How are insurance companies rating the Minis? Do they differentiate for the Mini S? I was given a $1445 a year estimate by my company, which is about $300 more than I am paying for my 1999 Honda Odyssey with $250 collision deductable. I was told it is a "class 15" car.

 

dshoe,
Welcome to the site....
Insurance sounds about right with what I've been quoted.
I asked my agent two days ago what I would be looking at....
The reply.... about 84.00 a year cheaper than my Honda Prelude!
or about 1200.00 a year.
Depending on your age and driving history.... you should be able to come down a bit from what you were quoted. After all... I'm 25/M with a not so perfect driving history.... just a few tickets. Course those were over 4 years ago.
Hope this helps.
Again welcome.
SW

 

Note: the above was based on a Cooper S..... I wonder what they would do with the 200hp mod.... hmmm...
SW

 

I asked my Insurance lady - State Farm to give me a quote a month ago and she came back with $18000/year for an S in SoCal. That was before the MSRP's were released so I need to go back and ask her again for the Cooper and the S.

The guy at the dealership in socal -- crevier said that the insurance is based of the MSRP -- so I'd think it wouldn't be that much since it's a lower priced car.

I'm not sure about the 'class 15' or even what that is. I'm going to call several companies and I'll post what I find.

I'm female 32 no tickets.

 

I think its really tough gauging by others' quotes on insurance what yours will be, there are just so many factors involved... age, sex, driving record, where you live, your insurance company and a million other things.

Just to throw out another number. I'm a 26 male with only one accident on my record when I was 17 and no tickets. My insurance company USAA quoted me $1100 a year on the MINI Cooper S if I financed it and got full coverage on the car.

 

Well I am 22, female, married, no accidents, no tickets, and I was quoted $450 for every 6 months, about 900 a year..

 

Insurance does depend on so many factors.
I traded in a 9 year old Acura Integra and my insurance went up 24% with new Mini.
Back in 93 when buying the Integra and sold an 8 yr old Honda Accord, my insurance went up 66% - since the Integra is a sports coupe.
Overall I can not complain. I used to live in LA until 1991 and now live in CT.
My insurance now on a brand new car is still less than what I paid in 1991 for a 6 year old car.

 

dshoe, I remember reading an article on MSN about a week ago, and they listed the Odyssey as one of the top 10 cars with lowest insurance rates. So, there's the reason for your increase, as well as the Mini being 3 years newer.
Right now I've got a sports car, and I am pretty sure the insurance companies will not classify the Cooper as "sports", even with the S. I'm betting my insurance will go down from $2308!
Us kids get raped by the insurance companies. I've shopped around and went with the cheapest place, with high deductibles to lower my yearly rate. And it's still $2308 for a 19 year old male! While I'm on the subject, I think female teens should have higher rates than males (currently it's the other way around). Around here, 4 out of 5 girls I see on the road are talking into their cell phone, and I heard on the radio a few weeks ago that lately they've been at fault for more accidents than guys.
Please note, I'm not being sexist. I just think it's unfair that these companies charge differently for males and females - something you have absolutely no control over, save for a sex change! The rate SHOULD be the same, but if they're going to make it higher for one sex than the other, the girls should get the larger bill.

_________________
~~Dave~~

Owns: atlantic blue 2000 Ford Mustang v6 w/ Flowmaster dual exhaust and a stereo better than yours

Deposit On: Indi Blue Cooper S w/ all options except GPS & pointless parking sensor

 

I must be getting the best deal around just paid my insurance agent $529 for a year for coverage on my S. I am 43 with a perfect driving record, also have 3 other vehicles covered with the company. Oh, and I also went with a $1000 deductible which helps quite a bit in reducing costs. I look at it like I'm just self insuring the first $1000.

 

I also have State Farm, was quoted $700 a year, which surprised me since I have an SUV and a house insured thru them.....that is for SE Virginia. Right now I drive a 99 Eclipse and it has gone up $36 every 6 months for the MINI

 

Dshoe,

Like other views noted here, rates depend on your situation and how friendly you are with your agent. I'm in So. Cal, drive tons of miles, and have been with Allstate for over 17 years. I am 40, male, married and have my house, life, umbrella and 3 cars (MCS, '01 ML320, '99 528) covered by them. My wife and I have the top good driver discounts. Mini costs me around $900.00 per year. That will increase in December when my twin girls get their licenses by $1400.00 per year ($700.00 each). This compares to the $1500.00 per 6 mo's my '98 Mitsu Montero Sport used to cost.

Again, here in So. Cal, these are very good rates. The probably suck elsewhere in this great land of ours, though.

Happy Motoring to you. Here's hoping you never need to cash in on that policy

 

I would try some internet companies like http://www.progressive.com & http://www.insweb.com which can search a bunch of insurance companies at the same time and give you the best quote. I ended up with http://www.unitrindirect.com with multi-car discount and $250 deductible for $800 a year. Of course I have a spotless driving record and over 25 years old discounts too. :smile:

 

Um most people here are very lucky i'm getting 3,000 a year for insurance because i'm 18 and male. and thats with the good student discount!

 

I'm insured with AARP/The Hartford....when I traded the Cooper for the S my yearly rate went up $3.00. I didn't complain and I don't wanna hear any AARP jokes

 

I asked my insurance agent, and the MCS is going to cost about the same to insure as our 1999 Subaru Outback Sedan ($350 for 6 months). Of course, we have our house insurance through the same company.