# insurance rant



## autopilot (Dec 2, 2004)

i work for a car company, and i take the bus to work. no, i can afford the car payments... it's the INSURANCE that i can't afford.

does anyone else find ontario's rates absolutely ridiculous?

but wait, it's really MY fault. you see, i went overseas when i was sixteen and got my license there. four years of driving experience, yet when i return to canada, they do not recognize either my license (which is a whole other story), or my driving history.

what am i being quoted, you ask? well, when anyone BOTHERS to give me a quote (how many brokers have just not cared to return my calls?), it's pretty ridiculous beyond belief. for a new suzuki swift+: *$8000/year.* 

oh, how about for a 1991 sidekick, a 1995 civic, or a 1994 corolla? *$6000/year.* 

I AM NOT JOKING. 

i cannot piggyback on a parent's insurance; my dad tried and failed, my mom doesn't live in canada. i refuse to drive an uninsured vehicle. i cannot afford to pay the ridiculous rates. so what are my options?

wait for my company to introduce the employee lease plan which will include coverage under the fleet insurance. that's it. i have been waiting for this plan since last July.

anyone else have similar horror stories? or who would like to purchase insurance for me for the next 2 years...?


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## iPetie (Nov 25, 2003)

Call your MPP's office and ask for an appointment with Him/Her to discuss your situation and why Ontario Law allows you to be penalized for living oversees. If you can't get an appointment, get his EMail Address and send him/her an EMail once an hour until you a satisfactory response and an appointment. Call daily as well.
I think your age may have as much to do with your issues as unrecognized years of driving. I may be wrong on that though.


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## Sonal (Oct 2, 2003)

I sympathise--my spouse had to sell his car because the insurance company suddenly cut off his insurance (they decided that the accident he had over a year before made him a risk) and everywhere he looked was at least triple his old rate.

One piece of advice that our insurance broker gave was to buy an old pickup truck--which we did--and drive it for a few years. The rates are actually relatively low on pickup trucks, and that will give you a few years of "official" driving history. Strangely, the spouse has discovered that he like likes having a pickup truck, so it actually worked out okay.

The insurance situation in Ontario does totally suck, though.


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## sinjin (Jul 12, 2003)

Do you live and work in Toronto? Don't drive. Take public transport and you'll probably get where you are going faster! Rent a car when needed. The money you'll save by not owning a car (about $7000-7500 per yer) will rent a lot of new cars on weekends, and that estimate doesn't even consider your crazy insurance rates. You just take the car rental company's insurance which is better for you anyway (no history). 

Or if you feel you need a car more often try Autoshare. They'll probably recognize your situation and sign you up. Then you end up getting a Canadian driving and insurance record through their plan. Later if you still feel the need to get your own car you'll qualify for more reasonable rates since you'll have racked up experience. 

Chances are, though, if you go the "alternative" route of finding ways to live without a car it just might stick and you'll have fun and a wad of extra cash in your pocket. That's what happened to me. Now I only move to places where I can get to work, play and stores by bike, foot or transit and I love it.

Just a thought, it ain't for everyone.


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## iPetie (Nov 25, 2003)

Very good advice Sinjin!


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## winwintoo (Nov 9, 2004)

Move to Saskatchewan.

Insurance for your new Suzuki Swift would be about $1200/year. Insurance for my 1994 Mitsubishi is $700/year.

Insurance here has nothing to do with you, although you do pay a premium on your drivers license if you've been in an accident etc and that can get costly - doesn't sound like that would be a problem in your case.

There are lots of advantages to living here: all our phone and electrical cables are buried so we don't have power outages every time it snows and when it snows, it, well it "snows" not that "cow pie" stuff you get down east  

It sounds colder here, but when it's -30 C here and you put on a coat, it keeps you warm. In Toronto, even at 0 C a coat can't keep you warm because of the dampness that gets in everything. And in the summer - there's less humidity too.

Did I mention that there's lot's of room out here, and the cost of living is way lower than in TO?

Take care, Margaret


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## IronMac (Sep 22, 2003)

winwintoo said:


> In Toronto, even at 0 C a coat can't keep you warm because of the dampness that gets in everything.


