Insurance companies helping to kill off Irish motor industry?

kazul

I bought a Cefiro/Maxima 2.0 V6 last October when I was leaving the motor trade. My new commute involves country roads in north Co. Dublin so I decided recently that I wanted something more suitable and fun. The Cefiro is literally built for comfort not speed, it understeers etc.
So I spotted this last night

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Subaru/Impreza/2.0-AUTO/200845190804000/advert

Popped over this morning and had a look. Yer man offered me a decent cost to change considering my yoke is an ex-taxi jap import.
It was blocked into his yard so I had a quick look and arranged to call over this afternoon for a test-drive and to maybe finish off the deal.
In the mean time I contacted my insurance broker. I'm currently insured with AIG on a policy that cost (€920 fully comp) more than I paid for my car.
The girl on the phone said "oh, they don't really like Imprezas". Well I do so I pushed her to quote me. AIG said that a male over 30 has to have 2 years no claims to get insured on it as a matter of policy but they would do it for an EXTRA €1400 :eek: If I cancel my policy I'll get refunded around 70% pro rata.
Quinn Direct quoted me €1700 TPFT and €2200 fully comp.
I'm 33 years old, full clean licence and have secure parking but the big killer is I haven't built up a no claims bonus even though I've been driving almost every day for the last 3 years without incident (touch wood).
So basically the insurance companies killed the deal. :mad:

Top Dog

No offence mate, but for the price of the car in the advert - they did you a favour

well i'd say insurance companies are why some many young people are going around in old unsafe cars with barely enough power to pass out a tractor.

it's a joke and i'd be upgrading car sooner if insurance were lower

kazul

@Top Dog
I didn't see you in the office when we were doing the deal, you must be really good at hide-and-seek. As a former car salesman with around 200+ sales under my belt (most with trade-ins) I think I know what I'm doing, mate

TwoShedsJackson

I'm currently insured with AIG on a policy that cost (€920 fully comp) more than I paid for my car.

If your car is worth less than €920 why would you bother with fully comp insurance? It's not worth claiming for anything under at least €750 as they'll ride you on the next premium and if you do any more damage to it just get it scrapped.

buddyboy

first ireland should insure you at a good price, i have a Subaru and im insured with them

Top Dog

kazul wrote: »

@Top Dog
I didn't see you in the office when we were doing the deal, you must be really good at hide-and-seek. As a former car salesman with around 200+ sales under my belt (most with trade-ins) I think I know what I'm doing, mate

True, I wasn't there so don't know exactly how good of a deal you were able to broker. Still think it would need to be fantastic based on the sticker price - and maybe your skills are good enough to make it fantastic. I don't know you, so cannot really comment further on your brokering abilities.

However, everyone and their mother knows that Impreza's get an unfair loading on them regardless of engine or specification. Once an insurance company hears that magical word they think they've a licence to print money. Its the same situation with Civics where even the most boring 1.4LS model is ridiculous to insure. Even the Golf I drive at the moment has a loading because of the GTI badge on the back - makes no difference that many 1.6l cars these days make more power than it :rolleyes:

Why not try something like this? http://www.driving.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=1292219 Still auto, still Subaru, slightly more on road tax but that would most likely be outweighed by the saving on insurance. Plus its over 2k cheaper to begin with.

Also, can I ask how you've been driving 3 years but have no no-claims?

kazul

@twoshedsjackson. Never said the car was worth less than €920, just that I paid less than that for it
Discounted insurance was a "going away present" from my company difference between that and TPFT was negligble plus the policy has all the bells and whistles, open drive etc.
Lost my no claims when I was on a trade policy, ironic that I was comprehensively insured to drive anything regardless of power and value.
I know I could go for something more "insurable" but the scooby was an iconic car when I was younger and that particular one ticked a lot of boxes for me.
I guess my point was that it's a shame that an insurance company dictates my choice of car and "burnt" the deal.

Barr

Your Insurance quotes seem very high - sounds more like they were quoting for a wrx model.

Does your trade bonus transfer to a private bonus as a matter of interest ?

galwaytt

kazul wrote: »

As a former car salesman with around 200+ sales under my belt (most with trade-ins) I think I know what I'm doing, mate

.....sorry, but how'd you get that far in the trade without knowing a Scooby attracts a premium ?

You do they do that to Civics, too, right........?

Anan1

OP - I'm afraid it's neither the insurance companies nor the car, it's you. I have a Forester 2.5 turbo insured for €475 comp. including open drive and protected NCB.

Del2005

kazul wrote: »

Lost my no claims when I was on a trade policy, ironic that I was comprehensively insured to drive anything regardless of power and value.
I know I could go for something more "insurable" but the scooby was an iconic car when I was younger and that particular one ticked a lot of boxes for me.
I guess my point was that it's a shame that an insurance company dictates my choice of car and "burnt" the deal.

Barr wrote: »

Your Insurance quotes seem very high - sounds more like they were quoting for a wrx model.

Does your trade bonus transfer to a private bonus as a matter of interest ?

As Barr says, you should be able to get proof of no claims off your trade policy. Give the broker a call back and ask if they'll accept that as a part of an NCB and if they don't ring around other brokers/insurance companies and see if they will. Maybe even try the brokers your trade insurance was held with.

Atomic Pineapple

try 123.ie

no ncb will be killing you!

xt40

there is a widely held view (ins cos, guards etc) that the impreza is a knackers car, hence the high insurance. there are lots and lots alternative cars out there that are equally zippy but have much more class.