Car insurance costs
 

Is US car insurance similar to UK costs?

Re: Car insurance costs
 

From my own personal experience, no.

In the UK we paid less than 40 GBP per month for one car and 1 4wd, here we pay $200 per month for almost the exact same style vehicles. I am in Katy, Texas. It may differ other places.

Re: Car insurance costs
 

My wife's family here in the States swear by AAA (we just got here two weeks ago). I bought a car a couple of days ago and got quotes from AAA beforehand. Then I went to Geico and they were half the price.

I found Geico to be only slightly more expensive than what I was paying in the UK (around $55 p/month), however I was expecting worse from what I had read on these boards. Pleasantly surprised.

Re: Car insurance costs
 

I recently used comparenow.com to get quotes after buying a new VW Golf

I then went back to my existing insurer, Geico, and got them to beat the prices I got. I pay $60/month for myself and wife.

http://www.comparenow.com/ppc-landin...f8gaAvwq8P8HAQ

Re: Car insurance costs
 

Looks like I'm gonna have to get a new quote!!! Good prices!!

Re: Car insurance costs
 

The prices might look good, but what level of cover does it buy. You have to make sure you are comparing oranges with oranges.

Re: Car insurance costs
 

There is typically "state minimum" insurance, which is fairly cheap, but the liability coverage is grossly inadequate, leaving you exposed to being sued if you are involved in an accident. In NY state minimum is $50,000 for injury to people and $10,000 for damage to property, so if you have state minimum insurance you'd better hope that you don't hit and kill a corporate executive driving a Ferrari, because the executives heirs' lawyers will come after you for every penny they can squeeze out of you. :eek:

The rule of thumb, that appears to be true across much of the US, is that insurance for a new immigrant is going to cost you about $1,000 for six months. It doesn't appear to make much difference whether you're driving an old crate or a mid level Ford/Chevy/Honda/Toyota.

The good news is that the cost falls fairly quickly, within 3-4 years. We are currently paying $1,300 in aggregate for a year for an Accord, a Mustang GT, and an F250 crew cab.

Re: Car insurance costs
 

$750/6 months for my newish Dodge pickup plus the beat up Maxima. (most of the bells and whistles on the Dodge insurance, State min on the Maxima). Versus $300 for just the Maxima minimum :o previously. Progressive beat Geico.

Re: Car insurance costs
 

But you didn't step off the plane yesterday, did you? :lol:

Re: Car insurance costs
 

True, that is after 10 years, no claims. I was equating my price to yours, rather than a newbie. Oops;)

Re: Car insurance costs
 

Oh, right, .... same ballpark then. :)

Re: Car insurance costs
 

We've also found it to be much more expensive, although not as bad as we feared. We're using Mercury who offer a discount for engineers (and other professions). We're paying a little over $200 per month for a new Toyota Sienna and Ford Mustang GT. That's for well over the state minimums. Been here just six months now.

Re: Car insurance costs
 

Been here 6 months, bought a new Ford Focus last week.

Nearly every insurance quote I'm getting in around $500 per month.
It's obscene - don't know where to turn to get a half decent quote.

Re: Car insurance costs
 

Wow, that's a lot. We don't even pay that much for three cars!

Tried State Farm, Geico, Progressive etc?

Looked at whoever insures your house to see if you can add on car insurance?

Looked at higher deductibles?

Talked to an agent?

Re: Car insurance costs
 

When I came (several years ago now) I talked to a State Farm agent. That meant I could explain, and show from my UK no claims discount papers, my claim free history. I believe this helped and I got a fair deal. I do not know how much discretion they have, but I think discussion with an agent is always going to be better than the automated on-line systems.