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>This may not be terribly different than a German luxury make you could be cross shopping in the price range, but it’s something to bear in mind. Definitely se
by Hamuko 6y ago
>This may not be terribly different than a German luxury make you could be cross shopping in the price range, but it’s something to bear in mind.
Definitely seems higher. I just checked the price for insuring a 2019 Mercedes-Benz E-Class (hybrid). It was 1350 €/year or 2100 €/year if I choose the premium coverage options. For a 2019 Tesla Model 3, the same prices were 2030 €/year and 2670 €/year.
2019 Tesla Model S was even worse at 2400 €/year and 3260 €/year. Model S is definitely more expensive than an E-Class, so I also compared to a 2019 Mercedes-Benz S-Class (hybrid), which was about 16,000 € more expensive to buy than the Model S. Got 1920 €/year and 3060 €/year.
(Premium coverage options were parking coverage, glass insurance, better write-off compensation and temp car coverage.)
- njarboe 6y agoTesla has their own insurance product[1] to try and lower what they think are inflated insurance costs on their cars. I don't know if they actually do offer better prices. It would be interesting to know. [1]https://www.tesla.com/insurance https://www.tesla.com/insurance
- Hamuko 6y agoI imagine that's only available in the US. The page is in English and there's only an American phone number even when switching to the local Tesla site.
- njarboe 6y agoIt say only California at the moment. They say they are expanding to other US states. If it catches on I imagine they will continue to expand it if its not illegal in other places.
- natch 6y agoWay better prices. Saving about $3000 a year on two cars compared to Geico. But only available in the US for now as you may be aware.
- matthewdgreen 6y agoOnly available in California, according to their website, which means it effectively does not exist. This is a product that’s been “coming soon” to the rest of the US since April 2019. Unless you live in CA you should include the high insurance costs into your estimate of TCO for a Tesla and treat “Tesla insurance” as a PR stunt.
- bumby 6y agoHas Tesla indicated why they believe their insurance rates are inflated?
- natch 6y agoI vaguely recall (could be wrong) Elon said the other companies are not adequately taking into account Tesla safety features. Possibly including the cameras I mentioned. They do take the safety features into account, but notice I said “adequately.” Whether Elon actually said it or not, I think it’s a good hypothesis.
- throwawayboise 6y agoI think it's much more likely that insurance companies have the long-developed expertise to assess the risks and actual claims experience of insuring whatever it is they insure. It's the primary thing that allows them to earn a profit. And so if they all think that Teslas are higher risks, they are probably right.
- Ekaros 6y agoAlso there might be real numbers on the costs. Like cost of repairs and during unavailability period cost of rental vehicle if such coverage is included. Specially later I have understood has at times been issue. So if you need to pay your customer to have rental vehicle for weeks or months while car is waiting for parts at shop it does have an effect on premiums. And it absolutely should.
- natch 6y agoBut that hypothesis doesn't explain the large price difference between the companies, which in both cases are underwritten by other companies with long-developed expertise. It could also be that Tesla is just willing to take a smaller profit out of the business, relative to others.
- diebeforei485 6y agoOr, they think Tesla owners can afford to pay more. Why is Tesla able to undercut them with their own insurance product?
- gambiting 6y agoThose are.....insane insurance prices? Which country is this for? What kind of driver? I got a new Volvo XC60 T8 last year(400bhp, £60k car), my fully comprehensive insurance as a 29 year old is...£400 a year. With their highest tier premium insurance option, with premium courtesy car, full EU cover, glass cover, full legal cover, 20 million euro liability cover....etc, full package basically. Before that I had a Mercedes GLA45 AMG and my insurance was marginally more expensive, like £500 a year. I can't believe any of the cars you listed would be more to insure than these two....so what gives? Why is it so expensive?
- Hamuko 6y agoThey're the quotes that I'm getting from my insurance company's website. For context, I am 27, live in Finland and don't have full bonuses. Granted, the online prices usually suck compared to what you can get once you call (or get called by) an agent. If I tried buying my current insurance for my car it's giving me 1100 €/year whereas my actual price is 940 €/year. A 2015 Mercedes-Benz GLA45 (49,000 €) would cost me 1380 €/year or 2040 €/year with all bells and whistles.
- sgt 6y agoYou should be driving a more suitable car for Finland, like a Lada or a Volvo 240 imported from Sweden.
- yholio 6y agoWhat's this madness of driving a car that you cannot afford to repair out of pocket? I understand paying for mandatory liability insurance, since you might hit a Bugatti Veyron and do damage far surpassing your net worth. But I have no idea why would someone pay 10% of the vehicle cost per year to cover repairs to their own vehicle due to their own driving mistakes. How about... they drive a cheaper vehicle until they learn how to drive?
- Hamuko 6y agoThis is the worst fucking take I've read in a while. >How about... they drive a cheaper vehicle until they learn how to drive? I have insurance against fire, theft, vandalism and parking lot damage. Please do tell me how your awesome driving skills prevent these sorts of damage. I'd also very much like to know how you live your life if you have the money to pay for your car to be repaired out of pocket in case of fire, theft or having a moose come through your windshield.
- pushrax 6y agoThe part about driving skill is definitely just wrong, there are many reasons why cars get damaged. Though I agree that it's way better to drive cars that are cheap enough to repair or replace out of pocket. Insurance companies make money by overpricing the actual risk. And they make a LOT of money. The expected value of an insurance contract is negative to the buyer. Coverage of tail risk (e.g. millions in liability), makes sense since you don't want to get bankrupted, but when there's a capped risk you can tolerate (e.g. value of car), avoiding the insurance statistically saves you money. Insurance companies pay their actuaries very well to guarantee this. Plus, not having to deal with insurance companies makes car repair so much less stressful in my experience...
- caf 6y agoIt's not really a capped risk, because there's nothing stopping your car from being stolen more than once.