DavesZ#3

iTrader: (26)

Sounds like SF doesn't trust the body shop. I've had cars at shops in which all they had to do was to make a call and they got the OK over the phone.

Like anything else, some people will have great experiences with a company and others will have an absolutely horrible one.

OrangeZYa

iTrader: (1)

It's because they are not a "State Farm Preferred Shop" or some BS. I took it to the nearest Nissan dealer because I was in Nowheresville, WV. All of the State Farm Preferreds were like "Billy Bob's Auto Repair" and I wasn't about to take it there.

2003z

iTrader: (7)

My premiums dropped 25% per year when I switched from USAA to Progressive, and the service is just as good. I've had claims with both of them, and both were handled expeditiously. (Progressive is actually the company USAA sends members too when they can no longer insure them, i.e. DUI or Reckless driving type charges)


On the bright side, when I just swapped the 350z for the C6, my rates actually went down $100/yr! The Z was insured with a stated value of $45k due to all my mods, which is an advantage with USAA, in that you don't need added coverage, but even after adding it to my progressive policy, it was a lot less than USAA.

kalima275Z

iTrader: (4)

Same hear as far as cars go, but for motorcycles...USAA sucks. My wife and I argued with them for nearly 6 months after my bike was stolen about how we would rather them not rip us off. To make a long story short, they said my 7 month old GSXR750 had depreciated to 65% of retail by the time it was stolen. The chick on the phone said that it was NC law that bikes depreciate 15% per year. Needless to say, no one at USAA could explain to me how it was 65% instead of 85%. Hell, I would have taken that 85% if it was a whole year old but it wasn't. Anyway, I barely got them to pay me the pay-off of the bike. For cars though, they've been great. Customer service is so much better for cars then bikes. The car office is in San Antonio and the bike one is in WA state somewhere. That might be why.

redvert

i love geico!! i have full coverage on 4 vehicles and my insurance cost me 1941.00 a year. my vehicles are 2005 350Z touring roadster, 2001 4X$ frontier KC S/C, 1997 mustang gt vert, 1998 honda CRV. 1000 ded. the z by itself is the most expensive at 704 a year. i switched from erie and saved a lot. oh yeah i also have a suzuki gs 250 through geico for 80 bucks a year!!! i got rear ended a year ago and geico was very easy to deal with..

Chad68

iTrader: (1)

How the hell can geico be so cheap when they spend millions of millions a year, hell a MONTH on advertising? Their commercials are everywhere and I'm sick of them :-P

Aggro_Al

After all the problems I been having with State Farm. I'll never go with their insurance.

rickyj59

This has been a very good discussion on insurance coverage and prices. As a 350 owner and being in the insurance industry I can tell you there are basically two things you want to know when getting insurance. #1 Will the insurance company pay your claim. Insurance Companys are rated by Moodys and Best on their ability to pay or their financial rating. Second- choosing your deductable. Younger drivers are going to pay more as they are a higher risk. By raising the deductable you lower the premium and assume more of the risk yourself, so it depends on your age and how financialy secure you are. Any insurance company is going to non renew you if you have too many claims so as one of the posts states small claims can be not good for you. They look at number of claims and $$ amt of claims. There is a search they can do to find out your claims called "CLUE" so even if your kids have had a claim it will count against you. Like anything else, you have to educate yourself to get the lowest insurance that will pay your claim. Not one red cent more.......

hypeiv

iTrader: (2)

for guys over 25 (or under 25 but married) you get a better rate than us single under 25'ers. The major insurance companies like USAA really cut deals for the over 25'ers but they do this by screwing the hell out of us under 25'ers. My brother in law (who is obviously married) uses USAA and he called progressive and Geico and every other insurance company and none of them were even close to the rates USAA could give him. But for me, Progressive is about $1200 cheaper a year with the exact same coverage.

I was with USAA for 6 months with my Z and they raised my rates about 20% for no reason. I called to ask why but they had no answer. I then price checked a few places and found progressive was a much lower price for me and called USAA back trying to see if they can work with me at all. They told me how they don't do that and that they handle my claim better and blah blah blah so I signed up for progressive and called USAA to cancel and then they started transfering me up to a higher manager saying well maybe now they can work on some deal offering me credit cards or loans at low rates if I stick with them, it was really sad. I told them I didn't like that they were screwing me b/c I am under 25 and I will give them a call in 2 years and maybe they can win me back.

hypeiv

iTrader: (2)

mind if I ask how old you are and if you are single?

my brother in law can't find a better rate than what USAA is offering but since I am under 25 and single they were sticking it to me.

