topic Re: Car Insurance in Community Chat

Car Insurance

Winkk — Wed, 04 Apr 2018 14:12:51 GMT

I recently bought a 2018 SUV going from a 2010 sedan. My insurance jumped tremendously and I'm shopping around for a better price. I live in PA.

What I'm learning is that almost all insurance companies will only pay for aftermarket parts if you have an accident. The won't pay for original manufacturer parts unless you have less than 15,000 miles on your car.

Currently, Geico is coming in the cheapest (they only use aftermarket parts) but the thing is they are so cheap it concerns me.

Should I be concerned about the use of aftermarket parts? A mechanic told me he hates to use them because if they don't work properly he gets blamed.

Your thoughts.

Re: Car Insurance

sunshine45 — Wed, 04 Apr 2018 14:23:22 GMT

you should not worry.....

aftermarket parts are also guaranteed and even used parts are generally guaranteed.

we have never had a problem with aftermarket parts or even used parts on our cars.

if you want to find an insurance company that will allow the use of OEM parts, then you will definitley pay more for that insurance. is it worth it in the long run? not really.....

erie insurance is the company we have a policy with.

Re: Car Insurance

2blonde — Wed, 04 Apr 2018 14:24:40 GMT

Just as an FYI, I'm hearing from most of my friends (Ohio) that everyone's insurance rates have recently jumped. My car is almost 4 years old, and my rates have been climbing too. My newest policy started 4/1, and I was shocked at how much more it was. I've been with this company (Erie Insurance) most of my life, and I really like them and don't want to change. I have not made any auto claims since 1993 (one home owner's claim in 2006). so that's not the reason for the increases.

Re: Car Insurance

deepwaterdotter — Wed, 04 Apr 2018 14:26:25 GMT

We feel OEM parts are preferable to aftermarket, but it's just a personal preference. We have no experience with aftermarket, so they may work well for your vehicle.

Re: Car Insurance

CelticCrafter — Wed, 04 Apr 2018 14:32:03 GMT

@Winkk wrote:
I recently bought a 2018 SUV going from a 2010 sedan. My insurance jumped tremendously and I'm shopping around for a better price. I live in PA.

What I'm learning is that almost all insurance companies will only pay for aftermarket parts if you have an accident. The won't pay for original manufacturer parts unless you have less than 15,000 miles on your car.

Currently, Geico is coming in the cheapest (they only use aftermarket parts) but the thing is they are so cheap it concerns me.

Should I be concerned about the use of aftermarket parts? A mechanic told me he hates to use them because if they don't work properly he gets blamed.

Your thoughts.

When I was shopping around for a better rate, Geico was the cheapest and like you, so much cheaper that it concerned me too.

I went with State Farm instead.

Re: Car Insurance

sunshine45 — Wed, 04 Apr 2018 14:37:42 GMT

@Winkk

by the way, you can always request OEM parts, if available. you will just have to pay something on top of whatever the insurance company pays for the damage.

Re: Car Insurance

NickNack — Wed, 04 Apr 2018 14:43:09 GMT

I don't know if this is warranted, but I would be afraid of Geico. If it seems too good to be true it usually is.

Re: Car Insurance

Alison Wonderland — Wed, 04 Apr 2018 14:43:41 GMT

I learned that decades ago, so you're lucky you've only needed to learn this now.

When I was in my early 20s, I needed to replace the hood of my car and the front bumper. I went to 4 of the very fancy auto-repair places the insurance company recommended and all of them quoted me extremely high prices without ever looking under the hood of the car. One woman told it was too dangerous to even drive the car away from the repair shop without having it put on some rack to determine frame damage and tried to convince me not to leave by using fear tactics. Again, did not look around the car or under the hood, just quoted an exhorbitant price and tried to scare me. What's worse is that their shop displayed the Christian fish symbol on the windows and business cards.

A talked to a friend who recommended a small mom and pop shop that his whole family l loved and I took the car there. The woman in the office was the first person to check under the hood to see if there was any damage to the radiator or the engine. She walked all the way around the car, then pulled out a catalog of all the car parts and gave me the prices of the new parts vs the aftermarket parts and explained the difference and made her recommendations. She quoted me the lowest price of the bunch. They weren't on the approved Insurance company list, so I called my insurance company, gave them the quote, and asked if I could use that shop. They jumped all over themselves to say yes. The shop fixed my car quickly and it looked fantastic when they finsihed, even with aftermarket parts. More importantly, I never had any trouble with the repairs and had the car another 6 years.

Worry less about the parts and worry more about the people who are fixing your car. Try to get a recommendation from someone you trust and, if you have the time, shop around to find the best repair price. It's worth it.

Re: Car Insurance

SeaMaiden — Wed, 04 Apr 2018 14:45:58 GMT

I have a 19 year old Chevy van that I pay $700 a year for.... and a 2016 kia Sorroto that I pay about $600 a year for. Go Figure that out!.

I have Farmers Insurance for my home and cars. We have used Farmers for over 40 years and never had a claim or an accident. We are both 62 years young. I have never checked to see if there was cheaper insurance... we just stay with Farmers.

Re: Car Insurance

Winkk — Wed, 04 Apr 2018 14:53:39 GMT

That was my feeling too @NickNack. But, my niece has them and when she had a accident she was very pleased. This is a hard decision. It's not just price but I want good customer service tto.

