[GTIspirit]

Who has had their ZX3 insurance increase dramatically since late 2002? I've seen prior discussions of insurance increases, but I want some details that weren't there.

Specifically, my 2001 ZX3 premium increased 27% for this policy renewal.

I have had a perfect driving record, no claims, and perfect payment history for years so it's nothing I did.

I called my insurance company and did some checking, what I turned up is very interesting. It seems that when my 2001 ZX3 was first rated it was given an ISO (Insurance Services Office) Symbol rating of 10. It's now rated 15! It was also originally given a VSR (Vehicle Series Rating scale of 1-3) of 2 and now it's a 3 due to increased collision, occupant injury, and repair costs, higher than initially estimated. Point is, increases in these ratings bump up PIP, comprehensive, and collision, in my case by 26%, 65% and 27%!

So I did some online quotes with AAA and Progressive and their comprehensive and collision quotes were on par with my old levels. Why? Are they really that much cheaper than USAA in Michigan, or has AAA and Progressive not yet updated their quote system with the new ratings? (I.e. bait and switch.)

Does anyone else know how other insurance companies rate vehicles? Do they all use this ISO Symbol and VSR or do others use something else? What ratings do you have on your Foci? As a reference, my 1984 GTI has a ISO Symbol of 11, better than my 2001 ZX3!

What do you know of this ISO Symbol rating? Does this mean my '84 GTI is rated as safer than my Focus?????

[ 04-11-2003, 05:35 PM: Message edited by: GTIspirit ]

 

[Pzevinside]

Nope.

 

[nick]

Mine went from 215 a month to 130!

 

[Hamish]

USAA is just screwing everyone with a focus.

My wife's and mine insurrance sky-rocketed on renewal (my zx3 went up from 700 to 1100 every 6 monthes). dump them like I did. They did great by me until the unreal rate hike. just not worth the money

 

[GTIspirit]

Originally posted by Hamish:
USAA is just screwing everyone with a focus.

My wife's and mine insurrance sky-rocketed on renewal (my zx3 went up from 700 to 1100 every 6 monthes). dump them like I did. They did great by me until the unreal rate hike. just not worth the money

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Elaborate please..... I'll file a complaint with them if this is the case. Who else has had this experience with USAA and their Focus, and what are the results after you've switched?

And did the insurer you switched to increase your Focus premiums after 6 months, or did they remain steady?

HLDI Injury, Collision, & Theft Losses, September 2002 report 1999-2001 models
HLDI Injury, Collision, & Theft Losses, September 2001 report 1998-2000 models

In both cases the 2Dr Focus rates better than most in its class.

Furthermore, NHTSA had this to say here:
NHTSA Comparison of Differences in Insurance Costs....

Although many insurance companies use the HLDI information to adjust the "base rate" for the collision portion of their insurance premiums, the amount of any such adjustment is usually small. It is unlikely that your total premium will vary more than ten percent depending upon the collision loss experience of a particular vehicle.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">So perhaps USAA uses these ISO ratings and others use the HLDI ratings, hence the difference? What I'm afraid of is switching to someone else who quotes something at the level I expect and then find out in 6 months that that was a mistake and it increases to the level USAA is currently quoting for my policy renewal.

 

[David Anderson]

my zx2 went down, gf zx3 went from 167 to 66 a month

 

[c-grimmace]

Originally posted by GTIspirit:
Who has had their ZX3 insurance increase dramatically since late 2002? I've seen prior discussions of insurance increases, but I want some details that weren't there.

Specifically, my 2001 ZX3 premium increased 27% for this policy renewal.

I have had a perfect driving record, no claims, and perfect payment history for years so it's nothing I did.

I called my insurance company and did some checking, what I turned up is very interesting. It seems that when my 2001 ZX3 was first rated it was given an ISO (Insurance Services Office) Symbol rating of 10. It's now rated 15! It was also originally given a VSR (Vehicle Series Rating scale of 1-3) of 2 and now it's a 3 due to increased collision, occupant injury, and repair costs, higher than initially estimated. Point is, increases in these ratings bump up PIP, comprehensive, and collision, in my case by 26%, 65% and 27%!

