MX-5 OC Forum

Just bought an 03/53 1.8i S-VT

I am 49 with 10year NCB on my everyday tin top (Seat Leon 2.0 TDI).  I have 1 claim and 1 speeding conviction

Sainbury, who insure the Leon, we not interested in insuring a 2nd car due to my claim with them so they put me through to another company - £1200!!

I then phoned 2getther insurance - £1700

At this point I thought I was not going to go ahead with the purchace of the car.  The I remembered confused.com.  Best price was Elephant at £522 but I was sceptical so phones them and boy am I gald I did. The very helpfull chap checked the details and confirmed the price would actually be £536, not bad I thought.  Then the guy asked about my NCD and exoplained that it would be a good idea to get a milti car insurance policy through Admiral insurance. This dropped the price, after he had included some from 3 year NCD on the Masday to £320 but I would have to insure the Seat with them, so for both cars it cost me £570 which I think is good value as I was already paying £350 for the Seat

So I'm confused.com now.

Did you go with Elephant or Admiral or Admiral through Elephant?

I tried all the usual specialist suspects when I was looking for insurance and surprisingly I found Elephant to be the cheapest as well.

 So was I :)

Apparently Elephant co Underwrite with Admiral

Admiral definitely worth a try.

My Mx5 cost £250 and my workaday Passat Estate TDI £180 per year on a multicar policy. I'm 38 and my wife is 36, both insured on both cars. Pretty happy with that!

Cheers,

Drew.

 My insurance on my mx5 has been with elephant, cheapest 2 years running

 This may be controversal and I genuinely don't want to set up an argument.....

I wonder whether we are a bit obsessed with cheapest insurance?

Surely no nonsense claims, good administration and communication, reasonable excess, facilities for keeping us on the move when accidents happen etc are all perhaps equally if not more important. And although cost is a major consideration, in my experience the cheapest company doesn't mean that they offer the best all round package.

Like I said I don't want to set up an argument I'm just stating my own personal viewpoint.

Grant

I think your point is very valid.  But when you get quotes for the same car and driver of £1200 and then ones for £350 what do you do?

We live in a society that want most things cheap but at the end of the day you only get what you pay for

Companies like Elephant and Admiral make sense for people like me with more than 1 vehicle as you only drive one at a time and therefore this should keep the cost down.

But if their quote had only been £30-£50 cheaper I would have stayed with my existing company if that had been possible.  In Sainsbury case they would not insure me for another vehicle because I has a small claim - their loss

 No argument from me. I see exactly where you are coming from.

It just goes to show that insuring a car is not an exact science and sometimes sacrifices have to made to ensure that the cover purchased is affordable.

Grant

What I find is most important also beside the price, is if you have an accident what is the location of their recommended body repair company and are they any good. My car was recently hit and the insurance company wanted me to drive 25 miles to their recommended body repair shop, even though I live about 1 mile from a very good body repair shop, I dug my heels in and they relented and let me use the local company.

Robert

 I think what that story proved is that Insurance companies have ties with specific companies as there is some kickback

In twenty years I've never claimed. Price is the only thing I buy insurance on as I keep paying out but never get anything back.

I used to only get 3PFT until I was told that the premiums for 3PFT get loaded because they tend to be people with limited budgets and low value cars who are more likely to be careless and crash. So I switched to fully comp to save money.

Because of the modifications to my MX5 it is a massive pain to get quotes (try getting a quote on a car with a welded diff) and I hugely resent telling last years insurers that I'm switching companies only to have them drop their price.

Had I not been paying for insurance I never use I could have halved my mortgage. It it a massive financial burden that I deeply resent.

Captain Muppet:

(try getting a quote on a car with a welded diff)

 Sorry ! do you mean you drive a car on the road with a welded diff ?

I raced a car afew years back with a welded diff and had to nail it around every corner, driving slowly was almost impossible . How do you mange in normal traffic ?

Captain Muppet:

(try getting a quote on a car with a welded diff)

 Sorry ! do you mean you drive a car on the road with a welded diff ?

I raced a car afew years back with a welded diff and had to nail it around every corner, driving slowly was almost impossible . How do you mange in normal traffic ?

Thats strange ! double post . I had an error so pressed the back button and posted again !

Hi

I too have used a car on the road with a welded diff.  It does require a bit of forethought and care, but you should not be driving any car if not fully concentrating on the task in hand and taking care.

I notice you also drive a white Interceptor Mk3, it wasn't Blue at one stage was it.  The dealer who bought my old blue car repainted it white for some reason before sale.  Memory suggests the reg was MGX 68L.

Alan

Mick D:

Captain Muppet:

(try getting a quote on a car with a welded diff)

 

 Sorry ! do you mean you drive a car on the road with a welded diff ?

I raced a car afew years back with a welded diff and had to nail it around every corner, driving slowly was almost impossible . How do you mange in normal traffic ?

Yep, my MX5 has a welded diff, and I drive it to and from every event (about 3000 road miles per year). At drift events it's sideways all the time, and hugely controlable. A two way diff would give me better turn in, but I don't have a spare 500 quid.

On the road I go slowly, and take extra care on tight corners because sometimes the lack of diff will just push the car straight (or it would, if I wasn't going extra slow).

At parking speeds it judders and shakes round corners, and is generally horrible.