I'd beg to differ...-30 with the windchill when I left home...wore a woollen cap, ski gloves, Goretex jacket, Polartec 300 fleece jacket, regular cotton shirt and another shirt, Neos overshoes...toasty warm walking to the TTC and, then, to work.


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## Mrs. Furley (Sep 1, 2004)

I second the Autoshare suggestion...my brother uses it and absolutely loves it.

Also, have you called President's Choice for a quote? I've heard excellent things about it and am planning on getting a quote myself.

Sounds like an unpleasant situation...I feel bad for you.


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## autopilot (Dec 2, 2004)

sinjin said:


> Do you live and work in Toronto? Don't drive. Take public transport and you'll probably get where you are going faster!


hah! i live in toronto and work in richmond hill. i take the bus now. it takes me an hour and a half each way, not counting the last two days when it has taken me a solid TWO HOURS door to door both mornings. i travel opposite to rush hour, and i start at 10. when i have had the good fortune to boorow a press car from work, the trip takes 35-45 minutes.



> Or if you feel you need a car more often try Autoshare. They'll probably recognize your situation and sign you up. Then you end up getting a Canadian driving and insurance record through their plan. Later if you still feel the need to get your own car you'll qualify for more reasonable rates since you'll have racked up experience.


i looked into autoshare about 6 months ago. you need to be 25 and i won't reach that until next month. also, you can't have the car for more than 24 hours on weekends and other "peak times" and the times i really need to use it are to get to work and back, and on weekends.



> Just a thought, it ain't for everyone.


i know, and i appreciate your suggestions. trust me, i have been trying to work this out in my head for over a year now...


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## autopilot (Dec 2, 2004)

iPetie said:


> Call your MPP's office and ask for an appointment with Him/Her to discuss your situation and why Ontario Law allows you to be penalized for living oversees. If you can't get an appointment, get his EMail Address and send him/her an EMail once an hour until you a satisfactory response and an appointment. Call daily as well.
> I think your age may have as much to do with your issues as unrecognized years of driving. I may be wrong on that though.


i wrote to the minister who announced the insurance cuts last year and got a standard response from his office. as if 10% cuts matter in my case... i can't even get *real* brokers to give me a quote.

i had to take my g1 written test and full g road toast when i got back, so i had an instructor take me out in a car a few times here to get used to driving on the "wrong" (haha) side of the road before i got on the highway with a tester. the instructor told me the under 25 thing really has to do with males; females generally won't see the rates change much as they turn 25, apparently...


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## autopilot (Dec 2, 2004)

winwintoo said:


> Move to Saskatchewan.


  

i'll risk my luck in Toronto, I've got a good job here. Thanks, though...


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## autopilot (Dec 2, 2004)

IronMac said:


> I'd beg to differ...-30 with the windchill when I left home...wore a woollen cap, ski gloves, Goretex jacket, Polartec 300 fleece jacket, regular cotton shirt and another shirt, Neos overshoes...toasty warm walking to the TTC and, then, to work.


subways are fine, but if you get on the buses bundled up like that you'll faint. they pump the heat up so high on some of those buses... well, at least the drivers are comfortable...  

sorry, that's unfair. most drivers (including the one i had this morning) are very nice and generous.


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## Sonal (Oct 2, 2003)

> Do you live and work in Toronto? Don't drive. Take public transport and you'll probably get where you are going faster!


Ha! Maybe if you live near a subway station, but for the rest of us, the TTC sucks.

I took the TTC daily for 10 years. In that time, there were three transit strikes. During the last one, I had just received my driver's license, so I tried driving to work. Keep in mind, I lived and worked in Metro Toronto. 

In rush hour, with additional traffic due to the strike, taking city streets (no highways), it took me 45 minutes to drive in. Later that year, I started taking the DVP/Gardiner to get to work. In rush hour traffic, it took about 30 minutes--less if traffic was light. (I worked late a lot, so traffic was frequently light.)

Taking the TTC, (bus, subway and streetcar) that trip took 1.5 to 2 HOURS! How crazy is this? Commuting 3-4 hours a day on the crowded TTC, vs. an hour or less in my warm, private car.

