FTO Insurance

Stephencuthbert

Can anyone tell me where to get reasonable insurance for an FTO? I'm 25 male with 4 years NCD. 123.ie offer any car up to 3000cc for €1125.

bazz26

Stephencuthbert wrote:

123.ie offer any car up to 3000cc for €1125.

Yes but there is an excess of €4k on that policy which means if you cause an accident you pay the first €4k yourself.

nxbyveromdwjpg

They are incredibly hard cars to insure, they are classed higher than a porshe boxster by the insurance companys and are in a way too high a bracket for the actual performance of the a car. Something to do with the grey import status of them :rolleyes:

For instance when I was shopping quotes to insure mine just to compared I got quoted on a Porsche boxster, a 993 Porsche 911 Carrera 4s, an EVO 4&5, and a STI Scooby and the FTO quote was still higher than them all :mad: Insane.

That said I still went ahead and did it and am now driving a manual FTO GPX, and Im one year younger and with less NCB than you..

nxbyveromdwjpg

Oh yeh and to answer your question, as long as you can stand a high excess, this place will give you the best quote by far...
http://www.xsdirect.ie/

Big Balls

Why would you want one in the first place??

They were cool back in 1997 !!

I don't get the whole insurance thing either, they're not even mildy powerful !

Sorry...

TheJaff

Check out http://www.fto-ireland.com
They have a section all about insurance in their forum.

t5pwr

Try http://www.aaireland.ie/ They give good quotes and you have a good enough NCB to be with them. I think they say 5 years on their site but they still take 4

nxbyveromdwjpg

Big Balls wrote:

they're not even mildy powerful !

Sure, if you consider a 200bhp, V6 24valve Mivec engine not even mildy powerful, well then yes, yes they've no power at all :rolleyes:

Big Balls

Well ones with that spec in this country must be VERY rare then because I've never been given trouble by one on Irish roads in ANY car I've owned !!

Ivan E

They are easily one of the most powerful cars on the road. Standard 2.0l GX/GR outputs around 177bhp. The GPX which has the MIVEC has a bit extra and comes out with the 200bhp. There is also a GS which is a 1.8l and only outputs 120bhp. That unfortunately is a bit of a damp squid in terms of performance.

On top of that, they are very light cars. They come in manual and tiptronic with the manual being more rare because its faster.

They are not an expensive car to buy, should get one for around €5-6k, they are very economical on petrol and they don't depreciate very much. You could get one 2-3 years ago for about €8-9k so it shows how they keep their value.

All in all a great car. But there is a reason for their price, insurance. Quinn Direct used to quote them reasonaly priced but then they pulled them. People covered already with them kept their cover and got good quotes since. Its been difficult for everyone else. As suggested, fto-ireland.com has everything you need to know about them.

I drive a '95 GR 2.0l V6 and it really is a lovely car to drive. Not exactly comfortable for anyone else but the driver. Its insured under my wife's name. I try every summer to see if I can get it in my own name. But each summer its a joke. It's cheaper for me to pay my wife's insurance and to pay for me to insure a car in her name.

It does fall outside of the normal category so you're just shafted on it. As pointed out, cheaper to insure faster cars like the Scoobie, Supra, Evo or the likes but you won't get one of them for the same price.

gearbox

Ivan E wrote:

They are easily one of the most powerful cars on the road. Standard 2.0l GX/GR outputs around 177bhp. The GPX which has the MIVEC has a bit extra and comes out with the 200bhp. There is also a GS which is a 1.8l and only outputs 120bhp. That unfortunately is a bit of a damp squid in terms of performance.

actually mate ive imprted the babys before... sweat choice however the 1.8ltr is 120bhp the 2ltr is 200bhp and the GPX/R versions are 220bhp thats if you are using 100 octane petrol as the cars are mapped for, if you use standard 95 octane you do get the power outputs that are slightly less. gotta love that MIVEC lift at 5000rpm tho..... as i said sweat choice!!! oh and as advice anybody buying them over here... DONT!! ive seen them advertised to €13,000 for a 95-97 in southside automotive etc shop around or even import one yourself i can get ones in far better condition for €4000-€6000 including VRT by cutting out the gargae/middle man

Atomic Pineapple

nm wrote:

They are incredibly hard cars to insure, they are classed higher than a porshe boxster by the insurance companys and are in a way too high a bracket for the actual performance of the a car. Something to do with the grey import status of them :rolleyes:

For instance when I was shopping quotes to insure mine just to compared I got quoted on a Porsche boxster, a 993 Porsche 911 Carrera 4s, an EVO 4&5, and a STI Scooby and the FTO quote was still higher than them all :mad: Insane.

