What car insurance do you use?

[EngineerGrad]

Hi guys, 

 

I am trying to find an affordable car insurance for me (under 25 yo), but the prices are just ridiculous! 2500$ for 6 months coverage? What the hell?

 

I have researched Geico and Progressive. Which insurance company do you guys use?

 

Any inputs are welcome.

 

[kyjin]

It really depends state to state, and the simple fact is that insurance rates are higher for those under 25. (Also higher for men than women.) It's also going to depend on how new your car is, how much you drive, etc. I personally have Geico (was going for Allstate since that's what I was insured under my parents for years, but they tried to rip me off). Just keep looking around. Good luck!

[CardTricks]

I'm using Statefarm. However, my parents have always used Statefarm, so I got a good deal because of that I think. 

[toasterazzi]

Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there!

 

$2500 for six months definitely sounds like a lot to me, but I don't know what your various particulars are where you live. My insurance is less than $100 a month though.

[spectastic]

I currently have my car insured by my dad under Westbend. They're really great with customer service, and did a really nice job when I messed up the suspension, for what was going to be a $1500 tab. They replaced everything with new parts at a $500 deductible, with full service, alignment etc. The rate isn't bad I don't think, but they're located in the midwest, a place I will never live again or 'so help me god'

 

Now, I need to find something for not just my car, but also a motorcycle that I plan to get sometime this year as a backup vehicle. And from what I've seen dual coverages around here suck.

[TakeruK]

I use State Farm and have been for several years now. When I first started with State Farm, they gave a far lower rate than anyone else for a under-25 male driver because they had a good student discount. When I got married though, I was not able to keep the good student discount but the married male rate was lower by about the same amount. So I guess being married is the same as being a good student? In Canada, I paid $650/6 months for a 2002 vehicle. Now, in California, I pay $750/6months for a 2012 vehicle. So $2500/6months is way too high! Even without the good student/married discount, the highest quotes I saw were $1200/6 months.

 

I would recommend going to an agent in person and sitting down with them and working out all the possible discounts. Sometimes the online quote things don't take enough stuff in consideration. Standard discounts are: low usage, good student, "young drivers education" (State Farm has a free program that will qualify you for a better rate), clean record, X years experience driving, loyalty discount, and multi-line discount. For the last one, it's a discount if you have more than one product with the same company. At State Farm, we have three separate policies: Renters, Umbrella Personal Liability, and Auto. Having 3 policies means that we get something like a 15% discount on all three. This ends up meaning that it's cheaper to get all 3 policies instead of just Auto (discount pays for Renters policy). We also get minimum liability coverage on Renters and Auto and have liability covered through the Umbrella policy since that policy will cover liability for both Auto and Renters issues. 

[LittleDarlings]

State Farm but my parents pay. I am still under their insurance

[HicklePickle]

We have two cars (a 2005 Toyota and a 2011 Honda) insured through Geico for ~$2400/6 months. We do have an at-fault accident against us and we are both under 25. Being married did lower the cost significantly though. My husband was paying about $2400/6 months for a brand new (and subsequently totaled) 2013 Toyota before we were married.

I will say that it does vary by location. Geico wanted to increase our rate by $300/6 months because we were moving to a new city.

[seeingeyeduck]

State Farm also at about $800/yr for a '05 Camry. Somehow that seems off but that's what I've been paying. Originally I was on my parents' policy and with their two cars and 10+ years of being a customer they have lower rates and a 20% loyalty discount. When I went off on my own the agent gave me the same rate even though technically I am a new customer since she didn't want me to transfer to a different agent when I moved.

[TakeruK]

Another thing to keep in mind when we all say our rates is that rates depend a lot on:

 

a ) value of car (usually the age is a good indicator though but a 2006 pickup vs. a 2006 sedan is probably going to still cause different rates; however your rate might drop a bunch in the first few years due to depreciation if you are driving a pretty new car)

b ) location -- every region will have some multiplier that increases or decreases your rate relative to some baseline

c ) coverage / deductibles. From shopping around, it seems like the biggest factors in your rate is how much coverage you want (we get a lot of coverage, for some things in the hundreds of thousands and over a million for others) as well as your collision/comphrensive deductibles (we set ours at $500--changing it to $1000 could save us something like $30-$50 per 6 month)

[juilletmercredi]

Daaaaaamn.  $2500 for 6 months?  It's got to be because you are under 25.

