Car Insurance

[pennst8]

So in a little over a month I take over payments on my car and have to start paying for insurance. Everyone I've talked to says USAA is really solid for military personnel (they currently cover me on my parents policy), but GEICO came in a full $150 bucks cheaper (six month rate).

Anyone have anything good/bad to say about these two?

Who are you using?

BTW - My rates are sky high because I'm 22 and just got a wonderful speeding ticket in December for going 71 in a 65 (6mph over) while on the interstate. Damn PA State Police...

 

[Fly Navy]

USAA may not be the cheapest, but I trust them. They are SOLID with military members.

 

[Brett327]

USAA may not be the cheapest, but I trust them. They are SOLID with military members.

Concur, and I have USAA as well, but if GEICO is quoting you that much less, I wouldn't have any issues with going that way. GEICO is an established company as well.

Brett

 

[pennst8]

USAA may not be the cheapest, but I trust them. They are SOLID with military members.

Worth an additional 30 percent when you know you aren't getting deployed for awhile?

BTW, Thanks for the replies gents, I appreciate the info.

 

[Thisguy]

Everyone I've talked to says USAA is really solid for military personnel (they currently cover me on my parents policy), but GEICO came in a full $150 bucks cheaper (six month rate).

That's odd. I remember GEICO (even with their military rates) was the same $$ amount as my USAA, but I got more coverage with USAA for the same price. Love the USAA

Damn PA State Police

Only thing worse than PA police is the Penn State campus cops.

 

[Steve Wilkins]

Make sure you are comparing apples to apples. Meaning....are the deductables the same for both policies being quoted? What about the limits on liability?....etc. USAA is da bomb and has always been the least expensive company (for me), so I would certainly question a policy that comes up for $150 less per 6 month period at another company.

 

[pennst8]

[offtopic]
You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Thisguy again.
Not that I don't have respect for law enforcement (I do have two friends who are cops)... but the phrase "fvck the police" has come out of my mouth more than once in regards to the University Park Police Department.
[/offtopic]

Steve - you guys have me thinking that maybe the policy numbers don't add up, I'm going to compare the two again and see what happens.

 

[OneOddGuy]

I use USAA for car insurance, renters insurance, and a mutual fund. Good rates (at least for me) and customer service is always efficient.

They're grrrrrrrreat!

 

[TXFlyFan]

We just switched our insurance over to USAA (we were with State Farm before) and it dropped our monthly payment to $94 from $138 for the same coverage. I'm happy with USAA so far. They have excellent customer service!

 

[Thisguy]

They're grrrrrrrreat!

A special thanks to Tony the Tiger for swinging by.

 

[ryann24]

Coming from a former employee of Geico, they really are good and offer special discounts to the military, including deployment discounts. If you are a member of NFCU, you also will get a discount. We switched to USAA when we move here to P'Cola because Geico was much higher! Now they are only about a 100 higher. Price is not everything, you definitely want a reputable company and USAA does offer more services so that can make things convenient, but if it were a significant amount of money I would go with Geico. There claims service is great if you ever have a claim. Like someone else said, make sure you are comparing apples to apples and in some states they offer/require medical coverage that you may not need since you are military, or may not want as high of coverage. Make sure you are getting very good liability coverage!!! I saw so many people underinsured or hit by an uninsured motorist and it was sad because no one ever took the time to explain how important it is EVEN if you are a "safe" driver.
Enough of my rambling, I am a huge fan of USAA, but when it comes to saving money you are not going with a low ball insurance company going with Geico. For heaven sakes, Warren Buffet is the big dog in the house

 

[Thisguy]

Coming from a former employee of Geico, they really are good and offer special discounts to the military, including deployment discounts.

Plus they have a commerical where the Gecko does the robot, and let's face it, that's just plain cool.

 

[air38]

i recently checked out some quotes at http://www.oneshopinsurance.com they have a couple of known companies here. so it's cool. actually there are things that we all have to consider. Age is a major consideration. Old vehicles pay a higher premium than new ones. The type and model of the vehicle has a major role also. When buying car/auto insurance online, there are sites that provide automated tools. They’re using an auto coverage analyzer where you have to answer a few question about your financial standing, automobile condition, etc. From this information it will generate what category of coverage you need.

 

[pennst8]

Cool link air38... but I just went and bought USAA anyway. I mentioned to them that GEICO quoted me a lower rate and they were able to pull some magic **** and cut their quote by a little bit.

Anyway the whole "you can call them a 3am from anywhere in the world" aspect made me decide it was worth the extra couple bucks. That and they have flexible payment plans... that O-1 pay won't kick in for a few more weeks.

Did anyone else know they run a credit check on you when you ask for a car insurance quote? I just found that out... and it kind of pisses me off because apparently if multiple organizations check your credit in a short time your score goes down?

 

[The Chief]

Did anyone else know they run a credit check on you when you ask for a car insurance quote? I just found that out... and it kind of pisses me off because apparently if multiple organizations check your credit in a short time your score goes down?

Those credit checks do not affect your FICO score. The credit reports from the three major agencies are out there for anyone to check, without your permission. However, there are "opt out" procedures that you can can initiate to prevent those "fishing" expeditions without your permission, by say Capital One, one of the worst offenders. Horrible offender I guess I should say.


Experience speaking, GEICO is a very distant second to USAA. Difference being the service you get AFTER they get your money. For example, you have a car the is over 5 years old, an accident creates need to change your fender, GEICO will demand that the shop get a used fender from a junk yard rather than a new one. USAA does not. That is only one example.