Model S Insurance Sticker Shock

[Galve2000]

You are confusing liability with property coverage. The 100/300/100 or $500 CSL you mention are liability limits which cover you should you hit someone else.
The car itself is insured to ACV=Actual cash value. You have modified this to include $2100 additional aftermarket work.

As respect your deductible of $250. That's too low. Being a P85 owner I am guessing a $2000 fender bender repair will not set you back financially and you would rather fix it yourself than deal with your insurance co. Therefore you should raise your deductible to say $2,500. Use any saved premiums to buy higher liability limits.

+1

Obviously "peace of mind" is worth different things to different people... personally, peace of mind is the last thing I feel when I get the sense I'm being ripped off...

 

[yobigd20]

You are confusing liability with property coverage. The 100/300/100 or $500 CSL you mention are liability limits which cover you should you hit someone else.
The car itself is insured to ACV=Actual cash value. You have modified this to include $2100 additional aftermarket work.

As respect your deductible of $250. That's too low. Being a P85 owner I am guessing a $2000 fender bender repair will not set you back financially and you would rather fix it yourself than deal with your insurance co. Therefore you should raise your deductible to say $2,500. Use any saved premiums to buy higher liability limits.

NJ is a "no-fault" state. Meaning that it doesn't matter who's fault the accident is. Your insurance pays for repairs to your car regardless. So no, I don't want to pay $2500 every time some idiot bumps me. Besides, the deductible differences were negligible. I'll pay the extra $80/year to have a $250 deductible instead of $2500.

Besides, all banks (lenders) require a deductible of $500 or lower for car loans. This is a contractual binding that was spelled out in fine print you probably didn't read. Purpose is obviously to reduce their risk in the event if an accident and you stop paying. If you violate this by increasing your deductible to $2500, they will go out on their own to purchase additional coverage to protect their assists and bill you probably 2x-3x on top of what your currently paying for insurance as well as likely increase your rate. Enjoy

 

[Bradleybang]

NJ is a "no-fault" state. Meaning that it doesn't matter who's fault the accident is. Your insurance pays for repairs to your car regardless. So no, I don't want to pay $2500 every time some idiot bumps me. Besides, the deductible differences were negligible. I'll pay the extra $80/year to have a $250 deductible instead of $2500.

Besides, all banks (lenders) require a deductible of $500 or lower for car loans. This is a contractual binding that was spelled out in fine print you probably didn't read. Purpose is obviously to reduce their risk in the event if an accident and you stop paying. If you violate this by increasing your deductible to $2500, they will go out on their own to purchase additional coverage to protect their assists and bill you probably 2x-3x on top of what your currently paying for insurance as well as likely increase your rate. Enjoy

I understand NJ is a No-fault state. However, this is for most accidents and not for those involving large accidents that include serious injuries.
It is a complex law and further reading can be had here.
Standard Auto Insurance Policy
Personal Injury Article by New Jersey Lawyer, John D. Kovac

You stated you purchased $500k CSL that is for pip and liability. You can still be sued in an accident and that $500,000 combined single limit is your maximum protection.

As for bank loan requirements for maximum deductibles, you are correct. They do vary and most are $500 or $1,000 but some do allow $2,500 on higher valued cars. I don't have a loan so I don't have that requirement.

 

[AmpedRealtor]

Hartford has very competitive rates for Model S, even lower than Progressive or Geico

 

[Chipper]

I talked with the stag (Hartford), I have flirted with Flo (Man is she HOT!!), I checked out the good hands, and the good neighbors, but the gecko has been my go-to guy for 27 years. When I took my teenaged daughter off my policy--she got married last month--and dropped the Honda Civic Hybrid and put the MS on the policy, my rates were $300 LESS per semi-annual. I did not realize how much my daughter was costing me!

 

[Only Trons]

I believe there have been other threads on TMC about insurance costs. I'm with USAA. The increase in premium to insure our Model S over the previous Toyota Camry was minimal (I don't remember exact cost). We use USAA for all our insurance needs and have been very pleased with them.

 

[jeffnorman]

I think I have the lowest insurance cost with GEICO of any Tesla P85 owner I have found, and I am in a pretty expensive market (middle of the city in Chicago). It matters most of course if you have no accidents, perfect driving record, etc... but I pay only ~400 per 6 months with GEICO.

That was not their original quote though. I initially was quoted (from GEICO, where I have had my car insurance for longer than I can remember), about $1000/6 months. In comparison, my AMG E63 (replaced by the Tesla) had a similar sticker price to the Tesla, but was a little less than $800/6 months. I shopped around and found Progressive (who seems to be aggressively trying to get Tesla owners - definitely cheapest off the rack insurance for the Model S) around $750/6 months.

However, when I went to cancel my GEICO policy, they put me through to a "long time customer retention specialist" who said there was some kind of "new rating" system and if I wanted to opt-in to it they would try using that. They did run a credit report as part of the "new rating" system, and the result was the shockingly low $400/6 months - a little more than half of my rate with the AMG E63!!

Very happy now, and I can add the insurance savings to my list of economic justifications for buying the Tesla (saved gas/year = $7,500, saved maintenance per year =$6,000, saved insurance costs = $800; almost pays monthly car loan payment in total!!)

 

[ShakeNBake]

I deal with insurance companies every day.

I have State Farm insurance.

DO NOT buy insurance from GEICO, Allstate, American Family, or Farmers.

Buy as much underinsured motorist coverage as you can afford, as I have seen a bunch of lives ruined where the bad driver only had $25K.

The cheap insurance companies are cheap insurance companies.

You get what you pay for.

Mike C

 

[B.TSLA]

So with the P85 on it's way to the SC, i decided to get all the loan stuff and insurance done early. I called to get insurance today, and was in no way prepared for the number they gave me.

To add just the Tesla was more per month than I pay for 3 other vehicles combined. Nearly $300/mo total for insurance. I was in complete shock, needless to say I began to shop my entire policy around. and got everything for 1/2 that cost.

Anyone else have ridiculously high insurance quotes?

Not mine. My insurance in Burlington, Ontario - Canada went down to $97 per month on an 04 Mazda 3 to $93 for the MS. I couldn't believe it!

 

[omgwtfbyobbq]

I believe my quote was similar. ~$90/month for a MS, which was surprising since an i-MiEV was $75/month or something. This is through State Farm.