05-Z

iTrader: (4)

I've read your credit score is a significant factor in determining your monthlly insurance quote...

D@ActiveTuning

iTrader: (17)

I'm under 25 and single. Also they ran my credit and my rate dropped another 18.1%

davidv

iTrader: (2)

I’ve been with Sate Farm for about 20 years, and I'm going to continue. Its possible to shop for insurance by price, but I want more from a policy than price. If involved in an accident, I take the car to my favorite shop. The shop fixes the cars, and bills State Farm: no hassle and no BS.

There are horror stories about third party insurers (independent agents?) from drivers. The driver who has to collect 3 estimates, and fax then to a stranger in Seattle for them to “make a decision.”

If you not happy with your present insurance company, switch, but don't expect the same service for the same price. What is it they they say about a free lunch?

hypeiv

iTrader: (2)

yea I agree but i would rather save that $1200 in hopes I don't need to make a claim. If I make a claim and they give me a run around it would have to pretty bad before I feel that I should have paid $1200 more. That said I plan to switch to a major company with a good service record once I turn 25.

IsatteliteI

I switched to Geico this month. I'm in the same situation as you, clean record all that good stuff except I went with the $500 deductible. I saved $1700 in less that 15 minutes!! lol

andyisphat2004

iTrader: (1)

This is why Geico can be so cheap. Good luck and dont ever file a claim

Following is the occurrence that I had with GEICO, and I would like to say it was an abnormal experience, however I believe it is par for the course with the company.
On (or about) August 16, 2004, I switched my vehicle location to South Carolina. Supposedly there was a $130.00 increase in my rate. Had I known about this increase, I would have cancelled my coverage with GEICO at that time, as I had a policy ready to be activated with USAA (my policy with USAA was several hundred dollars cheaper per year). However, I did not know about the increase and did not call GEICO to cancel until October 18, 2004, to be effective November 4, 2004. I was assured that I would not owe any additional balance and that I was paid in full and covered until November 4, 2004. This was incorrect as I continued to receive notice of the balance due of $130.00.
The cheaper rate by USAA was the original reason that I was leaving GEICO, however the above gave me insight into the customer relations of GEICO. It was not until I made a claim that I was able to see how substandard GEICO was and that I would never again be able to recommend GEICO to anyone.
On October 22, 2004, I reported a claim with GEICO because I had been involved in an accident which involved a scratch/dent down the entire passenger side of my vehicle. I met with an adjustor, Todd Casteel of Chevy North Charleston, SC. During the estimate, I inquired if I would be receiving new parts. He advised that new parts were “too expensive.” As your customer and the vehicle owner, I am not concerned about the cost to your company. I needed my vehicle fixed, hence the reason I have insurance. I was unaware of the fact that the reason GEICO’s rates are so “low” is because they will inadequately repair cars to save their company money. At the time of the meeting, Todd advised me Chevy North was an authorized GEICO repair shop, so I proceeded to schedule an appointment. The customer service at Chevy North was just as poor as GEICO.
My vehicle was originally scheduled to be completed on a Friday, but it was not ready until the following Wednesday. I received no phone call to advise of this delay. When I returned for my vehicle, it was 5:00 p.m. and dark out. In those conditions, the vehicle looked satisfactory. The following day, in the sunlight, I realized that it was not fixed correctly at all. The two quarter panels looked fine, and the paint matched very well, but the door was “wavy.” I called GEICO to inform them that I was not satisfied with the repair. I was advised by GEICO to return to Chevy North. The manager there, Danny, stated “that is the best I can do, talk to GEICO.” Also, Chevy North had broken the speaker cover on my passenger’s side and Danny told me to “go to Nissan and order a new one, and he would reimburse me.“ I again called GEICO, and was advised to call the adjustor, Todd Casteel. On January 5, 2005, I met with Mr. Casteel, for a second time, and he confirmed that the door appeared “wavy,” but in his opinion he “had to hunt for it.” I do not care if he had to look closely to see the inadequate repair, as the “waves” were not in the door prior to the accident. Thus, the “waves” should not have been there following the repair. Mr. Casteel informed me he would speak with his supervisor and contact me again. Two weeks later I had to contact his supervisor, Mr. Steve Burdet, directly as I had not received a call from Mr. Casteel after leaving him several messages. Mr. Casteel knew that my repair was sub par and unless he was recently removed from GEICO, he blatantly disregarded my phone calls and messages.
