Car insurance for new driver(teen-16 )?

Live in Florida, just got an excellent quote from one company for just my wife and I... beats previous quotes by 30%. Then, we started talking about insuring our oldest. KABLOOOOOOM!!!! Holy Baby Jesus, had no idea how much this was going to cost... an extra $360/month... on a Miata(possibly a '94). Does anyone have any ideas to cut the prices down? Was talking to the agent(he lives in Arizona), and he explained how bad/expensive it is to insure a new teen driver in Florida, then as an example, he used the pricing in Arizona. Was less than half that. Somebody who lives in this state has got to, please, have some experience getting less expensive insurance. My wife and I are all ears. And yes, he is very serious about owning a Miata... the "solution".

I don't have any state-specific advise, but maybe go find a local broker who can pull from multiple companies? I was previously with Erie, and found out that roughly the same thing was going to happen when my kid started driving.

Our broker was able to find a different company (Mapfre) that was more favorable to teen drivers. They don't discount for TireRack Street Survival, which I find idiotic, but had him do an online class that knocked off ~25%.

Good point. Years ago, before kids, we used a broker and got an excellent deal. "To the Interwebs and Away!". On a side note, have gotten multiple emails from different companies... still expensive cuz "Florida". Thanks for the suggestion.

Sometimes a driver training course will cut that down a bit. Costs are similar here.

Miata might not be the cheapest car to insure either. I remember a friend getting a quote for $10k a year to insure a MR2 turbo back in the day.

We've had State Farm with both kids. Multi car, multi line discounts, plus they have a Good Student program for decent report cards.

Oh, and Defensive Driving courses. That's good for 10% off Liability in Delawhere.

Don't list him as primary driver on a "sports car."

Seriously. Don't.

I insure my kids on the drabbest, most boring car I own. Usually my F350 or my van, when I owned one of those. It helps.

I just started insuring my 16-year old daughter on an '04 Vue(AWD) this year, and it's running about $450/6-months in IL. It's higher than it should be because it's a Vue, and it's AWD. Our older daughter is under $300/6-months on a '99 Vitara(4x4), but the vehicle its self is classed lower/cheaper than the Vue.

My twins turn 16 in a bit over a month. This thread is VERY relevant to my interests.

drivers ed is a sure way to cut the cost. back in 03 i was looking at a 01 ford focus SVT and i was quoted more for the insurance a year then the pruchase cost of the car

In the mid 90s, here was the situation of a previous coworker.

Daughter turning 16. He figured she was not the type to drive much so he had no intention or real need to get her a car of her own, but...
Dad had a Porshe 944. Mom had a BMW 535.
3 drivers and 2 cars, the Insurance Co was basing the daughter's rates off the most expensive/sporty model.

So, he spend $200 on a non running Ford Tempo. He registers it and put valid plates on it then insures it.
3 drivers and 3 cars, daughter is listed as primary driver on Tempo and rates are based off the Tempo. This does allow for her to still drive the parents cars.

The Tempo never ran in his ownership. It sat in the garage but always had valid registration which in Ohio is currently $50 per year.

petegossett wrote: I just started insuring my 16-year old daughter on an '04 Vue(AWD) this year, and it's running about $450/6-months in IL. It's higher than it should be because it's a Vue, and it's AWD. Our older daughter is under $300/6-months on a '99 Vitara(4x4), but the vehicle its self is classed lower/cheaper than the Vue.

I can't stress enough, for a young driver, call your insurance guy before you buy.
It's as simple as, "if we buy model x or model y, what will our rate be?"
You should get an answer while you wait on hold or at worst, get a call back by the end of the day.

Many factors go into the specific rate of a specific vehicle and as mentioned above, similar vehicles are not always similar rates.

New drivers fall into the assigned risk catagory. Good luck getting anything lower. DE might get some. Good grades may help. Miata. Yeah, no.

Give up for adoption, move, or find time machine?

Sometimes smaller regional mutual companies that are not in "comparative raters" can have good programs that are overlooked because it's not ez-peas to rate. Find an indy with the most companies & make an appointment to sit with him/her as they plug in quotes on your upcoming situation.

Carriers look at length if time with current carriers, so don't switch for better interim rate as you'll reset that rating factor.

JohnRW1621 wrote:

petegossett wrote: I just started insuring my 16-year old daughter on an '04 Vue(AWD) this year, and it's running about $450/6-months in IL. It's higher than it should be because it's a Vue, and it's AWD. Our older daughter is under $300/6-months on a '99 Vitara(4x4), but the vehicle its self is classed lower/cheaper than the Vue.