I can drive downtown in 15-30 minutes, even in heavy traffic. It takes me at least 30 minutes just to get to the Yonge subway line.

Didn't mean to hijack this thead, but holy crap, do I ever hate the TTC! I don't care how bad traffic on the DVP, the Gardiner, or the 401 can get, but from my place in North York, the TTC has not yet been any faster for me. Not once.


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## autopilot (Dec 2, 2004)

Mrs. Furley said:


> Also, have you called President's Choice for a quote? I've heard excellent things about it and am planning on getting a quote myself.


pc is my bank and i got a notice in the mail about their insurance awhile back. i tried to get an online quote but guess what: they won't give you one unless you already have insurance. i took that as a sign of the times and decided not to bother trying to speak to a real person.



> Sounds like an unpleasant situation...I feel bad for you.


cheers. yeah, i feel bad for myself too. don't mind me and my self-pity...


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## autopilot (Dec 2, 2004)

Sonal said:


> Didn't mean to hijack this thead, but holy crap, do I ever hate the TTC! I don't care how bad traffic on the DVP, the Gardiner, or the 401 can get, but from my place in North York, the TTC has not yet been any faster for me. Not once.


amen, brother/sister.


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## SINC (Feb 16, 2001)

Insurance for young people was much the same in Alberta until recent reform which brought the price down, although it is still expensive.

Love your new avatar Sonal, very nice.


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## autopilot (Dec 2, 2004)

SINC said:


> Love your new avatar Sonal, very nice.


and i like yours, sinc!


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## IronMac (Sep 22, 2003)

autopilot said:


> subways are fine, but if you get on the buses bundled up like that you'll faint. they pump the heat up so high on some of those buses...


It's called "layering"...I just start unzipping away...


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## IronMac (Sep 22, 2003)

Sonal said:


> Ha! Maybe if you live near a subway station, but for the rest of us, the TTC sucks.
> 
> In rush hour, with additional traffic due to the strike, taking city streets (no highways), it took me 45 minutes to drive in. Later that year, I started taking the DVP/Gardiner to get to work. In rush hour traffic, it took about 30 minutes--less if traffic was light. (I worked late a lot, so traffic was frequently light.)
> 
> ...



It takes me an hour (or slightly less..it depends) to get to work via the TTC. I use my time to read and study...it would be a much bigger assist if I didn't have to change from streetcar to subway to bus and vice versa all the time.

For some people, the TTC simply does not make sense...but, for me, the extra half hour is worth not having to pay for insurance, gas, repairs, and the vehicle itself. I also don't have to deal with nutcases on the highway.


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## autopilot (Dec 2, 2004)

i suppose some people bear the ttc burden better than others. for me, i am more than slightly bitter as i owned my own car for 4 years and desperately miss the independence. i know the ttc is supposed to be quite good compared with other cities, but still, it does not compare with having your own car, especially when you're going opposite to rush hour anyway.


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## smilecentral (Jan 27, 2005)

I feel bad for you as well. I also fall in the under 25 gap, as does my husband....our combined insurance is pretty hefty (though, thank God neither of us has ever had an accident!). Moving to T.O. was an insurance shock, though at least I recognized that it would go up drastically...

Even with a car, for me, it's cheaper and easier to take the subway to school though. Yeah, it's about an hour each way, but I study, and only have to transfer once. Parking downtown is horridly expensive (dare I say criminal?), and if I want a spot on campus, I need to be there before 8 am. Not bad the days I am on campus at that time, but my schedule isn't constant day to day. Add to that I'm riding back up to Sunnybrook Hospital 1-3 times I week (I'm not even mentioning the cost of hospital parking...that really is criminal), and the TTC just works out better (moneywise, not timewise).

I hope that you get a positive resolution. Hopefully sometime the leaders of this city (and province) recognize that public transit is key to our economic growth, and will invest appropriately.

Sidenote: why the hell does the TTC student metropass not apply to UNIVERSITY students? I think it's ridiculous that HS students can get it cheaply, but university students (who by the way pay big buck tuition) cannot. I can buy my metropass on campus for a partial discount, but the times that's available and the horrid long lines aren't worth my time. Argh!


