Smart Car Insurance?

PattyGirl

So my brother just bought a Smart Car from a dealer in Dublin and wants to drive it but hes having problems getting insurance for it. Hes already been told by some Insurance companies that they don't insure Smart Cars. Does anyone know if any Insurance companies in Ireland do? Thanks.

colm_mcm

Quinn direct do.

quite expensive, 600 quid for 10 years driving, 29 with 5 years no claims, value 3k.
car, 2004 600cc pulse fortwo

PattyGirl

My brother checked with Quinn Direct. Apparently they don't which is a big letdown. Anybody else you can think of, please?

Mr Benevolent

Is it left hand drive by any chance?

colm_mcm

quinn do it on their online quote system

PattyGirl

Thanks for the help. My brother eventually got a quote from Aviva for €888 a year. Do you think this is good?

Riskymove

why is insurance for SMART cars a problem?

colm_mcm

how old is your brother, how long driving, any no claims discount or accidents, full or prov license?

homer simpson

The fact that they are pretty much a plastic car with no room for crumple zones ect could have something to do with it, i know i wouldnt like to crash one anyway thats for sure!

Theta

homer_simpson wrote: »

The fact that they are pretty much a plastic car with no room for crumple zones ect could have something to do with it, i know i wouldnt like to crash one anyway thats for sure!

Smart cars a very safe,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJHpUO-S0i8

My friend insures his with Tesco I think.

Eoin

homer_simpson wrote: »

The fact that they are pretty much a plastic car with no room for crumple zones ect could have something to do with it, i know i wouldnt like to crash one anyway thats for sure!

Do insurance companies take this into account? I thought they were supposed to be quite good for their size.

Anyway - who buys a car before even checking out insurance?

Vertakill

Theta wrote: »

Smart cars a very safe,


My friend insures his with Tesco I think.

That doesn't prove it's all that safe... it just proves that you won't be mangled by a piece of metal during the crash.

It does prove, however, that your insides will most likely fly out through your chest and out the windscreen in a head on collision though...

colm_mcm

think you'll be ok if you hit something like a car with crumple zones. not sure how the poor unfortunate you wallop will be though.

Vertakill

colm_mcm wrote: »

think you'll be ok if you hit something like a car with crumple zones. not sure how the poor unfortunate you wallop will be though.

Imagine hitting another Smart Car head on?

colm_mcm

chances of that in this country are slim enough

Theta

Vertakill wrote: »

That doesn't prove it's all that safe... it just proves that you won't be mangled by a piece of metal during the crash.

It does prove, however, that your insides will most likely fly out through your chest and out the windscreen in a head on collision though...

Listen the thing has a 4 star NCAP and a 4 star NHSTA rating.

How safe do you want it to be?

homer simpson

Theta wrote: »

Listen the thing has a 4 star NCAP and a 4 star NHSTA rating.

How safe do you want it to be?

If that is the case why are the insurance companys not jumping through hoops trying to get everyone to drive them rather than in the OP's case chasing the smart car owners away!

colm_mcm

there are loads of reasons they mightnt want to insure them, parts prices, LHD, rarity, fear of unknown etc!

Eric Cartman

the typical smart car driver would normally be young female and extremely low mileage , mostly city and commuter driving so a lot of minor incidents but whereas another cars bumper may scuff a little the smart car would require panel replacments etc.. and with the high cost of parts the insurance companies have to make some money off these,


also i dont car what the video or safety ratings say , id feel far safer behind the wheel of a 3 star rated large 4x4 rather than a 4 star rated micro car like this

colm_mcm

doesn't the Smart have those clip-on body panels for just such minor incidents?

probably expensive I suppose

Theta

Is there still no smart franchise in the republic? Insurers might not like insuring a car with no dealer network for repairs?

Eric Cartman

colm_mcm wrote: »

doesn't the Smart have those clip-on body panels for just such minor incidents?

probably expensive I suppose

considering they figured the amount of those incidents into the design , id say the insurance companies have factored it in too, also id say there damn easy to rob (either breaking through the plastic or actually getting a few lads to lift it round the corner

colm_mcm

Eric Cartman wrote: »

considering they figured the amount of those incidents into the design , id say the insurance companies have factored it in too, also id say there damn easy to rob (either breaking through the plastic or actually getting a few lads to lift it round the corner

I'm pretty sure there's a proper car under the plastic cladding!

Theta

Eric Cartman wrote: »

considering they figured the amount of those incidents into the design , id say the insurance companies have factored it in too, also id say there damn easy to rob (either breaking through the plastic or actually getting a few lads to lift it round the corner

Its surprisingly heavy at around 750kg

Vertakill

Theta wrote: »

Listen the thing has a 4 star NCAP and a 4 star NHSTA rating.

