ViZion

see? it's not fun being young. don't believe the hype

seriously, ins is a bitçh if you're under 30. (especially in texas)

kevp

anybody going to help me out?

Boiler

If the policy limits you to this mileage and you breach it without telling them, then they could avoid the contract.

If they ask you to indicate your likely mileage and you are just over, then this should not be an issue. Well over and that's another problem.

Not sure how they could tell whether you used it as a Primary or Secondary.

Bottom line, you buy Insurance to cover you if something goes wrong, no point giving the Insurance Company a potential get out, you will never know whether they will pay or not.

Ronny

I've never heard of a "secondary" car. There may be some provision in certain Insurance Companies to offer some lower rate on a second vehicle in situations where a single driver owns two cars. I don't know.

Unless you live in a state with some strange rules, your car is rated based on Business Use, To and From Work More Than X or Less Than X Miles, Pleasure Use, etc. You tell the Insurance Company which when you fill out the application.

It probably varies by state, but usually To and From Work Less Than 10 Miles is the same as Pleasure.

To get specific, you should check with your insurance agent or company.

Don't lie on a signed application.

Rpvitiello

If it makes you feel any better I had quotes as high as $1,000 or$12,000 a year on my FOCUS! (that is the mane reason I don’t have a Z) right now I’m paying $475 a month, but my current policy is up the end of the month so I was shopping around (I shop around EVERY time my policy is about to renew) I have some online quotes that are in the $300 range (finally) I will have to find out about in a few days. At one point the cheapest I could get (again I’m talking about a focus) was $575 a month! The current rates I‘m getting online for the focus are in the $300-$700 range and that’s from about 20 insurance companies. I would suggest to keep looking around. Try EVERYONE you can think of.

BTW: I’m 19/M/CT (near NYC) Drive a 2002 Focus ZTS with 25/50 coverage and I am paying $2,751 every 6 months with progressive. Insurance sucks.

Vlad

try esurance.com. My friend like them very much for his Z.

Ronny

So, Wazowski, what's the status? Any luck?

z_brit

Wow, this makes me feel a lot better about my current $219/month insurance premium (through USAA) for my '03 Z, and my '99 Contour SVT.

I was feeling bad about it because my premium would be a lot lower given that I'm 33, but, and this is a big but, I have 2 at fault accidents within the past 3 years.

Thank-you, thank-you. I feel a lot better now.

mschuyler

I get a kick over these posts (this is just one of several on the forums at the moment) decrying insurance rates. You'll also notice interspersed on the forum posts to the effect, "Just got caught doing triple digits" and "The G35 and my Z were up to 120 on the freeway." Plus discussions of radar detectors, etc. This is just the kind of behavior that causes insurance companies to demand higher premiums. You may think you are just too cool for words, but to an insurance company, this shows how you are willing to put not only yourself, but other people at risk (Once again, I'm NOT picking on the poster here, who may be a perfect driver caught in this group.)

Insurance rates are not intentionally punitive. They reflect the reality of a particular risk group costing a whole lot more TO the insurance companies. The fact is when you put a high performance car and 16 year old testosterone together you have a volatile mixture. It MAY not explode, but the possibility is far higher than other groups. Hence the higher rates.

I'm not saying this as some older fellow dissing on teens. I got a dozen tickets before I was 18. Yeah, a couple of them weren't "fair," but there were lots of times I got away with something that certainly deserved a hefty fine. I got thrown in jail for racing. In hindsight, I really should not have been allowed on the road because I had proven my lack of character by my behavior. I'd trot out my 4.0 and 3.8 report cards to the judge and they'd let me go again. The judge shouldn't have. My parents allowed me to purchase a car with a 405 HP engine. They shouldn't have. But insurance wasn't mandatory then. Luckily I didn't kill anyone. But I'll tell you: It HURT my life. There were opportunities closed off to me later on because of my record. paths I could not take. I can blame a lot of people, including parents and cops, for enabling me to express that behavior, but when you get right down to it, it was all my fault and my responsibility.

Fortunately for myself and my future victims, I wised up. I haven't gotten a ticket in more years than most of you have been alive and never had a at-fault accident. Knock on wood. It could happen tomorrow. But now I pay less than $800 per YEAR for complete coverage on a Z.

