10:15PM, and wow, I never realized how cheap insurance is here.

"TA4K" (ta4k30) 05/24/2014 at 06:32 • Filed to: None

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I'm just having a quick squiz through some older posts about insurance and such, and I remembered something a Brit friend told me.

I have heard, through the little birdie that is the internet and also through some travelling British Motorsport officials, that insurance is bloody expensive out there in the big bad world. So I have devised an experiment. Tell me what the ballpark figure is you would pay for the insurance on the following three vehicles for a 16 year old, listed as a second driver per year, the country you are in, and what you think about what I would pay for insurance.

Let's begin.

#1. 2008 Volkswagen Tiguan 2.0 TDI AT

#2. 2006 Ford Focus 2nd Gen 2.0 MT

And #3. 1970 Triumph 2000 MT

For a starting point, The following is more or less what is paid on insurance for these cars, following the above conditions.

#1. ~$900 per year

#2. ~$800 per year

#3. ~$600 per year

Go!

cabarne4 > TA4K 05/24/2014 at 08:25

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Well, we don't get any of those in 'Murica, but even then it's difficult to answer the question. Insurance companies here determine your rate based off age, gender, driving record, vehicle type / size, engine size / power, geographic location, and other features.

So a 16 year old listed as a second driver, who's female and lives dangerously close to the Welsh border would have much cheaper insurance than a 16 year old listed as a second driver who's male and lives in central London.

Then there's different levels of coverage. Most states require a minimum of liability insurance (covers damage of shit you crash into), but you can add more on top of that (like if you want your own vehicle's damage to be covered as well).

However, classic cars are ridiculously cheap to insure, IF you don't drive it often and you only get liability coverage. For example, my family has a '75 VW Beetle. I was put on the insurance when I was 16, just like my older brothers. With all 5 of us covered, we spent a grand total of $12 / year. Yes. Twelve dollars. That said, it was only THAT cheap because we had other vehicles on the same policy, as well as home insurance, good driver discounts (for not having any crashes recently), good student discount (all my brothers and I get good grades)... you get the idea.

So a Triumph 2000 would be relatively cheap to insure over here. If it's a primary vehicle, with a parent and a 16 year old on the policy, it'd probably be only a few hundred per year (granted, could be way higher if you were in NYC or LA or someplace else).

In the US, we kept the first generation Focus from 1999 to 2007, so an '06 is still the older one (we also didn't get the Focus you pictured above — our second gen Focus was USDM only). A 2nd gen Focus is a relatively common car, with a 2.0L engine that puts out the same HP as a hamster on a wheel. However, they're fairly common for first cars for kids... meaning statistically, they're crashed a lot. This bumps up the insurance rating. You'd probably spend anywhere around $1000 per year (plus or minus a few hundred, depending on multiple factors) insuring a Focus.

The Tiguan in the US is 4matic, petrol, AT only... No TDI MT for us. Because it's a newer car, insurance is higher on it. But they're not crashed as often as the Focus, so it'd probably be a similar price to insure.

By comparison, I had an '05 Nissan Altima with a 2.5L engine, that cost $1450 / year to insure. The thing was a pile. Now I have an '07 Mazdaspeed6 that costs me $950 / year to insure. More power, but it's a smaller engine (2.3L), in a car that's crashed less, and I'm a little older (22 vs 18) with a clean record. I have a friend with a 350Z who pays $4200 / year because she's gotten a few tickets... Most people my age seem to pay around $1200 / year to insure whatever econobox they drive.

Eazy-O > TA4K 05/24/2014 at 08:30

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Well it's really rather based on the horsepower as far as insurance goes.

_ANY_ car driven by young drivers > add 20-30% extra, depending on company. If a young driver gets into an accident in a car without the extra coverage, I believe the youngster has to cover the 20-30% "remaining".

Tiguan - 177BHP - 900eur base - 1170eur for young (1200$/1560$)

Focus - 145BHP - 630eur base - 820eur for young (840$/1100$)

Triumph - 90BHP - 410eur base - 530eur for young (550$/710$)

Young drivers are those with less than 2 years of holding a valid license or under 21 years of age, whichever is "worse" for you. :)

However, our system has many oddities.

You can pass your license test at 16, but until 18, you only get to drive with an experienced (5+ years) codriver. At 18 you have to take the test again.

All young drivers must pass an advanced driving school (sorta HPDE, but slower) within 2 years of acquiring the license.

Every year with no accident claims, you get a 5% discount for the following year, which stacks up to 50%.

Classic insurance is instant 90% discount, but only for cars over 25 years of age, but they then set you up with loads of conditions (company-dependent) - only usable for events, limited to 3000km per year, must not be the only car in the household, etc.

Volunteer firefighters also get discounts, for example.

A good insurance agent (a.k.a. one that's willing to part with some of his margin) will shave off a further 5 - 30%.

So... yeah. :)

Rory > TA4K 05/24/2014 at 14:18

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I would quote but I am too lazy to look for registrations. All I know for my age bracket , they would be all well over 1,000 euros

My father brought over a Lincoln Navigator a few years ago through work, In Ireland Insurance and road tax rates are insane. To insure it it cost him almost 2,000 euros and to tax it for the year cost another 2,000 euros.

I drive a 97 Civic coupe. The problem is that it is a JDM import , which means my policy is 980 euros a year and I have to pay 450 a year for tax.