what triggers special taxes?

Gas Guzzler is based on MPG. Since the Elise may get over 30mpg we won't have to worry about this. The tax is $1,000 for autos that do not have a MPG rating of 22.5 or less and goes up to a maximum of $7,700 that do not have an economy of at least 12.5MPG

The luxury tax for vehicles over $40,000 was 3% of the excess cost over $40,000. I believe this tax expired in 2002 and was not renewed, so no worries there either.

You'll only have to worry about sales tax and any vehicle licensing or property tax - depending on the state you live in

Oh, I forgot to add:

Light trucks, pickups, minivans, full size vans and SUV's are exempted from the gas guzzler tax under a loophole.

Nice, huh?

smura said:

You'll only have to worry about sales tax and any vehicle licensing or property tax - depending on the state you live in

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My biggest concern isn't the tax, that's a one shot deal. I'm really worried about the insurance rate on this car. I called a local insurance agent and he came back with the figure of around 4-5k/year guesstimate since they had no data on the car. He based that number on the Esprit which costs 3 times as much. At that rate, I'm off the buying list.

>4-5k/year guesstimate

Good God man. Yes, if that is the case it looks like I'll have to figure out a way to win the lottery.

Does anyone know what American Family Insurance will do with the Elise? It's only a few months away now...

T.

The most I can afford a month is 150 for insurance on top of what will be around 600 dollars/month car payment. Anything more than 150 will make me seriously reconsider my purchase. This will be used as a 2nd car so I hope I get a good rate.

Keep in mind that everyone's insurance rates will vary. My agent quoted me much less than $1k per six months for an Esprit.

MattG said:

Keep in mind that everyone's insurance rates will vary. My agent quoted me much less than $1k per six months for an Esprit.

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So that's what, 1.5-2K/year on a car that is repairable compared to Elise. From what I've read, you bust a wheel, you bust the chassis, bye bye car. So the 4k/yr figure might not be that outrageous. I think we might get raped for the first year or so until the insurance company tables adjust to data from the field on this thing.

In talking with my insurance agent, I think the first year or so will be less expensive. He said a new vehicle is rated primarily on it's price alone. The group that publishes the rating symbols is usually 8 - 12 months behind the release of the car. Keep your fingers crossed.

BTW - yes, our rates will vary wildly based on our age, location, driving record, marital status, children of driving age, etc, etc...

What if the rates skyrocket the following year. I would be buying the car based on an 100/month (100 used for example purpose). Then find out after the first year, it will be 250/month. What would you do then? Cancel insurance and turn in your plates?

S3wannabe said:

BTW - yes, our rates will vary wildly based on our age, location, driving record, marital status, children of driving age, etc, etc...

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Just reading this board, most of us are 'settled' or at least appear that way on paper, i.e. degrees, good driving record, most are in high 20 to 30+ range so wont get tagged on age. What worries me is the lack of repairability of the Elise. It's very much like a sport bike, you drop the bike, you rack up a 3K bill on plastic and fairing and gas tank repair/replacement in a bike that costs 10K. Low price of bikes keeps the insurance price down. I pay around 600/yr on my Ducati and that's without cancelling the insurance over the winter months.

There are lots of factor going into insurance. At first it's most likely going to be based more on the type of car and price, with all the usual factors of age, driving record etc. The high repair cost for damage chassis which a few years down the line means a total car, that will become a big factor if there a fair amount of cars wrecked to that degree. If we're good as a group we wouldn't get bite as hard by the insurance. It's a unknown and could be expense if not up, front later down the line.

nxm150 said:

What if the rates skyrocket the following year. I would be buying the car based on an 100/month (100 used for example purpose). Then find out after the first year, it will be 250/month. What would you do then? Cancel insurance and turn in your plates?

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if you don't think you could handle this kind of increase, you shouldn't be buying the car in the first place.

I talked to an all state agent twice on this car. He told me that he could not give me an exact figure, but not to worry because of the motor size and such. He gave me an estimate on my record of no more than
100.00/mo with 50/100/50 coverage. I thought this was really low, but he assured me that it would not be over this. Hope so!

You can always get a second job delivering pizza in your elise if the insurance is obscene!

I don't think it's going to be too outrageously high, maybe I'm being overly optimistic.
Chris

I had always been told (and thought) that a major component of your insurance costs were based on liability. The insurance company gets a lot more interested when you have an accident involving a half million dollars in injuries or worse. The costs of the car is not as scary to them.

And certain cars have demographics of having more potential for accidents. So a Corvette or Camaro driver may pay more, than a Camry or Lexus driver, even if the cars cost the same amount. This is why certain cars get charged more if you ordered the turbo option or larger engine versions. Not always.

Or maybe I am just having some wishful thinking that the insurance will not be too expensive. I am older. I don't drive daily. I have no accidents in the last 20 years. I have no tickets in the last 2 years. I don't smoke. I take down my Christmas lights imediately after the holidays.

nxm150 said:

What if the rates skyrocket the following year. I would be buying the car based on an 100/month (100 used for example purpose). Then find out after the first year, it will be 250/month. What would you do then? Cancel insurance and turn in your plates?

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If that scenario plays out, at least you should be able to sell the car and break even or make a little $. Go for it.

I think the rates will be low because of it's engine size. Once they get more actual data on car repairs, it'll go up.

I tried to get an online quote from GEICO, out of curiousity. However, they can't do it because the 2005 Lotus is too new.

I have insurance through Mercury Insurance, but haven't talked to my agent yet. Probably will wait until after the first of the year to do that.

Really don't think the insurance would be any different than on another comparably priced sports car.

According to State Farm, they will base the insruance rate on the price of the car for the 1st year. They did this with my S2000 as well, which ended up being cheaper than the Prelude I had before it. In the long run, I think the rate will fare well as you won't have young kids out driving, wrecking and repairing them all that often. Plus, I envision most Elise's as being weekend cars that will see fewer miles than your typical Vette, etc.

babak said:

Just reading this board, most of us are 'settled' or at least appear that way on paper, i.e. degrees, good driving record, most are in high 20 to 30+ range so wont get tagged on age.

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I will be putting the car under my dads name as I did with the S2000. My name will remain on the Prelude.

-Eric