[Mojo]

If I purchase the car (so its ownership is in my name), can the primary driver for insurance be another family member (and myself as occasional driver)?

Reason for doing this would be that I can get the graduate discount, but insurance would be much too high (male, 21), whereas my sister, being almost 25 and female, would have a much lower premium as primary. We'd probably both drive it more or less the same amount -- just casual, neither of us drive to work. I'll also probably end up with the car in a few years anyhow, so it'd be nice if the car was in my name in any case.

Is there a general rule about this? Or is it insurance company dependent?

 

[bluntman]

From my experience, the primary driver would be the person who's name is on the ownership. I don't know about nowadays with the insurance industry (in Ontario) in such a mess, who knows, they may have changed the rules recently.

Won't the dealer apply your graduate discount even if the car is to be registered to your sister's name? What about a joint registration? You may even want to try putting the car into your name and the plates into your sister's name, maybe that can help in your situation; check with your insurance company though to be sure.

 

[Mojo]

Mazda's site says the car has to be registered under the graduate's name for the discount to apply.

What I'm trying to avoid is having to transfer the car from my sister to myself in a few years. I know the gov't levies tax on the private sale of a car and I don't want to have to pay sales tax now and sales tax later. I don't mind having the plates in her name, is this possible to have with me being the owner? I also want all the good credit rating related stuff to come my way since the car will be mostly paid out of my pocket.

You're right though, I'll have to check with the insurance company -- I was just wondering if anyone had done something similar before and if they might like to share that experience.

Thanks!

 

[srotman]

the insurance DOES NOT have to be in your name. I personally drive a minivan (until the f***ing insurance problem in ontario is fixed) that is registered in my dad's name and my sister is primary driver because he already is primary on his car. as well my mom is primary on a car registered in my dads business name. insurance and ownership are completely different... UNLESS the insurance company has a different police.

example: my dad bought my grandfather a sunfire which my grandfather paid him back for, but my dad used it as a business write-off. my grandfather called and senior citizens group insurance thing and they said they will only insure the car if its in his name. so he had to go with another company that didn't have that policy. also my grandfather had old custom plates on his old car and when we got the new car, we had to pay $100 to re-register the plates in my dads name because the car was in his name.

basically, do your research, ANYTHING and EVERYTHING is possible. expecially with all these insurance crooks out there!

(btw, im in ontario, if your not, all of this may just be a waste of your brainpower :> )

 

[SyChO]

My current situation:

Matrix XR 03' | Owner - Father | Father Primary (Ins.)
Corolla 93' | Owner - Father | Mother Primary (Ins.)
Protege 93' | Owner - Father | Myself Primary (Ins.)

With that setup I can drive all the cars by only paying for my insurance ($450/year - Half Coverage).

My Plan: (This might also answer the ownership question)

Trade-in the Protege for the '3', get my mom to sign the papers with me as a co-signer. That way I build up a credit and we also get the discount. But most importantly my insurance should be almost 50% cheaper!

Therefore...

Matrix XR 03' | Owner - Father | Father Primary (Ins.)
Corolla 93' | Owner - Father | Myself Primary (Ins.)
'3' Sport GT 04' | Owner - Mother/Myself | Mother Primary (Ins.)

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Hopefully I won't get any unpleasant surprises and this plan works like I want it to.

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Hope you figure something out d00d, good luck!

 

[Mojo]

Sounds good man, I hope it works out for you.. I'll post details once I figure it out with the insurance company