I'd like to change my auto insurance from AAA to another company and was wondering if anyone has any recommendations.

FYI my wife and I need to insure my '03 TT and her '00 ML430 MBZ. We both have 'pristine' records and 'mature' adults ;-) I usually carry a $1000 deductable.

Also looking for new home owners insurance - again planning on moving away from AAA, as they just upped our ho insurance premium 83%. Yes we live in Scripps Ranch, San Diego but not the part which is considered a fire risk and they claim the recent fires have nothing to do with the rate increase - yeah!

 

Progressive is a REALLY good company to deal with! get an instant online quote from their website.

 

I am 30, single, no tix, with the 90024 expen$ive ZIP code. I just got rid of my E46 M3, which I was paying $2600 a year for 100/300/50 with $250 deductible with American Express.

I now have an E30 325is beater, and the SY Turbo on the way to me, and am paying $2800 for both cars a year with the same coverage.

Since I have high line bodyshop clients, I'll just simply say that it is really wrong for Turbo drivers to carry Progressive, Mercury, Infinity, and other second tier insurance carrier. I'll stop right here, but if you guys are really interested, I'll go into more detail about the shady insurance/repair shop business.

Andy
88 325is 5 speed
03 SY 6 speed

 

of course we're interested. do tell! what companies do you recommend? geico? state farm?

 

andy
whats wrong w/ progressive?

i know mercury is tough.. thanks

 

Along the same lines with Stuka, I will just pop in here and say that with the amount of assets that it takes to be able to make payments or lease or pay cash for a TT, you need to think about more then the premium paid. You need to concentrate on your personal assets and how they are protected in every single facet of life you have.

Everyone here on this board should be at 250/500/100 with a 1M liability umbrella, FOR STARTERS.

Statefarm has been sued in 11 states for un-ethical operations with fixing thier claimants' cars with inferior parts.

Geico funded the R/D and subsequent purchase of radar guns for an Ohio town.

Don't even get me started with Progressive Watt.

I'm in San Diego Tim. Scripps Ranch is going to be a difficult area in the comming years. If you wanted me to I could check your brush map on your address (PM) and tell you what sort of situation your in, just drop a line.

 

In New York State, Porgressive is considered for sub standard driving records. For the record, I have been with Liberty Mutual since 1988. I have 250K/500k libility for my Cayenne with 500/500 comp/coll ded. Premium $1200. This is my primary car. My GT3 premium with same liability and 1000 deductible for comp/coll is $630. It is rated as a pleasure vehicle. They do have that part correct....Yes, I also have a $1,000,000 umbrella policy over my primary limits. Everyone should have an umbrella...

 

There is a reason these tier two carriers have the kind of rates that they do. For starters, here's a perfect example, if you should get into an accident, and your wheels were rashed/curbed/dented, these companies will INSIST that they fix the wheel instead of replacing it. Now I don't know about you, but I am kind of leery to depend my life on a wheel that was "fixed," especially when it is responsible for putting down 400 plus HP to the pavement.

Another example, high line bodyshop absolutely HATES these second tier carriers because they are a b*tch to deal with when it comes to supplements. Supplement is additional stuff not included in the original estimate that they found when they started tearing down the car. It is not uncommon for adjusters from these companies to try to weasel out or short change shops for supplements, resulting in your car not getting fixed right.

Let's see, what else? Oh yeah, and about that blah blah approved shops, STAY THE HELL AWAY from those places. They become the preferred shop by having lower labor rates than what the high line shop charges. There is a shop that I know that bribes the district supervisor with sexual services and under the table cash in order to get on the preferred shop list, which means that whatever estimate that they write stands, and that the adjuster sometimes don't even have to come out for them to approve the work. Sounds good in theory right? Well, except that the labor rate is only $35 an hour for body. Let me assure you, with that kind of rate, they are NOT going to be shooting your car with PPG or Glasurit paint (OEM paint for German car makers), and they will not have those Cellete jig machine with laser alignment.

How did I get into this biz you asked? I do IT consulting for them, and only the most high line shops can afford my $120/hour rate. So yes, I know the two estimating systems currently in use, Ultramate and Pathways. Some shops are so cheap that they even run pirated version of these software (and server software, and Office 2000, etc, the list goes on).

I really can go one for pages, but I am too lazy. If you all would prefer, ask me questions and I'll try to answer them.

 

Hi Guys,

Good to met you all (especially Brendan who I spoke with on the phone today).
Well, the insurance plot thickens somewhat - I have had several quotes some reasonable and some well ???!!!
Interestingly the lowest cost to date was from Mercury, but after a little double checking with them, their underwriters categorically DO NOT insure Carrera TT's.
So if there's anyone here who has got a good rate on their TT from Mercury it's probably insured as a regular Carrera - you might like to check :-)
Other than that I've had a few competitive quotes - but need to research the insurance companies a little bit more before I depart from AAA.
Also I discovered I can get the same home owners coverage from other companies at significantly less than AAA's quote - so much for them trying to up my home owners premium 83%

Overall it looks like I can get both our cars insured and the house for significantly less than AAA's auto quote alone.

