Detroiter Looking to Escape Michigan’s $600 Auto Insurance

[bonbonbaron]

Texas, my home state, has far cheaper auto insurance. So when I moved to Michigan for my dream job a few years ago, it was a nasty surprise reading the price of the cheapest insurance policy. Not only is the transportation here utterly monopolized by the auto industry (which traps you into using Detroit’s broken roads and, imho, corrupt traffic system), it also snows for half of the year so that you can’t sell your car. There are no buses or trains most places around the metro. So there’s no way out of paying $600 twice a year.

Unless, that is, you brilliant Mustachians have a trick up your sleeve I don’t know about. If you know something I don’t (that doesn’t involve fat tire biking), please share. :) Thank you in advance!

[Fomerly known as something]

Move to the good side of the state, my car insurance in west Michigan is les than $600 a year.

[Zette]

Buy a Tesla, then get your insurance through Tesla.  How many face punches would buying a new car just to lower your insurance merit? 

[pecunia]

I am not a Texan, but true Texans think the place is heaven.  You might want to work on getting yourself back down there.  There are probably a lot of other things about lower Michigan that make you unhappy.  If you were truly happy, paying a bit more for car insurance would not have upset you to this extent.

P.S. - I would not want to live in Detroit either.

[undercover]

$1200 a year just for liability? If not, buy a cheaper car and drop collision.

If you have your dream job and there’s no way out of it then there’s no way out of it I guess?

[Sibley]

Move.

[facepalm]

Did you perhaps move from a less urban area to a more urban area? That may have something to do with it. I ran into the same situation here in the SF bay area. I was paying what I thought was a good rate on a truck with full coverage (Yes I own a truck), then I moved, and saw my rate shoot up $300 a year, simply because the area I'm in now has a higher population density.

Of course, different states often require different formulas for calculating insurance, so YMMV. Pun intended.

[pecunia]

Here's an article explaining why Michigan rates for auto insurance are so high.

https://www.mlive.com/news/2019/05/why-michigan-auto-insurance-costs-so-much-and-how-to-lower-it.html

It looks like a secondary effect of our American medical system.  The Michigan law changed recently so perhaps your rates may go down next year.  However, my experience with insurance is that it does not go down unless you switch companies.  Even car insurance companies have told me that this is how it works.

[chemistk]

I grew up in SE Michigan, so I'm all too familiar.

If you want to get really frugal/creative, you could just ditch the car for an E-Bike and a high quality winter coat.

Realistically, that's not easy though especially depending on where you live (where it can be very dangerous to be riding around on an expensive bike).

Apart from sharing a car/bumming rides from people you know and/or carpooling to work, your options for besting insurance in MI are very limited. If you're already taking advantage of all the discounts your policy offers you should look into switching policies as it does not pay to be a loyal insurance customer.

Otherwise, the best way to save money is to find other auto-related categories to cut costs.

[Eowyn_MI]

Have you tried driving a less expensive car?  I certainly don't pay $600 twice a year on my Focus hatchback which is a reliable but non-fancy car in my experience.

If you live with someone you can get lower insurance for the two of you by both being on the same insurance (at least, that's how it worked for me).  Also, they did just change the insurance law in Michigan.  My insurance agent called me last month to discuss the different options for lowering premiums.

[Laserjet3051]

i moved from socal to sw MI recently and my auto insurance went DOWN!

[wenchsenior]

Is this just for one car?  I live in TX, and I pay MORE than that.

700$/6-mo-period for one newish car with full coverage and one 20+-year-old beater with liability only. 

[dogboyslim]

MI Unlimited PIP is a big driver of the expense.  That, and the fact that the limit the differential pricing between urban/rural.  You might find cheaper insurance if you find a company that has a usage based insurance product if you really don't drive your car much.  Otherwise, keep your bills paid on time, look for a cheaper car and drop Coll/Comp, or just accept that the regulatory environment there is crazy.  You should call and ask about the new PIP limits that are available, but consider that you are reducing your coverage when you do that.  Good luck!

[MDM]

You should call and ask about the new PIP limits that are available, but consider that you are reducing your coverage when you do that.

Yes - the more coverage one buys, the higher the premium, and the less coverage one buys....

