shugaluv34

Greetings everyone. Just wanted to do my part to help clear up some of the confusion regarding insurance in general, and also with specific regard to the RX-8. Being that I am State Farm Agent, I thought I might be able to offer a bit of inside insight and advice on this often nebulous issue.

Many people have posted on prior insurance threads, doing their best to help all of us get an idea of what insurance will run for the RX-8 by simply disclosing quotes they have received from one, or multiple, companies. As you may have noticed, the insurance quotes that have been posted vary wildly, and thusly fail to offer much of a guidline for anyone else on this site. This should come as no surprise for a number of reasons.

First and foremost, the nature of insurance is such that rates are determined based on a great number of individual and interrelated factors. While the make/model of a vehicle is certainly a major factor in ther determinatin of insurance premium, it is by no means the only thing taken into consideration. Equally, or even more important, are demographic factors such as age, location, driving record, claim history, frequency of use, etc. This being the case, it is entirely possible (i.e. I see it all the time) for someone driving a Pinto to pay twice as much for insurance as someone driving a brand new Bimmer--simply based on these demographic factors.

Further complicating the rating issue are both intra-company and inter-company differences. This is to say that in addition to make/model and demographic factors (as briefly touched on above), there are factors both within insurance companies and between different insurance companies that contribute to rate variations. Within a particular company, this can be seen in various discounts and credits that are offered/given to clients for a great variety of reasons (having another line of insurance with the company, tenure with the company, driver's training programs, etc.). Between companies, factors such as financial strength and performance, as well as risk tolerance can also create major differences in rates.

Finally, when looking at insurance rates specifically for the RX-8 (and other cars that aren't yet on the road), quotes will vary even more widely as actuarials (those trolls who slave away in their dark caves, punching numbers to determine rates for all of the aforementioned factors--make/model, age, etc.) have not yet determined final rates, and have not entered the vehicle into the computer database for computing premiums. In this interim period before final rates are set for the RX-8 (make/model), agents can only give very tentative quotes (mainly based on ther MSRP of the vehicle) that don't contemplate every factor that will be contemplated in the final rate determined by actuaries.

Enough rambling. I hope I was able to help, and not harm, with what I have written. BOTTOM LINE: If you want to get a general idea for what insurance costs will be for you as a future owner of an RX-8, DON'T base your notion on what other people say they have been quoted at. INSTEAD call and Agent and ask for a quote that takes into consideration the factors I have mentioned above that are likely unique to you. That is the only way to get a generally accurate idea of what you will be paying. If you want a general guidline for what it will cost insurance wise to own a RX-8, think rates for Infiniti G-35, Lexus IS 300, Nissan 350Z. It will likely be close to rates for these vehicles.

Again, hope this helps. This is my first time posting, so be gentle. Thanks to everyone for such an amazing site. I check it out everyday, and have learned volumes. The RX-8 is definitely lustworthy...and I am lusting.

Elara

Thanks for the great post, Shugaluv- it's always nice to have a clarification by someone who actually knows what they're talkling about on these things. As you noted, the quotes everyone was getting were all over the board.

And for everyone else- I was checking my banking/insurance company last night, and it looks like they've finally got the RX-8 listed in their system. I'm going to call them today and find out what my insurance rates are going to be- I'll let you know.

P.D.U

shugaluv34,

Thanks for the insurance industry info. I agree that the ONLY way to find out how much insurance is going to cost you is to request a quote yourself.

I think there is often another factor that comes into play in the insurance premium equation. That is the quantity on any one model of car that an insurance company has on their books.

For example, all other factors being equal, if Insurance Company A has 5 RX-8s on their books and Insurance Company B has 25 RX-8s on their books, then B will be able to give a lower insurance premium quote to the driver.

This is because some insurance companies balance the risk of making payments against the number of any model of car they insure. In the example above, Insurer B has a much lower risk of making an overall loss on repair payments for the RX-8s on it's books because it has about 5 times the revenue from the premiums of the 25 drivers compared to the revenue for Insurer A. If the risk is lower for a company then this can be passed on to the customer in the form of a lower insurance premium. It's straight forward risk analysis.

That is why it will probably be better for some of the forthcoming RX-8 owners amongst us to avoid the 'household name' insurers when getting quotes. These big insurers tend to carry a fleet of more common models of cars whereas a specialist sports and prestige car insurer may have either a few RX-8s or will have cover from their underwriter that is more aligned to the costs associated with repairing prestige cars. Either way, the specialist insurer is likely to be able to provide lower premiums.

The bottom line.........shop around for the best prices and don't be shy of the small specialist insurers.