Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie

Smart Car Insurance?

Options
2»

Comments

  • Options
    #32
    Chill.ie (Conor)
    Closed Accounts Posts: 60 ✭✭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.


  • Options
    #33
    oldyouth
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,754 ✭✭✭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


  • Options
    #34
    colm_mcm
    Registered Users Posts: 73,387 ✭✭✭✭colm_mcm


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


  • Options
    #35
    Eoin
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators Posts: 21,238 CMod ✭✭✭✭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 (??)...


  • Options
    #36
    oldyouth
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,754 ✭✭✭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?


  • Advertisement
  • Options
    #37
    jayjay2010
    Registered Users Posts: 505 ✭✭✭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 :)


  • Options
    #38
    Eoin
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators Posts: 21,238 CMod ✭✭✭✭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.


  • Options
    #39
    dr.fuzzenstein
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 16,635 ✭✭✭✭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.


  • Options
    #40
    Del2005
    Registered Users Posts: 18,903 ✭✭✭✭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?


  • Options
    #41
    homer simpson
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,852 ✭✭✭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 :o) 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


  • Advertisement
  • Options
    #42
    daveharnett
    Registered Users Posts: 2,567 ✭✭✭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!


  • Options
    #43
    Vertakill
    Registered Users Posts: 2,262 ✭✭✭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.


  • Options
    #44
    Del2005
    Registered Users Posts: 18,903 ✭✭✭✭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.


  • Options
    #45
    Vertakill
    Registered Users Posts: 2,262 ✭✭✭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.


  • Options
    #46
    jayjay2010
    Registered Users Posts: 505 ✭✭✭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.


  • Options
    #47
    randomer
    Registered Users Posts: 1,160 ✭✭✭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.


  • Options
    #48
    dr.fuzzenstein
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 16,635 ✭✭✭✭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!


  • Options
    #49
    Del2005
    Registered Users Posts: 18,903 ✭✭✭✭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.


  • Options
    #50
    Chill.ie (Conor)
    Closed Accounts Posts: 60 ✭✭Chill.ie (Conor)


    We would be happy to quote for a smart car


  • Options
    #51
    Eoin
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators Posts: 21,238 CMod ✭✭✭✭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


  • Advertisement
  • Options
    #52
    Max Power1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 10,272 ✭✭✭✭Max Power1


    perhaps you should concentrate on fixing your webpage layout rather than plugging! I went to get a quote and i cant!


Advertisement