Car Insurance.

[Mark]

I don't pay monthly I pay annually, my annual cost (last year) was £225 which equates to $288 US dollars. What the hell? I always thought it was only over here we got tucked up. Are these figures for insurance typical for the US?

If I was still living at the marital address in Harrogate, North Yorkshire my annual insurance would be £164 ($210)
'kin hell, if that was a realistic figure from Dirk Diggler I'll be forced to contribute to all your (car) insurance renewals.

You should feel very fortunate about your car insurance rates. It's literally impossible to compare rates for everyone here. There are so many different factors that come into play. For Dirk, it's being an Uber driver. For someone like me, it's about what package deal is best for home/auto coverage. Deer collisions keep auto body shops in business in my area. I can honestly say I've hit the brakes hard 3 different times for deer alone in the past 3 days. Then again, I am an avid deer hunter. It's the main reason I own property in the country.

I feel like I have somewhat full coverage on my two vehicles.

Liability $250,000/$500,00/$100,000
Medical Payments
Uninsured Motorists
Underinsured Motorists
Comprehensive with $250 deductible
Collision with $500 deductible

Applied Discounts
Advance quote discount
Age 55 or over discount
Annual payment plan discount
Anti-lock brake discount
Multi-car discount
Passive restraint discount
Prior bodily injury limits discount
Safe driver discount

I pay $986/year for both vehicles. My 2011 Subaru Forester is $450/year, & the 2017 Mitsubishi Mirage is $536.

[Pryme]

I pay 210ish/6mo for full coverage and high coverages on the mirages. Same price I pay for my Tundra. Mirage has expensive insurance rates.

[Pryme]

Insurance rates vary wildly depending on which insurance company you choose (some are more preferential to different demographics) and how long you've been with them, where you live, how old you are, your driving record, your CREDIT rating, what you drive, what coverages you choose, and probably the phases of the moon.

What you drive is a factor, but not always for the reasons you might think. The replacement cost of the car is a factor, as is repair cost. But, they also look at the demographics of who typically owns a car and how likely they are to crash. That's why cars that are attractive to younger buyers tend to have crazy insurance rates. That applies to things like Mustangs and Camaros because they're cool and fun... it also applies to things like Kia Rios and Mitsubishi Mirages because they're cheap to buy.

And my 1997 Chevy S10... if I had full coverage on it... would cost more to insure than my wife's 2015 Miata. Why? Because the typical S10 owner is more likely to crash. The typical 2015 Miata owner is expected to be more mature and less crashy. (the Miata is also less likely to crash by virtue of better technology, being newer and in a better state of repair, etc, etc) It's all based on statistics.

If you're under 25, you're screwed. Beyond that... you might have a chance.

I'm 52 with a fairly clean driving record (last speeding ticked was 4-5 years ago, last crash/claim was 20+ years ago) and excellent credit. I live in a bad place for insurance rates (urban Florida). I have a multi-car discount, and discounts for being with Progressive for 15+ years. I'm a homeowner, which is also a factor. I'm married, which is also a factor.

I just renewed my insurance. It was something like $830 for 6 months. That's for four vehicles. An S10 pickup, two Miatas and the Mirage. The Mirage is the most expensive to insure, go figure.

Since it's all online and easy to look up...

On the Mirage:

$65 Property Damage Liability
$81 Bodily Injury Liability
$49 Uninsured Motorist
$38 Personal Injury
$12 Comprehensive
$41 Collision

Lots of $1,000 deductibles. Minimal coverages. ($50k... really should do more these days)

That's a total of $286 for 6 months on a 2015 Mirage.

My wife's 2015 Miata has exactly the same coverages and it's $215. I think she has a 20% "snapshot" discount from driving around with a monitor on her car for a couple months a few years ago. That might be why hers is lower.

Here are all the discounts applied to our account:
Anti-Lock Brakes
Continuous Insurance Discount - Diamond
Driver and Passenger-side Airbag
Driver-side Airbag
Five Year Accident Free
Five Year Claim Free
Homeowner
Multi-Vehicle
Online Quote
Paid in Full
Paperless
Passive Anti-Theft Device
Snapshot®
Three Year Safe Driving

Trying to figure out what your insurance rates are, or should be, is nearly impossible!