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## sinjin (Jul 12, 2003)

*Uh-oh, rant ahead!*

Wow, I'm amazed at how positive you all are being about my suggestion. I'm serious. iPetie, IronMac for sure, but autopilot and Sonal, you guys raise some good points about problems with the TTC that _force_ you into driving rather than attacking me (as I'm more used to). 

It's true that the current state of affairs for public transportation in North America as a whole is in pretty bad shape. Here are some long term suggestions if the thought of living in human scale communities that don't force you into the most expensive and unhealthy mode of transportation (yes, the car) appeals to you. 1. live where you work, you'll save a lot of time and probably money, 2. pressure your govt's at the municipal, provincial and federal levels to fund _real_ public transport solutions (not more crappy busses, but rail and metro), 3. also pressure them to not allow suburban-sprawl, strip mall development but rather mixed use communities where it is possible to do 90+% of all your business within a 15 minute walk or ride. Note 1 becomes much easier as 2 and 3 get better. Note also this is a prescription for our _cities_, not rural settings.

For the short term, I suggest people do the math, like IronMac. TTC blows for some, sure, but for others, how much are you paying to shave a trivial amount of time off your commute? Time that could be spent productively reading the paper or a great book, listening to your iPod, etc. to instead drive your car in traffic? Sure it's warm inside the car, but it's hostile and inhuman all around. The stress may eventually wear you down as we are seeing it play out more and more often with "road rage". Not to mention all the time wasted getting the car repaired, maintained, insured, etc., and all the time you put in at work to be able to afford the car. Based on average Canadian salaries and DIRECT car costs, only, you work about 2 months of the year just to pay for the car to get you to work, and probably twice that if you factor in how much of your taxes goes to subsidizing the automobile and oil industries and maintaining our roads. Yikes! Take a holiday instead.

Unfortunately we've built our cities around cars and not people, and then added in poor excuses for public transport (the bus is the absolute worst way to get around, no doubt about it). We continually widen our roads, but the traffic congestion remains. It's an expensive dead-end solution to what doesn't need to be a problem! We pay for it as taxpayers as the cost of road expansion and maintenance is astronomical. We pay for it _again_ as consumers since every km you drive cost about 70 cents (when you break down the cost of the car, gas etc.). And finally, all too frequently we pay for it with our lives. 

Driving a car is one of the most dangerous things most of us will ever do in our lifetimes. Every year over 100 000 people die in car accidents, millions injured, worldwide. Similar scale to the tsunami disaster in SE Asia. Think about that. Yet we seem blissfully unaware there is anything wrong. In the US alone about 45 000 people die on the roads every year, participating in an activity they don't perceive as dangerous and every bit as important to living as drinking water and breathing air.

Using 10 yr old numbers that are certainly much higher today, in Ontario alone our taxes pay out over $8 BILLION to maintain our roads and another $9 BILLION for the indirect costs association with the car accidents that kill 3 Ontarians and maims 2000 more EVERY DAY. Those numbers translate to 20% of the Ontario budget spent and 6% of our population injured or killed every year . With better public transport we could reduce the costs, deaths and injuries.

Sorry, I don't mean to hijack the thread either, it just bums me out to hear how bad some people's experience is with public transport, yet we (in the collective sense) throw our hands up like we are helpless to do anything about it...it is a forgone conclusion that we must risk our lives and pay insane amounts of money to get around like some kind of tax for existing (actually, the truth is none of this ever occurs to us, in the collective sense).

So it goes.


