Why are powerful-ish cars expensive to insure?
Discussion
I mean if you're young, stupid, and reckless any small car these days reaches quite a bit over 100mph+. So why would say a Lupo 1.0L be cheap to insure yet a Golf GTI will cost you a bomb?
Way I see it is the golf will get to 100 quicker but in the real world of everyday roads a 1.0L car will do just as much damage as a 2.0L or 3.0 or 4.0L one....?
Way I see it is the golf will get to 100 quicker but in the real world of everyday roads a 1.0L car will do just as much damage as a 2.0L or 3.0 or 4.0L one....?
Eh no brainer?
Surely , if you bin a Lupo , insurance company man will look at the panels and parts that are readily available and then pop his quote in which will be lower than if you bin a Porsche 91168, cayman or whatever.
Plus the ferocity of the crash that you can have with 300 / 400 bhp up your chuff will indeed further your progress through a house, flat , mansion while razzing the ass of it compared to a 1.0 corsa which would possibly bounce of the local night club frontage.
Surely , if you bin a Lupo , insurance company man will look at the panels and parts that are readily available and then pop his quote in which will be lower than if you bin a Porsche 91168, cayman or whatever.
Plus the ferocity of the crash that you can have with 300 / 400 bhp up your chuff will indeed further your progress through a house, flat , mansion while razzing the ass of it compared to a 1.0 corsa which would possibly bounce of the local night club frontage.
It's all down to risk. Insurance companies consider someone who drives a small low-powered car as less of a risk as someone in something more powerful, and this is particularly apparent with youg, inexperienced drivers. It's a lot easier to get things wrong when there's too much power under your right foot and you don't know how to use it properly.
it is less relevant now than it used to be, I'm sure - but there are still things that favour slower cars.
1) generally less high-tech "sporty", i.e. expensive, stuff to replace if it all goes wrong - in your example a written off 1.0L lupo might cost the insurer 3k, whereas a well-specced new GTi can hit 30k
2) there will still be places where the extra speed makes a difference - you still see threads of teenagers/young 20's crashing 172's, M5's etc at speeds a 1.0 couldn't manage. Also, the faster cars are heavier, so more damage to anything they hit
3)psychology. Why would you buy a high performance car and not use that performance? yes, technically a sports car can be driven conservatively, but if you've paid extra for it it's probably because you're going to use it.
1) generally less high-tech "sporty", i.e. expensive, stuff to replace if it all goes wrong - in your example a written off 1.0L lupo might cost the insurer 3k, whereas a well-specced new GTi can hit 30k
2) there will still be places where the extra speed makes a difference - you still see threads of teenagers/young 20's crashing 172's, M5's etc at speeds a 1.0 couldn't manage. Also, the faster cars are heavier, so more damage to anything they hit
3)psychology. Why would you buy a high performance car and not use that performance? yes, technically a sports car can be driven conservatively, but if you've paid extra for it it's probably because you're going to use it.
sat1983 said:
I mean if you're young, stupid, and reckless any small car these days reaches quite a bit over 100mph+. So why would say a Lupo 1.0L be cheap to insure yet a Golf GTI will cost you a bomb?
Way I see it is the golf will get to 100 quicker but in the real world of everyday roads a 1.0L car will do just as much damage as a 2.0L or 3.0 or 4.0L one....?
But generally, if you're young, stupid and reckless, pretty much everything is expensive to insure anyway...Way I see it is the golf will get to 100 quicker but in the real world of everyday roads a 1.0L car will do just as much damage as a 2.0L or 3.0 or 4.0L one....?
sat1983 said:
I'm 27. We drive a Cooper S. I've never been going at more than 78 mph wherever I've been in Europe. I'm sure a 17 year old driver is statistically more likely to take a low powered to it's limits.
The above statement is nonsensical. You've taken two different sets of criteria (age AND insurance group). The 17 year old in a Micra 1.2 will pay less than a 17 year old in a Cooper S. Likewise you will pay less in a Cooper S than a 17 year in anything with wheels. Get it?Ok, let's look at it in terms of pure arbitrage. If insurers did not charge premia according to the Insurance Group (set out by the ABI onse should add) and solely used age and sex as the criteria for calculating risks - then it would create a moral hazard for those driving high-powered cars who let's face it are statistically more likely to cause more damage. This is not to say you will cause more damage (as you appear to drive like Miss Daisy) but the average X year old in a Cooper S.
Edited by fido on Saturday 19th February 14:05
The average 17 yr old will load his car with his mates and drive around aimlessly enjoying the novelty of it all. His mates will egg him on to see 'what it will do'. He won't necessarily need much encouragement to see 'what it will do' on every given occasion.
Fill in the rest yourself.
Fill in the rest yourself.
sat1983 said:
I'm 27. We drive a Cooper S. I've never been going at more than 78 mph wherever I've been in Europe. I'm sure a 17 year old driver is statistically more likely to take a low powered to it's limits.
Then I'd suggest two things:(1) get off this forum if you drive so slowly everywhere
(2) Do not buy a powerful car, as you clearly will not have the experience to handle it. Pootling around in a hot hatch does not prepare you for either driving near the limit, or for the accelaration of a powerful car.
Monty Python said:
It's all down to risk.
No its not, it's all, 100% about money and nothing else.Monty Python said:
Insurance companies consider someone who drives a small low-powered car as less of a risk as someone in something more powerful, and this is particularly apparent with youg, inexperienced drivers. It's a lot easier to get things wrong when there's too much power under your right foot and you don't know how to use it properly.
R1 Loon said:
(2) Do not buy a powerful car, as you clearly will not have the experience to handle it. Pootling around in a hot hatch does not prepare you for either driving near the limit, or for the accelaration of a powerful car.
Yup, buy a 335i, cos the difference in performance between that and a Cooper S is vast I've been nearer to the limit in a hot hatch (my clio 172 cup) than I have even come close to managing in my RS4.
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