Don't buy German or a Viper

Umm... I am sensing a trend...

Most expensive cars to insure

I didn't know it was legal to own a German.

Such a load of crap my 500/500 coverage runs 1100 a year with the umbrella on my Viper.

the viper is on there probably because of the tendency for people lacking talent to send them into things backwards. also they didnt get ABS until far later than most other performance cars so the early ones probably give the later ones a bad name.

for me, a WRX sedan would have cost the same to insure as a corvette, while a WRX wagon was about the same as a mazda3 to insure

Appleseed wrote: I didn't know it was legal to own a German.

I know a little German. He's right over there.

Total crap. Rates vary so much from area to area and state to state, even zip code to zip code. They also vary company to company. Sometimes the crap that winds up on Jalopnik astounds me.

David S. Wallens wrote:

Appleseed wrote: I didn't know it was legal to own a German.

I know a little German. He's right over there.

I went to the mercedes approved body shop a month or so ago and I can see why they could be expensive to insure. I was surprised they were even fixing some of the cars as they looked totalled. I guess a 50000$ car can incur 15grand of body damage and still be worth fixing.

Aahhh....Hillary Flammond...

benzbaron wrote: I went to the mercedes approved body shop a month or so ago and I can see why they could be expensive to insure. I was surprised they were even fixing some of the cars as they looked totalled. I guess a 50000$ car can incur 15grand of body damage and still be worth fixing.

You should have seen the final bill on a '72 350 SL we fixed.

Euro?

When my wife decided that she wanted an R class to tote around our three little ones I was worrried about the insurance. We ended up with an 06 R 350 with 73K on it and the insurance went up @ $100 every 6 months over our 99 SAAB 9-3, I was pleasantly supprised.

Of course most of those are very expensive, so I'm sure replacement costs are factored in.

on a side note about Vipers, I did a Viper Club day at Barber a few years ago and some of those people scared the crap out of me! More than a few came from drag racing a hemi Road Runner to running road courses with the Viper, and without much training either. They were scary to share the track with treating it like a drag race between the corners and then crawling.

Except for the massive truck like shifter, I thought the Viper drove pretty well though, really like a big Miata in feel ('05 model). Oh, and the heat was MASSIVE!

benzbaron wrote: Euro?

Yep, real nice car too. Recently had a Euro market 1981 280SL in for top end work. Rough interior but straight body, the guy's planning to restore it a step at a time.

Are you doing a valve job on it Jensenman? My car needs a good valve adjustment, but it still runs. While you have the valve cover off I guess it is a good idea to measure the time chain stretch.

The problem with the euro mercedes is they used cloth or vinyl seats and after 20+ years they disintegrate. The vinyl and leather will last forever but not the cloth.

Jensenman wrote:

benzbaron wrote: I went to the mercedes approved body shop a month or so ago and I can see why they could be expensive to insure. I was surprised they were even fixing some of the cars as they looked totalled. I guess a 50000$ car can incur 15grand of body damage and still be worth fixing.

You should have seen the final bill on a '72 350 SL we fixed.

i think it was european car magazine that had a long term e46 maybe 10 years ago and the authors wife hit a downed HUGE tree across the road and the insurance company paid something like $29k to fix it because they said the replacement cost was still a few thousand over that.

where i used to work we had a 959 that had hit t-boned a civic and my boss was putting together a quote.... almost $300k just in parts

I hate the Jalopnik layout.

racerdave600 wrote: Of course most of those are very expensive, so I'm sure replacement costs are factored in. on a side note about Vipers, I did a Viper Club day at Barber a few years ago and some of those people scared the crap out of me! More than a few came from drag racing a hemi Road Runner to running road courses with the Viper, and without much training either. They were scary to share the track with treating it like a drag race between the corners and then crawling. Except for the massive truck like shifter, I thought the Viper drove pretty well though, really like a big Miata in feel ('05 model). Oh, and the heat was MASSIVE!

If its a open Viper track day and its not drivers I know I stay far away. Just like all cars driving skill does not go up with income; though some Viper owners are definitely out to disprove that statement.

The biggest problem with them is the limits are just so high that when you make a mistake, and you will, it will be a BIG FAST mistake. Plus the tires are so wide that you have this unbelievable feeling that you can do no wrong, its really weird its almost like being in a video game with arcade physics.

wearymicrobe wrote: its really weird its almost like being in a video game with arcade physics.

Yep. Right up to the point when it's not anymore.

wearymicrobe wrote:

racerdave600 wrote: Of course most of those are very expensive, so I'm sure replacement costs are factored in. on a side note about Vipers, I did a Viper Club day at Barber a few years ago and some of those people scared the crap out of me! More than a few came from drag racing a hemi Road Runner to running road courses with the Viper, and without much training either. They were scary to share the track with treating it like a drag race between the corners and then crawling. Except for the massive truck like shifter, I thought the Viper drove pretty well though, really like a big Miata in feel ('05 model). Oh, and the heat was MASSIVE!

If its a open Viper track day and its not drivers I know I stay far away. Just like all cars driving skill does not go up with income; though some Viper owners are definitely out to disprove that statement. The biggest problem with them is the limits are just so high that when you make a mistake, and you will, it will be a BIG FAST mistake. Plus the tires are so wide that you have this unbelievable feeling that you can do no wrong, its really weird its almost like being in a video game with arcade physics.

I did a right seat with a guy that gripped the top of the wheel with both hands, and all he knew was full throttle and throw the wheel left or right with all his might. I went for one lap and made him pull into the pits. He thought he was a great driver and all I was saying was wrong. A nice guy other than that, but I didn't get on track with him again.

Lag... Wham! Lag... Wham! Lag... Wham!