mx5cartalk.com

Hi guys,

I finally managed to find a nice NA8 MX5 with only 84,000 Kms on it. It took a long time searching but I think it was worth the wait.

I'm looking for comprehensive insurance at the moment but I'm finding that many only insure for market value which can be significantly less than what I'm buying the car for. I also have plans to do some modifications to the car such as suspension, roll bar, exhaust, wheels etc.

Any tips on who to go with? I've tried Shannons but found them to be expensive (over $900) to insure for agreed value. I paid that much for my previous $60k Focus RS, but I presume this is par for the course with older cars?

I also tried Budget Direct who seem to be much cheaper at around $320 a year, however I'm thinking about will happen I put a bit of money into the car on parts that that portion of it won't be covered.

I'm mid 30s, rating 1, no accidents or speeding fines, car is garaged at all times at home and only drive it a couple of days a week.

Interested to hear what others are doing anyway.

Is this your "second" car? If you use another car as the primary vehicle then NRMA Classic Insurance will take the MX5. I have my 99 NB with them at an agreed value (generous - no quibbles) and all the mods listed - which enhance the agreed value. There are some limitations on how often you can drive it but I never get near them as they are pretty mild. Give them a call and discuss. They only take cars 15 years or older but you've got that covered.

Got me tossed how a late 90's car can be insured as a Classic but there you go. Most of the Classic regs apply to older cars i.e. +25 years and there are restrictions on use.

If you modify a car then you are supposed to inform the insurer and if you dont they may not pay a claim. Some insurers will not even insure a car i you add a sports exhaust.

Its always the same deal- get some quotes and read the main conditions in plain English e.g. choice of repairer or whether they take control of who fixes etc. Agreed value should work ok unless the value is crazy. A market value is often much the same as agreed. Low KLM is taken into account even for market value.

I have all my cars now with Famous. Dropped Shannons 2 years ago.
Famous gave me agreed value and were cheaper.

Richard.

Gina's registered with Shannons as a weekend/occasional car but only for A$16,000 and I get first dibs on buying back the car in case of an accident.
No way could I get market value insurance for the car with all of its modz so this is the best I can hope for.
Price-wise it's far more reasonable than I could find elsewhere, mostly because it's a weekend/occasional-use-only car.

When I first got Gina I tried to insure her with Shannons but was deemed to not be "a car enthusiast" since I was not a member of a car club and didn't have enough "online presence" in forums to indicate that I was an enthusiast.
Several years later, at the QLD NatMeet, I spoke to the Shannons guy there, showed him the car and he signed me up on the spot when I mentioned it wasn't my DD and WHY it wasn't my DD.

Shannons

Last time I rang them I ended up chatting to a forum member for about 90 minutes.

I'm with shannons currently, but planning on changing to (probably) famous when I get a Round Tuit.

Only reason I'm with shannons is because I forgot to organise cover before buying the car in another state and driving it home, called shannons, got the "this is insurance for car enthusiasts" line when I told them it was a stock NA6, told them "don't care, take my money" - and that's what I've had ever since.

NRMA VVC accepted even the SP this year as it turned 15. I moved all the cars out of Shannons as they kept increasing premiums while quietly pushing down agreed value (especially on the SP). Yes I know you can have agreed value fixed, as long as you are willing to pay more. I now have 6 cars and 9 policies with NRMA and the discounts for doing so are pretty decent.

I think all insurers (and financial products in general) have adoption and profit phases. They offer good deals and conditions to gain a large base of subscribers and slowly screw them into larger profit over time.... Shannons are well and truly leveraging the fact people just generally stay with what they know. NRMA VVC was offering great rates, so I flipped, but I assume at some time down the road they will start trying to boil the frog without them noticing so to speak .

Similarly, moved on from Shannons to equivalent of NRMA.

Some might cringe, but I used Woolworths Insurance last year, best agreed value I could find, low excess but limited to 10,000 klm per year. Now I've not had a claim so don't no how good they are but the price was right.
Cheers
Oh! Shannons were better than twice the cost.

Think Woolies is rebadged Budget Insurance - if so, unsurprisingly, very risk averse & used to charge $40 or $50 admin fee each time time you needed to make a change, ie add a driver or that sort of thing. Also, if you make a no fault claim they may not invite you to renew come renewal time.

That does not sound so good. I have changed the amount of klms and was not charged for the change. like a lot of insurance companies you never know how good they are till you make that claim I suppose.

Just had a quick look at the Woolies & Budget car insurance quotes page & it appears cover is provided by Hollard (Woolies) & Auto & General (Budget), doesn't seem to be a rebadged Budget, but one of them was a few years ago, ie Aust Post, Coles or Woolies. Budget's admin charges were back in 2004, so perhaps they've changed since, but as you say you don't really find out how they are until claim time when it's too late.

Be careful if you have modified your car. Budget, for example, will not insure cars that have been lowered AT ALL. Not even as little as a 10mm drop. I had 15mm drop springs on my BRZ that were a Subaru Catalogue Part No and listed option, but because they were fitted at the dealer, Budget considered them to be an "aftermarket mod" and would not insure the car. Check carefully and disclose all mods.

Always used NRMA, nobody can meet their premiums.