make me a named driver on her car as well so we'd be able to go on longer trips to places. 

[Lorne Malvo]

10 hours ago, Jazzy G said:

2004 Honda Jazz

Living the gimmick, brother.

[Jazzy G]

Oh absolutely. 

[Jazzy G]

Vicky finally relented last night because she's been struggling with a sore back, and took me up on my offer to drive her car. We'd been to pick up Molly (the dog, not the recreational substance) from her best friend's in Manchester and stopped off for a free McDonald's as we both had points that needed using. I could see the discomfort she was in and said if she brought up a route that avoided the motorway I'd drive us at least part of the way back to give her chance to rest for a bit. I'd been half jokingly saying that I'd drive for months, and she'd been refusing to let me, but last night she just needed to rest, so we drove back from Manchester at a steady 27 miles per hours on a rainy night. Talked me through the roundabouts, but the rest of the time we just talked. It was a really nice drive. I remembered how much I enjoy it. When my next student finance arrives in the new year I might use some of it to bulk book some lessons, try and get my theory etc done and see whether I can be actually driving by summer. It was quite literally the last thing my mum said to me. "do your driving" 

[FLips]

11 minutes ago, Jazzy G said:

Vicky finally relented last night because she's been struggling with a sore back, and took me up on my offer to drive her car. We'd been to pick up Molly (the dog, not the recreational substance) from her best friend's in Manchester and stopped off for a free McDonald's as we both had points that needed using. I could see the discomfort she was in and said if she brought up a route that avoided the motorway I'd drive us at least part of the way back to give her chance to rest for a bit. I'd been half jokingly saying that I'd drive for months, and she'd been refusing to let me, but last night she just needed to rest, so we drove back from Manchester at a steady 27 miles per hours on a rainy night. Talked me through the roundabouts, but the rest of the time we just talked. It was a really nice drive. I remembered how much I enjoy it. When my next student finance arrives in the new year I might use some of it to bulk book some lessons, try and get my theory etc done and see whether I can be actually driving by summer. It was quite literally the last thing my mum said to me. "do your driving" 

This should go without saying but you'd be shocked how much I encounter it at work, but make sure you're insured to drive her car, either as a named driver on her policy or under Driving Other Cars on yours.

[Jazzy G]

7 minutes ago, FLips said:

This should go without saying but you'd be shocked how much I encounter it at work, but make sure you're insured to drive her car, either as a named driver on her policy or under Driving Other Cars on yours.

It was the first thing she did. I'm now a named driver on her Motability car. Her, her mum, and me.