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  #1  
Old 11-13-2003, 01:11 AM
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Location: Sydney, Australia
Posts: 627
How much do you pay to insure your MB?

I have come to realise that here in Australia we pay higher prices to purchase used Mercedes-Benzes compared to the prices those of you living in the US pay. On the other hand, I have realised recently that many of you are suggesting very high premiums for your insurance. I have seen figures of several thousand dollars per annum quoted for MBs worth maybe only $10k-20k. Possibly these are the premiums for young drivers living in high risk areas. Maybe your insurance also covers more than ours. I would be interested to hear of different insurance premiums (and other annual fees) for different locations around the world.

Here in the state of New South Wales, Australia, we have compulsory third party personal injury insurance that is required before a car can be registered. For each of my cars this runs to around $350 per annum. This amount is in addition to an annual registration fee which including taxes amounts to $200 to $350 for most cars (not used for business purposes). In addition to this we have optional vehicle insurance which can be just third party property (for damage to other people's property) or fully comprehensive (for damage to your own car as well). The comprehensive insurance on my '90 190E is around $800 and for our '90 300TE about $1000 per annum. For my '73 SLC it is around $400 with restricted (recreational) use. These policies have an excess (I think in the US you call it the deductable) of typically $500.

These figures are based on a reasonably low risk suburb of Sydney. Many suburbs carry higher premiums whilst smaller towns in rural areas have much lower premiums. They are also based on no young drivers (who incur much higher premiums).

Keep in mind with all the figures I have quoted that I am referring to Australian dollars, currently worth about $0.70 USD.

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  #2  
Old 11-13-2003, 01:38 AM
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I'm carrying full coverage on both, with higher property and medical coverage (min is $15K I think, while I carry $50K). Also have zero $ deductable on comprehensive and $100 deductable on collision. The '86 runs me about $600 per year while the '73 is about $500.

Get a nice break by having 5 cars and the house insured by the same company.
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  #3  
Old 11-13-2003, 02:26 AM
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Join Date: Oct 2002
Posts: 463
i envy you

im21 years old, and on my 91 300D in houston i have full coverage with a great company on a policy that i bought through my dads insurance agency (that means i should get a great deal, right?).

i have no tickets or accidents on my record. and even though the deductable is $1000 for both damage and injury,
i pay $2800 per year (ouch)

this is supposed to go way down when i turn 25, but i need the money NOW!

i got a quick internet quote to make sure i wasnt paying too much, and it was DOUBLE!

so maybe i am getting a great deal. sadly, that means it cant get any better.

later
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  #4  
Old 11-13-2003, 04:14 AM
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Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: USA
Posts: 699
Dear Greg in Oz:

The most basic car insurance in the US is liability insurance, which includes BOTH third party personal injury and third party property insurance. As you said, only third party personal injury insurance is compulsory in Australia while third party property insurance is optional. I just don't understand why third party property insurance is optional in Australia, because it does not make any sense at all. If some guy is very poor, has only the mandatory third party personal insurance, and causes a car accident, then how he will be able to pay for the damage to third party property (whose value may be very high)? If you have to pay for both third party personal injury and property insurance, your premium would be 2 x 350 = 700 per year (or maybe slightly less) for each of your car. Here in California, my total liability insurance payment for 2 cars (1984 MB 300SD and 1994 MB c220) is $615 (after a 5% discount as employee benefit thanks to my company's deal with the insurance company). Remember that liability insurance = third party personal injury insurance + third party property insurance. BTW, I'm 30 and have never had any ticket. Insurance rates for guys <=25 will be definitely higher.
As for comprehensive coverage insurance, the rate is usually 2x that of liability insurance, even though it will be even higher for very expensive cars, sports car or SUVs.

Health care is basically free for many people in Australia, so car insurance companies in Australia may not have to pay much for third party personal injury. If health care cost is as expensive as in the US, I'm sure Australian car insurance companies will charge a much higher premium for JUST the compulsory third party personal injury insurance. Paying for third party personal injury in car accidents is a nightmare for car insurance companies here. Morever, many chiropractors and lawyers are frauds trying to conspire to fleece car insurance companies as much as possible.

I don't want to speak "evil" of Australia, but I have to admit that living cost in Australia is quite high compared to that in the US, after taking into account the salary rates for various professions.
I have many relatives in Sydney and Melbourne and have been to Australia twice. What I was able to observe was that ALMOST everything in Australia is at least twice as expensive as in the US, including basic stuff such as food, clothing and gasoline (petrol). Consumer electronics (TV, CD/DVD, Digital Camera/Camcorders etc...) and computer equipments may be even 3x to 5x more expensive (I don't think exchange rate should be taken into account here). Regarding salary rates, a software/hardware engineer in the US may make US$100K per year while a similar one gets only AU$70-80K per year for the same type of job responsibility. AFAIK, 4 litres of petrol (1.05 Gallon) costs about AU$3.50 on average, and it's currently AU$3.85 per 4 litres in Sydney. In San Jose CA, the gasoline price is currently about $US1.55 per gallon (cheaper in many other states.)

As a side note, I had seen that most people in Australia have a cell phone (called "mobile phone" in Australia), and this did surprise me quite a bit, until I found out that phone companies (like Telstra etc..) in Australia actually "seduces" people into having a cell phone by offering service rates as low as AU$10 per month. Many high school kids there get cell phone service at this low rate, but the catch is that this AU$10 only gives them 30 minutes of calling! Any extra minute is about .90 to $1.0 ! I've heard that many parents in Australia have to pay AU$1000 or more just for the cell phone service of their kid. In California, I have seen recent ads for cell phone services at US$35 per month but with UNLIMITED ANYTIME minutes of calling (and this includes unlimited long distance calls to anywhere in the US). My wife's older brother is a lawyer in Australia, and he and his wife have kept complaining about having to spend too much money for cell phone service there!