I've done Google searches for reviews of car insurance companies in PA, sometimes Geico comes out at the top and other times they come out at the bottom.

Re: Car Insurance

millieshops — Wed, 04 Apr 2018 15:02:48 GMT

@SeaMaidenMaybe it's hard to get parts for the older cars?

As for the price, it's hard for any of us to compare when all we know is a total price because we might have different levels of coverage or live in a different rating area.

Auto insurance has lots of comparisons with real estate - location counts a whole lot and so does the cost of our cars and the amount of coverage we think we need. I can't even compare my cost with that of my next-door neighbor because even with cars of similar age and cost, we still need way different levels of coverage.

Re: Car Insurance

151949 — Wed, 04 Apr 2018 15:09:44 GMT

We have AAA insurance and our prices have only gone up a very small amount in 6 years we have been with them. No after market parts on cars or house. We expected an increase after the hurricane last fall but did not get one. (we had no claims from the storm).in 2016 DH had an accident and they also didn't raise our premium. -He hit a deer and the damage was around $3000.

Re: Car Insurance

NickNack — Wed, 04 Apr 2018 15:25:04 GMT

@Winkk wrote:
That was my feeling too @NickNack. But, my niece has them and when she had a accident she was very pleased. This is a hard decision. It's not just price but I want good customer service tto.

I've done Google searches for reviews of car insurance companies in PA, sometimes Geico comes out at the top and other times they come out at the bottom.

@Winkk I prefer going with a private insurance agency who can check lots of different companies and give you a choice based on price and what the policy covers.

Re: Car Insurance

WenGirl42 — Wed, 04 Apr 2018 15:28:58 GMT

@SeaMaiden wrote:
I have a 19 year old Chevy van that I pay $700 a year for.... and a 2016 kia Sorroto that I pay about $600 a year for. Go Figure that out!.

I have Farmers Insurance for my home and cars. We have used Farmers for over 40 years and never had a claim or an accident. We are both 62 years young. I have never checked to see if there was cheaper insurance... we just stay with Farmers.

Your 2016 car has many more safety features. Your insurance is cheaper because you're less likely to be injured or to injure anyone else, and injuries will be less severe (including 3rd party injuries, because of the size and weight difference between the vehicles).

Re: Car Insurance

123SuzyQ123 — Wed, 04 Apr 2018 16:32:41 GMT

After reading some replies here, I am now worried about having gone with Geico recently! As someone said "too good to be true" !!!

I had researched for 3 solid days before changing over to Geico. They were much, much lower than all companies I compared them with. Even with full coverage on two vehicles (one new and one older), they still were the lowest!

I've been with them now for 2.5 years, and they did go up a tiny bit last year, and I wondered if it was because I had the one claim for "roadside assistance."

Have any of you had any "big" claim with Geico, and if so, how did they handle the big claim?

I came back to edit about another company we had at one time. We were with Allstate for many years - about 16 - and they kept raising our rates. I do think it was because of 2 fairly large claims and one small claim that we had during our tenure with them. One was when I hydroplaned on a wet road and totalled my car, and another one was tornado damage to our roof. Our premium almost doubled after we filed those 2 claims!!

Re: Car Insurance

sunshine45 — Wed, 04 Apr 2018 15:33:14 GMT

@NickNack wrote:

@Winkk wrote:
That was my feeling too @NickNack. But, my niece has them and when she had a accident she was very pleased. This is a hard decision. It's not just price but I want good customer service tto.

I've done Google searches for reviews of car insurance companies in PA, sometimes Geico comes out at the top and other times they come out at the bottom.

@Winkk I prefer going with a private insurance agency who can check lots of different companies and give you a choice based on price and what the policy covers.

i agree with using an insurance broker. that is how we ended up switching to ERIE insurance from NATIONWIDE.

Re: Car Insurance

patbz — Wed, 04 Apr 2018 15:59:44 GMT

Found out long ago that where you live (not just state but locally) can have major impact on insurance. When I lived in CA in a rural community we had no choice but to take 395 whenever we went out of town; that is one of most dangerous highways in country (5 fatalities in last month!!!!). Talk about huge auto insurance!! The only insurance company we even consider is USAA (always among the top rated).

Re: Car Insurance

Jannyg — Wed, 04 Apr 2018 16:29:56 GMT

Insurance companies have paid out billions in property damage due to hurricanes and wildfires. We're all paying for it now.

Re: Car Insurance

VanSleepy — Wed, 04 Apr 2018 16:41:45 GMT

I know everyone has their own experiences, but we have had Geico for many years. I can't recall our premiums going up very much over the years. We have had only one claim and it was major damage. It was handled with no problems or dissatisfaction at all.

Re: Car Insurance

Winkk — Wed, 04 Apr 2018 19:51:16 GMT

@sunshine45 wrote:
@NickNack wrote:

@Winkk wrote:
That was my feeling too @NickNack. But, my niece has them and when she had a accident she was very pleased. This is a hard decision. It's not just price but I want good customer service tto.

I've done Google searches for reviews of car insurance companies in PA, sometimes Geico comes out at the top and other times they come out at the bottom.

@Winkk I prefer going with a private insurance agency who can check lots of different companies and give you a choice based on price and what the policy covers.

i agree with using an insurance broker. that is how we ended up switching to ERIE insurance from NATIONWIDE.

@sunshine45@, @Nicknack, I decided that's what I'm going to do, use a broker. They can compare different policies for me.