So I did some online quotes with AAA and Progressive and their comprehensive and collision quotes were on par with my old levels. Why? Are they really that much cheaper than USAA in Michigan, or has AAA and Progressive not yet updated their quote system with the new ratings? (I.e. bait and switch.)

Does anyone else know how other insurance companies rate vehicles? Do they all use this ISO Symbol and VSR or do others use something else? What ratings do you have on your Foci? As a reference, my 1984 GTI has a ISO Symbol of 11, better than my 2001 ZX3!

What do you know of this ISO Symbol rating? Does this mean my '84 GTI is rated as safer than my Focus?????

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Part of the answer to your question is the fact that you live in MI. MI is a no-fault state when it comes to auto insurance. I know this because when I moved there at age 16 with my parents they were pissed because their rates went up, by just moving there. They had the same carrier(state farm) and the same vehicles. When my dad asked a family friend who works for state farm here in cali, that is what she told them. So if you want to reduce your rates, then maybe you should think about moving. I did(for other reasons though).

Hope this helps you a little.

 

[01sportwagon]

My car insurance went up 17% (Alstate)

My Home insurance went up 20% (Alstate)

My Medical insurance went up ~10% (Work changed program - not HMO)

It is just the sign of the times. I asked about the home insurance and was told it was due to the mold cases latly. Rather then going after the construction company that did a crapy job and caused the water leak, they go after the customer. I don't get it.

I am looking for another Insurance compnay, but they are all the same... It is just a matter of time before the next one turns on you.

 

[Egz]

My car insurance with Geico (Yes, I know, but they are the cheapest for me), is the same as it was a year ago.

 

[Engien]

Mine went down $300 for the year and I had an accident claim this year too.

 

[MichaelXi]

I'll call "Bait and Switch"....

 

[blueovaldave]

I am with State Farm in Maryland and mine went up on the last renewal also. I own 2 Foci and an F-250 and both Foci went up. Only reason given was a reclassification of vehicle.

 

[Ashley D.]

My insurance on my ZX3 is only $10 more then what it was on my 01' 2 door Stratus (from $539 to $549) and I have State Farm

Well, actually, it includes my mom's name and they still think I live at home which they have a multi-car discount. And plus I took the Steer Clear program which took almost one-hundred dollars off of what I was paying. Then when I turned 21 last year, it went down $180!

 

[GTIspirit]

Originally posted by blueovaldave:
I am with State Farm in Maryland and mine went up on the last renewal also. I own 2 Foci and an F-250 and both Foci went up. Only reason given was a reclassification of vehicle.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">But how much did yours go up, less than 10% or more like 25%? That's exactly what I was told, reclassification/re-rating. The ISO Symbol rating went from a 10 to a 15 and the VSR from 2 to 3. Something about statistically more expensive claims, injury and collision repairs, than originally expected. But 3 years after the vehicle was on the market, come on. If other peoples' have remained steady, even dropping, I would guess that USAA uses a different rating scheme than other insurers, and the rating used by those other insurers has NOT gone up.

That's why I want to hear whose has gone up or not since late fall 2002, and why.

[ 04-12-2003, 05:46 PM: Message edited by: GTIspirit ]

 

[BlueZig]

usaa wanted to up my insurance premium by 1000 dollars! I had one accident with my focus and it went up fifty bucks a month but, that i understood. Usaa called me to tell me this two months before my policy was up, and told me they changed high risk carriers.

 

[REVSWIN]

State Farm here...

Insurance when I first bought my ZX3 in Oct. 2001 was $68 month. Now after 3 or 4 rate increases it is $98 a month as of last week. Previous to last week it was $91 a month. I have a perfect record too.

 

[TaCman2001]

they are now viewing all 2000+ 3 door zetech modles to me "sport compact" insted of compact thats because of the incress in high speed acsident clames invoving modified foci.....

 

[fokuzsport]

allstate all the way...

im 20 and i have 2 brand new cars, zx3 and protege5 and im paying 200 full coverage with everything towing and rental and all a month

 

[SilverSVT]

Well no ZX3 here but I'm currently paying the same amount of money on my SVT that I was paying on my 1998 Mustang GT that I had when I was 24 yrs old back in 1997...what a ****ing rip.

 

[ZX3guy182]

mine went up 5 dollars this last time, but its overall gone down since last year.