How safe do you want it to be?

'Listen', nobody is debating NCAP ratings... but they're not the last word on safety.

Check out that video if you like:
http://blog.oregonlive.com/commuting/2009/04/video_smart_car_jarringly_stup.html

Or read this: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123993371229527975.html

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety wrote:

Even though the Smart car and other minis such as the Honda Fit and the Toyota Yaris have fared relatively well in single-car crash tests, they performed poorly in these two-car frontal offset collisions. In the words of IIHS president Adrian Lund, "though much safer than they were a few years ago, minicars as a group do a comparatively poor job of protecting people in crashes, simply because they're smaller and lighter."

That difference is reflected in the real world. The death rate in minis in multi-vehicle crashes is almost twice as high as that of large cars. And in single-vehicle crashes, where there's no oversized second vehicle to blame, the difference is even greater: Passengers in minis suffered three times as many deaths as in large cars.

I'm not a fan of any insurance companies in Ireland, but I can see how they may be steering clear of the Smart Car (no pun intended).

Eoin

Vertakill wrote: »

I'm not a fan of any insurance companies in Ireland, but I can see how they may be steering clear of the Smart Car (no pun intended).

So why would they steer clear of just the SMART car when the anyone can get insured in a Yaris (also mentioned in the article you quoted)? I bet the same insurance company would give a quote easily enough for an original mini, and that would be worse again for the occupants.

I would be really surprised if the alleged lack of driver safety is really the reason they're not quoting.

Vertakill

eoin wrote: »

So why would they steer clear of just the SMART car when the anyone can get insured in a Yaris (also mentioned in the article you quoted)? I bet the same insurance company would give a quote easily enough for an original mini, and that would be worse again for the occupants.

I would be really surprised if the alleged lack of driver safety is really the reason they're not quoting.

I'm not sure, personally. As I've no information on insurance companies risk assessments.

Maybe they add all the things being mentioned into the mix. Costly to repair, could be unsafe in a crash, easy to steal (??)...

Guy:Incognito

Eric Cartman wrote: »

the typical smart car driver would normally be young female and extremely low mileage , mostly city and commuter driving so a lot of minor incidents but whereas another cars bumper may scuff a little the smart car would require panel replacments etc.. and with the high cost of parts the insurance companies have to make some money off these,


also i dont car what the video or safety ratings say , id feel far safer behind the wheel of a 3 star rated large 4x4 rather than a 4 star rated micro car like this

My cousin is driving an Elise which now requires a whole new front clam at near €4k for the part iirc after a woman reversed in to it with a towbar (then tried to drive off but he saw her and nabbed her when she cam eback, she's a neighbour) parking . His insuranc eisnt over the odds or anything.

bmw535d

is your brother ya know,a bit g*y? or something? it doesnt even deserve to be called a car..like something out of a cereal box or a kinder egg..

a go-kart with a dress on it:L

hurleronditch

bmw535d wrote: »

is your brother ya know,a bit g*y? or something? it doesnt even deserve to be called a car..like something out of a cereal box or a kinder egg..

a go-kart with a dress on it:L

I hear a mod coming

Eoin

hurleronditch wrote: »

I hear a mod coming

You've good hearing.

bmw535d wrote: »

is your brother ya know,a bit g*y? or something? it doesnt even deserve to be called a car..like something out of a cereal box or a kinder egg..

a go-kart with a dress on it:L

Grow up.

Chill.ie (Conor)

@pattygirl: Chill.ie quote for smart cars, feel free to get in touch with us or else click here and we will call you back.

oldyouth

Seemingly in Amsterdam, it is a bit of sport to chuck Smart cars in the river or just flip them on their roof. That could be the problem with insurers worrying about it here

colm_mcm

no moreso than someone throwing a motorbike into a river I would have thought....

Eoin

@Chill.ie (Conor)

As you've the inside track, it would be great to get your opinion on why you think some insurers won't quote?

Do they take the NCAP rating into consideration and so on?

oldyouth wrote: »

Seemingly in Amsterdam, it is a bit of sport to chuck Smart cars in the river or just flip them on their roof. That could be the problem with insurers worrying about it here

Vertakill wrote: »

I'm not sure, personally. As I've no information on insurance companies risk assessments.

Maybe they add all the things being mentioned into the mix. Costly to repair, could be unsafe in a crash, easy to steal (??)...

oldyouth

eoin wrote: »

@Chill.ie (Conor)

As you've the inside track, it would be great to get your opinion on why you think some insurers won't quote?

