dboy

Have to agree with Rich on this one, everyone I know are well under the 2 k price point.

Funny about the vehicle having little effect - let' all get porsche's and compare costs to the UK and we will feel like were getting a deal!

Novocastrian

I know. Sometimes it almost feels as if we're living in a foreign country.

printer

Base price insurance including the usual 3 million liability extension, comprehensive and collision.

Jeep Liberty 2004 - $2500

Dodge Ram 2010 - $2800

Pontiac Sunfire 1999 - $2010

Cavalier 1997 - $1600

Isuzu 2005 commercial box van - $1200

These are all actual figures for vehicles our various family members have owned/still own. Of course the actual amounts paid will be less if there is any no claim discount BUT the $2k to $3k figure quoted isn't that far off.

The Sunfire and the Cavalier are near identical vehicles but have $400 difference in insurance costs for some reason.

R I C H

My experiences since '05 - base price insurance plus $3 million liability, comprehensive and collision. Comprehensive element is with Canadian Direct. Drivers limited to 10yrs+ experience.

2010 Mercedes ML350 $1250
2010 Subaru Impreza WRX $1225
2007 Ford F150 King Ranch $1310
2006 Mazda 3GT $1180
2001 GMC Sierra 1500 SLT $1275

Kelowna must be a high risk area Mr Printer

JonboyE

In White Rock we pay $1,300 each for a Honda CRV and Hyundai Sonata. Basic with Autoplan the rest with CDI.

dboy

i've been here 17 years and owned:

chevy nova 1970 something

pont acadian 1980 something

chevy cav x 2

pont sun

audi a 4

I've never been anywhere near those prices you have quoted - i can only assume that not all were 40 percent discounts - cavalier and sunfire were the same - there is a GT version that may be more?

my mrs as a acura tsx and my ex had a jeep something or over - agian no where near the prices that you have quoted. Perhaps they have points and no discounts?

I find it hard to believe that 2004 jeep libery is more to insure than a 30,000 dollar audi that I drive.

printer

That seems to be a massive difference.

I have just re checked my Dodge papers and the basic autoplan cost is $991, then there's extension to liability for $300, collision for $800 and comprehensive for $1000 so it was actually more than $2800 i quoted but thankfully i don't pay the full whack.
Maybe i should look into alternative optional cover. I do know that i don't have the 10 year plus driver saving as my son sometimes uses the vehicle but even so i cannot see why an F 150 King Ranch would be less than half the cost of a Dodge Ram.

printer

Well the paperwork doesn't lie. The figures quoted are Base figures before any discount.

Pontiac Sunfire Basic coverage rate class 003 is $1001 and the Cavalier is also $1001, however the collision and comprehensive are not the same.
The Sunfire has a rate group for collision of 12 the Cavalier is only rate group 6. The Sunfire also has a comprehensive rate group of 11 whereas the Cavalier is only 01. The comprehensive was 3 times more on the Sunfire.

The Jeep has a basic cost of $948 with the options adding a whopping $1528 to the total!!

dboy

ah, yes if the discount is not included (which is up to 40 percent) - i suspect the sunfire is a gt model (there was a regular version and a more powerful gt model - the cavalier had the z24).

Either way, insurance here is too high, as is most other things in BC.

Lord Vader

I bet the fire insurance is what does it.

printer

No the Sunfire was a regular 2 door auto not the GT version whereas the Cavalier was the the Z24 quad cam speedy version (well my son liked it) I would have expected the insurance to be cheaper on the Sunfire.

Going to check out Canadian Direct now.

Jingsamichty

Getting back on track to gas prices, I'm constantly amazed at how heavy-footed people are here.

Chevy Suburbans or F-350s launching away from the lights like they're in a drag race. I bet most drivers could quite easily improve their mileage hugely just by driving a bit more thoughtfully.

Also - and I'm going only on my own feeling here - brakes need to be replaced a lot more. In town, people seem to spend more time on their brakes than on the gas pedal. Another 'problem' of automatics, I guess.

brizzle

Having 4-way stops and lights every 100 yards does wonders for fuel consumption and your brake longevity

Atlantic Xpat

I believe (and I await an engineer to come along and either confirm or rubbish this....) that emission standards in the US and specifically California*, together with poorer fuel quality than in Europe, lead to poorer MPG figures. Plus of course, we have 2.0L in small cars whereas in the UK a small car will have a 1.2L engine.

Diesel vehicles are less prevalent largely due to consumer preference, the poor availability and high cost of clean diesel in North America. Diesel being generally more expensive than gas.

* We may drive Cars that are Canadianised in minor ways - daytime running lights, bi-lingual stickers etc, but cars in Canada are largely built to US performance and emission standards. California (which has the tightest emission controls in the US) is a car market many times the size of Canada. So we don't matter that much.

Jingsamichty

I think it's a fairly well-accepted "fact" that California has the tightest emissions standards in the world, but how do they compare with the UK's CO2 emissions bands?

Surely a Cadillac Escalade has a vastly higher CO2 rating than a Fiat Panda? So what, exactly, is "tight" about Californian standards, if it still allows Hummers, Suburbans and F-150s to be "everyday vehicles"?