Average Car Insurance Cost

Luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz South Africa announced on Monday that it was recalling 3085 cars, including the C Class and the E Class versions as part of the world wide effort to repair over 85000 cars with faulty steering columns.

This recall arose less than 2 weeks after their opposition BMW South Africa issued a recall statement on their own vehicles.

Shirle Greig, director for Mercedes-Benz, pronounced the car manufacturer will notify any affected drivers and owners, and the any required repairs to the effected machinery or parts mentioned in the recall will be fixed free of charge by local Mercedes-Benz dealers.

The vehicle, Greig said, still remains drivable and steering is stable.

If you do drive a Mercedes Benz, the manufacturer has the following notes for you, or if you know any such drivers and said vehicle:

Greig pronounced the new steering system on Mercedes-Benz C and E-Class models manufactured between Jun 2009 and February 2010 may give rise to some minor leakages of steering fluid at the connection where the tall pressure line and the siphon meet.

The fluid leakage on affected cars also usually has a whistling and whining high pitched noise. THis can put pressure on the steering, and you may find it harder to control steering due to the extra forces, mostly noticeable when performing parking of the car.

It is a minor issue in the big scheme of things, and the vehicle remains steerable at all times, Greig said. They are mostly concerned about the violation of their luxury brand status as flawless German engineering. That image has been blown out the window

In South Africa, BMW SA is recalling about 3700 cars as share of the global drive to repair 350 000 vehicles, which more consists of 5 eight hundred Rolls-Royce Phantom models.

On September 1, German-based parent BMW AG released a press release stating that it was recalling 5, 6 & 7 Series models powered by V8 and V12 engines as well as Rolls-Royce Phantom models (Rolls Royce is owned by BMW). The problematic cars have also had braking systems that leak fluids, causing minor control problems.

Do you fully understand your car insurance cover policy and the terms and conditions? Issues such as recalls may void your insurance policy if you do not act on them. If you continue to drive around and then get into an accident after a recall was issued, but you did not get the required fixes made to your car, not only may the failure of the vehicle not be your fault, but you will also have to bear the cost of any repairs and damage to other vehicles. Not only that, you could injure pedestrians, passengers, or yourself as the driver. Make sure your insurance coverage covers such acts, but keep an eye on your car maker’s website and newspapers for any recalls. Even Toyota recently recalled it’s green vehicle the Prius for acceleration issues last year.

There are specialty luxury Car Insurance companies for South Africans, United states, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and the rest of the world, check with your local insurance broker to get the best car insurance that suits you and your automobile

Want auto insurance cuts to your premiums? Government intervention may soon provide us with public auto insurance the way we are heading. In the last few days, the industry regulator posted approved rate changes on its Web site, along with the dates between now and mid-July when the changes will apply to renewals and new business. Thanks to the government, many of us now get automatic reductions to our auto insurance rates.

It approved rate reductions averaging 10.15 per cent at 31 companies. Their combined share of total premiums collected in 2002 was 55.5 per cent. 29 of the 31 insurers won approval to reduce rates by 10 per cent or more, so now it is up to you to shop around for a better car insurance deal.

ING Insurance Company Canada, the second-largest insurer with 7.8 per cent of the market, will have a 12 per cent reduction on renewals starting yesterday. One insurer had rates approved for the first time, while Trafalgar Insurance, with about 1.38 per cent of the market, was allowed a 4.5 per cent increase.

Mark Yakabuski, Ontario vice-president of the Insurance Bureau of Canada, said the average premium per private Ontario passenger vehicle was about $1,275 before the approved changes.
With only 55 per cent of the market covered, about half of their customers or a quarter of all drivers, could see a larger reduction in rates than 10 per cent while a roughly equivalent number could see a smaller reduction.
It won’t feel like a reduction for some, Yakabuski acknowledges. They will get a blend of the average 10 per cent reduction and any increases approved between the time of their last renewal and when the Liberals temporarily froze further increases.

The insurance regulator broke from its usual practice and did not mention that it had recently approved a 28.5 per cent average rate increase for the Facility Association, the industry-sponsored pool for the worst drivers. If the Facility’s rate change had been included, FSCO could not have announced an average reduction of 10 per cent, which was a key promise leading up to the last election.

“We specifically do not want the Facility Association included in these calculations,” said Sorbara. “We did not expect a rate reduction. In fact, we expect the Facility to be a special case. We want to try to get people out of the Facility and into regular insurers.”
The Facility lost more than $400 million in Ontario last year, and by December was insuring about 3.8 per cent of vehicles, according to its president, David Simpson. It would have collected a larger share of premiums, because its rates are so high.

Kingsway’s Star said his rates are about 15 per cent less on average than the Facility, yet has been losing money serving the same class of drivers. In the last three weeks, new applications for coverage at Kingsway have increasedfrom 115 a day to 190.
Opposition party critics predicted yesterday that the public will not see that the Liberals have lived up to their election promise. Conservative critic Bill Murdoch told the Star’s Caroline Mallan that he is suspicious that the auto insurance rate reductions will not be reflected in year-over-year premiums.
“It sounds good if you can believe it, if it works,” said Murdoch (Bruce Grey-Owen Sound). “I’m a little skeptical because they do say a lot of things and nothing seems to ever happen and it’ll be whether it affects the ordinary people out there.”

NDP critic Peter Kormos (Niagara Centre) said the Liberal contention that premiums will not rise by as much as they otherwise would have is not what they promised during last year’s election campaign.
“That’s a con game, that’s a scam; it’s the oldest gaffe in the book because the fact is, premiums are going up,” said Kormos, a long-time advocate of public auto insurance. “The Liberals promised premium reductions; the final observation is Liberals didn’t tell the truth about reducing premiums.”

Kormos said the appeal of public auto insurance is growing as provincial governments realize that their efforts to control premiums charged by private companies are not working.

“The conclusion is the private, for-profit auto-insurance sector cannot be regulated, cannot be reeled in,” he said.

“And that leads us, of course, as New Brunswick Liberals and Conservatives are being led, to public auto insurance.”