Do they take the NCAP rating into consideration and so on?

Sorry Eoin but are you asking that of me or 'Give me a call' Conor?

jayjay2010

I bought a Smart Fortwo BRABUS in September 2009. Basically I rang up and got a quote before I bought the car. The quote was rediculously expensive (almost €3000 with Quinn) but I decided to go ahead with it.

However I rang Quinn after I bought the car and they said to me they dont insure Smart Cars, which is absolutely rediculous.

I had a lot of problems trying to insure this car. Its only a 0.7L car yet they treat it like its a sports car or something. The most rediculous thing an operator at Quinn Direct told me was : ''Oh sorry sir, you need to be at least 30 Years old with a 5 year driving licence to get insured on this car.''

Naturally, I wrote a big letter of complaint, threatening to leave Quinn and to get every one I knew to also leave. I rang Quinn several times about this. In the end, a Supervisor spoke to me and agreed to insure me on the car, still at a very expensive price, €1500 for the year. Im 19 and I have a full licence 2 years with 2 years no claims and this is how im treated.

Absolutely shameful. But to be honest, I think that every insurance company in Ireland are reluctant to give decent quotes on Smart Cars. i dont understand why, but I suspect that this is one of the reasons why Smart Cars are so rare in Ireland compared to the rest of Europe.

Hope this helps. Any questions dont hesitate to ask

Eoin

oldyouth wrote: »

Sorry Eoin but are you asking that of me or 'Give me a call' Conor?

Sorry for the confusion - I'm asking Conor from Chill.ie; I was just quoting those posts to see if they are considered by insurance companies.

dr.fuzzenstein

PattyGirl wrote: »

Thanks for the help. My brother eventually got a quote from Aviva for €888 a year. Do you think this is good?

That's murder!
I pay 600ish for an 06 Focus Cmax 1.8D with 115 hp. Fully comp.
Try no nonsense car insurance.
It's just that no one has these cars in Ireland and insurance companies here are ignorant enough as it is, but if you try to insure anything that doesn't fit into the Toyota/Ford category they're going to use that as an excuse to fleece you.
God I miss Germany where you could ring up and say "I want to insure a 35 year old Hungarian Russian built ex-military vehicle with 2 engines and six axles" and the answer would be "no problem, we'll send you out the paperwork"
Where here I had trouble insuring a VW van from 1986 (in the 90's), couldn't get insured for love nor money.

Del2005

jayjay2010 wrote: »

I bought a Smart Fortwo BRABUS in September 2009.
I had a lot of problems trying to insure this car. Its only a 0.7L car yet they treat it like its a sports car or something.

Is that not the sports version of the SMART? Even with 700cc you can still get yourself in trouble.

Naturally, I wrote a big letter of complaint, threatening to leave Quinn and to get every one I knew to also leave. I rang Quinn several times about this. In the end, a Supervisor spoke to me and agreed to insure me on the car, still at a very expensive price, €1500 for the year. Im 19 and I have a full licence 2 years with 2 years no claims and this is how im treated.

Absolutely shameful. But to be honest, I think that every insurance company in Ireland are reluctant to give decent quotes on Smart Cars. i dont understand why, but I suspect that this is one of the reasons why Smart Cars are so rare in Ireland compared to the rest of Europe.

Hope this helps. Any questions dont hesitate to ask

You should always request a quote number when getting quotes so they can't back out.

Is the reason why the SMART's are so hard to insure because they are all LHD?

homer simpson

jayjay2010 wrote: »

....a Supervisor spoke to me and agreed to insure me on the car, still at a very expensive price, €1500 for the year. Im 19 and I have a full licence 2 years with 2 years no claims and this is how im treated...

Concider yourself lucky you got insurance for €1500 euro, when i was 19 i had a 91 micra, that barely got to 60, and i was paying €2800, and that was by far the cheapest at the time, i also had 2 year NCB. And the brabus is the supercharged smart right? the one they tested on top gear? your lucky to get insured in that at all!

Are all smart cars LHD, cos afink this is a big factor in insuring cars i was concidering buying a LHD ex mercedes F1 pit car (when i had no sense, i then bought a rover ) and i couldn't get a quote, there was nothing fany about the car just well finished and in McLaren colours/decals. i asked, out of courosity, to be quoted on a RHD one and got a quote no problems

daveharnett

The safety concerns/part prices don't really wash as a reason not to insure a car. If it really is catastrophically dangerous for the occupants, or catastrophically expensive to repair, why not offer a reasonable 3rd party price, and a phone number price for comprehensive? After all, you'd be hard pressed to do any damage to other cars/people with one of these!

