It has alot more to do with then just driving history. Amounts of coverage (comp and collision amounts, rentals, towing, deductible, etc), age, additional coverages (multiple cars, home owners, boats, etc) and most importantly location.

When I got stationed to Ft Polk LA my insurance went up almost $80 a month just because we moved to Louisiana.

 

thats rough

 

my evo has full coverage for $60 a month. my record is clean.

 

not sure if this was mentioned, but your credit history also plays a role on your premium

 

I think that depends on the company and I question it as well. Usually when a company runs your credit they need your permission. When I shopped around and changed insurance companies none of them asked to run my credit. They certainly didnt give me anything to sign giving them permission to.

Also years ago my cousin was buying a motorcycle. He got an insurance quote almost identical to what I was paying. My insurance and his quote was both through Statefarm. He had/has the worst credit anyone possible can.

 

When I got back from deployment, I was told my insurance as getting raised because I was statstically more likely to get into an accident. And this was with USAA. I had one accident on my report (my old lancer - hit some ice... long story) but USAA wanted something outrageous like $387 a month. I switched to Geico and pay $282 a month now with better coverage and options. Oh I'm only 21 as well.

 

Thats the way USAA is. The do determine rates from your driving record but they mostly determine rates based on your area. They then also raise your rates if the company has been paying out more then usual. So basically if others with USAA in your area are getting into accidents they will raise everyone's rates as needed.

I had them from 2007-2012 with no incidents or tickets. They quoted me almost $500 for full coverage on the Eclipse and Evo. And then they told me I was scheduled for a significant rate increase over the next 12 months because of the area I guess. So I went to Allstate for $200 a month with same coverages. Screw USAA

 

Yeah, I had my Evo stored in a garage while I was deployed and was paying like $90 a month... that's fine. Then I got home and started driving. I drove back to North Dakota from New York and when I got back to North Dakota I get a policy update in the mail. It was for $387 a month ... So I called them and was like umm... I just got back from Afghanistan and the first thing you are going to do is jack my insurance through the roof? Thanks guys.

Needless to say I switched over to Geico that day. Fairly happy with my rate right now. That accident is coming up on two years so hopefully they will stop holding it against me. If not, it'll be on for another year.

USAA is a great bank for everything to be honest. I switched to them from Bank of America. The only problem is, they use statistics more then they should.

 

Your better off just saving and paying cash man, I bought mine last July although I do have really good credit I would much prefer to pay cash a lot less to worry about I paid 19k cash for mine when I was 23 and slowly dropped another easy 30k into it over the last year paying cash makes it do much easier especially when the "mod bug" bites which probably won't be long haha. Good luck hope everything works in your favor.

 

I came to US in 2008, so basically had no credit history, I even wasn't able to get Macy's or any gas credit card, so I had to open secure credit card. After about 8 month I got Macy's credit card and Citi Student credit card. In 2010 I got Lancer GTS with 6.9%. in 2011 Ralliart with 3.9%.
So I would advice to build up credit history...but it's up to you if you don't want to wait...

 

similar here, moved from UK to US 7 years ago, couldn't get any kind of credit card/gas card for the first couple years, then got a capital one credit card with a $500 limit, paid on that for a couple of years. finally went and attempted to get a car loan, went to carmax ended up having to put $5k down with a 21% interest rate loan to buy a used '04 ralliart, paid on that car for a few years, built up my credit score (i recommend using www.creditkarma.com to keep an eye on it, totally free!) and 3 months ago i just traded it in for my dream evo x gsr, got a 9% interest rate.

i know how frustrating it is to make plenty of money but not be able to get the things you want because of this 'credit score' but you just have to be sensible and wait until its right

 

Even 9% is a tough pill to swallow. I accepted a 9% interest rate when I bought my Eclipse. Paid over $30k for the Eclipse with $0 down and 6 years. At that rate you end up paying over $10k in interest.

Same will happen with the OP. A $15k loan at 29% stretched out over 5 years like the OP wants will end up being almost $17,000 in interest alone and that $15k car will end up costing you $32k to own. Ouch

 

32k to buy... Haha cost to own includes gas/maintenance, etc. Looking at 40k+ over 5 years

 

Exactly. Thats just to buy it. Doesn't included everything else. And lets hope the car wasn't previously beat to death and won't need any significant maintenance in the future because the banks can careless.

 

that's good that you bought your dream car, but 9% is still high!