Australia is a nice and beautiful country, but I do not want to live there unless I get a lottery jackpot and become a millionaire :-)

The major thing that I don't like about the US is that doctors/dentists charge ridicuously high rates for their services, sometimes some 5 minute exam costs US$300. What the heck?

The wife of one of my friends has just graduated from dentistry school (USC) 2 months ago, and she's now making US$800 per DAY, and she wants to work 7 days per week! Oh well, I married a poor wife so I'm kind of poor too :-)

My old emeritus physics professor (PhD) got only $70K per year ...

In the US, you can either be very rich or very poor. But the best thing is that the US is also the land of big opportunities for everyone, especially people who will try their best.

Best regards,

Eric

Last edited by ericnguyen; 11-13-2003 at 04:46 AM.
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  #5  
Old 11-13-2003, 04:21 AM
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Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: eugene OR.
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I don't pay much.

Cars, 1979 300SD, 1983 300D, daily drivers. Liability, 100K bodily injury each person, property damage 25K, Uninsured motorist(required by the state of Oregon), same as above, personal injury, same as above. My total cost for the policy covering both cars, $419 U.S. last year. BTW lisence and property tax is $30 each car for two years.

Lou
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  #6  
Old 11-13-2003, 08:52 AM
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Location: St. Albert, Alberta, Canada
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We pay $125 a month for all three of our current cars, only one MB. The $1500 a year covers full insurance for both the C230 and the Outback, and liability only for the 626.

Despite rising costs in Alberta (50% in three years) we're part of a group buying plan that means we pay significantly less than most people. "Regular" insurance for the C230 here runs about $1800-2000 a year.
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  #7  
Old 11-13-2003, 09:16 AM
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Eric and Greg

I am from Australia and living in the USA and have aso lived in Europe. It is only the cost of some things in Australia that are higher.

Cars, shoes, gasolene, clothes, computers are all higher than the US, relatively speaking.

However, in the US, insurance, healthcare, property taxes, and the lack of tax deductions increase the cost of living. If you take $100,000 (US or A$) and examine the quality of life, I believe it comes out about the same wherever you live, UNLESS you are unfortunate enough to live in Europe where salaries are low and the cost of living is high. Whatever you do here in the US, just don't get sick because healthcare prices are beyond belief!

Back to the original thread for auto insurance, I pay $US 1560 per year for a 4 year old ML320 which I think is expensive. I pay the same for a 6 year old Range Rover which I think is outrageous! Most of the high insurance costs are due to the Attorneys and the constant therat of litigation for even a minor fender bender.
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  #8  
Old 11-13-2003, 10:49 AM
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My USAA auto insurance premiums are lumped with our homeowners insurance premiums, but I would have to figure around $330/month.

This is full coverage for all three MBs.

Factor in discounts for age (over 25) and marital status (married), and a spotless driving record, which combined, resulted in an almost 50% reduction in premiums.

I paid nearly this much per month as a single man with an old VW, and an even older Chevy Malibu with liablity only...but with tickets on my record...
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  #9  
Old 11-13-2003, 11:48 AM
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Quote:
Originally posted by timhcollins
Eric and Greg

I am from Australia and living in the USA and have aso lived in Europe. It is only the cost of some things in Australia that are higher.

Cars, shoes, gasolene, clothes, computers are all higher than the US, relatively speaking.

However, in the US, insurance, healthcare, property taxes, and the lack of tax deductions increase the cost of living. If you take $100,000 (US or A$) and examine the quality of life, I believe it comes out about the same wherever you live, UNLESS you are unfortunate enough to live in Europe where salaries are low and the cost of living is high. Whatever you do here in the US, just don't get sick because healthcare prices are beyond belief!

Back to the original thread for auto insurance, I pay $US 1560 per year for a 4 year old ML320 which I think is expensive. I pay the same for a 6 year old Range Rover which I think is outrageous! Most of the high insurance costs are due to the Attorneys and the constant therat of litigation for even a minor fender bender.
You're also in Louisiana, and I undertand we have considerably higher rates than most states. Wonder how much that has to do with the last three (I think) Insurance Commissioners going to jail?

That's why I'm voting for Kyle. Anybody that most politicians of both parties, the legislature, governor, and senior state employees hate has got to be good for this state.

Botnst
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  #10  
Old 11-13-2003, 11:54 AM
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I don't have a MB yet but just got some quotes from Allstate monday. I'm 18, no tickets, one accident not my fault.
My current Camry is $2400 per year for liability and theft.
A 300SDL would cost me $2680 per year for the same coverage.
A 560SEL/SEC would run me $3000 per year for the same.
Thats not that bad I know someone who pays 5k a year.
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  #11  
Old 11-13-2003, 05:44 PM
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Full coverage on both - 300/500/100; 200 ded. comp. / 500 coll.

2002 CLK55 - $1400/year
1991 300CE - $800/year
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  #12  
Old 11-14-2003, 01:59 PM
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Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: So Cal
Posts: 124
Full coverage on 3 cars: '04 Honda S2000, '00 MB E430 and '94 Lexus LS400 - $250k/$500k/$100k, $250 ded. comp., $500 ded. coll. I had 1 traffic tiket in Feb 2001, wife and 18 years old daughter have no ticket.

Mercury: $2300/yr
Costco/American Ex: $3800/yr
Allied: $4300/yr

These quotes are for having both cars and home policies with the same company. Mercury is my newest insurance company.

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