Sup guys, I'm trying to get some advice from fellow ITR owners. Im currently with Mercury ins. and my contract is up on April 22. I've been with Mercury ins. for 2 years now and when my car was involved in a hit and run, Merc. ins. has given me nothing but head aches. My ITR is completely stock and it's pretty clean to boot, but after the hit and run Mercury sent me a letter saying that my car value is now only 10,900. Im not to happy about that. Anyway, I called up both AAA and 21st century today to get an insurance quote. I just turn 25 and got my license at the age of 17 and never been in any accident, tickets or anything.

Anyway, I was wondering what the majority of you guys would go with. AAA wants 2,604/year and I asked about the value of my car, they took my info and came up with 14,035. Im actually happy with that value.

21st century on the other hand wants 1,826/year and when asked about the value of my car incase if it were to be stolen or totaled, they said that I would get replacement value. Both insurance deductible is 500 and both coverage as far as medical insurance, property damage and what not is about the same.

My question is, what would you guys go with? Supposedly #1 auto insurance AAA with a hefty bill of 2604/year or 21st century 1826/year?

All in all, im leaving mercury after seeing them value my car @ only 10,900

btw, the car is at 86K miles completely stock.

 

did you look into other companies? state farm? progressive? it seems a little high... but then again, i've got my insurance bundled with another car and with home owner's insurance... do some more shopping

 

First of all, I'm not sure what's up with claiming the value of your car as $XX,XXX. They won't put a value on it unless and until it's totalled or stolen. Anything they tell you now is basically meaningless. (There's an exception if you have "agreed value" coverage, but almost all policies don't have that, and simply say that you will be reimbursed for the market value in the event of a total loss.)

In general, you're better off sticking with one company if you have had a recent accident, because any new company is going to stick you with high rates if you have an accident on your record when you apply for insurance. You are also better off sticking with one company for a long period, because if you've been with a company for a long time, they tend to treat you better when it comes to claims and stuff. I'm not telling you to stick with Mercury, but if you are aware of how this works, you'll realize it's in your interest not to keep changing companies every couple of years. So figure out who you'd like to use for the next 5-15 years, and go with them.

I agree with jomama. There are a lot of other companies, many of whom have much better records when it comes to claims satisfaction, and they may have better rates as well (notably USAA and Amica, both of whom consistently top the surveys on both counts, although State Farm tends to be pretty darn good too). You can see ratings of insurance companies for various characteristics on the JDPowers site here.

You can also see ratings and advice in the March 2006 issue of Consumer Reports, which you can find at your local public library. They rated 27 companies. The first four were New Jersey Manufacturers, Amica, USAA, and Auto-Owners. State Farm was 7th. California State Automobile Association (I assume this is what would be AAA) was 13th. 21st Century was 19th. Mercury was rated dead last, the only company to get the worst rating for problems with claims and the only company to get the worst rating for delayed payments.

 

I have wawanesa ins. Look it up in google. It is really cheap..... and they are good. My RSX-S was stolen and stripped and I had a check in my hand within 2 weeks.
I have myself and wife as drivers. my 98 ITR, 2001 BMW 325Ci , 2005 Nissan Pathfinder all full coverage for 2000 a year total. I am 25 years old with no accidents and only 1 speeding ticket in the past 3 years. And I live in SoCal but in a nice quiet area though. I do know that your zip code makes a huge differance.

 

Odd, I thought 21st would have rated a bit higher. With my two previous experiences, (stolen car and a non-at-fault accident), both checks were cut in less than two weeks. And they weren't too stingy either