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## autopilot (Dec 2, 2004)

hi sinjin,

i appreciate your suggestions, as always 

i sent a feeback email to the ttc this morning to complain about the service i have experienced over the last couple of days (25D don mills bus, ugh!).

re: live where you work
i am not moving to richmond hill!!! anyone ever used york region transit? oh my god, what a nightmare! the routes make no sense. if you moved up here, you'd HAVE to have a car. no question.

re: saving money
when my company gets their act together and offers the employee lease program, we'll be paying a set amount for car + fleet insurance per month, straight off our paycheque. like the managers' company cars, we'll trade these in every 16,000 km. a new car every year (or less!), full warranty + roadside, no repair costs, just simple maintenance (3 oil changes, a tire rotation, and some inspections). free parking at work, $50/month at my apartment. i currently pay $41.25/week for a GTA pass.

re: saving stress
yes, i have my ipod for my commute, but oh my god, don't run into me if my battery has died!  j/k 
a lady nearly attacked me this morning over a seat. ttc is not the stress-free alternative. i would like to be in my own car, have my own space, listen to own music (and NOT through headphones), have my coffee, and (this is the biggie) be able to make simple detours like run errands or get groceries on the way home without paying a huge time penalty.

also, i am an amateur photographer, and it is a royal pain in the butt to have to lug around camera equipment and a tripod on the ttc to get anywhere. casual picture taking takes up an entire day, and in the winter i just end up not doing it.

for me, convenience is key. the ttc is not in my case. i do not work downtown, so driving to work is extremely convenient.

just my opinion of my own personal situation. but i do appreciate your position (intended or otherwise  ) of playing devil's advocate.


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## Sonal (Oct 2, 2003)

IronMac said:


> For some people, the TTC simply does not make sense...but, for me, the extra half hour is worth not having to pay for insurance, gas, repairs, and the vehicle itself. I also don't have to deal with nutcases on the highway.


Ah, well you see IronMac, I _am_ one of the nutcases on the highway. I belong among my own kind.  

Glad you like my new avatar, SINC--that pic came straight out of my garden. I like the change in yours too.


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## Roland (Aug 15, 2002)

I feel for you as well. Having lived in Toronto (and payed the $250 a month insurance as a result) I can sympathise.

Now that I live in Guelph and communte to TO my insurance has dropped by more than half. I save the extra money for a house one day.

Hope you find a solution. (Wish I was living the other side of TO.. I'd carpool with ya..)


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## sinjin (Jul 12, 2003)

autopilot, that's cool, I wasn't directing that rant at you nor do you owe me any justification-I fully understand that we all have our reasons for doing what we do. My take is that when it comes to cars, most of us haven't the faintest clue about alternatives and repercussions, so I like to lay it out as much as I can in the hopes that some of the "I'll get a car just because" people take pause.  

Considering 100% of my family and friends own cars and drive stupidly long distances, and worse, stupidly short distances, I am 100% ineffective at making my point! 

Glad I didn't offend!


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## autopilot (Dec 2, 2004)

sinjin said:


> Glad I didn't offend!


not at all.


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## Sonal (Oct 2, 2003)

Personally, the only beef I have with the subway system is that there just is not enough coverage. The Sheppard line (as tiny as it is) is a good start for those of us in the North-East, but it's not quite enough. 

The bus sucks, however, and don't even get me started on streetcars.

If I lived where I worked, I'd have moved 3 times in the last 12 months: Scarborough, Mississauga, and now Downtown.  Seriously though, that philosophy doesn't work well if you work in a volatile industry, if do a lot of short-term or contract work, or if your personal preference is to move around a lot. (All three are true for me.) I need to be able to go wherever the work is--I live in a neighbourhood where I can get almost anywhere in and around the city fairly quickly by car.

Even still, I drive less than 10K per year. My current workplace (until next week, anyway) is a mere 17 km drive from my house--and yet, it would take me 1-1.5 hours to take the TTC. 

The autoshare thing does look interesting, though. Right now, it's not quite convenient for me, but I will have to look into it in the future.


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## ErnstNL (Apr 12, 2003)

Your insurance prices are outrageous!
In my old house, I had my house insurance cancelled because I was in a "high risk area" and they didn't want to carry too many policies in that area. (the Co-Operators)
I had to find a fly by night broker to find an offshore company to carry my policy. 
BTW Newfoundland auto rates are still outrageous, about half what you were quoted.

Some suggestions to lessen your pain:

Are you in a Union or professional association? Contact the head office and ask if there are companies offering discounts for members.
Are there any co-ops in Ontario you could join that offers better insurance rates?
I hear TD Bank is also offering car insurance. The banks are competing with the big boys for everyone's business. Insurance must be profitable if the banks are into it.


