Model S Insurance

[Shurhold]

For what it's worth I went with Nation Wide as they offered 3 years of full replacement value which is better than the standard cash value. Not knowing the future values of Tesla I thought this was the best way to go in case the car is ever declared totaled. In this case I will get my purchase cost back.

 

[neroden]

For what it's worth I went with Nation Wide as they offered 3 years of full replacement value which is better than the standard cash value. Not knowing the future values of Tesla I thought this was the best way to go in case the car is ever declared totaled. In this case I will get my purchase cost back.

Woo. I should actually look into that. I didn't find any full replacement value options when I was looking.

Being in an annoying time crunch, I ended up going with GEICO, which was 25% cheaper than the next competitor for my particular driving record and location (NY). Interestingly, the vast majority of the cost of the insurance is collision and comprehensive -- that's the expensive aluminum-bodied car, I'm sure. The cost of all the liability and injury related stuff was very small by comparison.

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Most of them just wouldn't even quote it. He told me go with Geico, check back in a year after the lazy companies get data on the Teslas after they've been on the road for awhile.

This was my experience in NY as well; most companies wouldn't quote for the Tesla Model S at *all*. I only managed to get three quotes, after going to two insurance agents and online.

One of those didn't like my fiancee's driving record and had to "send it to underwriting", offering an absurdly high rate. (She has two collision claims in five years from freakish one-car accidents. The more recent was the high expense of replacing a gas tank which got hit by a ice chunk kicked up by a wheel, developed a hole, and started leaking... an accident which I'm pretty sure would not have even caused an insurance claim in the Model S.) I don't think I want to deal with a company which is that picky.

Geico is surcharging ~$180 for the gas tank accident, but it's still almost exactly $600 / 6 months, which is far better than the competition; the next best quote I got was over $800 / 6 months!

Who's cheapest seems to depend first and foremost on what state you're in. Perhaps the insurance thread should be sorted by state.

 

[trils0n]

I have spent the last few days trying to get quotes anywhere near what everyone has posted here. The best I've got is $410 a month from Progressive. Other companies willing to give me a quote have been twice that or more. Allstate tried to convince me that there were only 2 body shops certified to work on the Model S in the United States and that's why the collision coverage was so high, and why my quote was $840 a month(!!!). I've been told these prices are typical of "exotic" cars like the Model S. Do I need to ask for a quote based on the price of a comparable car to get a decent quote? I have not purchased insurance in years. My current car (1985, and only liability) costs $430 a year to insure. I have never got a ticket and have only been involved in one minor accident (my fault). Is my accident the reason for these high rates? The insurance agents I've spoke with seem to think the rates are high because its a rare car and the collision part of the quote is super high. Anyone have any ideas or any tips?

 

[FalconNinetyD]

What's your age?

Try Geico. You can get a quote online, and they seem to be less than 90% of other companies...

 

[Norcalgal]

I have spent the last few days trying to get quotes anywhere near what everyone has posted here. The best I've got is $410 a month from Progressive. Other companies willing to give me a quote have been twice that or more. Allstate tried to convince me that there were only 2 body shops certified to work on the Model S in the United States and that's why the collision coverage was so high, and why my quote was $840 a month(!!!). I've been told these prices are typical of "exotic" cars like the Model S. Do I need to ask for a quote based on the price of a comparable car to get a decent quote? I have not purchased insurance in years. My current car (1985, and only liability) costs $430 a year to insure. I have never got a ticket and have only been involved in one minor accident (my fault). Is my accident the reason for these high rates? The insurance agents I've spoke with seem to think the rates are high because its a rare car and the collision part of the quote is super high. Anyone have any ideas or any tips?

My recommendation is to go online. I went online first checking out Geico, Progressive, State Farm and Farmers. We currently are insured with Allstate and knew they didn't want to insure the Tesla, but my husband did contact them since we have been with them for over 20 yrs. We got quotes of 1400/ yr with Geico and Progressive and Farmers were 1800/yr. Allstate gave us a crazy rate. Remember rates are based on age and driving experience. We are 51 and 46 insuring the Tesla and Mini S convertible. No tickets, accidents in over 10 yrs.

