I can't put into words what i've learned in this forum in 2 days. There is an unbelievable amount of info here. Great site .

Here's what we have decided to go with: Cooper S, Pure Silver for me, my buddy is still deciding. Sport suspension, DSC, Auto headlamps, limited slip, 6spd manual, center arm rest, jwc gear shift indicator. All in all bottom line with dest & handling is $ 24,455. Of course the 16' wheels will be replaced by some lite weight wheels as well as tires. We were messing with different combos and looks like we can shave anywhere from 15-19 lbs of unsprung weight per corner. That is a huge savings. We found a thread from tirerack which has a great wealth of info.

As far as insurance...Allstate thru which i have two other cars has quoted me $900 per six months in WPB florida. Clean record, over 35 yrs of age. I will do some shopping around, but i would like to hear your comments.

Well...off to the dealer later today to put in our orders as i don't think they will have one ready made as we described.

 

I think I have cheaper insurance through AAA. I'll have to find the exact numbers. I know how good AAA is with claims, which is the most important thing.

Welcome to NAM!

 

$900 for six months?

We are with Allstate also, but in VA. We also have the 2007 GT500 Shelby Cobra, and now the Mini. The GT500 was only $400. We are both, slightly over 40, but . We both have spotless records, thus far.

I'd call again and ask for a reason. Try a different agent if need be.

 

$900 doesn't sound too bad for 3 cars, but I am in Los Angeles, insurance rate is like the highest in the nation. Before the Mini, I have 3 cars with my insurance and my rate was about $1000 for 6 months. I just called yesterday to add the Mini and was told that it would add about another $280 to that. Insurance rate varies a lot by area, so you probably should check with other people from near you.

 

I thought he meant $900 for all 3 cars, if it is $900 just for the Mini, it would be a horrible rate!

 

I took it that the $900 was for the Mini alone, but it's mentioned that they have other cars.

 

Sorry about the mix up. The $900/six months was for the Mini only.

 

I wish my rate was that low. 23 year old male in Baltimore City. Perfect record. $1500 every 6 months. All the other major companies are the same or higher.

 

Insurance is rated very differently by where you live, even one street can make a difference. I use USAA and pay around $340 every six months. They upped my rate $4 a year after my major wreck in my MCS a few years ago.

 

I feel your pain... I live in the South Bay. $900 for 3 cars is cheep.

 

The MINI costs more to insure than the BMW Z series cars. I know, my insurace agent couldnt find MINI on their records, so billed us for the BMW rate. Then they somehow "found" the MINI, and shockingly the rate went up. My car costs around 650.00 a year for full coverage. Clean records for both me and my husband. Hes in his mid 40's, and I'm still 30-something. We have the multi-car discount, and live in the middle of farm country, where it is more common to have backhoes and tractors stolen than cars.

 

That is definetely on the high side, specially since you are over 35 and clean record.

We changed companies a couple of months ago because of this same reason, between my Cooper and my wife's Cayenne; we were paying $1440.00 / 6 months. We are both over 30 and clean records.

Now, we are paying $950.00/ 6 months on both cars; and this is having the same dedutibles and Limits (full coverage).

 

You people are just too young :-) I'm an old guy ( well, not real old ) living in the mountains of central PA and my Mini costs me $ 210 for 6 months.

 

There are some perks with gaining a little more............wisdom

 

I don't think $900 for 6 months is reasonable anywhere in the US when you are 35 and have a clean record. Do you have your driver license for at least 5 years? Or maybe there is some special terms in the policy like $0 deductable and free rental during repair, etc...

I think the real reason Allstate is so expansive is because they got David Palmer as the spoke person!

 

welcome to NAM!!

 

Very well said. Well... at least the first paragraph.

Regarless of your territory rating, that is a whoooole lot of premium for someone who is not a youthful-rated class code.

If you're not carring full coverage on your comp AND collision and liability limits of $1M/1M/1M, then you're paying too much. Shop around.

 

For a 2006 MCS cabrio, with $250 collision deductible, $100 comprehensive deductible, and 100k/300k/100k coverage limits, I'm paying $342 every six months with State Farm in Virginia. I'm 37 and married, with tickets for an illegal left turn and speeding (72 in a 55) in the past 12 months (neither one of which raised my rates).

It helps that I'm insuring five vehicles and my house with them, and that on paper, I've been with State Farm since I was two years old!.

 

I never did underwriting for Virginia, Scott. But in most states, moving violations won't raise your rates. But 3 of them in a 3 year period can and will get you canceled.

Not sure about Virginia, but you might want to ask your agent. And no, asking the underwriting rules is not going to raise suspicion and cause State Farm to review your Motor Vehicle Record.

 

That depends upon your company. Ours, the first one is free. Second and subsequent ones go up. Three does not necessarily mean cancel, they just get more money out of you. Depends upon company policy.

 

I'm not worried about them reviewing my record - I called my agent and told him about both tickets when I got them.

I have a "guaranteed renewal" clause in my contract that basically says that as long as I pay my premiums, they can't cancel my coverage. Of course, I realize that they could still raise my rates to some astronomical amount that would basically force me to cancel the coverage myself, but it's still nice to have the clause.

And since I've been a client for 35 years (at least on paper), they pretty much treat me like gold - low rates, quick and overly-generous with paying out claims, etcetera etcetera. I know that since I'm in the military, I might be about to get better rates with USAA, but I wouldn't trade the relationship I've built with State Farm for just about any amount of savings on my premiums.

 

Thank you all for replying. Did find a lower quote with Progressive $466/six months.

Going to finalize deal tomorrow, but i'm looking at 6-8 weeks, which brings us into the 2008 MY. we should just order a pair of 2008's.

Too bad we can't find a pair with the exact options we want already on a lot, but i guess that's what buying a Mini is all about-no 2 mini's are alike.

 

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh... Virginia is a "GRP" state (Guaranteed Renewable Policy). That's a sweet thing for policyholders like you. Not so sweet for the company. We've done away with GRP in most states, but those who have it, we can't remove it. So you've nothing to worry about, except for the possibility of higher rates, like you say. Of course, if we have reason to raise your rates, you're likely to have problems finding a better rate elsewhere.

Anyway, we do love our long-term policyholders. Not only do you get things like GRP and accident forgiveness, but when there's an underwriting decision to be made (driver exclusions, cancelations), we will always give them (you) the benefit of the doubt and bend over backwards to help you.

Thanks for staying with the Good Neighbors, Scott.