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## autopilot (Dec 2, 2004)

Are you in a Union or professional association? Contact the head office and ask if there are companies offering discounts for members. *nope.* 

Are there any co-ops in Ontario you could join that offers better insurance rates? *don't think so...* 

I hear TD Bank is also offering car insurance. The banks are competing with the big boys for everyone's business. Insurance must be profitable if the banks are into it. 
*tried td and rbc. td said it'd be 6-8 weeks to get back to me with a quote if submitted online or by mail. rbc quoted me $7000 over the phone.*


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## ErnstNL (Apr 12, 2003)

Try these guys:
Cs co-op


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## TroutMaskReplica (Feb 28, 2003)

i was in your boat several years ago. i was under 25, and looking for insurance, but couldn't tack myself onto my parents' insurance for some bullsh*t reason the insurance company dreamed up.

i tried everywhere, getting quotes of 4-600 dollars per month. then i tried calling up insurance companies in the small town where my parents live, and managed to get insured for $120/month, living in Toronto.


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## autopilot (Dec 2, 2004)

ErnstNL said:


> Try these guys:
> Cs co-op


tried it.
_what is your postal code?_ A1B 2C3
_how many vehicles will be insured?_ 1
_how many drivers will be insured?_ 1
_have you had prior insurance in canada or the united states?_ no

_"We're Sorry

We're sorry; your request cannot be processed at this time. 

If you would like to contact us, contact Canadian Insurance Alliance at 1-866-702-5050. Our address is :Canadian Insurance Alliance P.O. Box 62 Station A Windsor, ON N9A 6M5"_

grrrrrr...


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## GratuitousApplesauce (Jan 29, 2004)

Hey Sinjin, I applaud and second your excellent and long rant from earlier in this thread. I completely agree that as a society we blindly refuse to recognize the true costs of our reliance on the private automobile, personally, as taxpaying citizens and as residents of a fragile planetary ecosystem. It really mystifies me how people are so completely attached to their cars that they will amazingly work for 2 months of the year to support it.

A study by the International Center for Technology Assessment contends that there are huge external costs to gasoline use and motor vehicle use that are not reflected in the retail price that is paid for gasoline and therefore subsidized by all consumers in the form of increased taxes, insurance costs and environmental and social costs. The costs total between $558.7 billion to $1.69 trillion annually in the United States. If those costs were included in the retail price of gas in the US, their report estimates a price between $5.50/gallon to $15.14/gallon. Detailed study .pdf here (3.4 Mb)

These external costs are paid by all of us, whether we burn a lot of gas and drive a lot, or not. I strive to keep my driving to a minimum and even though I live in a rural area usually only drive between 4,000 to 5,000 km per year. When I am in Vancouver every month, I try to use transit, my bike or my feet to get me where I need to go. Why should I have to pay as large a share of those costs as someone who drives 50,000 km per year?

While I think that Autopilot is being asked to pay an unfair share of insurance costs because of her age and some stupid regulations and is basically being exploited by private insurers on that basis, I question whether it is good for any us that driving and owning a private vehicle is so unsustainably cheap. We all consider it our God-given birthright to get into a monthly car payment, grab some insurance for 1/4 of that monthly payment, fill it up with cheap gas and play our part in the mass mayhem of a society addicted to cars. Why isn't it our birthright to expect decent, efficient public transit, quiet and safe streets for pedestrians, children and cyclists, clean air to breathe and an end to wars based on oil greed?


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## IronMac (Sep 22, 2003)

autopilot said:


> i suppose some people bear the ttc burden better than others. for me, i am more than slightly bitter as i owned my own car for 4 years and desperately miss the independence.


I used to have a car too but it's not that big a deal when I look back on the costs. And, like I said, it allows me to avoid the nutcases on the road. Toronto drivers seem, to me at least, pretty poor drivers. When I first arrived in T.O., I wondered why all of the cars seem to have dents in them?


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## IronMac (Sep 22, 2003)

Sinjin and GA brings to mind a glaring hypocrisy on the part of some people. People say that they are environmentalists and that they care, they complain about the smog days, they worry over global warming, they fret over the amount of time commuting and how many cars are on the road...yet, to a great extent they are themselves to blame.

