We have a 2011 MINI Cooper hardtop (not the S version) in our family that is driven mostly by my teenage daughter. Recently, while my daughter was away at school, I changed the policy to make myself the primary driver. I was very surprised that the new premium amount was less than my 2007 Audi A4 even though the MINI was newer and with a presumably higher overall value.

Both vehicles are listed as pleasure vehicles not driven to/from work with the same coverages. I can only figure that the MINI Cooper must be in a much lower rating class than the A4. Very interesting!

 

I was also pleasantly surprised that my new, 2011 Mini Cooper non-s hardtop rate was lower than on my old 2005 Saab 9-2X.

 

Ms B's 'new' '09 MCC is HALF the premium of her '98 323i convertable and about equal to her '02 PT Cruiser.

I hope Farm Bureau got it right.

 

Compact hatchback to luxury sedan makes sense to me.

 

Same here... my premium dropped significantly when I changed to my 06 MCS from my old 04 Audi A4 avant 1.8tq, I'm definitely not complaining.

 

The insurance on a 2003 R50 is lower than the insurance on a 2002 Toyota Corolla. The difference was in the Personal Injury Protection- quite a bit lower on the MINI, presumably due to the 6 airbags vs. 2 in the Corolla. I'd have to dig in our files for the exact dollar amount, but it was noticeable.

Val

 

Want less expensive insurance? If you are 50+ you have to check out AARP Auto/Home Insurance, we're paying $88/mo. for my '08 MINI and my Husbands' '10 Kia Soul, both cars are Fully Covered!!

 

My insurance went up 70% when I went from a Honda to a justa Clubbie. :( My fault for not researching enough!

 

The insurance on my 06 MCSa is actually less than what it was for my 2001 Hyundai Elantra that I replaced, with State Farm.

 

Yeah, my rates went up a bit when I went from a 1990 CRX to a 2012 MINI. Something about the "replacement value" being an order of magnitude greater, most likely.

It wasn't as much as I would have thought, though, which was good. And that is probably because of the lower odds of personal injury in the newer car. And possibly because MINIs are less likely to be owned by teenagers who think it is fun to race each other on public streets.

 

I just picked up my new 2013. I was very surprised. I went from a 2001 Infinity Qx4 175k miles no collision to a 2013 justa (with lotza stuff) $30k $1000 deductible in Arizona. My rates went down by 6.00. Pretty surprised.

 

I went from a 08 Nissan Altima to my 08 Cooper S and my premium is significantly lower! Granted some of my violations happen to fall off at the same time but I was very surprised at what a nice rate I was getting.

 

Newer cars usually have lower rates than older cars for obvious reasons - better safety technology, less mileage, etc. Also, many carriers offer a "new vehicle discount" for brand new cars. Our BMWs all have very low rates, much lower than the VWs we used to drive and even my current MCS. This is both because they're new and because they're BMWs, which for some reason tend to qualify for lower rates.