NorCal insurance rates?
 

Those who already have the car or have already gotten quotes -- what are you paying?

I just got the call from my dealer that my car will arrive in 2-3 weeks, but I haven't figured out insurance yet and I figure I need to do it quickly. Any rec's on where to look first? I'm 26/m, haven't carried my own policy before nor owned a car in my name, but I've been using Zipcar actively for 5 years without any incidents and am in the process of getting the paperwork to prove it.

Any tips or personal recommendations would be absolutely awesome. :happy0180:

(I scoped out some threads in the General BRZ forums, but finding any relevant info on CA insurance in there is a needle in a haystack task.)

Its a little tricky for now, since its such a new car and a lot of insurance companies don't have it in their systems. I have Farmers and my agent originally wanted to quote me the same as a WRX/sti but I was able to convince him that the power difference does not make it really comparable. We were able to settle at an Impreza sport premium which sets me back $640 every 6 mos. Note that this is with discounts from another vehicle and home, 29 yo/male/ no accidents for the past 10yrs.

I'm paying $528.86 a year for my BRZ with State Farm in San Jose. Full coverage with $15K/30K for Liability, 15/30 for Uninsured and a 500 deductible. I have my wrx and my house insurance with them. I'm also a 31 year old male with no accidents on my record.

Oh and State Farm has the car in their system so they can give you an easy quote if you decide to check them out.

What someone else pays is almost meaningless. Rates are a gigantic algebra problem -- by law, there is no discretion involved. The car matters less than you think it does.

In California, your age, driving record and miles driven matter most. (In other states, it's your zip code that matters most unless you have a really bad record)

In general, if you're not already insured, insurance costs a lot more -- even if your record is clean. You may find that some companies don't want to insure you, and a very high rate is how they say so.

So there can be a huge difference in rates between insurance companies -- not by hundreds of dollars, but often by thousands. Shop at least three -- Geico and Progressive are your best bet, but if you use an online rate comparison site you can find smaller companies that may beat their prices (like Travelers and esurance).

If you're in SF you're in a higher risk ZIP code. This tool does compares rates in different ZIP codes -- everything else being equal, you'll pay 30 to 50 percent more in SF than in, say, San Jose.

The other folks have multi-car and multi-line discounts that cut premiums a bunch as well. There is also something called a peristency discount for continuous coverage.

You should qualify for California's good driver discount, which is 20% -- it applies even if you haven't had a policy previously.

If you have money in the bank and your finance contract allows it, raise your deductible on your comp and collision; that can save you as much as a couple of hundred dollars a year.

If you have health insurance, you probably don't need uninsured motorist.

Buy more than the state mins on liability. (If you buy only the minimums of $15k injury per person, $30K per accident and $5K for property, virtually any accident will exceed them and you are responsible once the insurance runs out). $100/$300/$50 is considered standard if you have assets to protect like stock, savings or a house.

The telematics discounts (Snapshot, etc) are pretty big, but you have to drive very little, at the safest hours, and never use the gas pedal or brakes.

Hope that helps.

its all about age, car, past history, past insurance time with a company and # of cars - way too complicated to compare apples-oranges --- you guys will kill yourself trying to figure it out.

if your <25, its probably pretty high.. if your >40 then its cheap as dirt most likely.