Vertakill

daveharnett wrote: »

After all, you'd be hard pressed to do any damage to other cars/people with one of these!

I dunno about that. Think that's something colm_mcm referred to that topic in an earlier post as well.

I'd love to see a crash test where a Smart car crashes into the side of a saloon.
It'd be interesting comparing the damage to the side of a car after a really light, no crumple zoned car (Smart) to a heavier car that has crumple zones (Any saloon).

All videos I've seen so far have involved battering rams or head on collisions with other cars/obstacles.
Haven't properly seen what damage a Smart could do to another car.

Del2005

daveharnett wrote: »

After all, you'd be hard pressed to do any damage to other cars/people with one of these!

Once it gets to any sort of speed the car would still have a lot of energy to dump into anything it hits.

Also if it's got a "super" strong cell for passenger safety it could well plough through anything softer and people are a lot softer then any car I've seen.

Vertakill

Just read on 'safeandsmart.com' about a story of how a Ford F150 pickup side-swiped a Smart car at an intersection and the truck was totalled and ended up 'looking like an accordion' whilst the Smart car occupants walked away.

I wonder will the same people start looking down their noses at Smart car owners like they did when they heard how unsafe to other road users bullbars were on Jeeps....

Something that narrow and rigid hitting into something a lot softer and designed to crumple up on impact... ouch. Like getting hit by a 700kg boulder.

jayjay2010

Del2005 wrote: »

Is that not the sports version of the SMART? Even with 700cc you can still get yourself in trouble.



You should always request a quote number when getting quotes so they can't back out.

Is the reason why the SMART's are so hard to insure because they are all LHD?

The BRABUS Smart is the turbocharged version, but I had previously quoted a basic Smart Car and they wouldnt insure it.

Some insurance companies dont even have the right version of Smart so I thought Id have to lie about the BRABUS and say nothing at all about the fact that my car was a BRABUS. This was only resolved after the threat I gave Quinn Direct.

I dont think €1500 is a good price, as this is my third car. At 17 I drove a 97 POLO and I paid €3200 for the year. At 18 I drove a 07 Peugeot 107 and I paid €1300 so this has gone up since I bought the Smart.

And no, not ALL Smarts are LHD. Mine is RHD in fact. The reason why a lot of them are LHD is because they are imported from LHD countries, hence France.

Ive seen a lot of RHD models in Ireland.

randomer

jayjay2010 wrote: »

The BRABUS Smart is the turbocharged version, but I had previously quoted a basic Smart Car and they wouldnt insure it.

Most smarts are turbo charged, not just the brabus. The brabus has the same engine, it is just tuned differently, usually with 20 - 30% extra power. The main differece will the brabus is aesthetics; Twin exhaust pipe, nicer interior, body kit etc.

If you want to get insured on a smart car, just go to insure.ie, and they have a lot of smarts listed, and when I tried, I got lots of quotes from different companies.

dr.fuzzenstein

Everyone wondering how safe is a Smart and no one here has thought of looking up the official NCAP site? Come on people, it's but a mouseclick away!
And if you can't work 'de google yet:
http://www.euroncap.com/tests/smart_city_coupe_2000/29.aspx
It's by no means bad, look up the Hyundai Accent and some older Range Rovers and you will feel a lot safer in you Smart.
Size isn't everything, large 4x4's usually take longer to stop, crumble like biscuits, topple over when banked sharply and handle like a barge, safer my arse!

Del2005

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Everyone wondering how safe is a Smart and no one here has thought of looking up the official NCAP site? Come on people, it's but a mouseclick away!
And if you can't work 'de google yet:
http://www.euroncap.com/tests/smart_city_coupe_2000/29.aspx
It's by no means bad, look up the Hyundai Accent and some older Range Rovers and you will feel a lot safer in you Smart.

People where looking for real world crashes not NCAP, where the manufactures know where to strengthen and soften. Look at what happens when two similar cars loaded differently crash

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbKtuRMJrsg

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Size isn't everything, large 4x4's usually take longer to stop, crumble like biscuits, topple over when banked sharply and handle like a barge, safer my arse!

I doubt anyone with any knowledge of cars thinks 4x4's are safer then a standard car.

Chill.ie (Conor)

We would be happy to quote for a smart car

Eoin

Yes, you've already plugged yourself in this thread which was enough. Edit - feel free to get involved with the discussion, but please don't just pimp your services.

Chill.ie (Conor) wrote: »

We would be happy to quote for a smart car