What car do you drive? - Page 18

Eeek. I think my M Coupe costs me about 600 USD a YEAR. But I do know that a lot of people with poor records can have astronomical insurance here in the States. Funny thing is, when I got the insurance on the car, I got a letter stating that were it not for my history with the company and valued business, they would not insure the car. Also, on the policy the"Type" of car is listed as, I swear, in caps "HOT." Hilarious. Made me think of this clip, which is pretty horrifying on a number of levels. http://www.streetfire.net/video/fath...sh_2059969.htm ~ H

Hi, I have two cars, a 2001 BMW X5 3.0, and a 2008 Toyota FJ Cruiser. Would love to trade in the X5 for a 2008 X5, 4.8 but I'm afraid to expend over 45,000.00 on an automobile. Actually I believe clothes and a fine automobile are all a part of being well dressed. But I live in LA, and I really think that's a California thing.

Yeah I basically pulled a number out of my ass, but I currently drive a 1.9L Petrol car valued at approx £3k. My insurance is currently £500 per year which is considered cheap by my friends. When I first got the car (and I had zero years no-claims) its was £2,950 to insure which was a joke. It would have been cheaper to buy a new car with every crash than to claim on the insurance.

Yeeeeoooowwch. Forgive my ignorance, but I wonder why its SO HIGH? To keep kids off the road / discourage risky driving? I find it hard to believe the accident rate is so much higher in the UK, perhaps the issue is the smaller risk pool. ~ H

I actually don't know, but I suspect it has something to do with the way everything is worked out (I assume you're comparing to the US?). To start with we insure the driver, not the car. As a result some guy who has just passed his test is something like 75% sure of crashing within 24 months. Women are safer, my sister pays approximately half what I do on the same car/age/vehicle. No Claims Bonus also plays a role; once you have about 4 years without making an insurance claim you get up to 70% off the total price. A £1000 policy comes down to £300 which is more reasonable. Pair that with the high traffic density in the UK, massively fluctuating weather conditions (You are never more than 3 hours drive from snow in England, even in summer), higher speed limits, narrower lanes and a general precedent for fucking over drivers I guess we are a target. The worst is for a Young Male, Student, 1 year since passing his Test, 1 years no claims. The agencies basically assume that you're a frat boy who spends 99% of his time drunk or high and who drives at 120mph in town.

Insurance is about the same everywhere, except that the US differs from Europe in the fact that rarity would cost you more in the US, whereas it can sometimes cost you less in Europe, as you said. In the US they'd charge you for the risk incurred on a rare car that would be expensive to repair/replace.

For example, you could buy one of those turnkey hi-po builder cars (Alpina BMW, Brabus MB, etc) and in Europe the insurance would cost less due to rarity/risk of being stolen I guess. In America, good luck having one of those cars, they would probably be defined as exotics.

FWIW 20,000GBP is insane for an Audi, any Audi, maybe barring a V10 R8 or something. When I was in high school, with a bad driving record (two totals on cheap cars within a year and some speeding tickets) I won some scholarships to college that added up to a full ride, and so my dad told me I could use some of what was going to be my college funds to buy a car I wanted, we'd made that deal quite a while back, despite my driving record previously. For shits and giggles, I got insurance quotes on a lot of cars; needless to say, many insurance companies would not insure me unless it was a mundane compact or something, but I did get quotes on things like Supra turbos, old air cooled 911's, NSX's, BMW M cars, etc - most of those were gonna be $5-10K, I think the Porsche was gonna be $12K/year, given my awful driving record and the fact I was 18. Ended up getting a BMW 540i, and insurance was less than a Civic (this was when Civics were about guaranteed to be stolen from you)...

I had a friend in college who had a Supra turbo; I don't remember what his insurance was but it was in that $5-10K range as well, he was 19 or something. He also had a bad driving record, and had totaled a new Lexus before for a large claim (like $40-50K)...

so.... $30,000USD/year for an RS5 sounds pretty high to me :P

Sure, for the RS5 alone, that's high, no doubt about it, but for both an RS5 and the A8L it's not too bad.

Too bad the insurance is for the driver. We're lucky enough to insure the car here in Norway, so it's common to add your parents as the owners of the car, insure it on them and then add yourself as an additional driver. You're easily looking at 75% in savings each year.

'10 merc ml63

I drive an 09 Accord, which I have been unimpressed by since my lease began.

i drive margiela shoes. you see, they are so comfortably walking is like flying

not sure which of us is a bigger sucker.

I drive a 2006 Mitsubishi Colt Ralliart (http://www.dvg.com.au/images/newimag...liartcolt1.jpg) and a Daihatsu Sirion GTVi (http://liveimages.redbook.com.au/car...aspect=Default) ... both such fun cars. The Colt is way more capable, but there's something charming about the little Daihatsu.

He is: Margiela shoes have terrible arch support.

^ my gats are incredibly comfortable not sure what you talking about ? i waste what would be downpayment, insurance, gas, maintenance, lease+interest(??/!!) on overpriced clothing instead. if i get a vespa, i will certainly take that title away from you. by the way did you see the ninja edit or are we so alike in thought?