Several weeks later I met with Mr. Burdet, along with Danny, the manager of Chevy North. Mr. Burdet agreed that the door was not correctly repaired, however instead of ordering a new door at this point, he told Danny to “resurface the door, and try to fix it again. If this attempt did not work, then he would go to the next plan.” At this point in time, it was the beginning of February, over three months since the original claim, and GEICO was still trying to “nickel and dime” me. When the car came out from the shop a second time (with again horrible communication and customer service from Chevy North), it looked exactly the same as before it went in. In fact, I would not be at all surprised if the car was just washed and stored in the repair shop for two weeks. I called Mr. Burdet to inform him that the car looked no different. He routed me to another person in this ordeal, Mr. Mike Phillips.
Mike informed me that they would be ordering a new skin for my door, however, Danny, from Chevy North, told me that his welding job would not be as clean as the one from the factory. I told Mike this and I received a phone call several days later saying that I would be receiving a whole new door. On Tuesday, March 15, 2005, I dropped my car of at Chevy North and informed them that I was leaving the state on Friday. Danny told me that my car would be done on Wednesday, or Thursday at the absolute latest, since the door had already arrived and been painted. However it was not until Friday, March 18 that my car was actually ready..
On May 2, 2005, my passenger door would not shut and both of the bolts holding the door on fell out of place. The door had been making a clicking noise since the vehicle was returned, but I could deal with a noise because I knew that GEICO and Chevy North operated on the same playing field and that neither of them really had any intention of adequately repairing my car. However, I did not think that this would happen. Also at this point, when shutting my passenger window, it would go up to the top and then back down half way. Along with going down, the window had a constant grease streak and part of the tint was ripped. I again contacted GEICO and was put in touch with Mike Phillips again who gave me permission to have the door repaired at a different body shop.
As it stands today Wednesday, July 13, nine months after the initial claim was filed, my car is almost fixed to the condition that it was in prior the accident. Fender Mender, of West Ashley, SC, replaced the bolts on the door and fixed the problem with the window rolling down. They also fixed the speaker cover. However, when fixing the window, they broke the inside mirror cover, which they are replacing. The rip in the tint and the window grease was never restored, however at this point I know that my car will never be fully fixed. Lastly, when it rains real hard, my passenger door leaks.
To say that my experience with GEICO was unsatisfactory would be an understatement. Out of the half of a dozen of people that I dealt with for this claim, only Mike seemed as though he genuinely cared if my car was fixed correctly. Nine months have gone by with multiple attempts to fix my car, which should have been fixed correctly the first time within 2 weeks of going into the shop. Personally I do not feel that I should have had to pay a deductible at all. If I had it my way, GEICO would be paying the $342.72 per month for the past nine months, since they still have not correctly fixed the original problem. However, I know that is not realistic as the multi-million dollar company was too cheap to have my car properly repaired on the first or second try. I truly feel sorry for the people who choose GEICO an insurance company and I will never again use GEICO or recommend GEICO to anyone.

10secapsttz

You were paying $500 a year more than I was for FIVE cars,One Z full coverage with $500 Deductable and 4 other cars just liability with me and my wife on the policy..Im 31 married in NJ..My Z cost me $844 per year to insure..

D@ActiveTuning

iTrader: (17)

Bastard lol. I'm sure once I hit 25 it'll drop even more...but I think two cars at 23...one being a Z for $1,320/year isn't too bad.

1nate7

iTrader: (19)

I called around when I got my G35 2 1/2 years ago. I had been with State Farm about 7 years and couldn't find a cheaper price. When my G35 was in an accident and totalled, I had my check in a week for more than I was expecting.

10secapsttz

State farm is good, but I have NJ manufacturers..simply the best!!My home owners insurance through them is only $286 a year on a $350,000 home..All other quotes I got were $700+ a year!!