Category Archives: Transportation

Transportation

Ontario Drivers Suckered With Unfair Insurance Rates

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image: www.lestdarknessfall.com

As an avid automotive enthusiast, one thing that really broils me is the amount of money I pay for insurance in Ontario. Also, it seems that in this province the insurance companies have the industry and us, (the consumer) in a strangle-hold, a sort of death grip that we can’t do anything about.

Why is it that I can insure a vehicle in Georgia, with the same amount of liability as required in Ontario, for a fraction of the price? At one point I had a 1969 Chevy shortbox insured in Georgia and paid only 28$ a month. I also had a 1966 Chevy C-20 insured in California for 6 months at only 50$ a month. I want to point out that at this time on similar vehicles in Ontario (due to my younger and more “adventurous” driving days) I was getting quoted, like, 1300-1400$ a month!

What really gets me is the company my wife has her car insured through (we have our house and shop insured with them too) has made me sign an exclusion form for the last 5 years stating that I will not drive her vehicle. They tell me that when my (young and foolish) driving record is wiped clean, meaning that I do not get a single ticket or demerit point for 4 years, I won’t have to sign this form anymore. Well, I have my full G licence, and I now have a clean driving record. I have proof of prior insurance, and I have the house and shop insured there. They still send my wife an exclusion form. I call them and let them know that I now have a clean record and a full licence, and that I am looking to get insurance on my own vehicle. As well, I let them know that I’m not going to sign the exclusion form because I now don’t have to. So I get an insurance quote from them for my own vehicle. It seems high considering that I get multiple policy discounts due to our other accounts with them.

 

[ United Kingdom car insurance rant? Yep, they’re not happy “across the pond” : http://happyasamonkey.wordpress.com/2010/08/26/the-promised-rant-about-car-insurance/ CP ]

 

So, I call around. Most other companies were cheaper even without said discounts. I end up going with a family run business in Port Dover, Ontario. They are not the enemy, rather a middleman. As a broker, they talk to different companies and find you the best price and coverage. The co-owner was the nicest and most helpful person I talked to, and they had good policies available for classic and secondary vehicles. This company has been great.

So, back to the main point: my original and local insurance company. After informing them that I didn’t have to sign that form anymore, they checked into it and it didn’t seem like a problem. Then my wife got her next bill. Even though I don’t drive her car and I now hold my own policy that covers me, and my own vehicle, her bill went up 48$ a month. Which is more than I payed per month as a high risk client in the United States. The company justified this, telling me that because I am one insurance bracket down from my wife, her record is bumped down as well. Unless I sign the exclusion form. I explain that I now carried my own policy. They told me that because I didn’t get it through them, they can’t prove that I keep up my own policy, and therefore they assume that I’m driving her car….

 

 

I don’t know about you, but this to me is crazy. Guess what? I can’t do anything about it. They make their own rules. I told them that I would write about it. Well, here it is. As much as I would like to tell you who this company is, I won’t. I will just use them as my example of what is wrong with insurance in this province. Why do we pay more than EVERYBODY else? It just isn’t fair, but I guess, in this life, what is? This is something that infuriates me. Just like everybody else I hate getting ripped off. I figured that I had not written a rant yet, so why not? It’s a topic that really ticks me off so it’s quite easy to vent about. All I can say is that it is good to call around, and brokers seem to be a good idea.  For the Silo, Robb Price.

Supplemental– http://www.ontariofishing.net/news/april2005-3.html

Transportation

Loving The Carrera S 911 Porsche

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all photos- Robb Price

A metallic silver bullet, 300+ km/h roaring blur on the Autobahn. 6th gear, 355+ HP, 3.8L-6cylinder, variable timing at full advance, breathing in through a K&N filter system and exhaling out of a Fabspeed Max-Flo exhaust. Automatically adjusting shock absorbers stiffening as you pass and corner. Porsche’s PSM stability control system controlling the power to the wheels, keeping you on the road as you throttle and shift. Signature auto adjusting spoiler in the up position. If you need to stop in a hurry, having full confidence in Porsche’s best-in-the-biz 4 channel ABS and huge cross drilled rotors.
These are the type of thoughts I get just looking at this beefy, wide stanced, Carrera S (911). As sleek as it is fast, these cars actually keep a “Low Emissions Vehicle” status, and family car class fuel economy. (This is a pretty cool way to be green if you ask me!)
These cars really pay homage to the saying, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” in the sense that they (Porsche) have used a lot of the same body lines, and same rear-engine design, in the 911’s over 40 years of production. Being of rear-engine design though, makes these cars hard to master driving, truly making the driver conform to it.
By constantly improving on something that has worked since day one, Porsche has kept the focus where it really counts, on the suspension and drive-line.


Marshall Thompson, owner of Thompson Chiropractic (Simcoe and Waterford) and this sweet car, says that he was really drawn to this particular model for a few reasons:
1) He really wanted the signature Porsche model, the 911.
2) He really liked that in 2006 they went back to the traditional 911, oval headlight shape (Porsche had gone away from this for a few years, using a headlight similar to their Boxster model)
3) The wide body style of the ’06 Carrera S and the impressive much improved interior. This car touting a very stylish and ergonomic, leather interior, navi-system, uber sporty gauge package, and Bose 13 speaker sound system. Unheard of in older 911’s as they were more like a streetable race car than a luxury car.
Don’t be fooled by its good looks though. This 911 is just as wicked as its predecessors. This one apparently easily breaking the 250km/h in 5th gear with a full 6th gear still at the ready.


You might catch this car in the Simcoe or Waterford areas but only on sunny days. Good luck actually catching up to this one. Robb Price is a regular automotive writer for The Silo and owns and operates WC Kustoms in Windham Centre.

[Much like the 911, the seminal electronic band Kraftwerk innovated and pushed the boundaries of form and function. Recommended listening for Porsche owners when you’re ripping through gears CP] Update- Silo Direct Link 2012 911 Porsche makes North American Debut