[StarBright]

You could always move to NW Ohio and commute. But then you'd have to deal with wacky Ohio income taxes so I wouldn't recommend it :)

[Miss Prim]

Move out of Wayne county and your premiums will go down.  Also, by moving to Michigan, are you making more money than you were previously in another state?  Our salaries here are pretty good because of the auto industry.  I know I made more at my job than I would have in other states and I had nothing to do with the auto industry. 

Of course I have spent most of my life living in Michigan, so I think it is a great state! 

[bonbonbaron]

Wow, thanks for all these great responses guys! I dropped off the forum for about a month, so I only just now read all of them. Just to give you an idea of my car situation, I drive a beater myself: a 2004 Toyota Corolla. (Toyotas have amazing endurance, don't they?) I bought it off my dad for $1500 back in 2015, and it's nearing a quarter-million miles. DIY'ing auto maintenance and biking for most summer errands has kept auto costs down over the years, but this insurance is a big pain in the butt. Maybe Mustachianism has spoiled me, making me unused to triple-digit dollar amounts.

In response to various other messages here without quoting them all: I do make quite a bit more up here than I did the other three states I've lived in. Robotics companies pocket big bucks from the auto industry, which explains the location. However, Texas mortgages are supremely cheap compared to Michigan's. No state taxes on income either, gas is way cheaper, roads and traffic system are far superior (Detroit, why do you still use timed lights!?)... I could go on.

Not to knock on Michigan. It's a beautiful state.

[kpd905]

@bonbonbaron So I assume this is the price for just liability?  Given the fact that your car is worth a couple hundred bucks?

[BikeFanatic]

600 twice a year for a beater car? I shopped around for quotes last year liberty mutual was the highest by far, and geico was actually a good deal. Unless you have a bunch of tickets for speeding I would think that you can reduce that by half. Of course you don’t need any more insurance than the basics.
Since your replacement value is really below deductible levels. Good luck.

[pecunia]

Wow, thanks for all these great responses guys! I dropped off the forum for about a month, so I only just now read all of them. Just to give you an idea of my car situation, I drive a beater myself: a 2004 Toyota Corolla. (Toyotas have amazing endurance, don't they?) I bought it off my dad for $1500 back in 2015, and it's nearing a quarter-million miles. DIY'ing auto maintenance and biking for most summer errands has kept auto costs down over the years, but this insurance is a big pain in the butt. Maybe Mustachianism has spoiled me, making me unused to triple-digit dollar amounts.

In response to various other messages here without quoting them all: I do make quite a bit more up here than I did the other three states I've lived in. Robotics companies pocket big bucks from the auto industry, which explains the location. However, Texas mortgages are supremely cheap compared to Michigan's. No state taxes on income either, gas is way cheaper, roads and traffic system are far superior (Detroit, why do you still use timed lights!?)... I could go on.

Not to knock on Michigan. It's a beautiful state.

You should be able to get a house cheap near Detroit.  They've been bulldozing them.

I guess roads would stay better with the mild climate in Texas.  I'm thinkin' the higher taxes in Michigan may provide more state services.  The Southern states have a reputation of not being very helpful to their residents.  I'll bet they don't salt the roads in texas and the rustworms are limited to coastal areas.

Good you have been able to work it out.

[Arbitrage]

You should be able to get a house cheap near Detroit.  They've been bulldozing them.

Generally, when people say they're 'from Detroit,' they don't mean it literally; they're talking about the metro area (5-6x the population of Detroit proper), which is basically similar in crime/socioeconomic status as any other large city metro. 

[Fomerly known as something]

You should be able to get a house cheap near Detroit.  They've been bulldozing them.

Generally, when people say they're 'from Detroit,' they don't mean it literally; they're talking about the metro area (5-6x the population of Detroit proper), which is basically similar in crime/socioeconomic status as any other large city metro.

I always talk about how surprisingly “expensive” Detroit is, at least the parts you want to live in.  And by that I mean both in the city and outside it.  Although there are still a ton of places that give good value, they are not cheap.

[OtherJen]

You should be able to get a house cheap near Detroit.  They've been bulldozing them.

Generally, when people say they're 'from Detroit,' they don't mean it literally; they're talking about the metro area (5-6x the population of Detroit proper), which is basically similar in crime/socioeconomic status as any other large city metro.

I always talk about how surprisingly “expensive” Detroit is, at least the parts you want to live in.  And by that I mean both in the city and outside it.  Although there are still a ton of places that give good value, they are not cheap.

Yep. And property values are going up again, at least where I live.