Should I Do It? (Insurance Related)

Dusstbuster · Feb 22, 2007

After thinking it over I've come to the conclusion that having full or near full coverage on my car isn't worth it.

96GT, Salvage Title

Current Record: 18 years old, exhibition driving ticket will be off my record in 9 months and a new stop sign violation will probably be noticed by them within 2 months.

Current Monthly Payment: $140

Do you think the cars value even warrants having full coverage on it? I could probably get just as good a check if I crashed it and parted out the usable stuff couldn't I? Even if it was a complete totaling of it, the check would probably be what...3-4 grand?

What do you guys think? Should I just have insurance on it to cover medical bills that might be incurred by other drivers or myself or what?

I'll probably call them sometime in the near future too and just ask them straight up what they'd pay me for my car if it got totaled. They'll probably get nervous and start expecting insurance fraud from me or something but whatever...I just want to cut back on my payments.

speedfreak98r · Feb 22, 2007

Full coverage is never worth it.

tmoneyballin · Feb 22, 2007

I work in insurance - DON'T DO IT - I have a 98 cobra with 13 grand in mods and I don't have full on mine - in fact I got in a minor car accident and didn't even file a claim ($1,000 deductable) because my damage was around $1000 "if" I wanted to get it repaired....I pay like 70 bucks a month for my coverage on 1 98 COBRA - I had a 96gt and they are DIRT cheap to insure because they aren't considered a sports car(weak factory horsepower rating) by most companies standards(if yours does not, then shop around, try GEICO) they usually have the best rates - don't buy into the Allstate crap of "accident forgivness,etc" in the end YOU pay more for "luxuries" like that - they aren't as nice as they seem - with respect to your $$$$....Minimum coverage, high deductable and drive carefully - if you do more than a grand in damage then you probably totaled your car anyways - if you break a rim or an axle or get in a minor fender bender then you just fix it out of your own pocket with the money you would have saved from insurance costs. Your monthly payment I would "guess" should be around $60 if you went this direction - it just depends on how bad your driving record is...

Dusstbuster · Feb 22, 2007

tmoneyballin said:
I work in insurance - DON'T DO IT - I have a 98 cobra with 13 grand in mods and I don't have full on mine - in fact I got in a minor car accident and didn't even file a claim ($1,000 deductable) because my damage was around $1000 "if" I wanted to get it repaired....I pay like 70 bucks a month for my coverage on 1 98 COBRA - I had a 96gt and they are DIRT cheap to insure because they aren't considered a sports car(weak factory horsepower rating) by most companies standards(if yours does not, then shop around, try GEICO) they usually have the best rates - don't buy into the Allstate crap of "accident forgivness,etc" in the end YOU pay more for "luxuries" like that - they aren't as nice as they seem - with respect to your $$$$....Minimum coverage, high deductable and drive carefully - if you do more than a grand in damage then you probably totaled your car anyways - if you break a rim or an axle or get in a minor fender bender then you just fix it out of your own pocket with the money you would have saved from insurance costs. Your monthly payment I would "guess" should be around $60 if you went this direction - it just depends on how bad your driving record is...

So wait...you say don't do it...but what SHOULDN'T I do? I shouldn't lower the coverage on it??Don't do anything but raise the deductable?? I'm not quite following because it seems like you say "don't do it" and then "do it" all in the same breath. I'm insured under state farm right now but we might be switching providers soon (parents are getting sick of the agent I think).

Give Me TP · Feb 22, 2007

I dropped collision on mine but kept everything else. It was the biggie as far as cost.

tmoneyballin · Feb 22, 2007

Dusstbuster said:
So wait...you say don't do it...but what SHOULDN'T I do? I shouldn't lower the coverage on it??Don't do anything but raise the deductable?? I'm not quite following because it seems like you say "don't do it" and then "do it" all in the same breath. I'm insured under state farm right now but we might be switching providers soon (parents are getting sick of the agent I think).

