[foster45]

Hi.

I've been lusting for a Prius for far too long, and I'm almost ready to bite the bullet, although the insurance costs might not let me! I've been shopping around, and it's insane: my rate will at LEAST double. I'm talking $1,600/6 months. Anyone else experience this? I'm 25, male, and currently driving a '98 Jeep Cherokee, and I have a clean record.

Also: lease or own? How much are you paying per month, how much did you put down? Any advice I could get as a younger dude making only $33k a year would be great.

Thanks. Don't know if I can afford it, but dammit, I want a black BI!!

 

[bshef]

I was quoted $450 for 6 month premium on comprehensive 100/300.
21st century Ins.

 

[mgaelli]

I'm paying about $900 per year with State Farm. I am 39 years old, and I'm getting the multi-car/multi-line deductions, but I guess this should not make that much of a difference.

 

[paul16451]

My insurance

I pay about $1200 a year on my new 2005 that I just purchased 2 days ago. That's $100 higher than what I was paying on my old 2002 model.

I'm not sure what insurance company you deal with, but usually the first quote they give you is for WAY more coverage than you need. You need to ask them specifically what is the minimum liability you need required by state law. THEN you can start adding things on like comprehensive and collision. If I purchased the absolute minimum, liability-only, I'd only be paying $600 a year, but I prefer a little more coverage than that.

Also, there are discounts that you might not think of off-hand. My company gives discounts for having anti-lock brakes, LoJack, a science degree, and good driver. They give additional discounts that I don't qualify for but you might.

 

[paul16451]

oh and the other part of your question

Don't lease; it will create all sorts of problems later because you have to be careful not to go over the allowable miles per year, and it's a pain to keep track of the servicing that you have to do exactly on schedule. Plus it's a HUGE ripoff at the end of the lease period where they give you the "option to buy" you end up paying a lot more than if you'd just bought it in the first place. Much better to buy at the start.

I bought the intermediate model (which I believe is BI, don't remember all the letter designations). I put $1000 down and was quoted a rate of $470 a month for the 1st-tier (highest rating) credit score for a 72 month loan. Had I been on the next credit level down, it would have been $500 a month over the same period. After adding in the six-year extended warranty, GAP insurance, and the "Touch of Class" option, that made my payment $521.

 

[Sanny]

I'm in NJ, which is auto insurance Hell. Even so, my premium increased only $116 when I dropped the 1999 Camry (full coverage) and added the 05 Prius (full coverage). Deductible and limits remained the same. Ok, so some of you might think $116 is a lot, but it's less than 7% of my total! One (grown up) driver, clean record.

There are discounts for airbags, antitheft devices, antilock brakes, and for not preferring brussels sprouts.
:wink:

 

[Roger V]

insurance/leasing

Paul,
Just curious, but how did you wind up with gap insurance if you didn't lease? I believe that gap insurance is supposed to cover you in case your car is totaled and the insurance settlement doesn't cover the residual value and lease payments owed. In other words, the dealer/bank, etc. get all their money, just as though you had completed the lease.
BTW, when I bought mine in Oct. 2003, the dealer rep. said that they weren't writing leases on them because the residual value hadn't been established, so the banks weren't rushing to make good deals. I'm sure that has changed.

 

[Sanny]

Re: insurance/leasing

Paul,
Just curious, but how did you wind up with gap insurance if you didn't lease? I believe that gap insurance is supposed to cover you in case your car is totaled and the insurance settlement doesn't cover the residual value and lease payments owed...

It also applies if you put a little bit down on the car, and your equity isn't growing as quickly as the depreciation. That way the insurance covers the gap between what the car is worth and what you owe. Think 60 month (or more) financing...

 

[mrfredsporty]

i pay $672 a year thru met life which also insures my home. my deducable i$500. sounds like im paying about average or a little less. even though im in great physical shape i still have to admit im now 60yrs old. i do have 0 accidents and 0 tickets in over 40 yrs of "high spirited" driving.

