Well in case anyone is interested the Insurance Service Office (ISO) which is the service all insurance companies use to determine the risk factor for all cars, has just raised the symbol on the 02 max (dont know about other years) from a symbol 15 to a symbol 18. What this means to all of us is that we will see a considerable increse in premimun when we get our renewals.



Hotrod

 

ewwwww why???

 

The insurance company really doesn't know why (so they say),since the inusrance service office is not a part of any one insurance company. It may have something to do with all the HID thefts on the 02/ 03 max. The symbol is based on the risk factor of the car. Sports cars ( vetts etc ) have a very high symbol number.

 

So, what is the 18 rating for the Maxima as compared to a Vette?

 

....damn you nissan.........

 

I'm sure that they give a reason for assigning higher numbers. I would venture to say that it's because of the HID theft potential along with the body damage claims. I'll just have to wait until my policy renews to see how much if any, it increases. It would probably reflect on the comprehensive coverage on a policy.

 

Is there any way to find out what every car is rated?

 

well this is really depressing news...

 

Google is your friend.

http://www.hwysafety.org/vehicle_rat...l/ictl_4dr.htm

 

this makes no sense... he says it's going from 15 to 18 but that has it at

Nissan Maxima 92 97 154 for Injury Collision Theft respectively

???

 

There may be another list with the numbers he was talking about.

 

Well, I'm not surprise about this post. I got my renewal noticed from State Farm, to my surprise my insurance went up only by a few dollars more. Mine is a 2001. I think, it's not just the Maxima, it's pretty much a lot of cars has a premium increase. My mom lives in NY, she had an insurance hike on her S-Class.

 

My insurance went up $20.00 a month, so that is $240 a year. I called Geico and they said that the rating went up for Maxima's but the guy could not tell me why. Just said that they have more data now, so they revised the rating. I live in NYC.

 

Would the increase only effect 2002 and 2003 owners?

 

I have been with State farm for 10 years....I have Home, jewlry, cars and 500K worth of life insurance with them. Their rates just went through the roof....I switched and saved 500.00 annually.

Never made a claim

 

the list that the insurance companies use to determine the symbol for every car is put out by the Insurance service office (ISO) this is not a public list and the only way to get it (as far as i know ) is to pay for it.
And why the 2k2 and 2k3 may have taken the bigest hits is because of HID theft.


hotrod

 

I can answer this question for all of you. I bought my '03 Max in January '03. My rates with USAA skyrocketed at the renewal in August. HID theft is NOT the reason. The reason is simply power-to-weight ratio, or alot of horspower. When I called and asked why they were fu(cking me up the *** with no lube, they actually did research and called me back several times to discuss this rate increase. They did say, however, that the ratings may be revised because like us Max owners, Accord owners with the 240 HP and other 'family' cars with high horsepower ratings were also experiencing the increase and the insurance company rep herself thought it was strange that 'family' cars were being rated and charged for coverage like pure sports cars. I doubt with all the money they're making on us that they'll get on that right away, however.

 

Well they knew the horsepower to weight ratio from the very begining so i dont think that is why. They have gained information on cost to repair and frequency of accidents on the max so that may have something to do with it. Maybe there are so many accidents becasue the stock Blowtenzes suck so bad in the wet and snow. By the way I inquired about the rating symobl on a new 2004 g35 coupe and they said it is a 17 and they now list the max at a 18. If the horsepower to wight ratio was the factor you would think the new g35 coupe with more horsepower and more like a sports car would cost more to insure. I really dont know but I do know that they are F**king us and will continue to do so. I would not be surprised if everyone here with a 2k2 and 2k3 get an incrrase on their next renewal.

hotrod

 

You are completely incorrect here, especially with your first sentence. I spoke quite a long time with USAA about this and the fact is they DID NOT know about the engine and power upgrade for over a year before raising the rates and in fact didn't raise them until after the 6th gen had already begun production! It can take time for the underwriters to figure out something has changed in a particular model of car. I can back this up by telling you that at the time I was inquiring about why the rates for my '03 had skyrocketed, I asked them to give me a quote for a rate on an identical '02 Max 6sp. Guess what, the '02 was still quoted at the old rate while the '03 was quoted at the new rate. The rep told me that the '02 rates were sure to rise as well but the underwriters hadn't figured the new rating for the '02 Max yet. And to reiterate, power-to-weight was the overriding factor in the insurance increase.

 

That just sucks...My insurance is sky high already.
Now this !

 

just for a comparison, i know the 02 subaru WRX is also an 18 rating, which my insurance agent said was very high.

