Used Car Insurance (cont.)
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Thieves like these cars, too. Everyone wants a Demonic Road Shredder, and a thief may not be too concerned about the car's history if he can get his hands on one for a free ride. And that 800-horse twin-turbo V-16 powerplant is a hot ticket for drag racing and offshore boats, so it may get snatched just for its engine. Bottom line, insurance companies have paid plenty for all those totaled and stolen Demonic Road Shredders, and therefore your premium to insure one could approximate the cost of a commercial satellite launch for a communications bird on the cheapest converted ex-Soviet ICBM available.
The obvious choice, from an insurance perspective, is a nice, low-mileage used Milquetoast Minivan—ideally the base four-cylinder model with the steel wheels, fabric upholstery, rubber floormats, and burnt-orange paint job. These never get stolen, and their cautious-to-the-point-of-timidity drivers darn near never run into other cars or attract unwanted attention from John Law while out on the blue highway. Your insurance agent will practically pay you to insure one of these vehicles because the risk is so low. Your candidates for purchase probably don't fall quite so far to the opposite ends of the insurance spectrum as these examples, but the point is, if saving money is your objective, you might want to look at models insurers consider closer to Milquetoast than Demonic. Call your agent for quotes on the vehicles you're thinking about before you go test driving. You might be surprised by how much that 4WD SUV you want can affect your rate. Or take a gander at insurers' ratings lists, such State Farm's, available on the company's Web site (statefarm.com), and steer clear of the vehicles that top theft lists. Sometimes you don't even have to pick a different model, just a different version of that model. For example, State Farm puts the 3/4-ton Chevy Silverado pickup truck in its preferred "A" discount category for comprehensive and collision coverage, while the half-ton truck falls in the "B" category, which is charged the standard amount. Apparently those serious-minded work-truck drivers are more careful than the hot-rodders who favor the half-ton models. Wanna sporty BMW? Consider buying the A-rated station-wagon version instead of the B-rated sedan. Vehicle make can also affect rates. The Honda CR-V compact SUV scores an "A," for example, compared with a "B" for the similar Toyota RAV4. Insurance companies track stats on injuries to occupants and offer discounts on medical and personal injury coverage based on them. State Farm gives the Nissan Maxima a 20-percent discount on this coverage (compared with 10 percent for the Nissan Altima), and rates a "B" instead of a "C" on collision and comprehensive. Small, cheap cars fare poorly on both the discount and ratings scales. Zero medical discount and "C" ratings are assigned to most subcompact models, so it may be worth it to upgrade to an intermediate-size car, even if it costs a little more up front. The cheaper insurance over the years may offset that difference, plus you'll end up with a larger, safer car. |
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