In other threads, people are saying the cooper is no more to insure than other new cars in this price range. Is this true?. I have also been reading that the MCS is more to insure. Is this car treated as more of a sports car or higher risk. Are we taking about a few dollars difference or double compared the base MC or than say a new $25,000 Honda Accord. I want to order but I can,t make the decision on the MC or MCS. My fear is that I will regret not getting the S so I need a deal breaker I.E. very high insurance so I will have to pick the MC and be done with it.

Thanks again for all help and opinions. BTH, is pepper white a girls color. I am male and I really like this color, looks clean and the bonus is that the paint is not an upgrade. Win Win

 

Get an estimate from your insurance company. I think most will do that for you. I use 21st Century Insurance. The MCS will cost a little more than my 1990 Acura Integra has.

 

Call your insurance agent.

 

I would definately call your agent with any questions you may have. I know that I have had my MINI just under a year and my insurance has already been reduced due to safe motoring!

 

We started out with a '05 MC and upgraded to a '06 MCS last year and our insurance didn't go up that much for the MCS, can't remember exact $ amount, but if my memory serves me right it only went up about $50. from the MC to the MCS. If you are young then good luck, the hubby and I are in our 40's and have clean driving records

 

I know you're looking for a general answer to that question. But it's only conjecture for anyone to try to answer that question. Some people's rates may go down when they switch to a new car while another person's rates may increase when switching to the same new car.

There's too many variables for us to guess what your rates may be. Call a licensed agent and ask for a quote.

 

Also, different insurance companies will treat the same car differently. Some will say it is an economy car and others may call it a sports car. Shop around.

 

Well... we (the LARGE insurance company I work for) don't classify cars that way. I don't know of any large insurer that does. Instead, we use the Insurance Rating Group (IRG) factor assigned to that vehicle that takes many things into consideration. Some data included in configuring a vehicles IRG: Horsepower rating, number of doors, average cost to repair following collision, etc, etc, etc.

And, by the way, IRG's are standard throughout the industry. They're not variable dependent upon your insurance company.

 

Yes PW is a girls color

 

For what it's worth, I had the same question before I chose what to buy. The difference between a Cooper and an S was only a few dollars.

 

One of my friends calls it the "breast milk" color.

That being said, this male likes it, and gave it some consideration before choosing Lightning Blue.

 

While IRGs are standard, rates are not. I moved to Maryland about a year ago and got several quotes. There was a $600 range for a year policy! When I bought my 2004 MINI S in NJ, my insurance was about $100 less than my 1996 Mazda Protege, but about $200 more than my 2003 Benz C320.

 

I think that's a given. You could call 20 different agents from 20 different companies and get 20 different rates.

 

Switching my insurance to an '06 S from a 2000 Nissan Sentra raised my insurance by only $70 over a six-month period, for what it's worth. I was pleasantly surprised.

 

Just dont make the same mistake in comparing rates as about half the people who have responded in this thread have done......

Dont caompare a 96 mazda or 2000 nissan to the rate on a 2006 mini.....most everyone who scream thier rates went through the roof are comming from an old much lower value car to a brand new one....that is ridiculous. If you call any one agent and compare a 2006 mini, to a 2006 cobalt to a 2006 civic you will find those are all in the same rate class and that there will likely be NO DIFFRENCE in premiums.....other places will be cheaper but again the quote should be pretty much equal when comparing apples to apples not your old rotten shriveled apple with 120k miles to one plucked right off the tree

 

Tis true, definately shop around. I don't even have an R56 yet, and I was narrowing it down between an MCS and a Mustang GT. The Mustang GT's insurance was more per month than the actual car payment! (I'm a single male under 30 though )

The MINI was ALOT less (with a high deductible). I figure if I shop around some though, I can get something even lower. Most people feel obligated to stay with their current company, or go with one of the big name Insurance companies. You only need some massive, highly rated company if you really fear getting into an accident and needing their customer service. I'm a great driver, very cautious, and I'm taking a chance that I won't get into an accident and be the one at fault.

Anyway, shopping around with smaller ins. companies can sometimes yield much lower rates, that's what I plan on doing. Leaves more money to Motor with

EDIT: Oh, btw, I don't consider PW to be a "girl's color". I may get that myself. I was never aware that white was now a woman's-only color...

 

Don't, repeat don't ever buy a car before you check the insurance rate on it. I bought a VW Rabbit cabrio and didn't bother to check the rate. Cost more than my Corvette did. I'll never make that mistake again! I just changed companies after being with it for 36 years. The company I have now only charges liability on me, not on each auto I have. The other company charged me liability on each auto. Nice savings.

 

My point was that the newer MINI was LESS than my older Protege, so that you really can't guess, without getting a quote. Additionally, if you are replacing your car, the point is to determine the insurance impact by comparing what you're old car cost vs. what the new one will cost. I don't buy a car based on what the insurance is, but (among other things) whether I can afford the insurance on the car I want.

 

For my part, I'm not advocating doing an apples-to-oranges comparison of insurance rates. I only mention the increase relative to my 2000 Sentra because I was expecting more--I was also checking out rates for an '06 Acura RSX Type-S and the RSX was much more expensive. In my mind, both are performance-oriented cars and so I was expecting something similar for the MINI. Figuring for the newness of the vehicle, I was surprised that insuring it was relatively on par with my econobox.

 

Get a quote on line. You will have several companies make competitive bids. It's easy and gives you realistic estimates.

 

I live in Northern VA. My R56 MCS is garaged, and driven only about 5000 miles a year. It will cost about $400 a year to insure, roughly the same as my 2002 MINI Cooper (which had fifty less horsepower!) So not hateful at all.

Pepper White could be a girl's or guy's color. (assuming you meant the driver, not the car itself) A Pepper White MINI is probably a girl though, IMHO. Keep in mind, the Italian Job movie had a Pepper White MCS, and it was driven by a guy I think. Charlize Theron drove the red MINI.

 

I searched around for 6-month rates on certain 2007 cars all very close to the same price (separated by no more than $1000). They included the MCS, VW GTI, and Camry XLE V6. These are the corresponding rates: $910, $978, $796.

Keep in mind that I'm under the 25 year old mark where your rates tend to decrease and I only drive 7-8,000 miles per year.

But you can clearly see that the sportiness factor plays a big effect. Also, all of these rates are from the same insurance provider I've had for several years.

 

Your "old" company was doing what every insurance company does... charge you for liability coverage for each vehicle you own. What your new insurance company simply did was sell you a "PLUP" (personal liability umbrella policy"). As long as your state permits that to be your ONLY liability coverage, then your "old" insurance company most likely would have done that as well.

For your sake, if that truly is your only liability coverage, I hope you have at least a $500,000 limit. And if it's an aggregate limit as some PLUPs are, then I hope your limit is at least a million dollars.

 

Picked up my SS/S-TOP this week and am paying Farmers Ins $637.00 every year. ..... I think.

 

My 2007 MCS came in at $2/yr more expensive than our 2004 MC.

The differences in specifics were mostly offsetting.

Bodily Injury and Property Damage Liability greater on the 2004 MC.

Comprehensive and Collision greater on the 2007 MCS

Those completely offset. The difference is that the uninsured motorist greater on the 2007 by $2/yr.