You may not be able to help your age and sex, which throws you into a risk group with people like I was. If you don't exhibit any of those traits mentioned above, look around at your fellow drivers who have taken you down with them. There are ways to get your insurance lowered, even at your age. But very likely if you've been quoted an extremely high rate, it's because you put yourself there.

Traffic

Well, there's going to be a problem if government mandates by law that drivers must have insurance, and then expect private companies to provide that coverage at a reasonable price. Remember, the purpose of insurance is to allocate the high cost of a one-time event (an accident) over a series of payments over time and over a population. Charging a supremely high rate defeats this whole purpose, but since you have to have insurance, you get gouged.

That said, Victor, you can get your rates down raising your deductible to $1000 or $1500 if you can afford it. Your ins. co. will protest and probably claim that your finance company won't allow you to have a deductible over $1000. This is false; if you are financing, the only stipulation is that you have full coverage on the car. They say this to keep the premium they collect as high possible, since increasing your deductible can lower your premium by 15-25% or more.

Also, make sure the use you write on your application is closest to how you use the car.

Make sure your liability coverage limits are reasonable; you need not get the maximum available; very, very few accidents ever touch these limits. Over-insuring is a waste of money as much as under-insuring is a liability.

I'm not sure how your state is, but in NJ your personal injury protection is often covered already by your health plan. If your health insurer pays for injuries in an auto accident, then you don't need to be paying twice for the same coverage. Opt out of personal injury protection on your auto insurance if this is the case. Of course, by doing the above, you are taking much more risk onto yourself, but that is the only way you can get your rates down.

MarkY

I insure my 911 as a "pleasure" vehicle. In order for this to be done (with my insurance carrier anyway), there has to be one more vehicle in the household than licensed drivers. It is just my wife and I in my household and we have 3 cars.

I'm allowed to drive my "pleasure" car no more than 7500 miles a year, since I average about 3k miles that's not a problem. From what I've heard, if you go over milage allowance (in Arizona, they'll find this out when you have your vehicle emissioned), you will be billed as if the car was a primary vehicle.

If you were to total your car in the situation you described above, I don't think the insurance company would deny any claim, but they would probably make you pay the difference in the policy "rates", i.e. primary vs. secondary.

PerfZ

iTrader: (3)

$466 a year for a 30k sports car? Sorry, but I am running up the BS flag here. I have had only 2 moving violations in the last 25 years and pay closer to $1000.00 for full coverage. What is your deductible? Like 5 grand?

MarkY

I questioned that myself. I'm paying $700 a year for my 15 year old 911 and it is insured as a "pleasure" vehicle. I also don't have any moving violations.

Cheever

Actually, some finance companies require you to have certain deductibles.

Here's an example from a letter you mail to your insurance agent when applying for a loan from Pentagon Federal Credit Union:
"I have a loan secured by collateral insured by your Company. Pentagon Federal Credit Union requires a policy with comprehensive and collision coverage with a $500 deductible."

ranger5oh

OMG .. I cant beleive how much some of you pay!
I have a ticket and I pay $145/month

midlands

Yeah. The best advice is -- shop around, shop around, shop around. Insurance premiums vary astonishingly much by carrier. I'm 28, male, no tickets (other than parking tickets) since I was 16 -- out here in SF CA, I'm paying about $120 a month for my brand-new Touring 350ZR (only vehicle), but some insurance quotes are as high as nearly triple that (!), and many 'big names' (Farmers, Allstate, etc.) are about double that. (I'm with Mercury right now.)

Getting married helps, as does driving the car less, but getting older is the biggest change. All I can say is -- shop around, then factor it into the cost of the vehicle. If your car payment is $500 a month but the insurance would be another $400 a month, that's a damned expensive car. It all goes together.

Also, consider a higher deductible. A $100 deductible with a $300 a month premium is completely insane, unless you're making a claim literally every month. Here's the math -- if switching to a $500 deductible brought you down to $200 a month, you come out ahead *unless* you make a claim more often than once every four months -- ($500 - $100) = $400 more in deductible, $100 saved a month = every 4 months.

Anyway, something to consider. And if your parents (or someone else) bought the car for you, don't complain about it at all -- just be glad you have the damn car. ;-)