Why is my MX-5 so expensive to insure?

[NiceCupOfTea]

Just ringing round for insurance at the moment.

Mk.1 Eunos Roadster S-Spec 1.8 with a few mods (15" wheels, Momo steering wheel, cone air filter).

My job's always a bit of a problem (freelance musician) and the fact that I want business cover for it too - but this is the same as on my other car.

The other car is modified and old as well, and has dropped from 320 or so to 270. The MX-5 has gone up from 400 to 540 - nearly double!! What the hell is going on!? Is it all because it's an import? This is with decent brokers too (A plan, Adrian Flux, Chris Knott), not mainstream guys.

And of course there's the usual fun and games - the reg apparently comes back as a "V-limited". AFAIK there is a V-Special and an S-limited, but there is no such thing as a V-limited! Needless to say there is no S-Spec on their systems so they then want to insure it as a boggo 1.8. So am I then supposed to declare the Bilstein suspension / strut brace /etc. separately?

Would a UK car be that much cheaper to insure?

[pbirkett]

Quite a worrying post as I've got to insure my RS-Ltd (also an import) soon, my current insurers say it will be £380, but TBH thats a lot more than I was expecting, since my old ITR (again an import, but much faster, much more desirable to scum to steal etc) wasn't much more than that

I was hoping it was going to be under £300 TBH.

[Merlot]

When I was looking, a UK car was about 50% of the cost of the import to insure.

Can't you be a bit more vague with your employment. Education/Teacher should cover it and is a low risk occupation, and not incorrect IIRC??

FWIW, I pay ~£300 to insure my MX5 Merlot, FC, Business Use, Education Sector, Parked on Driveway, Low Risk A Postcode and I'm 25 with 6 years NCB.

[NeoVR]

Give Richard Eggar a call!...
I did and they came in at half the cost of Flux, and included trackday cover.
And it seems to also depend on BHP too (strangely)

[anonymous-user]

Mine is insured through Directline, it's a Eunos import and they didn't load the premium and I'm paying around £300 per month, can't complain.

[NiceCupOfTea]

Merlot said:

When I was looking, a UK car was about 50% of the cost of the import to insure.

Can't you be a bit more vague with your employment. Education/Teacher should cover it and is a low risk occupation, and not incorrect IIRC??

FWIW, I pay ~£300 to insure my MX5 Merlot, FC, Business Use, Education Sector, Parked on Driveway, Low Risk A Postcode and I'm 25 with 6 years NCB.

Yes, education does lower it, but if I have a smash on the way back from a gig I have no doubt they would refuse to pay out - so I tell them both parts of the occupation...

[Howard-]

Merlot said:

When I was looking, a UK car was about 50% of the cost of the import to insure.

Same.


Try HIC, also. They're very good. My premium was about £700 including about £2.5k worth of mods (and again accounting for the fact I recently installed and declared my supercharger). I've just turned 23 with 3 NCB on the MX5 (Admiral were nice and gave me 2 years' introductory NCB when I started the Multicar policy in 2008)

[pbirkett]

Howard- said:

Merlot said:

When I was looking, a UK car was about 50% of the cost of the import to insure.

Same.


Try HIC, also. They're very good. My premium was about £700 including about £2.5k worth of mods (and again accounting for the fact I recently installed and declared my supercharger). I've just turned 23 with 3 NCB on the MX5 (Admiral were nice and gave me 2 years' introductory NCB when I started the Multicar policy in 2008)

Surely a decent insurer "in the know" wouldn't ramp up the cost for an import - at least, certainly Sky Insurance didnt with me and my ITR, hence the keen price.

If you haven't tried Sky, perhaps you should, but it was them who quoted me £381 for mine, which is virtually standard too, and I think (hope) I can do better.

[Merlot]

pbirkett said:

Howard- said:

Merlot said:

When I was looking, a UK car was about 50% of the cost of the import to insure.

Same.


Try HIC, also. They're very good. My premium was about £700 including about £2.5k worth of mods (and again accounting for the fact I recently installed and declared my supercharger). I've just turned 23 with 3 NCB on the MX5 (Admiral were nice and gave me 2 years' introductory NCB when I started the Multicar policy in 2008)

Surely a decent insurer "in the know" wouldn't ramp up the cost for an import - at least, certainly Sky Insurance didnt with me and my ITR, hence the keen price.

If you haven't tried Sky, perhaps you should, but it was them who quoted me £381 for mine, which is virtually standard too, and I think (hope) I can do better.

For me, most of the cheaper quotes came from the mainstream companies.

Flux and the rest of the specialists simply were not competitive on a standard car. As soon as you add the mods though, they then come into their own!

[snotrag]

I wish I couldl complain at a quote of £400... !

[zac510]

In London, right? My friend has a worthless Vauxhall in a private garage elsewhere in London to me and his insurance is more than to park my Mx5 on the street! I'm sure the area counts enormously, perhaps more than your age/experience/job once you get a bit over 25.

[Altrezia]

Im not sure I'd pay that much for an MX5's insurance. I was paying £600 on an M5, £480 on my old elise..

I now pay £260 for my MX5..

I am with Churchill - cheap!

[Don Phil]

snotrag said:

I wish I couldl complain at a quote of £400... !

It'll soon be time for me to renew, £400 sounds bloody brilliant to me!

[BCA]

Mine is nearly 900quid! 24/3years no claims!? Hoping it'll be much cheaper next year 25/4years no claims... hoping!

[Howard-]

BCA said:

Mine is nearly 900quid! 24/3years no claims!?!

:/ That doesn't seem right, unless you live in Manchester. Who with?

[DanGT]

Try the comparson web sites if you car is listed. Always try and bargin, I got a drop of over £100 for my last renewal (about 1/3 of the hole price) I know this dose not always work but give it a go. The other odd thing is that one company will give a good price and just one thing will change (age, year of car etc) and the price can change a lot.

If you are not doing a lot of miles try classic insurance. Good luck

[ironictwist]

For some bizarre reason I'm finding it far more expensive for the new MX5 that I'm picking up this weekend over my old imported Eunos

Bizarre really.

Everything seems to be around £900~

Edited by ironictwist on Thursday 25th February 09:55

[Pete Franklin]

As has been stated previously in this thread Direct line treat the imports the same as the UK cars and they are cheap. when i was looking at an import last i was quoted ~ £250 (27yrs old with NCD) i dont think they charge any extra for non standard wheels either.

[Howard-]

Admiral wanted about £40 off me when I added my wheels back when I was insured with them.

I dare say they, or any of the other major "high street" insurers would give me a bit fat LOL if I told them I had a supercharger

[Pete Franklin]

Howard

Out of intrest how much does your insurance cost with the Charger (also in comparison to your non-charged insurance as i guess you are a bit younger than me)? And who with? I will give my car some more power some time in the future.