Xenonista

Not if the HQ sends them a daily list of potential opportunities and approved discount categories, consolidation options, targeted marketing collateral, or other promotional tools.

Q5 Bob

I noticed on my State Farm coverage, the Q5 is listed as a "Sport Wagon". I wonder if the rates would be lower if it was correctly described as a CUV or SUV?

I'll be checking with my agent to see if a change would effect my rates.

Anyone have any experience with something like this?

Bob Petruska

Because of ride height, so push for the lowest premium, Sport Wagon, SUV, Truck.

Oh, the Q5 also rides like a light truck.....

Redd

"the Q5 is listed as a "Sport Wagon". "
Insurers have their own way of describing things. Odds are you're not going to change them. For instance, a Toyota Matrix is a "Corolla Suburban" meaning, Corolla Wagon on my friend's registration. A "two door sedan" means a coupe with a B pillar, since sedans always have four doors. A pickup truck with four doors and a glass window becomes a "car" not a truck, because it has seat belts for all the seats, and that window. And if you're driving one that was made in a truck plant, to DOT truck standards, it still gets registered as a car--not a truck--in most states. Although some may call it a "combination" which is another whole category still.

If you've got a turbocharged engine, I'll bet that makes your vehicle a "sport" the same way that any five-speed stick used to make a car into a "sports" model, at a higher price.

That's just the way things have been done. State, fed, insurer, manufacturer, all have blissfully ignored blatant conflicts and used their own definitions since at least the 1950's.

Highpark

My 2014 q5 is cheaper to insure than my 2006 A3

Redd

That should at least partly be reflecting the newer cars' (A3 as well as Q5) higher safety ratings. The 2006 A3 got two "Acceptable" ratings, versus all "Good" (which is better) for the newer models. And some safety scores that apply now, didn't exist then. Insurance rates will go down as collision repair costs go down, theft rates go down, safety ratings go up, many things.

I was pleasantly shocked that my Q5 didn't cost much more than my old car at all. Presumably because of all the new safety features. The third rear seat belt should account for part of the increase, since you also pay more per seat in the car.

Xenonista

When was the last time you saw an Audi in an accident? Look at the buyer demographic; it's old enough to understand every lucky streak eventually comes to an end, and driving is as much about getting from point A to B as many times as possible without an accident as it is to get there quickly. The second, even for drivers who have no clue about such things, is the absence of macpherson struts and wishbone suspension. Body roll doesn't imply massive loss of traction, so when sh*t happens and they panic steer the car goes where they point it, not all over the road and into a barrier.

Now, BMW and Nissan drivers on the other hand...

idale

From my experience, Allstate will remove an accident-free discount from your account, thus raising the amount you'll be paying. So your effective rates go up even though your base premium doesn't change (which is how they weasel their way out of agreeing that your rate's gone up).

I never saw an "accident-free" discount listed on my account, but after we had to make a claim because of a hit-and-run on my wife's car while we were away on vacation, our total payments went up by a decent bit. It's one thing if it's a listed discount on the policy as then you know you have it or don't, but it's pretty sleazy to not have something listed and then claim it was there and now isn't and "no your rates didn't go up", especially when you weren't at fault.

drunkenup

***UPDATE***
School camera's face a pair of doors away from the lot so no view of the hit and run. But guess what? Parked up next to a car with scratches that literally fit like a puzzle. I confronted the owner who promptly denied it was her and made up some bull**** story that I have no way to disprove. Local PD said today they won't help because I'm filing the report too late.

I know the other driver's parents, however. Does it seem appropriate to contact them? I'm giving it hard thought. Anyways, here is the other car, contact is on the other vehicle's passenger rear quarter and door. Notice how that strip on the other door matches a fine scratch on my car just next to the fog light.

Redd

Well, it isn't all just Hollywood Fantasy. Paint transfers can be analyzed, the local PD can be "encouraged" to take part, and every paint out there is specific to one maker and sometimes one model. So with paint transfers on both cars...there's room for objective comparison.

It might be worth asking the parents, diplomatically, if they know anything about this. And if your parents are out of town, finding someone else who is a bit older to speak to the local PD. If they should express interest in the paint transfers as evidence of a hit and run, then a fast repair of the other car could be construed as destroying evidence.

But first, see who you can speak to, and who can speak to the parents.