That said I still went ahead and did it and am now driving a manual FTO GPX, and Im one year younger and with less NCB than you..

How did you get insured in an FTO?
I cant seem to even get a quote on an integra with insurance companies saying i need to be over 25 or have 5 years NCB

Ivan E

gearbox wrote:

actually mate ive imprted the babys before... sweat choice however the 1.8ltr is 120bhp the 2ltr is 200bhp and the GPX/R versions are 220bhp thats if you are using 100 octane petrol as the cars are mapped for, if you use standard 95 octane you do get the power outputs that are slightly less. gotta love that MIVEC lift at 5000rpm tho..... as i said sweat choice!!! oh and as advice anybody buying them over here... DONT!! ive seen them advertised to €13,000 for a 95-97 in southside automotive etc shop around or even import one yourself i can get ones in far better condition for €4000-€6000 including VRT by cutting out the gargae/middle man

News to me. The official output is as follows:

Model Engine size (cc) Engine model Engine type Power (BHP/rpm)

GS 1834 4G93 16V SOHC 123/6000
GR 1998 6A12 24V DOHC V6 177/7000
GPX 1998 6A12 24V DOHC MIVEC V6 197/7500

Big Balls

Ivan E wrote:

They are easily one of the most powerful cars on the road. 177bhp. 120bhp.

You're havin' a larf aren't ya?

177bhp and 120 bhp is hardly the elite of engine power now is it??

Ok, 200/197bhp is alright - sit in any traffic jam in Ireland and you'll be hard pressed to see many cars over 200bhp around you (insurance, tax and VRT being those reasons) but 177 and 120... I think not.

Ivan E

I never said they were the elite of engine power. I also pointed out that the GS, the 120 one was not a fast car but it is the entrance level. And even still, it's a very light car, lighter than most of its rivals, so it moves quicker.

But all the other models are 177bhp are above. And because of their weight, they tend to be faster than anything in the same category. I have driven an equivalent Honda Prelude 2.0l. And where the power seems the same, its a heavier car and makes it that bit slower because of it.

But your original comment was that it was not even mildly powerful. They're aren't many cars out there that can match the 177bhp power it outputs combine with its weight.

There are some of course but as I said not many. I stand to be corrected of course.

5500

Ive seen fto Gr's at track days in mondello being whipped by Civic type R's,1.6 16v compared to 2litre 24valve v6 is abit of a show up.

Ive heard the tiptronic on them can also be problematic and expensive to fix if it goes wrong.

Have you tried britton insurance for a quote?they seem to quote anyone regardless of age

www.brittoninsurance.com

Ivan E

Obviously the driver comes into it and how far they are willing to push their cars. How they fare on a race track is not something I know anything about. There are various stories of how they have performed against some of the better motors out there. I have heard of one where it has got the better of an M3 on a corner. Of course once on a straight run, the M3 is a complete different animal.

But there are different mods to different cars. I think one guy over in the FTO forum is in the process of putting a turbo into his. So its hard to tell what's what. I have seen on Top Gear a Nissan Sunny hatch back rip past a Dodge Viper!

But I have been driving mine for just under 3 years now and there isn't many other cars I have come across faster. And there are plenty of times that vastly more expensive cars try to prove a point on motorways or especially coming from a standstill and fail.

Remember this is a car that was first built in 1994 and finished in 2000. There are different versions where they have taken out various different things to make the car lighter. Its performance is good but nothing spectacular. It just has a bit of everything, good performance, good looks, good reliability and economical running costs.

It does have its disadvantages too. It has a rockier ride than most. Lights can fog up and rust and central locking issues can be a pain. As regards the tip box, it was a big fear initially because as you suggest, it is expensive. Something like €2.5 to replace.

One of the issues with it was that the transmission oil for the automatic gear box needs to be changed regularly and if it isn't, it can cause serious problems. Manuals are rearer because they are slightly faster and tend to be picked up in the UK before they got to here.

I think Britton insurances use to quote on their website but have since taken off quoting for it on the site. And that's where the main problem with the car lies.

Jumpy

1997 2.0 Manual GR here.

They are cheap, powerful and only prized by joyriders (who can rarely start them past the immobiliser) So no huge fear of theft once you whack a disklok on them.
They are a sweet ride, and personally I wouldnt drive anything else.
Especially not a civic (unless I bought myself a white tracksuit and a bunch of gold rings)
'Story bud?