I'm currently discussing some different options with my agent, and I have come to the conclusion that the current insurance system makes no senses.

I have four cars to insure. 1991 Range Rover, 1985 300TDT, 1992 300D, and 1969 jaguar xke.

USAA is my current insurer and usually is the cheapest, but farmer is giving me a big discount for house and cars.

6 months rates with Farmers for Texas State mins and 500 deducible, collision on all are: 283, 300, 315, 176 respectively for the cars above.

Does that seem right to you? I figure the values for those cars are: 4k, 3k, 8k, 25k but the insurance rates don't compare to the value of the vehicles...

Also how can one justify paying 600 dollars annual of a 3,000 dollar car as is the case with my wagon?

What are the rates you guys are paying? I expect mine will be higher because Harris County here in Texas has really high uninsured motorist risk, but this seems to be ridiculous to me.

my 240td (and im 19) is £1,260/year....!!!

My 300SD cost me about $500 a year. And thats with Travelers (used to be Eatna)

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Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
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Section 609 MVAC Certified
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"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

I'm still shopping, but insuring my Aprilia SR50 with MO minimums + 250 deductible comp/coll costs 310$ per 6 months through progressive. Not bad.

The 300TD has been quoted around 431$ per 6 months with similar coverage, and 500 dollar deductibles. I do get a discount for insuring both, but its only 5%. I don't own a home, so I don't have much other insurance.

I'm still shopping, but so far Progressive has been the cheapest. What I really want is someone who'll insure both my vehicles, and then give me a very cheap rate on the scooter (since its a pretty cheap vehicle, and can't do much in the way of property damage). We'll see.

I just turned 23, which around here seems to be a 'break point' for insurance. Happens again at 25. Unfortunately I was paying much higher insurance rates before that, even though I've got a clean record. Its just the price you pay when you are a young male, you've got a reputation for disaster!

peace,
sam

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"That f***in' biodiesel is makin' me hungry."

1982 300TD Astral Silver w/ 250k (BIO BNZ)
2001 Aprilia SR50 Corsa Red w/ 5.5k (>100 MPG)

You are likely wasting your money carrying collision insurance on the older vehicles. Anything worse than a paint scratch and the insurance company will "total" the vehicle. (See if they will tell you what they think each of your vehicles is worth.) It is impossible to compare premiums without more information, such as liability level, number and age of drivers, etc. I would think twice about leaving USAA. It's a good company when you have a claim. (They are all good when it comes to accepting your premium.) Also, remember to factor in those annual dividends that USAA typically pays out. But with all the hurricanes, we might not get much this year!

$250 a month

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have no worries.....President Obama swears "If you like your gun, you can keep it

I agree with you on USAA. I wouldn't switch if it was only a couple of hundred dollars, but this is dramatic...For some odd reason.

I carry collision on my cars because I live in Harris County, and I have been hit by an unisured motorist before. Not in the last ten years but it has happened. To carry it is not much more, considering without it I'm out the car if I get hit.

You're correct about making sure I check on the replacement value. I need to consider that and get it in writing. With these type of cars the value they represent is not kelly blue book.

The dividend does help, but hard to figure what it will be, to compare insurers.

At anyrate I wouldn't leave USAA all together, still have life, and other stuff with them...

In Texas the cost to insure an automobile is determined by its rating symbo. The rating symbo is assigned by the state insurance commission. Each insurer determines their exact charge independently, but the rating symbol system means you'll see pretty much the same relationship in the rates for each of your cars from one insurer to another.

My agent (Nationwide) has confirmed the rating symbols frequently don't make a lot of sense. Here's an example. My spouse drives a very pristine 1993 300E sedan. On a good day it's probably worth $10K, but that might be a stretch. It's rating symbol is 22. That translates to $327.50/6 months. I drive a 2001 E320 wagon worth $30K+. It's rating symbol is 18, so I pay $296.50/6 months for the exact same coverage.

Strange, huh? The only thing I can figure is that wagons are ridiculously cheap to insure compared to sedans. My recently sold 1987 diesel wagon had a rating symbol of 16 - it was way cheap to insure. The 1993 sedan replaced an unreliable 1998 E300 turbodiesel about 18 months ago - both were about the same price to insure. That was a surpise, given that we bought the 1993 car with less than half the proceeds from selling the 1998.

- JimY

I tried to do just that with USAA. Bottom line: they would not tell me what they considered my cars to be worth. Seemed like a reasonable question to me. I needed the information to make an informed decision as to whether I should carry collision coverage or not. It's not worth it to pay "x" premium if the car is only worth "5x." But I can bet that an older but well maintained MB is worth a lot more to folks like us than it is to the insurance industry. They won't be impressed that we just rebuilt the front end, replaced the flex discs and driveshaft support, did a complete brake job, etc. To them, its an old and tired vehicle. If the repair costs exceed 85% of what they think it's worth, we get a little check and they get the car.

Since I'm a 3.9GPA college student I'm only paying $78/month ($936/year) with Farmers insurance.

I'm not at all looking forward to that 20year old age time after I'm out of school! I know my rates will skyrocket until I'm 22.

I think mine is around $200/year each on the Mercedes and the wife pays $600/year on the Honda. She carries full coverage and I just have liability on the Benz.

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Jim

Benzzy

I'm paying $234.80 for 6 months on the '85 300SD, 100/300 $500 deductible and full coverage. You are correct that collision isn't much more on these old cars because they know the car isn't worth much, so it will just be totalled - which is still better than nothing.

I'm with Farmers, and insure a '68 F250, '85 300SD, '97 27' RV, '99 Accura RL and a '02 Jetta TDI Wagon. I also have homeowners with them.

Most expensive car I ever had to insure was a '97 Audi A8. Aluminum body with only 8 repair facilities in the US.....

Kevin

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'85 300SD

Wow I can't wait to get past the 25 mark! I'm paying $200 a month for the SDL.

benzzy I would have the Jag under a classic car agreed value policy. Hagarty(sp?) is a big one. Maybe Hemmings.

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2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

is insurance REQUIRED in other states? I assume that it is but who the hell knows.

in California, it's a requirement in order to register your car. Just got insurance today and it's $62 a month for me - liability only (seems kind of like dumping money into a well for a car worth only $3,000 at best)

I am not completely familiar with Texas insurance laws, but I am with Florida. Rating symbols take many factors into account. Some of those factors are:
- MSRP of vehicle
- current value of vehicle
- statistical evidence from claims
The last one, statistical evidence, is what a whole team of actuaries get paid to calculate. Florida's symbols aren't mandated by the state so each insurance company looks at vast amounts of claims history data and if there have been an unusual number of claims for a particular vehicle, regardless of its value, that vehicle will get a higher symbol. I work with this stuff everyday and I can see how from the outside it might not make sense. Sometimes the data doesn't make complete sense, but it is often times taken at face value.

J