We are probably going with Geico. I call the local agents of Geico, Farmers and State Farmers to discuss the process for getting our cars and possibly home insured. They were all very familiar with Tesla and very helpful. The only one concerned about repair shops was Allstate.

 

[trils0n]

I'm 27. Forgot to mention that. Probably a large contributing factor. GEICO quoted me 900 a month. Still seems outrageous. My delivery date is soon, so might just have to suck it up and pay some crazy amount. I've saved an invested every penny I've made since I was 16 and it's kind of weird spending it on something that won't make me money, like a fancy car. I'm kind of freaking out right now. I'm going to try getting quotes for an M5 and some AMG Benz and see how they compare.

 

[Ravi]

We have a bunch of insurance with Liberty Mutual and they quickly quoted me $600 annually over the phone with a $1,000 deductible, needless to say I was pleasantly surprised. Got it all confirmed within minutes. We are ages 40 and 38 with clean records.

 

[Bradleybang]

I'm 27. Forgot to mention that. Probably a large contributing factor. GEICO quoted me 900 a month. Still seems outrageous. My delivery date is soon, so might just have to suck it up and pay some crazy amount. I've saved an invested every penny I've made since I was 16 and it's kind of weird spending it on something that won't make me money, like a fancy car. I'm kind of freaking out right now. I'm going to try getting quotes for an M5 and some AMG Benz and see how they compare.

Ouch! So you are young, have a prior accident, and i'd bet by the quotes you are getting that you live in the city. Here are some companies I know insure a Model S. Some are direct and some are thru brokers. What brokers have you contacted?
21ST CENTURY
AAA
Allied
California Capital
CSAA*** this is our nor cal AAA
Encompass
Farmers- Mid Century
Liberty Mutual
MERCURY INSURANCE
Progressive
Quincy Mutual*** East Coast so wont help you.
SAFECO
Travelers
Unigard
USAA

 

[jerry33]

I'm 27. Forgot to mention that. Probably a large contributing factor. GEICO quoted me 900 a month. Still seems outrageous. My delivery date is soon, so might just have to suck it up and pay some crazy amount. I've saved an invested every penny I've made since I was 16 and it's kind of weird spending it on something that won't make me money, like a fancy car. I'm kind of freaking out right now. I'm going to try getting quotes for an M5 and some AMG Benz and see how they compare.

Geico charged me an outrageous amount on the VW TDI even though my driving record was perfect, credit rating was very good, and no tickets or accidents. I switched to Progressive after the first time for $800/6 mo less. I'm amazed that people are getting good quotes from Geico.

 

[akula]

Geico charged me an outrageous amount on the VW TDI even though my driving record was perfect, credit rating was very good, and no tickets or accidents. I switched to Progressive after the first time for $800/6 mo less. I'm amazed that people are getting good quotes from Geico.

I just completed the geico online quote and they are the lowest by far. Iam currently with state farm and pay about $4300 for the year for the 3 cars we own (audi r8, Audi tts convertible, and a range rover to be replaced with my model s) geico just quoted me 2k for the year for all 3 cars (the quote was ran with the model s as the 3rd car not the rangerovrr.)

 

[carrerascott]

My real (not quoted) rate through USAA is $375/6 months ($750/year). P85. Slightly more than our other cars but not much more. That's with a $1,000 deductible and high coverages all around. We do have 4 vehicles insured with them so I'm sure that helps. And no driving teenagers...

 

[rogbmw]

My real (not quoted) rate through USAA is $375/6 months ($750/year). P85. Slightly more than our other cars but not much more. That's with a $1,000 deductible and high coverages all around. We do have 4 vehicles insured with them so I'm sure that helps. And no driving teenagers...

Scott - we too have USAA - $700 a year with $500 deductable.

