Prius with ATP/PCP insurance discounts?

A BIG thumbs up for USAA. They can't be beat. You do need to tell them the car has a "Stolen Vehicle Locator" system. That dropped my quote quite a bit (from the original non-PCP package I got a quote with). USAA specifically asked me if it had a system like that. The Vin # only apparently doesn't get it done.

USAA all the way!!

Oh... congratulations on your new car!

 

Yup, part of the Premium Convenience Package - free for the 1st year. I believe it's a subscription after that.

 

You might be surprised what insurance companies can find out with your VIN. Several companies sell vehicle build data that contains every item that impacts the cost that might be incurred by the insurance company in the event of a claim. If you've added extras after the factory, you'd be smart to document them in the event you need to make a claim. Most insurance companies will want to know that there's a $5000 stereo or $2000 set of custom wheels. They may not cover them if you don't disclose that information.

 

You are right. I mis-spoke... because come to think of it... USAA only asked me about a vehicle locator system the first time I called and gave them non-PCP Vin#. When I called after I bought a different car and gave them the new Vin#, I volunteered that info.

And right, if it's after market... it won't show up with the Vin#.

For me, it was about 30 to 40 buck less than the first quote.

 

I traded in a 10 year old Scion for a Prius 2. Kept the same coverage and insurance company and my insurance went down almost $100 a year.

Go figure

 

Could it be there is some kind of lower rate for a hybrid? I thought I read that somewhere... but I'm not sure.

My rate was much lower than I expected. Same company, same coverage... just lower .

 

I asked state farm about discounts for cars that had rear end collision avoidance system. They said no such discount. They surely have less liability. I think it's all to new. Just wait your going to pay more if you don't have it.

 

On this other side of the pond, Germany to be specific (but it is likely the same in the EU), they don't really care what options you have on your car towards safety, they just base their tariffs on factors determined by an independent commission (the same for all car insurances) that checks what is the car accident rate in your region/city and for that specific model.

I.e. a regular Golf 1.6L might be more expensive to insure than a Golf GTI 2.0L because there are less of them and its drivers are more cautious because they love their TDI.

So the Prius here was really cheap to insure at the beginning in 2009, because nobody had it, and because most drivers are older and don't buy it to race around in country roads or on the highway...

It became a bit more expensive as it was a tad more driven around by more people. It is still one of the cheapest to insure here. I spend about 400€/year for car insurance (third party liability, theft, fire, arson, weather agents, and coverage of damages I make to other cars) - it would be about double to cover damages I make on my car, when at fault.

 

You guys love your fast cars. I was in Munich a few months ago and ended up in a Prius cab back to the airport. Strange as most of the cabs are Audi, Mercedes and BMW. Anyway I learned where the three or four no speed limit sections or road was from downtown to the airport. The cab driver had the Prius over a hundred MPH. Yes I converted it.

If you guys ever get to Munich don't miss the BMW headquarters.

 

That's what I did but they do not give discounts for the RDCC and other safety features at this time but will at a later date. Maybe.

Also, even if your subscription expires you can call up and activate it and disable the vehicle.

USAA since 1970.

But always get at least 3 quotes for the same exact coverage.

 

In some states some insurance companies will factor in everything from your credit score to the type of credit cards you use to when you last switched from Fios to Comcast before giving you a quote.

Hard to believe, but check this out from Consumer Reports:
Car Insurance & Auto Insurance Facts and Myths - Consumer Reports

 

Yeah, so many factors go into insurance premiums. When I moved from the suburbs of a large town outside Toronto to the next town away for a larger place - about 10 miles further - my insurance went down by 1/2 (!) even though that meant I was driving an additional 20 miles every day. Where you live is a huge factor, even more so than how much you drive, which is odd...

I did add a 2-channel BlackVue dash cam (with parking monitoring) last summer, I asked my broker if there was any discount for that (since it could prove liability in case of an incident), but she said there was no such discount at that time, at least not yet. ;-) I work on the road, so my car is critical to my job, so it seemed like a wise accessory to add.

But I digress...

 

Noticed it was almost $400. Is that because you have a much better quality unit? I am looking for something but the dirt cheap ones have very spotty reviews.

 

Yes, they love them (I am italian ) - if I am in the mood I do drive at 100mph as well. The roads are really flat, and people are used (more or less) to drive fast and have fast cars around them.

