Spyder550

I see Subaru have dropped their prices by a fair bit on the Classic Subaru parts.
Who believes the knock on effect of cheaper parts will be cheaper insurance premiums then in the next year?
I don't!!

Chris L

Too simplistic - insurance premiums are based on a lot more than just the cost of spare parts (and the recent changes actually saw some parts go up in cost aswell). So yes, I would agree, you are won't see any change in your premiums - but not for the reasons you think. Items such as personal injury claims and uninsured drivers have a much greater effect on what you are paying.

Chris

Spyder550

Agree with what you say, but when you speak to brokers/insurance companies they say they scoobies are expensive to insure partially because of parts costs.
You could even argue we should pay less than a Astra/fiesta driver. As they more likley to be involved in an accident involving one of those than a scooby, just by weight of numbers of them.
Afraid I'm a cynic I know insurance companies too well, any excuse to maximise the premium.

WR1 Wannabe

Tsk! So Ferraris should be cheaper still?

Spyder550

If you were baseing it on the chance of being involved in an accident, yes!
I dont know anyone hit hy a ferrari, but plenty by astra fiesta etc etc.
Ferrari have a replacement/repair value reflected in the premium, same as a scooby, or anything else.
But scooby parts prices have dropped so should the premium then.

Chris L

Nope - still doesn't work out. Cars are already weighted by the insurance companies based on how many cars there are of each model and the likelyhood of that particular make and model to be in a crash.

An example: My sister used to run an old Toyota Corolla. This was totally standard - worth about 2 grand max. It attracted an insurance premium equivalent to 25% of its value. The problem was that the Corolla was a popular car and heavily used in company fleets. Therefore it attracted a poor rating as a high number (as a relative proportion of the number on the road) were involved in accidents.

So following your thinking, given the low numbers of Scoobs on the road (I think there have only ever been about 14000 imported into the UK in total), the Scoobs insurance rating would already be adjusted to account for this. The changing in spares pricing is going to have a very small impact on this. Even if it did, you wouldn't notice it for a few years, until the repair costs filter down into the insurance companies. Nice idea though

Chris

WR1 Wannabe

Well, you wouldn't last long in business if you did that. What about theft? Vandalism?

And do you know the statistics for the % of Subarus on the road that are involved in a claim, compared to, say, the % of Fiestas? I don't, I'm just asking. After you have an idea of how likely your average Scooby owner is to make a claim, you have to calculate the average cost of the claim.

If that came out less than a Fiesta then you can be pretty sure the premium would be less. Insurance is a competitive business and it's based on statistics - it's not a conspiracy.

pugoetru

the largest chunk of repair costs after an impact is actually labour anyway