I can't stress enough, for a young driver, call your insurance guy before you buy. It's as simple as, "if we buy model x or model y, what will our rate be?" You should get an answer while you wait on hold or at worst, get a call back by the end of the day. Many factors go into the specific rate of a specific vehicle and as mentioned above, similar vehicles are not always similar rates.

And just for clarity there's no way in hell I'd have bought her a Vue - her foot doesn't even reach the floor when she's driving - but it was left to her by her late grandma. I keep giving her hints that the trans will croak, probably sooner rather than later, but I'm not going to start a E36 M3storm with her mother & grandpa by "forcing" her to sell it.

I'll be paying $2200 a year on a 96 Crown Vic. Thanks, ICBC. .

When i started driving, I had to buy my own seperate policy. My folks rates were unaffected because of this.

JohnRW1621 wrote: In the mid 90s, here was the situation of a previous coworker. Daughter turning 16. He figured she was not the type to drive much so he had no intention or real need to get her a car of her own, but... Dad had a Porshe 944. Mom had a BMW 535. 3 drivers and 2 cars, the Insurance Co was basing the daughter's rates off the most expensive/sporty model. So, he spend $200 on a non running Ford Tempo. He registers it and put valid plates on it then insures it. 3 drivers and 3 cars, daughter is listed as primary driver on Tempo and rates are based off the Tempo. This does allow for her to still drive the parents cars. The Tempo never ran in his ownership. It sat in the garage but always had valid registration which in Ohio is currently $50 per year.

Whatever you do, do NOT do this. It's called material misrepresentation and is insurance fraud. If your teen has an accident in the fancy car and the insurance company starts looking into it, you could be in a major world of hurt. First, they could rescind your policy. So that means you're own your own to fix the expensive car. If your teen is at fault for said accident, you're also on your own to pay for their damages and potentially bodily injury. If the insurance company wanted to go hog wild, they could also turn it over to the attorney generals office for insurance fraud. Am I saying that's what "will" happen every time? No. But I can tell you that having spent part of my career as a fraud investigator, I've come across this situation many, many times. It doesn't end well, don't mess with it.

Florida sucks for auto insurance. Many companies don't even want to write there. You can thank the state and plaintiff attorneys for that. Best bet is to do driver ed classes and then just shop around.

In reply to Klayfish:

Intersting.
But if the Tempo did run and the kid actually drove it then would there be no fraud and could there be real and actual savings?

Don't know if there would be savings or not. I'd guess there might be a little, but I don't do underwriting, so I couldn't say with certainty.

It made a substantial difference when my eldest went on our insurance and the agent stuck him on the RX7 because it was the vehicle without a designated driver. A phone call to list him as primary on my van and me as primary on the RX7 dropped our rate by over $200 a year.

Sports car are know for crashes, kids are known for crashes, combine the two and the actuary tables start quivering.

One other thing I've done with State Farm:

The older a policy is and the longer the no-claims history is, the deeper the discounts. Plus, the policies exist as entities independent upon which car is on them. So in both cases, when I bought dedicated cars for DD#1 and DD#2, I put those cars on the oldest policies I had, then started new policies for the cars that had been on them. So, yes, my insurance went up on 2 cars because their new policies had no history - but they were cars driven by middle-aged adults rather than new teenage drivers, so the increase was much smaller than it would have been otherwise. Overall, I came out pretty well ahead, and the new policies will get deeper discounts as they mature.

Frankly, we spent too much money on the insurance coverages every year, but this is a must have for everyone. I was trying to find a way out from this economic pit, but the only one option was, not to pay any coverage. It  seemed to me like a good idea, but my wife told me that I am a little bit limited in my mental possibilities( stupid ) and sent me [out to paddle my canoe.]
I changed my mind instantly and bought a full coverage for my car and house, maybe I will buy a coverage for my life as well, We need to ensure us from any possible risk.

My 16 year old son just finished the online course and and will be getting his learner's permit today. Currently, two drivers, four cars.

Don't know how that affects insurance, he won't have a driver's license for a year. 

Oh, and Florida.

Watching this to see what develops.

My oldest just turned 16, so we will be going through this in 6-12 months when he gets his license. 

Ill need to visit with my agent and figure out how to best arrange coverage for the 2010 Sedon, 2011 Elantra, and 1994 Ram RC SWB. 

I put the toy on a classic car policy which forbids drivers under 21.  Tough luck kids, but he who pays the bills makes the rules.  I am not sure about a separate policy for the kids, the car would have to be titled to them and because they are minors it might cause a problem if there was a claim.  Safe driver training courses do reduce premium, but look at the cost of the course and the discount to see where the payback is.  

My course was to put them in old safe cars and carry no comp/collision on those cars.  I also quoted every year while I had under 21s on the policy.  

If you think this bill is a shock wait until they go to college!