saypoint:

My concern would be what if he gets in an accident with the audi or saturn, and he's not authorized to drive those cars?

Did your stepson receive an insurance card for each vehicle,
or is it stated somewhere in the policy?

My son turned 15 recently and wants to get his permit/license.
I've been dreading the thought of calling my agent for even a quote.

I own 2 vehicles and would like piece of mind that he'll be insured on either one.

Well, for one thing, I would never let him drive my Audi! My understanding is that the vehicles are insured no matter who is driving them. If you drove my car, and had an accident, my insurance would cover it, not yours. The insurance is on the vehicle, not the driver, though he is listed as one of the drivers in the household. He doesn't need special authorization to drive one of the other cars.

Most insurance covers on all vehicles on the policy. They generally ask which one is driven by whom the most. But everyone who is listed on the policy can drive any. In some states, one must list all family members over 14yrs whether they have a license or not. Just in case the teen decides to go for a joyride and destroys property.

OK, I just spoke with my statefarm agent.

Heres the skinny...
If I were to add my son to the policy, he would be considered an "occasional driver" because there are less cars than drivers in my household.
If I were to purchase a 3rd vehicle, he would have to be a primary driver for one of those vehicles and would cost me more.

So, the best deal for me is adding him as an occasional driver. His rate would be based on the least expensive vehicle.
Also, theres a good student discount that would apply for grades B or better. A savings of $240/year. BTW, he's currently an "A" student.

They quoted me $400/6mos. $520/6mos w/o good grades.
I have to admit its not as bad as I thought it would be.

When I was in college, since my parent's house was still my primary address, I had to be on the insurance, but because I went to school more than a hundred miles away, they barely had to pay anything for me. (In fact, I have no idea how much it was, because they didn't make me pay my part of the premium. My older brother was mad at me for a month :) So that's worth checking out if your college kids are far away.

Try checking this out http://www.insurance-quote-free.com maybe it might help.

I remember when my parents had 2 cars and my brother was in college, they put him on the more expensive car even though they told the insurance that he wouldnt be driving at all since he was going to be miles and miles away. They had to struggle with that company a lot. I forget why they didnt change companies, as if that ever happened to me I'd drop them. I've noticed with my own policy that it was nicer when we got a second car and were able to put my husband on it instead of the newer car since he wasnt 25 yet. And the discounts we got for having renters insurance and good grades from college and now the marriage discount and homeowners policy. I like it when insurance goes down instead of up :)

Yep, car insurance pricing gets complicated. Plus laws vary by state. I used to be the pricing analyst for California and Arizona when I worked in auto insurance. Lots of laws and regulations. I also found a lot of mistakes made by some of the agents while writing policies and saved clients a lot of money. It was facinating work, but the pay was low.

I don't know if this still applies, but when my kids were in high school/college, if the grade point average was kept at a 'C' or higher, the lower the premiums were. My husband would send our agent a copy of the grade points, and they would be averaged out. Since the kids also worked, they would pay half, but only if they *couldn't* make the C average~we would pay the full amount otherwise. This is a good way to instill a little responsibility in a young adult, as well as getting them acquainted with insurance. ;o)

patty_cakes

Times sure have changed! I was required to maintain a B average in the late '70s (Amica)!

Thanks for the great tip! I had my car insured at http://www.insurancepaylite.com, by having free online quotes to 5 insurance companies i had compared which my budget can afford.

Unless things have changed during the last 20 years or maybe 30, you get insurance for your teenage sons through the state. Our state has to insure young drivers and it keeps them off your policy and it was cheaper to go through the state.

I don't know anyone - in several states - who insure their teenagers through a state policy.

Kids go on the parent's policy.