 

timf -

I live in Laguna Beach, and after the fires of 1994 devastated an entire hillside of homes, home insurance has been very difficult/expensive to find. I then found First American Specialty Insurance which is a part of the First American Title Corp (a billion dollar, first rate title insurance company). The rates were 40% of my previous Farmer's insurance rates, and great service to boot! - probably the best kept secret in home insurance. NOW I need to call Mercury about the 2001 TT (4K miles) , I just picked up 2 days ago since the agent did not seem to differentiate between 911 and 911 turbo "Oh here it is '911'" - the real question is what Mercury will do when I fax the bill of sale with the (Turbo) VIN number on it - if they have the VIN (which is coded for a TT), and agree to insure the car as a 911, then it would seem like the full coverage would apply to TT - comments?

Bond

 

"I then found First American Specialty Insurance which is a part of the First American Title Corp (a billion dollar, first rate title insurance company). The rates were 40% of my previous Farmer's insurance rates"

you only find out who has been swimming naked when the tide goes out. $1 bil is chicken feed when it comes to standing behind the seven and eight figure homes that litter S. CA. they may be offering cheap rates now but they and their cheap reinsurer may find themselves in BK relatively quickly after any serious event.

"the real question is what Mercury will do when I fax the bill of sale with the (Turbo) VIN number on it - if they have the VIN (which is coded for a TT), and agree to insure the car as a 911, then it would seem like the full coverage would apply to TT - comments?"

yes, i would think that would be a slam dunk to be treated as a TT if you gave them the VIN. the fact they are under charging for the car due to an idiot error should raise the red flags as to just how smart these guys are and whether they'll be around if something bad happens. i could start the cheapest insurance premium company in the US tomorrow, but good luck collecting from me after a mega catastrophe. these companies make their dough not off your premiums but instead off the investment return from it while they hold it before they pay it out as claims (ie: the float). there just ain't that big a difference in the returns these companies are getting. hence, they are underreserving for losses or cutting corners on repairing their insureds health and property when claims come. you just can't undercut other companies by 40% in insurance - for long, and provide equivalent service and benefits. for a good example, all one needs do is look at GEICO which is owned by Berkshire Hathaway which is run by the 2nd richest guy in the world who just happens to be the best investor in the world. GEICO and Progressive have THE lowest cost structures in the biz. Despite this, GEICO manages to barely eek out gains from their underwriting (ie: premiums less costs associated and claims payouts). then they turn the cash over to the best investor in the world which is yet another benefit no other insurance company comes close to having. how is it that a company can charge 40% less than the one with the lowest costs and best investment returns yet that lowest cost company barely breaks even on an underwriting basis? not only that, even GEICO has been accused of putting crap parts on cars.

moral of the story, there is no free lunch in insurance. if you're getting drastically lower rates from one company, chances are you're getting drastically inferior service (ie: parts, health care, etc) - someday. the recent thread around here re: Warranty Gold provides a rather simple explaination of how this sort of thing usually plays out.

 

I thought I'd found a good deal - but it seemed too good to be true. The Mercury agent did as yours did, just took the first 911 in their database and tagged my vin number. When I asked if this insurance polocy is for a 911 Turbo rather than a regular 911, the agent couldn't say for sure. However after the agent checked with Mercury's underwriters the reply came back it was for a regular 911 and what's more Mercury specifically do not insure 911 TT's.

Hence my suspicion that there maybe a number of 911 TT owners who are under insured or worse still have invalid insurance with Mercury.

As for the homeowners - I've found a couple of reasonable quotes, but I'm beginning to consider self insurance instead...

 

"Hence my suspicion that there maybe a number of 911 TT owners who are under insured or worse still have invalid insurance with Mercury."

yep, what kind of clown outfit is mercury anyway if their systems don't tell them what the car is based on VIN? everyone elses does! this should probably serve as a red flag about the company.

i have to think though that if someone gives them their VIN and tells them they have a 911TT, and mercury takes their premiums, that they'll be on the hook. that exclusion for coverage of 911TTs is not likely in any literature that arrives with a mercury dec page or policy.

 

I'm switching from USAA right now for my '04 TT cab not because they're too expensive (they're actually one of the cheapest) but because I know they're chincy and they won't pay if I need them. I've also maxed out their umbrella. For what it's worth, I'm looking at Chubb and a few others that are a lot more expensive (2x+) but I'd rather insure with someone decent at this point...

 

Instead of faxing the bill of sale to them as they requested (if done within five days, they don't need the vehicle for photos) - I am taking the car down to them Monday and will have them take a photo from the rear, complete with "turbo" emblem. Makes you wonder about the "newly acquired vehicle clause in Mercury's policy that simply states that they will insure for 30 days, then it must be reported. timf - if you know for a fact that Mercury specifically excludes TT's, then I am probably risking them terminating even the 30 day "newly acquired vehicle" grace period once they find out its a TT, whereas I could at least be insured for next 25 days or so until I find other insurance............

Bond