I am over 25 and currently getting insurance quotes for suburban PA because I'm planning to purchase a car before I move.  With decent levels of protection ($25/$50 for bodily injury/liability, required $5,000 of personal injury + $500 deductibles for comprehensive and collision coverage - I assumed a ~2011 Honda Civic or the like), Geico gave me the lowest quote - it was $35/month for 6 months.  State Farm's was around $55/month for 6 months.  I got much higher quotes ($80-100/month) with Progressive, esurance, Nationwide, and MetLife, and an absolutely ridiculous one (~$250/month) with Allstate.  (These are all online quotes; I plan to talk to an agent when I get it.)  I also priced USAA (husband's a veteran) but their coverage was pretty expensive; then again, I only priced when I was considering leasing a car and now I'm pretty sure I will buy.

 

I'm debating going with State Farm - even though they are a bit costlier, my parents have been insured by State Farm for over a decade and they like it.  I also thought Geico's quotes were suspiciously low and have a feeling that when I actually purchase the insurance it won't be that cheap.  Plus I kind of want to be able to randomly shout "Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there!"  (JK, not really a factor.)

Edited February 24, 2014 by juilletmercredi

[EngineerGrad]

The difference from Geico to State Farm was abysmal. I got a 650$ quote on State Farm for a similar policy...

 

Thanks guys!

[glm]

My fiancé and I are covered under Pemco's "Coverage 1 - Comprehensive" plan. The policy covers our two vehicles (2009 Forester and 2001 Mercedes) for about $1800/yr. I highly recommend this company if you live in the Pacific Northwest. AAA also offers good insurance options.

[thething]

If you are open on getting online quotes, you should try yepmarket.com. They've got a list of insurance companies where you can get a cheap or affordable car insurance around your area. I was able to try them last year.

[HicklePickle]

I also want to add that I did my math wrong. My husband and I are paying $1200/6 months for our two cars. Our monthly bill is $202. Sorry about that!

[bsharpe269]

My monthly bill from geico is $52. I'm under 25 and have a fairly new sedan.

[Munashi]

I use Geico.  It's about $370/6 months or about $61/month.  I have no accidents or tickets, drive an old car, but live in Los Angeles and am under 25 which drives up the price a bit.

[GreenePony]

USAA, my husband works for another insurance company and we still go with them. They are incredibly helpful in the case of incidents and we do our banking, etc with them (DH's family has all been officers so we're grandfathered in, literally.) Also, we get discounts on other services (rentals, trips, flowers of all things.)

I think we pay $450/6 months for a 2005 Civic Hybrid parked in a condo garage structure.

[wildviolet]

I've had GEICO now for about 13 years or so. Currently, I pay $400/6 months. I've never had an accident, though, and I'm a female over 25.

[I am not sure yet]

I still don't know if I'll be able to afford a car, but insurance concerns me, specially because I'm foreigner. I'm over 25 and have a driver's licence in my country for almost 10 years, but I don't have an American licence. Do you guys think this will be an issue when I try to get an insurance?

[GreenePony]

I still don't know if I'll be able to afford a car, but insurance concerns me, specially because I'm foreigner. I'm over 25 and have a driver's licence in my country for almost 10 years, but I don't have an American licence. Do you guys think this will be an issue when I try to get an insurance?

I asked my DH and here's what he said- His insurance company cannot process international DL numbers because it's an issue of translating the applicable information (accident codes, length of license, validity, etc.) Contact your university since they will have experience walking international students through the process, as you will need an international driver's permit from your home country to even drive here (though some states don't even accept those.)

[gellert]

State Farm.  My bank (Wells Fargo) actually had a thing where they would compare all the insurance options for me and tell me which was best.  They didn't include SF  in their analysis, but I called SF myself and they ended up being cheapest. Even so, if your bank offers this kind of option, it may be worth a shot.