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“I hope someone can help me,” the Redditor began. They’ve been beyond excited because they get to pick up their brand-new Tesla Model Y very soon – today, actually. Unfortunately, while prepping to adopt the EV, their happy thoughts were overtaken by dread. Progressive slapped the driver with a $5,300 six-month premium quote to insure the new car.

The shock of their insurance increase sent the Tesla Model Y buyer into panic mode

The 53-year-old lives in Miami, Florida. They say they have zero accidents and no history of problems with their license. They have a good track record – no speeding tickets or other violations.

So what’s going on? Well, there could be a variety of factors at play. The Reddit theories rolled in.

First, we’re wondering something: Why didn’t the buyer do their insurance shopping ahead of time? One Redditor empathized with them: “When i went through this, I couldn’t get any quotes without having a vin number so I had to hope it was affordable.” 

Someone replied that they could have just found any newer Tesla Model Y VIN listed online and used it to get insurance quotes. This is a good tactic, but I bet most drivers wouldn’t think to do that.

“Insurance is still the most expensive part of ownership of a Tesla,” one response claimed.

Most of the thread supported the idea that Progressive was just giving the Floridian a “Go Eff Yourself” number so they wouldn’t have to write the policy.

Some were sure that the initial Progressive quote was just wrong. “Call them,” a Progressive policyholder paying much less urged the Model Y buyer. “lol what ? Mine was like $2200 for 4 cars 6 month policy with progressive including a Mercedes glc and the Y,” another posited.

Indeed, $10,600 a year is a VERY steep quote. But there could be other factors at play, here. For one, if the buyer has any children of driving age in the household, they might have to be listed on the Model Y policy. This can drive up the insurance costs. Another factor is credit score.

Overall, most Tesla owners encouraged the buyer to keep shopping rates

A few suggested the Model Y buyer try Tesla Insurance. Unfortunately, though, their policies aren’t available in Florida. Others suggested Costco and State Farm.

Tesla owners in other countries shared how cheap their auto insurance is for them. “Man you Americans pay crazy high prices for insurance. I pay 80€/mo for my Model 3 highland in the Netherlands. 30 years old. This is crazy!” one posted.

The buyer’s narrative comes as many Americans suffer increased car insurance costs, including EV owners. While Teslas have excellent safety features, they’re still considered the one of most dangerous vehicle brands on U.S. roads. This is because Tesla’s accident fatality rate is higher than other makes. Experts lament that Tesla drivers rely too heavily on its Self-Driving software, which isn’t perfect and requires sharp driver attention. These concepts also contribute to rising insurance costs.

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