 

[swegman]

I just switched to Geico, effective 3/14/13. $3900/yr for the performance S, a 2013 Avalon hybrid and a 2005 Prius. That includes a 17 year old son on the policy. Saving over $1000/year compared to my current insurance

 

[Elshout]

Pretty much the same thing happened to me with Mercury which is usually the lowest cost insurer. Finally was able to get a half way decent rate from State Farm. Insurance companies do not like cars they do not understand.

 

[deonb]

I initially added the P85 to my Progressive policy online. They weren't able to resolve the VIN number at first, so I just selected "Model S".

After reading the comments on here with most P85 rates over $1000, I was concerned that the rate I received ($654/6 months with 250/500/100 and $250 deductible - $0 glass) was on the low side for a P85 and it was maybe for a MS40, which is half the value.

I emailed them to check - Progressive double checked the VIN and even updated the policy description to now read Model S P85. Rate stayed the same at $654. WA state.

 

[trils0n]

Ouch! So you are young, have a prior accident, and i'd bet by the quotes you are getting that you live in the city. Here are some companies I know insure a Model S. Some are direct and some are thru brokers. What brokers have you contacted?
21ST CENTURY
AAA
Allied
California Capital
CSAA*** this is our nor cal AAA
Encompass
Farmers- Mid Century
Liberty Mutual
MERCURY INSURANCE
Progressive
Quincy Mutual*** East Coast so wont help you.
SAFECO
Travelers
Unigard
USAA

I actually live in East Palo Alto, right on the border of Palo Alto. Don't know if that's better or worse for rates than the city. Contacted most everyone on that list. Liberty Mutual refused to insure me. Said it was a combination of rare car and accident within the last year. More than half of the companies said they didn't insure the car on my first attempt, so I just called again and got a different person who most of the time was able to help. A few companies told me they would call me back after a few attempts, but I haven't heard anything after following up a few times, so I gave up on them. Ended up going with Progressive. Was able to get my policy down to a more reasonable, but still very high, $360 a month by keeping my current car on the policy and dividing some of my miles between them. I was originally planning on getting rid of the old car, but figured I can use it when I need to visit job sites and don't want to risk the low profile tires of the Tesla.

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

@trils0n, the East Palo Alto part may be a big factor whether you live right on the edge of Palo Alto alongside 101 or much further away and closer to say, Bohrmann Steel on Pulgas. For better or for worse, the city still has a bad rep and prohibitively high insurance on an expensive car for a young (single?) person can be expected.

That said, if you are interested, PM me and I can give you my Liberty Mutual agent's contact info. He's in Walnut Creek but, can do everything over the phone and/or by email. I've had an excellent run with him and got a great rate ($1,100 per year with a $500 collision deductible) for my Model S. and, I live in Newark just across the bay from East Palo Alto.

 

[trils0n]

@gg_got_a_tesla Thanks for the offer, I appreciate it. I bought my insurance yesterday, and picked up the car today at the factory. I couldn't be more thrilled with the car -- it totally alleviates the sour feeling higher than expected insurance caused.

 

[cybergamefan]

Ouch! So you are young, have a prior accident, and i'd bet by the quotes you are getting that you live in the city. Here are some companies I know insure a Model S. Some are direct and some are thru brokers. What brokers have you contacted?
21ST CENTURY
AAA
Allied
California Capital
CSAA*** this is our nor cal AAA
Encompass
Farmers- Mid Century
Liberty Mutual
MERCURY INSURANCE
Progressive
Quincy Mutual*** East Coast so wont help you.
SAFECO
Travelers
Unigard
USAA

I just called to have the Model S added to my policy with 21st Century, but they apparently do not insure it. Where did you get the information from? I just want to make sure I am not taking to some rep that doesn't know the exact information. Thanks.

 

[Bradleybang]

I underwrite personal umbrellas. I filtered my data to look at "tesla" and associate with the primary auto carrier. I looked back at the data and that was a roadster insured by 21st century. The car is in Thousand Oaks. So it must be an S issue and not state. I would call again and ask to speak to someone who could advise you if/when the S will be added to database.