Yes, that’s correct…I should’ve added that.
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I can’t remember how my insurance is set. But, aren’t all the car companies supposed to give you GAP insurance? For their liability in case your insurance can’t/won’t cover fully any situation?
They’re not required. Some include it…others make you pay for it. You can also add gap through your insurance policy cheaper than the dealer (if the captive isn’t including it in the lease)
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I’m a current USAA insurance client and I think they are expensive. I haven’t ever needed to create a claim so cannot confirm their legendary service reputation. I do like their ability to offer quotes instantly online on random vehicles i am considering buying, but would think just about every company would have that capability.
yeah, my brother-in-law got into USAA through his father-in-law. He swears by their insurance. I thought they were pricey compared to others when I looked.
Which vehicle you choose has a lot to do with the premium. Insurance on my wife’s 17’ E300 is about $400 more than the 15’ ML it replaced. Would have considered another ML/GLE had I known/checked in advance. We run a high deductible, but beyond $1000 didn’t see much of an incentive to increase further. We have no claims / clean records going back 25 years. Other thing you can do is bundle and look for an employer / brand affiliation to the insurer.
@305Hackr The eligibility guidelines for USAA membership is the following;
- Active, retired and honorably discharged officers and enlisted personnel of the U.S. military.
- Cadets and midshipmen at U.S. service academies, in advanced ROTC or on ROTC scholarship, plus officer candidates within 24 months of commissioning.
- Individuals whose parents have or had USAA auto or property insurance.
- Former USAA members who had auto or property insurance.
- Widows, widowers and un-remarried former spouses of USAA members.
But my my point isn’t that you have to be eligible for USAA. My point is that it is always worth telling your insurance company that you are ready to move on because they will do a rate creep on you every six months. Also, if your credit score improves, if you haven’t been in any accidents, if your driving record improves, etc., they are not going to tell you and lower your rate.
Here is a CBSnews article.
Here is another blog on the insurance creep.
Insurance companies are only looking out for numero uno. You should be too.
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If you are in CA give Mercury try. Good luck with Wawanesa if you have an accident. Their claims dept is a mess. You will be on hold for a very long time. Their sales line is wide open though.
thank you @davewade, i’ve tried it before with statefarm and they’re not as receptive as geico.
What i was being told is that if another insurance company tries to acquire you to be their customer, you end up with a lower rate for the first 6 mo and then they’ll jack up the rate but i’ll def give it a try. Thanks for sharing the articles.
Doesn’t Metromile require using their OBDII dongle to track everything you do with your car? Personally I find these trackers super invasive, but I’ve also read they trigger the car alarm on the i3. BMW’s official policy is they are not supported as OBD port isn’t meant to be used this way.
Have you experienced this issue on your i3?
I also got a seven figure umbrella insurance policy with Geico after seeing a few bankruptcy cases in my professional life. Cost maybe 120 bucks a year. Cannot recommend it enough especially for people who live in States little or no homestead protections in bankruptcy. Can be a life saver in an emergency.
Also, just having a team of asshole insurance agency contract attorneys on your side can change the whole disposition of a case. They can often extract settlements since the other sides lawyers know they have the funds to fight and appeal a case for years.
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Interesting. I didn’t know this. I just started using it yesterday and last night I went to lock my car and the alarm went off. I thought I had accidentally hit the wrong button but it was probably the situation you talked about. I was able to click it away with no problems the rest of the night but I will pay attention. Thanks!
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I also added an umbrella policy recently with 7 figure coverage to my account. Policy costs around $15 but my car insurance total for 3 cars went down by $27 a month. Net net saved money by adding coverage.
Umbrellas are no-brainers.
Medical costs are insane and liability limits are just the maximum amount the insurance company is liable for, not the maximum you are liable for.
Heaven forbid I paralyze a kid in an accident or have a child fall off of my boat and get hit by a propeller, I will have liability for the rest of my life.
Someday I want to retire and go sailing around the world, not retire and become a Wal-Mart greeter in Dubuque. Because even though Wal-Mart greets in Dubuque are lovely people, none of them look they they really want to be there.
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Very helpful thread, I will definitely check out the umbrella coverage! In Colorado insurance rates are going through the roof because of our annual hailstorms and constant influx of people moving here increasing the number of accidents. Geico just notified me that my insurance premium is going up by 40% even though nothing has changed on my record, just a flat Colorado increase so I am in the market again and comparing prices. One thing that helps is to get the home policy bundled with the auto policy so I am shopping for both. It is a good idea to shop around for quotes every 6 months.
It’s hard when you have accidents on record (Even if not at fault which my last three have been)
I’m paying about 1600 for 6 months for a 2017 Mazda MX-5 RF LE, 2017 Elantra Limited, and 2018 Honda Clarity PHEV.
This is with Mercury. I guess I’ll shop around when I have to renew my policy. I don’t think I’m paying that much right now though. I’m not sure why but the Honda costs like 700 per 6 months.
Not bad.
Paying $3,300 yearly here (DFW metro) on a ‘11 Lexus LS460 Sport and a ‘17 Sonata PHEV.
Was paying the same on the Lexus and a ‘16 Caddi ELR.
That sounds pretty expensive. I had Mercury before too, but switched to Ameriprise because it was so much cheaper. Currently paying $810 premium for 6 months with 250k/500k/250k coverage on 3 vehicles (2017 RX350, 2015 Q50 and 2003 MR2). This is in SoCal, OC to be more specific.
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I’ll check Ameriprise out. Would be nice to save more money, gives me an excuse to keep modding the Mazda!