Wooot! My crappy little car got me through 4 years of college!!!!

[srgtlord]

Tomorrow I can officially say my crappy, rusty,  needy, 1987 golf diesel has lasted my 4 years of college ! I have officially put 42,214 miles on my car on top of the original 287,786 miles for a grand total of 330,000 miles!And it looks every bit of 330,000 miles lol

[ORCoaster]

Story sounds familiar.  My son ran an 84 four door Rabbit all through College and then some afterwards.  On a Christmas visit when we were replacing the clutch and timing belt I suggested he start looking for a replacement as his ride was getting pretty rough at the 300K mile limit.  He took the advice and was on his way to look at a Diesel Dodge Ram PU when the car flipped the timing belt and wrapped the engine all wrong.

Ended up buying the Dodge that day and hauled the car back on a Uhaul dolly to the scrapyard. 

So careful up and yeah, start looking for a replacement. 

[srgtlord]

Well you jinxed me. I was rear ended on my way home from graduation today. Car still drives, but the bumper has seen  better days.

[mystery3]

It'll be totaled out and if you play your cards right you could well end up with more than the car's worth!

...Always look at the bright side of life...

[ORCoaster]

Sorry man,  didn't mean for that to happen.  But you might be able to value it as an antique or special car and get more out of it.  What is the local value of such cars? 

Or are we just kidding ourselves here because the insurance co. isn't covering the accident because as a poor college dude you didn't have collision coverage on the car, just liability coverage?

[8v-of-fury]

Liability is the most stupid insurance.. I have just liability, and I am sad to know that if anything happens.. anything at all.. I walk away empty handed..

I already pay in one year over 6x what I paid for the damn car.. so I cannot justify it sadly

[libbydiesel]

If he was rear ended, then the other driver is at fault.  It would be the other driver's coverage that would cover the damage.  Even if the other driver only has liability then the damage is covered.  Most liability policies also have allowance for uninsured or under-insured motorists and so he should be covered either way.  I only have liability on my vehicles and have a squeaky clean driving record with no tickets or accidents that have been my fault.  I pay less than $20 per month per car.  The only time I would not be covered would be if I was in an accident that was my fault and in that case only damages to others would be covered.  

[bajacalal]

Liability is the most stupid insurance.. I have just liability, and I am sad to know that if anything happens.. anything at all.. I walk away empty handed..

Insurance premiums are based on the probability of you having a claim that results in the company paying you money. Think of insurance like gambling. Basically, you're placing a bet with the insurance company that you will have a claim and they're betting that you won't. If you have a claim they pay you off but if you don't they keep the money. They have to make money so they determine what the odds are, and they set the odds generously in favor of the house... Therefore, you will always lose. Since it's based on probability, you will be better off, mathematically speaking, if you would just kept the money (or invested it, which is what insurance companies do) and put that savings towards a replacement car if you were to lose yours.

The insurance companies, of course, want to pay you the least amount possible for the claim, so you're really only insuring the book value of the car, not the amount of money that you may have invested into it... not worth it, IMO... though some companies do offer agreed value insurance for collectible cars.

There really isn't a good justification for insuring things that you can easily afford to replace, because of the probability that you will lose more money than you stand to gain and since these cars are not high value, I think most of us could afford to buy another one. Insure the things that you cannot easily afford to replace like your home, a new car (or rare car), or your own freedom (i.e. your liability for an accident).

[CRSMP5]

well i run liability/uninsured on my 81 coupe, my 90b3 wagon... imo if i get hit im covered.. if i cause the accedent.. ill find a new shell and rebuild... ~$600/year double state min on coverage so im not underinsured in worst case..

my kubvan.. collectors insurance, 10k stated value, free roadside, 0 deductable, unlimited milage... went up 5$ this year so 139$/year now... best policy ive ever had!!!!!

[ToddA1]

Wait, you have collector insurance with unlimited mileage?  What company are you with? 

-Todd

[rs899]

Liability is the most stupid insurance..

How can you say this?  If you run over or injure someone and it is your fault, do you have the money to pay for the victim's medical bills?  I could afford to self insure myself and could cover any likely property damage I could cause, but I can't cover a carful of other injured people. 

[Blocksmith]

Liability is the most stupid insurance..

How can you say this?  If you run over or injure someone and it is your fault, do you have the money to pay for the victim's medical bills?  I could afford to self insure myself and could cover any likely property damage I could cause, but I can't cover a carful of other injured people. 

x2

Liability is the ONLY kind of insurance that makes sense with these old cars, where a comp & collision policy costs way more than the purchase price of the vehicle. Unless you have a brand new (or otherwise valuable car), your insurance policy isn't for covering the cost of the damage to your own car--it's for covering your ass in case you injure other people in an accident and get sued.

[rs899]

Maybe they don't have lawyers in Canada and everyone just sucks it up?  What a great place....not down here...

[CRSMP5]

classic collectors is company name, its a branch of infedinty (sp)?? but even hagerty will do unlimited milage.. milage stipulations decrease cost..

i told them 8-10k a year.. 7k for cali trip alone.. so they said ok unlimited.. this past wed was the 1 year anneversery of the purchase of burnt toast.. so far 9456 miles covered since june 25th.. and no trip to cali yet.. and was in storage for 4 mo too... mild winter got t out early..

2-3 weekends ago i did 1k in just 2 days.. this past week going to nathen's shop in athens was 500 miles... used it as a camper.. then used it to haul 110 gal of bio back too..

i fully expect 10k on the june 25th 1 year on when i took it out for the 1st spin.. got gtg/cruize next sunday, and thinking of doing cincy rocco thinggy 1st weekend of june too..

mk1madness is a 700ish trip.. i do not do alot of local shows.. each one tends to be 200ish round trip.. but things like madness is a must.. and any "trips" i take i take it so i can use as a camper..

why a 10k stated value.. as ive told my friend.. no matter what.. ill find someone who can fix it for less.. unless a major t bone.. front/rear damage could be fixed at no more then 7k... its only aluminum sheet/angle.. to t bone and bend into a banna.. will have to start over.. but i have 7-8k in it.. so ill be able to build a new one.. may take me another 15 years to find a lowfloor version... but it can be done.. i sure do love it..

[bajacalal]

I used a company called American Collectors Insurance with my Fiat Spider. Hagerty had way too many restrictions and stipulations. They didn't even want to look at covering my semi-restored car unless it was nearly complete. It was only like 60/year with more mileage than I would ever care to drive the FIAT but I think unlimited was an option. They were great, it covered everything and they even gave me a surprisingly large refund for the rest of the year when I sold it.