What sucks is that I'm paying almost $400/year to keep minimum insurance on my S10... that I might drive once every 2 months. I really need to sell that thing!

You should be able to keep insurance OFF the S10 or carry only storage ins on it and just call your agent and have it insured for the few times you use it. That's how state farm is and allows that

[Loren]

Yeah, I probably could do that. Or something like it. But, really, I just need to get rid of it.

I tried to get Hagarty to cover it a few years ago as a "limited use collectible". But, I guess even with a V8 swap... they don't consider a 1997 S10 to be special.

[Nobu]

Minimum coverage through USAA is $506 ($84/mo) for my '04 Accord. Full coverage was much more through Geico (over double, iirc), and minimum was still a good bit more. When I was in Utah, Geico only charged $120/mo for full coverage (maybe less, can't really remember).

Full coverage (required for financed vehicles) through USAA is $900 for my '17 Mirage ES. $1000 deductable on pretty much everything. Could lower it a bit more if I removed some optional coverages like roadside assistance, rental, etc., but not much lower.

Also, this forum software does not behave at all on Opera's mobile browser...I can't click some icons in the menu because the search button covers them (even though it doesn't actually), and when I tried to edit my post and clicked the text field, it hit the delete button instead... :/

[itschad]

Insurance rates vary wildly depending on which insurance company you choose (some are more preferential to different demographics) and how long you've been with them, where you live, how old you are, your driving record, your CREDIT rating, what you drive, what coverages you choose, and probably the phases of the moon.

What you drive is a factor, but not always for the reasons you might think. The replacement cost of the car is a factor, as is repair cost. But, they also look at the demographics of who typically owns a car and how likely they are to crash. That's why cars that are attractive to younger buyers tend to have crazy insurance rates. That applies to things like Mustangs and Camaros because they're cool and fun... it also applies to things like Kia Rios and Mitsubishi Mirages because they're cheap to buy.

Yes, very simlar here too. There is a loading on younger drivers (under 25) simply because of lack of experience and more importantly road manners.
A huge factor on costs is where you live, for example, I had a Skoda Fabia estate Black Edition (1.2 engine) then moved to Bradford, my insurance company went stupid and hiked up my insurance from around £200 to £2900. After coming out of intensive care I asked them why, they replied "We do not insure in that location" There are numerous Crash for Cash collisions going on and Bradford is a particular hot spot, one tried it with me about 2 years ago. I told him I had a dash cam and that I'd break his head if he even thought about making a claim. No collision he just over done the braking claiming whiplash for him and his female passenger who got out of the car with a show that was deserving of an Oscar. Nothing became of it. Oh, they were Asian.

I remember in London when I first started driving (1976) I was paying just £22 per year for a 1.8 litre car, a few years later I bought a 3.0 litre Ford Granada, when they quoted me just over £42 per year I argued and got it for £40 eventually.

I never get an automatic renewal, always shop around about a month before car insurance is due. There are Comparision sites here and they are legalised thieves, I avoid them.

[dspace9]

I don't pay monthly I pay annually, my annual cost (last year) was £225 which equates to $288 US dollars.
What the hell? I always thought it was only over here we got tucked up. Are these figures for insurance typical for the US?

I live in southern Ontario, Canada. I pay $85 a month to insure my Mirage, and that's with a 10% discount, because I have home owners insurance with the same company.

I have 20 years driving experience, and 0 speeding tickets. Hatchback cars are generally the "cheap" cars to insure.

Yea in my mind, everything in the UK is 1.5 x the cost, but I guess that's a blanket generalization.

[Mark]

I never get an automatic renewal, always shop around about a month before car insurance is due. There are Comparision sites here and they are legalised thieves, I avoid them.

I switched my insurance policy when I added a second car (my Mirage). My home owner's insurance, however, drove the change. Switching companies saved me about $800-900 on my homeowner's policy. Having a fireplace or wood burning stove, living beyond 10 miles from a fire department, etc... are all factors that insurance companies look at.

I've shopped for motorcycle insurance independently, but home/auto have been combined for quite some time.

[Alex1a1f]

$358 for my Mirage and $308 for my ILX every 6 months.

[dspace9]

$358 for my Mirage and $308 for my ILX every 6 months.

That's not bad. I really get ripped off on insurance in Canada.