Car insurance? Tips? Your experiences?

[piller97]

GAAAAHHHHHH

Hey all, Im a young male looking for the opinions of others on a way to get decently priced car insurance.......

Im a 17yr old male living in Ontario Canada.
My mother was willing to sell me her 1997 Toyota Corolla (same year as me!) for $1000, as the car was getting quite old and she felt it needed replacing soon.
After speaking with the insurance company I was informed that it would cost approximately $7800 a year!!!! for me to be the primary driver on it.

That was AFTER the discount I received due to me completing driving school(that alone was $1100!!)

This seems RIDICULOUS to me.... that 1997 corolla ended up begin sold for $900...... that would mean that my insurance would be more than 8 time the value of the vehicle........

Also, im on my own paying for this(understandably).....



I understand that most(if not all) Canadian provinces have higher minimum requirements of insurance than many of the US states, but doesn't this seem excessively high....?

What ended up happening was that my mom got a new vehicle(2008 Toyota Corolla) and i am an "occasional driver" on it.......its costing me $1600 a year.


Is it just canada?
Are my expectations too high?
This is a TON of money....right?

Any comments/experiences/thought are appreciated......
-p

 

[Foreigner]

The price is because of your age. You're the most high risk demographic, combined with being a new driver lacking experience.

At least you're in Ontario... there are many insurance companies there, so competition. I'd ask around.

I'm not sure of the Ontario rules, but in some places you could keep the car insurance in your mom's name and add your name as a supplemental driver to get a cheaper rate. You just need to make sure that her insurance won't go up if *you* crash the car. If it won't, then there's no practical difference between you paying her insurance, or your own. Then in a few years when you're 20+, your rate will be slightly cheaper for when you get your own. Not much though. The rates start going down after age 25 and 10 years driving experience.

 

[Tude]

Like Foreigner said, shop around. Insurance prices vary wildly. You are going to have to pay more for insurance, seeing as you're young. However, if you have your wits about you and don't get into accidents or get tickets, your monthly payments will decrease every six months.

 

[alasdairm]

that would mean that my insurance would be more than 8 time the value of the vehicle...

you're not just insuring against loss of your vehicle. you get that, right?

This is a TON of money....right?

that does seem high but you're 17 years old and a guy. to an insurance company, you are an accident just waiting to happen.

do you live at home? there's no way you could get your family to add you to their policy?

alasdair

 

[Captain.Heroin]

Don't waste your time, money, energy, life, or health on an automobile.

The gas companies and car manufacturers want you to buy one, and then another after your first car accident, and so on.

The insurance company only makes more money off of you if that accident was your fault.

Otherwise, they still rake in the dough.

If you like not being broke, FUCK cars.

 

[omnipresenthuman]

yeah, there are only two, well maybe 3, options here:

1. Get added to a family plan like alasdair suggested.
2. Get a full-time job and earn the money to pay for your car insurance - I have a friend who was forced to do this - he still works all the time and goes to community college right now - although it sucks, starting work at 17-18 is a good way of building character.
3. Use public transportation.

At least in the U.S., I'm pretty sure insurance rates for guys go down once you're 25...if you're a young guy, you have to pay a lot for your car insurance, end of story.

 

[alasdairm]

3. Use public transportation.

captain.heroin's utopia aside, there are parts of the world where public transport is simply not a practical option.

alasdair