I have done complete sections of Autobahn at 180km/h-110mph (GPS speed) for 30mins straight more than once and from Hannover to Frankfurt with an *average* of 140km/h-87mph (MFD)...
I can post here what the mpg was, less than 7L/100km if I remember correctly...

Truth is, though, that driving that fast is fun for a short while, then it becomes tiring because you have to really be careful about keeping enough distance from the car preceding you, you have to estimate what traffic will do with a lot of margin, and in the end, over long trips, the time savings are really marginal vs safety/pollution/mpg/cost/peace of mind and more relaxing drive.

If you really want to go faster in EU, I'd take a high speed train going 330km/h-205mph - that's really fun

 

Well, I don't want to go too far OT, but here goes...

Yes, I have the BlackVue DR-650GW-2CH, which is a top of the line 2-channel (meaning front & rear) camera. It is basically top of the line, accepts up to 128GB card, which is max HD quality, about 24hrs of recording.

Dash camera divide into two categories - the Chinese units which are very inexpensive, and Korean models (like Blackvue) which are better quality, but more costly. The main difference is the parking detection, which requires hardwiring (as opposed to cigarette lighter). Mine came with a hardwire kit, so the camera is always 'watching'. As soon as motion is detected in front or behind the car, the camera kicks in and records the minute before and after. Given my poor track record with hit & run in the last several years, I figured I would catch the next jerk. ;-)

I highly recommend this camera.

And there you have it. Feel free to PM me if you want more details, or how it installed (which I did myself).



Now, back on topic...

 

Insurance for us went up by about 6% when we removed previous vehicle ( 2015 Mazda CX 5 ) and added this vehicle, Prius 4 with PCP and ATP. Good luck, as I heard Hybrids are generally more expensive to insure.

 

Here as promised the pics of the MFD of the trip from Hannover to Frankfurt on my Gen3 last year - 133km/h-82.5MPH average speed (essentially full speed whenever possible (most of that highway doesn't have a speed limit)) - average consumption as you see 7,1L/100km-33MPG. That's the highest fuel consumption I have ever recorded on the Prius pushing it really to the limit on the Autobahn.



The only highest ever fuel consumption recorded was an awful city trip in Florence, in winter under the rain back in 2009 3 months after purchase:

That's 30MPG (and 6% MFD optimistic estimation is *not* included) and the average CRAWL speed was 6MPH....

Now let's see what the Gen4 will manage to do on the German highways at full throttle....

 

I've had USAA for years.
Frankly, you'll probably be able to find a company that beats them out of the gate, since that's the latest trend in insurance (see: Progressive) BUT I've found them to be not only cheaper in the long run (if not also starting out) they also have superior service AND I also do not get bombarded with third party solicitations every day.

Up-optioned Priuses are expensive to insure because they're expensive to fix...and all of that gee-whizz electronics isn't going to stop somebody from backing into you in a parking lot.
Somehow I think that despite the alphabet soup of sensors that are on the car, they're still going to suffer from front end damage.

Of course you also have to look at your driving record and your claims record.
How many claims have you has over the last 5 years?
(Spoiler Alert!!) It doesn't matter as much who was at fault as you may think, and glass claims really are written down in a database!
They may be up-quoting you because they don't want you, and then again?
Maybe not.
Some of the on-line quotes are just boilerplate guesstimates.

Try raising the deductible, and get rid of all of the concierge services they they try to throw in (rental/towing/contents....etc.)

My philosophy on insurance isn't to make me "whole" following a pebble-strike on my windshield, or even from a crumpled front air dam following a ramp strike.
My purpose for insurance is to cover an unsustainable loss or liability following an unforeseen incident.
I actually FORESEE windshield cracks and door dings, and will either fix or ignore as appropriate.
I will also cash-flow an accident up to about $2000, because (a) I have a $1,000 deductible and (b) because rate increases would bleed me for more than I would save by claiming a $2000 incident.
If you're able to keep a couple of thousand in the bank for emergencies over a long period of time then you'll save a lot of money over the years by not buying more insurance or warranties than you need.

OR?

You can pay the insurance companies and the people who underwrite extended warranties.
There's an advantage to doing it that way too (convenience) but you have to pay for that.

Good Luck!