 

[Sanny]

...even though im in great physical shape i still have to admit im now 60yrs old. i do have 0 accidents and 0 tickets in over 40 yrs of "high spirited" driving.

Sounds like a personal ad, Mr. Fred! "High spirited M, 60, with Prius, seeks likeminded F for eco friendly regeneration."

 

[mrfredsporty]

ooops! sorry!i guess it did sound that way. sometimes im so shy its pathetic but other times im so full of.... er, myself (yeah thats it) that i get carried away. buts always with at least an inward smile

 

[mrfredsporty]

ps sanny, that was a very funny post from you!! :lol:

 

[DanMan32]

Re: insurance/leasing

Paul,
Just curious, but how did you wind up with gap insurance if you didn't lease? I believe that gap insurance is supposed to cover you in case your car is totaled and the insurance settlement doesn't cover the residual value and lease payments owed...

It also applies if you put a little bit down on the car, and your equity isn't growing as quickly as the depreciation. That way the insurance covers the gap between what the car is worth and what you owe. Think 60 month (or more) financing...

Yup! I got stuck owning my credit card $2000 net for the remainder of my car payment on my Saturn. Capital One gave me a great rate, so I paid off the car loan with the credit card, and started paying them. Unfortunately, someone rear-ended me totaling it. Their insurance (or mine for that matter) wouldn't give me what I still owed and I felt it was still worth. I had 2 years left on a 4 year loan.

So, I have GAP for the Prius now, and had to turn down my dad's offer to refinance through him for 2 points lower than I am currently paying. I don't think him financing it would qualify as a lien on the car.

 

[Susan5s]

I'm 25, male, and currently driving a '98 Jeep Cherokee, and I have a clean record.

Hi,

Keep in mind that as a group, young male drivers are, according to the insurance industry, the worst risk even if you as an individual have a clean record. Here in Insurance Hell, otherwise known as New Jersey, as Sanny said, it used to be that males age 25 and under paid about the most expensive premiums in the US. Now they've raised that to age 30, I believe.

My payments went up about 30% when I got rid of my '96 Saturn for my 04 Prius BC. I think we had already dropped collision on the Saturn, but I don't remember. I didn't think it was that steep an increase, considering the Saturn was very cheap to insure in the first place.

Susan

 

[bshef]

You may also want to re-think you deductibles...........Most people are in a brain-washed mind-set target of $500. I've bumped all my deductibles up to $1000 which is helping me save money.

Insurance is one of those intangible items that really doesn't help you much even when you do need it. Unless, of course, it's of catastrophic proportions with bodily injuries and lawsuits.

Ins. Co. are in business to make money!

In most small accidents if you make a claim......guess what.....you will be covered and the Ins Co. will pay........ however.......they will get their money back from you by raising your rates.

My point is......quit paying them all the high premiums up front in order to have a lower deductible.....God-willing.....you may never even have to use it.

 

[DanMan32]

I grant you his age would cause generally higher rates, but he was comparing apples to apples. Same person, same driving history, just different car.

My insurance went up some when I went from a '99 Saturn SL2 to the 04 Prius. Same deductible (required $500 due to loan), same driving history (OK, one chargable accident), same coverage. They claimed the Prius causes more damage. Being a ligher than average car, that suprises me, though I agree repair costs might be higher than average for collision.

The accident was removed this last renewal, and my rate went down about $200 semi-annually.

 

[mrv]

note that you do not get the federal income tax deduction if you lease.


Auto Insurance in MA is fairly similar from one insurer to the next, thanks to heavy regulation, but elsewhere... In MA, pricing depends on how long you've been driving with a clean record, what car, what coverages, where you live (my insurance went up $200/year when I moved), and then there's discounts for multi-policy, multi-car, anti-theft devices, and added air bags, as well as low-miles vehicles... I know the insurance companies are petitioning MA to start allowing them to also set rates based on your credit report, too. My understanding is that elsewhere insurers can set rates about how they please, so a red car is more expensive, particularly for a young male driver...