Insurance premiums for the Model 3

[Santana155]

Hi all,

I'm new to the forum and new to Tesla. Apologies if this has been covered in other threads, but I did a search, and while I found lots of information, nothing that specifically addressed my question (and if anything, raised more questions).

I just placed my order for a Model 3 Performance a couple weeks ago, and am anxiously awaiting my delivery date. However, now I'm wondering about insurance. I currently have a 2016 Audi S5 and my insurance premium is $494 for six months, which I think is a pretty good rate (though I haven't shopped around in awhile so it's possible that I could find a better rate if I looked). I got a quote from my insurance company for the Model 3 and they quoted me $395 for six months for the same coverage, which I think is crazy good. I didn't think it would be that much lower for a Model 3 considering when all is said and done, it's about the same price as my S5. But I read on this forum and others that insurance starts out low but then people seem to be hit with big increases at renewal time.

So my question for people who have had their Model 3s for awhile - has this happened to you? Where your insurance premium starts out low, but then you get hit with a big increase when renewing? I know you can always shop around, but to me that's a bit of a hassle, especially since I've bundled my auto insurance with my home insurance. Anyway, I just want to know what to expect. Thanks in advance for anyone willing to share their experience.

Also, just for reference, I don't live in CA so not able to purchase Tesla-provided insurance at this time.

Thanks.

 

[TiggerTime]

It depends on your situation and insurance company.
I switched from a Honda Civic Si to the Model 3 and the insurance (State Farm) was about the same. It is bundled with home and multi car. There was no increase with my recent renewal.

 

[OCR1]

There are a number of recent threads about price increases on renewal. It seems to vary by insurance company. The rates you were quoted seem extremely low. Rates and renewal prices are highly dependent on age, years of driving, location, other insurance products with the same carrier, etc.

One thing to look at closely is your rental car coverage. If you have an accident Tesla cars can take a long time to repair. 3 months is not uncommon. Most insurance companies only cover a car for at most a month, and only $20/day. You could be out of pocket quite a bit if you were without a car for 3 months. It’s usually only a small addition to the premium to bump the coverage up significantly.

 

[avalpert]

"But I read on this forum and others that insurance starts out low but then people seem to be hit with big increases at renewal time."

That's fairly standard practice (not necessarily universal but very common) for the auto insurance industry regardless of the vehicle because they count on you thinking it is a hassle to do anything but auto-renew.. You should shop around every few years in any case and definitely any period when you see a big increase

 

[Arif]

I also have a 2015 S5 Conv and a Model 3 Performance which is actually cheaper. This is via State Farm... Havent had a renewal cycle yet

 

[dmurphy]

Been through a renewal cycle, no issue here at all. Paying a little less than $900/yr with State Farm in NJ. In fact, it went down a few dollars at renewal time as I crossed the “Vehicle insured with State Farm 6 years or more” threshold.

Should’ve been like that years ago, but a dozen years ago, I took a job which provided a company car, so we went down to just 1 on the policy. When I left 6 years ago, I added the second vehicle back, but it reset the #-of-years-in-force counter, so I lost a small discount over it. Not a big deal, just a couple bucks a year, but it is nice to have some “loyalty” credits from State Farm.

 

[Santana155]

Thanks all for your input. I guess I will not worry too much about my insurance at this point. I'm not necessarily worried about my insurance company raising my premiums just as a standard practice to try to squeeze more money out of me. I've been with the same company since 2012. I had a 2012 Audi S5 at the time and I think I was paying around $400 for six months, so in 7 years my premiums went up by about $90 bucks. Not too bad in my opinion. Though during this time I never gave them any reason to raise my premiums - no claims, no accidents, no tickets, etc. I'm more worried about higher insurance premiums because the Model 3 is so expensive to repair. I can live with higher insurance premiums to a point, but it seems some people are reporting "huge" increases of several hundred dollars over a six month term. That would be a real bummer. Anyway, thanks again all.

 

[ebmcs03]

Not my case. Mines like $1600 6 months. Rip off. Already shopped around too.

 

[Santana155]

Not my case. Mines like $1600 6 months. Rip off. Already shopped around too.

Yikes! This is what I'm worried about. Have you been able to find another insurance company with more reasonable rates?

 

[Nocturnal]

My P3 insurance hasn't changed at all in the past year. Geico, a little over 100 a month. There isn't anything special about Tesla that makes companies raise rates after the fact IMO.

 

[ebmcs03]

Yikes! This is what I'm worried about. Have you been able to find another insurance company with more reasonable rates?

Nope. It started with $1000 at Geico when i got the car in June 2018 Then $12xx for renewal at dec 2018 and then it suddenly shot up to $15xx in June 2019, I switched to another insurance company but it was still about the same. They’re all blaming it on tesla being hard to repair. Long repair times and expensive.

 

[Knightshade]

My insurance just renewed with USAA (LR AWD)- went down like $7.

There's no point in comparing raw costs- because those vary HUGELY between states and companies (and often even within parts of states)

 

[vickh]

My insurance just renewed with USAA (LR AWD)- went down like $7.

There's no point in comparing raw costs- because those vary HUGELY between states and companies (and often even within parts of states)

I hope that's a trend with USAA owners, more responsible ?

One thing that masks true costs for me is that I have a bundle with home and umbrella with them.

So far I only see one user complaining of higher renewal costs.

 

[dwalme]

I'm in Michigan so we have some of the highest rates in the country.

My model 3 performance is about 35% higher than my '16 Cadillac ATS-V and our '18 WRX (which surprisingly were the same price even though the WRX was half the purchase price).

So quite a bit more.

 

[Ferengii]

I just received my first insurance renewal: 6 month rate went from $341 to $576 - that’s a 69% increase! I called to find out why there was such a big increase. Answer: Colorado rates went up. When I told the insurance rep that that I had another insurance company quote at less than the $341 rate, they warned me that the other company might just give me a lower starting rate and then raise the rate dramatically upon renewal. LOL - isn’t that what my current insurance company just did to me? Sheesh...
I’ll be changing to a new insurance provider. It’s too bad since I’ve been with my current provider for over 5 years.

 

[Big Dog]

Have USAA and our CA insurance rate for the model 3 was similar to my daughter's 2015 fully loaded Audi A3. The renewal was essentially flat.

 

[Santana155]

I realize I'm missing a lot of data, but it seems to be a bit of a crapshoot here. Some folks are reporting huge increases, while others are reporting flat premiums or even small reductions. Knock on wood, I've never had any claims on my insurance so hopefully I'll be in the latter category.

 

[OCJoe]

@Santana155 I'm about to place my order and I found insurance shopping to be very frustrating. My current carrier, Mercury, quoted $1,200 per 6 months. A different Mercury agent, $750 per six months. I contacted Tesla insurance (I live in California, so I'm eligible) and amazingly, they refused to give me any data without a VIN. They steadfastly refused to provide a quote, a range, a budgetary estimate, nothing. I recognize that my driving history and the specific vehicle cost have a big impact on price. But you'd think they could provide cost for a lowest-priced SR with a great driving record and the highest priced performance with a lousy driving record just to give me a range... but no

 

[Santana155]

@OCJoe , can I ask you if the quotes for Model 3 insurance that you're getting from Mercury are similar to what you're paying now, or are the quotes significantly higher?

 

[SageBrush]

OP: you are wasting your time.
Quotes from the same insurance company from different states is as variable as the quotes from the different insurance companies in the same state.

Seattle is not new to Tesla cars and they are common in your area so you have as good a chance at stable rates as anybody (presuming your driver record stays the same.)