Madelene from Eugene, Oregon 97401, completed a quote request form. She hadn’t had insurance or a car for two and a half years. The vehicle identification number she submitted revealed a car with a reconstructed title. The price was astronomical at around $300 a month for liability only. Yes, she had a ticket or two on her record that were about to fall off, but what a shock. I encouraged her to keep looking at other cars. She fed me five more VIN numbers. By the end of the day, we found one that had a clean title, a good maintenance history and came in at $180 a month. The year, make, and model does make a difference in the cost of insurance. Add a rough crash and repair history to it, and you have the ingredients for high insurance prices.
Is it a conspiracy by the car manufacturers to get old cars off the highway? At first, that’s what I thought when auto insurance companies implemented this system of charging more for branded or totaled vehicles. After seeing what happened in three cases where clients suffered a total loss with little to no injury, kept the salvage and fixed the car, then got in a second crash almost in the same place, I was convinced the insurance companies did have a reason to charge more. Those three cases landed the clients and their families in the hospital with serious injuries. The first time, the cars had done their job to dampen the impact, but the second time, the crumple zone technology had already been spent and failed to protect the passengers. The insurers had to pay out tens of thousands of dollars for the injuries in those cases.
You ought to call me before you buy a brand new car. No, it wouldn’t have an accident history, but the same thing applies. Cars are crash tested before being sold. The agencies tabulate the safety statistics for each model and publish their findings. Insurance companies have only those reports to establish the rates until a history of actual injury reports can be obtained. I find the same variation of rates among new cars.
When you go shopping for a new or used car, please text or call me at 503-693-2852. I’ll be happy to quote as many vehicles as necessary until we find a good one. It’s not just the cost; it’s your safety.