I mean the value of your car doesn't warrant full coverage - you don't have a loan(I am assuming, b/c if you do then it is required...) and take a high deductable b/c your car is not worth much book value wise, so a $1,000 deductable is irrelevant if you do $500 worth of damage or $5,000 worth of damage - because if you do $5,000 worth of damage your car is totaled - the threshold is 60-70% of your cars overall value, if you exceed that threshold in repair costs then typically your car is "totaled out" and in your case full coverage would get you a check for like $4 grand tops - so go cheapest possible and be careful - Have your parents look at Geico, they usually are the cheapest - my insurance was cut to a 1/3 compared to my old company - travelers I believe.

Black'02 · Feb 22, 2007

Since your car has a salvage title and is pretty old. Im sure if you got into an accident they will barely give you anything do to how much a salvage title reduces the value of your car. In that case you are pretty much at the mercy of the insurance company as to what they want to give you.

Dusstbuster · Feb 22, 2007

Well I'll probably be placing a call to them either tomorrow or next week and get that taken care of pronto then! Thanks guys!

jimfitzgerald · Feb 22, 2007

If it had a clean title, I'd be surprised if you got $4,000. With a salvage title, who knows? I would drop everything but the liability insurance. Do you have medical insurance through your parents? If so, you don't need the medical coverage.

d98gt · Feb 23, 2007

I only have liability (with uninsured driver since there seems to be quite a few of the illegals around here without insurance )

Saved me quite a bit when I dropped full coverage.

Dusstbuster · Feb 23, 2007

jimfitzgerald said:
If it had a clean title, I'd be surprised if you got $4,000. With a salvage title, who knows? I would drop everything but the liability insurance. Do you have medical insurance through your parents? If so, you don't need the medical coverage.

That's good to know...yes I believe I'm covered under my parents policy until I turn 23 (4.5 years)

04DarkShadowGT · Feb 23, 2007

I hope you guys never total your cars at your fault.

I think Ill keep my full coverage just in case.

Give Me TP · Feb 23, 2007

Yes, it's a risk not having full coverage, but if I total my car and it's my fault I can deal with it. I'll probably be more concerned with being alive anyway. I kept the comprehensive part to cover things like hail damage and such, and the all-important uninsured immigrant insurance.

tmoneyballin · Feb 23, 2007

If the book value on your car is around 5 grand you should have just the basic coverage with a $1,000 deductable b/c any damage greater than $2,500 will total your car out from an insurance adjusters perspective. Plus any minor damage like rear ending someone or messing up a rim is something you don't want to put through your insurance if you care about your premiums staying the same or hopefully going down....aka if you do $1,000 worth of damage you would be a moron to file it through insurance because they won't pay anything and your rates will probably go up. It doesn't make sense to pay $120-$150 for full coverage on a car that will only get you a check for 3-4 grand if you total it - because either way you are screwed! Just be a safe driver and worry about other people hitting you!

d98gt · Feb 23, 2007

There was no reason to keep paying full coverage for my car. It'll get totalled by the insurance company if the wreck was serious at all (probably only books in the 5-6 range). If something minor happens, I'll just repair it with the money I have saved over the months for not having full coverage

SilverBullet00 · Feb 23, 2007

I would lower your comprehensive coverage to around 250~500 bux (if its not that low already) and up your collision to $1000. If your car ever gets stolen or broken into you want full coverage, believe me- I have first hand experience with both. Also, insurance doesn't pay out very well for performance parts

jimfitzgerald · Feb 23, 2007

Most people who know how to manage money drop the collision coverage once the value of the car reaches $5,000 or less.

XxMustang281xX · Feb 23, 2007

I'm 16 (17 in a month), before my wreck, on my own policy on the stang, $350 a month liability, $560 a month full coverage. Its bs. I just got a quote from Nationwide though thats 1/3 what it is now.

jimfitzgerald · Feb 23, 2007

XxMustang281xX said:
I'm 16 (17 in a month), before my wreck, on my own policy on the stang, $350 a month liability, $560 a month full coverage. Its bs. I just got a quote from Nationwide though thats 1/3 what it is now.

You're 16 and you've already had a wreck? I would say $560 a month sounds about right.

XxMustang281xX · Feb 23, 2007

that was before my wreck. actually, it hasnt gone up as much as i thought it would since..

Should I Do It? (Insurance Related)

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