 

Ugh...this blows.

I know a ton of people have crashed their max's...me included...so I'm sure we didn't help the rating! I can only imagine what mine is going to look like next time....might be looking at a new ride this summer.

 

Ugh, this really sucks! when I had a '95 VTEC Prelude my insurance was more than a Corvette of the same year. Power to weight ratio was not the reason then, it was the cost of repairs and theft.

 

My insurance with Nationwide renewed in December (every 6 mos.) and I had a decrease in the Maxima portion of my premium. Go figure.

Buzz

 

That number rating has a lot to do with your location. I am with State Farm and they told me that mine dropped $140.00 a year. I now pay 60.56 per month.

Thats Comp/Coll. 100/300 w\ a 250deduct

 

Thanks for the detailed answer. When i talked to my insurance co (AIG) they just said that there was a symbol change and that they had had an increase in our state. When i pressed them for more info they were not albe to provide it.

 

Damn where do you live I also have 100/300 with 250 duct with no tickets or claims and mine is now over 1800 year for the max.

 

1800 a year....good God!

My 2k MaxSE and my wife's 2k Jetta combined are only about 1100 a year, with high coverages. My max alone would have been 950, and we got a "2 car discount" by adding her on. USAA is the most scrupulous company in my opinion....never had past troubles with claims and they always answer questions with little/no b.s. Anyhow, ifyou are paying over 1800 with perfect driving record, I am assuming you live in a high theft area and are a teenager?? Rates go down after you turn 25, and also if you get married. Just my 2 cents.

 

hmmm...

I just renewed my insurance this past week and my 6 month premium had surprisingly dropped $200 or so. I inquired on insurance costs on both a 350z and G35 coupe not all that long ago. I expected both to be considerbly higher... however the 350z was cheaper by a few bucks and the G35 was maybe 50 bucks more every 6 months. I asked why no big difference and the rep told me something about having never filed a claim, excellent credit, and some other things that make me lower finacial risk or something. He said that for some people the premium between the max and the G would be double.

 

if i remember correctly my 3000GT VR4 is rated 31. the dodge viper is rated at 32. the corvette is rated at 30..this may be for C4 and older...im not positive.

so why arent my premiums as high as new vipers or vettes? the value of my car.

 

From your profile, your driving a 2000 Max. Your power-to-weight ratio is way lower than the Max's with the 3.5 liter and as result did not cross the threshold to qualify for the rate increase. When I asked my insurance company about the computation, the 3.5 Max's cutoff just barely passed the number to qualify for the rate increase so your rate's surely wouldn't be raised for that reason.

 

check sig.

 

damn!!!!!

can I come over and play with you?

 

You guys better be glad you don't live in SC. I moved from NC several years ago and my rates nearly doubled. I couldn't believe it!! Of course I challenged this and came up empty.

Actually what was really eye opening is the fact that I didn't get the same answer twice on why this was. This was the key for me that some (serious) lobbying was being done at the state level. Insurance is the only industry in this country that can adjust the rules when THEY feel they are not making enough money. They don't seem to have to abide by the same laws of business that the rest of us do. Provide good service for reasonable profits. Look around the city you live in and notice who has the largest buildings downtown. The insurance companies.

It's going to get worse before it get's better, especially if the court systems in this country continue to allow frivalous (did I spell that correctly) lawsuites of people sueing for any and all reasons. Maybe I can stump my big toe and sue the city for the sidewalks being uneven.

 

Insurance on my Max and 350 is very similair with the 350 being higher by 9 dollars a month for the both of us. We pay $965 a year for the 350 and $956 a year for the 03 Max and we just pay Liability on our 89 Maxima "bad weather" car although its in great shape still.

 

I can verify here in North Carolina, my 2k2 Max has an 18 rating. That is with North Carolina Farm Bureau. I don't even think my 95 Cobra had an 18 rating. This is the reason I hate insurance companies!

 

LOL sure. i just put much larger turbos on the stealth. ran neck and neck from a roll with a cammed LS1 M6 that traps 115

 

so we still have no definite answer on why our insurance is as much as the real sports sedan, wrx... half the reason why i got the max over the wrx was insurance, the other half was looks

 

Here is some idea of the comparison. When I had my 1995 TransAM, some insurance companies would not insure it because it was a class 22 car.
The Corvette, of course, is higher.
Your rate would also depend on the city you live in. Some are classified higher due the crime rate.

 

I just talked to my friend who works for Geico. The rating is calculated by the frequency of claims on a particular vehicle and the average cost of each claim. I think HID theft has a lot to do with this one.