They're the ones who demand life in suburbia and they're the ones who allow developers and local politicians to run roughshod over greenspaces. It's always a case of "well, sacrifice is all well and good...but, it's not for me."

P.S. this is not an attack on Sinjin or GA...just that their writings twigged off the inner eco-terrorist in me.


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## MacNoob (Oct 29, 2004)

Back to insurance cost:

Can you in Ontario purchase liability only (no collision) and take your own risk on collision damage? Might be an option....

MacNoob in Winnipeg


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## autopilot (Dec 2, 2004)

MacNoob said:


> Back to insurance cost:
> 
> Can you in Ontario purchase liability only (no collision) and take your own risk on collision damage? Might be an option....
> 
> MacNoob in Winnipeg


hi macnoob... it is possible on used cars but i'm not sure i would ever purchase a vehicle so inexpensive that i would take that risk. 

also, the money i would save in insurance i would likely have to spend on maintenance and repairs.

i believe for new cars it is highly recommended (if not enforced?) that you purchase collision and liability.


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## ErnstNL (Apr 12, 2003)

Hey, I don't want to nit pick, but why did you enter a Newfoundland postal code in your inquiry? You live in Toronto, right? This is an Ontario credit union.
Did you see the link for branches in the TO area? 
There are a lot of other credit unions/ co-ops around Ontario that MAY give you a better price. Who knows?
Just trying to be helpful.


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## autopilot (Dec 2, 2004)

ErnstNL said:


> Hey, I don't want to nit pick, but why did you enter a Newfoundland postal code in your inquiry? You live in Toronto, right? This is an Ontario credit union.
> Did you see the link for branches in the TO area?
> There are a lot of other credit unions/ co-ops around Ontario that MAY give you a better price. Who knows?
> Just trying to be helpful.


dude, i entered my real postal code in the actual site... just didn't want to post my personal info on a public message board 

i appreciate your help, truly. right now i'm hanging out for the company lease plan. if it turns out to continue to be just a carrot on a stick, plan b will go into action in the fall.


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## RISCHead (Jul 20, 2004)

ok - couple of quick bits of advice that may or may not work for you:
1. Your insurance goes down the longer you've been insured. So not getting insurance is not necessarily the best advice.
2. Sounds like you need to drive - the commute to Richmond Hill sounds brutal - I live in North York and work in Markham and even though I could take transit, I don't seriously think about it.
3. ok - so how do we make this happen, you ask? 
Next time you call a broker, ask them to break down the quote - you'll find that most of the amount is in the comprehensive or collision coverage.
All you need legally is 3rd party liability coverage - buy a decent used cheap sedan (e.g. mid-90s Toyota Corolla) for under $4000 - and only get the minimum required coverage - I'll bet that's under $2500 a year  yes, brutal, but just about affordable.
4. Drive carefully, get snow tires and don't get into any accidents  With only 3rd party liability coverage, fixing your car is your problem (in most cases)
5. Yes, its still a rip off, but at least you'll be driving


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## autopilot (Dec 2, 2004)

RISCHead said:


> ok - couple of quick bits of advice that may or may not work for you:
> 1. Your insurance goes down the longer you've been insured. So not getting insurance is not necessarily the best advice.
> 2. Sounds like you need to drive - the commute to Richmond Hill sounds brutal - I live in North York and work in Markham and even though I could take transit, I don't seriously think about it.
> 3. ok - so how do we make this happen, you ask?
> ...


Cheers RISCHead. Simply put, that sums up the best advice.  This is my plan b if the corporate lease plan doesn't pan out.

that said, one of the district sales managers seemed to think that something would be coming up very soon... perhaps a first of the month announcement? i'm so giddy! this is harder for me than christmas eve and mwsf eve!


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## RISCHead (Jul 20, 2004)

autopilot said:


> one of the district sales managers seemed to think that something would be coming up very soon... perhaps a first of the month announcement? i'm so giddy! this is harder for me than christmas eve and mwsf eve!


lol autopilot  I'm glad you've got your priorities straight. Hope things work out for you. good luck!


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