Pleasant surprise when insuring via Lexus

[GSLV6 217]

Having just purchased a 2 year old RX450h, I was aghast at what my current insurer wanted to cover the extra over my GS300 for the next 6 months until my policy runs out. They wanted an additional £350 on top of the £230 I'd already paid, so an annual cost of £580!

I called Lexus, and was pleasantly surprised to get an annual quote for about £400 with the same low excess, same legal cover, same windscreen cover and fully comp.  I was expecting it to be more, but it just goes to show that insuring through Lexus can be cheaper than offered elsewhere.  It even includes (expensive) key cover, which I don't currently benefit from.  Bonus is no overseas call centres as I believe they have a 24/7/365 cover from a Portsmouth office.  

 

Well done Lexus 

[NemesisUK 1,227]

My experience with Lexus insurance is the opposite to yours. When changing from my CLS55 to my new RC300h my current insurer issued a £20 rebate reducing my annual premium to just £180. Lexus wanted to charge me £400/yr on a like for like policy.

[GSLV6 217]

In your case though, you were coming from a very powerful and expensive to repair motorcar in the CLS55 (AMG by any chance?) to a somewhat more sedate car by comparison and would I be right in assuming a lower insurance group? I would have expected a rebate too in your shoes.  I was going from a GS300 (group 32 or something?) to a group 42 RX450 F Sport.

I guess it depends on your postcode, and insurance company too.  I was expecting Lexus to quote more. The only thing is that they didn't offer breakdown cover (usually about £35 extra) but do cover key theft, loss or damage to £1500.  No voluntary excess on the policy too.

I just ran a "compare the market" comparison and the cheapest was £294 annually, with the average being £305 annually. Most exclude Legal cover from that (£28) and exclude key cover, they also included minimum voluntary excess of £250, compulsary of £300.  

I would have gone with the £305 quote (Closer to £350 by the time the voluntary excess is brought down a bit and legal cover is included) but paid extra for Lexus because at least in the event of an accident they will only use Lexus approved repairers, not one of the usual national cheap and cheerful franchised repair shops that I wouldn't entrust my pushbike to.  There's a reason why Lexus approved repairers cost more.  I would imagine (hope!) that unlike some insurance specialist body repair shops, for example, that they don't cut corners to achieve low bottom line.  Plenty of metal bashers and paint sprayers that will do the job for peanuts but you'll get an equivalent service in most cases.

I will probably switch next year and save a few pennies but am happy for now to go with Lexus.

[NemesisUK 1,227]

Correct, an AMG 

Not sure of the respective insurance groups but I'd imagine the RC, being brand new and a hybrid, wouldn't be far behind the 12yr old CLS in repair costs? When I changed from my Mercedes C270cdi to the AMG my annual premium effectively halved!! How a 467bhp supercharged V8 petrol car could be cheaper to insure than a 180bhp diesel burner was beyond me...

[GSLV6 217]

I know...sometimes there's no rhyme or reason!

The 55 AMG in CLS guise is a great car.  That's a strong engine but thirsty!  The insurance would take into account things like risk I imagine, as well as repair costs. Risk I must be made up from a number of factors, including post code (ie how many are stolen in the area annually), security measures, car type and class, power output perhaps, typical spares costs for that model, owner's risk history etc etc.  It's not surprising that there's often little parity between quotes for different people living in different areas for the same vehicle.

My own company was trying it on with their ridiculous quote so I couldn't even be bothered to haggle or discuss it with them....they instantly lost my custom and now have to refund me half the premium left to run which will offset the cost of the Lexus premium.  It pays to shop around annually, so no doubt we'll see what Lexus can offer in a year's time.

 

 

[colin79666 133]

Lexus Insurance wanted about double what my current insurer charge me! Not 100% like for like but pretty close terms so there was no way I was going to be paying anything like what they quoted me.

[Britprius 902]

Few people know that you do not have to take a car for repair to an insurers preferred repairers. You can have accident repair work done where you wish. Of course they do not tell you this, but it is your prerogative.

John.