Hi folks

Just bought my GT-R (yay!) and it's the first time I've owned an "extra" exotic-ish car in the USA. I couldn't really find any insurance brokers for specialist insurance of this kind, and ended up just adding it to my GEICO shopping car policy as a third vehicle with no regular driver and low estimated mileage.

Not too bad (for Texas): $734 for 6 months, full collision, $1m/$1m liability, at 4k estimated miles per year, c.f. I am paying $450 for the Audi below on the same policy.

In the UK, I was used to being able to get specialist insurance for "this is not my shopping / commute car" vehicles, e.g. I had an old beater Saab 900 turbo for road rallies, and got the non-competition insurance for it by listing it as a classic (hey, it was over 10 years old, and it ran!) .... GBP 90 a year [1] for a modded car, but with a *strict* 5k mile a year limit (report the odometer reading with your renewal please sir).

Is there anything like this in the USA, and is it even worth pursuing?

Cheers
Dave


[1] Classic insurance, naturally, is only available as fully comprehensive (USA: collision), so my beater was covered for towing a trailer with a real race car on it. The broker had a deal with Norwich Union to pro-rate down their regular fully comp policies with all the trimmings

 

The only other types of insurance I'm aware of here in the states are "collector's" insurance and "track day" insurance. Hagerty is probably the best-known collectors insurance company for classic/exotic/etc. cars (http://www.hagerty.com/)

I looked into this same thing a while back for my Lotus and for me it was more cost effective to just add the car to my regular insurance, because the collector's insurance placed a lot of restrictions on how much you could drive the car, when, etc. plus it was expensive (I don't remember off the top of my head what the quote was).

Congrats on the new ride, by the way! I was actually at Town North Nissan over the weekend and looked at the black '09 they had for sale used. Is that the one you bought? Maybe I'll see you driving around town!

Cheers,
Joel

 

Hi Joel

No, I specifically wanted a Super Silver Premium one ... I looked into buying the one that Sugarland Mercedes has on their lot, but it has a shady set of paperwork and service history, and they overpaid for it so are not open to negotiation. Don't bother asking :-)

I ended up buying one over the phone (eek!) that was a snowbird's toy in Florida ... it's a 2009 but only has 3k miles on the clock. I got it for $69k which struck me as a great deal, and enclosed shipping is only $800. It gets delivered next week and I am having trouble sleeping in the mean time :-)

Tried a Hagerty's quote just now, and it ended up being about 10% more expensive than Geico for less coverage. I put it on limited miles with the gecko, but I don't mind the restriction, as I am keeping the Audi as the daily driver ... I'd rather not risk parking the GT-R at HEB, I want to keep the miles down on it and turn it into a future collector's car, and I also plan to get a 125 Shifter kart and I don't want to put a towing hitch on the GT-R :-) It's also very convenient to have n+1 cars.

I guess my European perspective on insurance is off here ... had I asked Direct Line (Scotland's answer to Geico / Progressive) for a quote on a GT-R, they'd have been giggling as they hung up the phone.

 

P.S. no I did not consider the silver Hennessey one at Austin Autos ... (a) I couldn't afford it, and (b) I don't have the budget to have a $100k car that is not warranty-able, nor to replace the $20k transmission when it inevitably fails, nor to insure such a monster.

Also, I'm still learning to drive my 320bhp Audi properly :-)

 

Awesome sounds like you got a good deal on a mint car! Congrats again!

I'm personally waiting for one to drop below $60k before I pick one up. Although I'm considering that it may be worth the extra cash upfront to get a lower mileage car. *ponders* I did look at the Hennessey GTR and decided that there's no way I can bankroll a car like that. I'm totally with you on that one.

Have you been out to the track at Driveway Austin? If not, definitely check it out once you get the new car. It's a great circuit that's close by and inexpensive to run at. They also have shifter cart stuff out there so if you're looking into carts they're good people to know.

 

Good reminder!

A friend who has a tweaked Elise (and more money than me :-) runs there a lot. He said I was a Philistine for getting a GT-R instead of an Evora, and I told him that (a) as a rally guy, I like 4wd and turbos, and (b) an Evora was too slow for my taste, I already have a 5 second car in the form of the Audi

I will start with the A6 first. I am also planning to give TWS a spin (probably literally)

I am also looking forward, once I have the permanent plates, to using my shiny pristine GT-R as test drive bait for the Hennessey GT-R and a few other things ... the new Aston Martin dealership is right by my house :-)

 

P.S. if you're feeling nosey, this is my new ride ....

 

*drool* she's a beaut!

Haha I understand both sides to the Evora/GTR argument. I love both the Lotus methodology and the AWD/Turbo/Japanese rice rocket methodology. There's no way the Exige can accelerate like my 450hp Evo (not stock, obviously), but the Lotus is absolutely eloquent in the corners and feels as close to what driving a "real" racecar feels like that I've experienced (from Formula Fords mostly). I love them both though :-)

And since I was nosey and looked at your car... :-D ...I shall reciprocate, here are two of my babies:
Evo IX
Lotus Exige

 

Got the gecko down to $625 / 6 months with a few tweaks such as a higher deductible.