When do you drop auto collision coverage?

[tvguy]

I think I am at the point that I need to consider dropping collision insurance.
My car is 12 years old, I pay $120 a year for collision. It has a Blue Book Value of about $2,000
My wife's car is 15 years old, I pay $130 a year for collision. It has a Blue Book Value of about $3,000.
$1,000 deductible on both. They say that when your premium gets to be more than 10% of the potential payout, it's time to drop the coverage, and I am clearly at that point.
Of course, as my former neighbor an insurance claims clerk always told me, they don't pay Blue Book value, they pay actual cash value which is less. And that tiny payout isn't going to do much given that the average price of a new car these days is $33,560.

I dropped collision years ago on my third car, a Suburban, it's 28 years old now. It hasn't been in Blue Book in years.

What is your point of just throwing in the towel on collision?

 

[MillauFr]

I would drop collision after the car drops below $10k. I have a $5,000 deductible so it doesn't make sense to have collision. Also I don't trust the insurance companies. As soon as I make a claim for a few thousand dollars I would guess they would jack up my rates so they can get back their money within 3 to 4 years.

 

[supersnoop]

I'd drop collision when the car's value drops below $7,000. Remember that collision covers your car when you cause the accident. And all insurance is intended to protect you from a catastrophic event. If having to come up with $X,000 to replace your car would ruin you, then keep the coverage. But if you'd be able to cover the cost, drop it.

 

[DisneyMandC]

I'm fairly inexperienced with car insurance in general, so this might be a dumb question. How much does your driving record play into your collision costs? I just checked DH's and mine's policy after reading this. His collision is $65 for a 2013 SUV, mine is $104 for a 2012 sedan. The only thing on my record in over 10 years of driving is I accidentally backed into someone's car in a parking lot and she had some damage, nothing major by any means though. DH had a speeding ticket two years ago that came off with driving school. Is there a reason his would be so much lower than mine? His car is way nicer than mine. Mileage is within 10k of each other.

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

I'm fairly inexperienced with car insurance in general, so this might be a dumb question. How much does your driving record play into your collision costs? I just checked DH's and mine's policy after reading this. His collision is $65 for a 2013 SUV, mine is $104 for a 2012 sedan. The only thing on my record in over 10 years of driving is I accidentally backed into someone's car in a parking lot and she had some damage, nothing major by any means though. DH had a speeding ticket two years ago that came off with driving school. Is there a reason his would be so much lower than mine? His car is way nicer than mine. Mileage is within 10k of each other.

I'm not too experienced either but I think age(yours and his) plays a role, driving experience plays a role, whether or not your car is owned by you or if the bank still owns it, or if it's leased among other factors I'm sure.

 

[DisneyMandC]

I'm not too experienced either but I think age(yours and his) plays a role, driving experience plays a role, whether or not your car is owned by you or if the bank still owns it, or if it's leased among other factors I'm sure.

Yeah, I should have mentioned we are both mid to late 20s. So I'm sure that's part of it. DH's car is the only one with a loan still, mine was bought used and paid for. Our price did drop significantly recently, which is nice. I just figured his would be higher since he's the one with the newer car and whatnot, but I guess I'm technically the one with an "accident" on my record.

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

Yeah, I should have mentioned we are both mid to late 20s. So I'm sure that's part of it. DH's car is the only one with a loan still, mine was bought used and paid for. Our price did drop significantly recently, which is nice. I just figured his would be higher since he's the one with the newer car and whatnot, but I guess I'm technically the one with an "accident" on my record.

Sounds like the accident is the major factor. Btw, have fun at Disneyland!

 

[DisneyMandC]

Sounds like the accident is the major factor. Btw, have fun at Disneyland!

Probably, which is a bummer because really the lady was blocking me in, down a hill, in a parking lot. I was in an SUV and she was in a small car, and by the time I was able to see her in my rear view mirror while back up, I'd already hit her car. She was very nice, but I still wanted to be like "why did you park perpendicular to my car down a hill?!" Oh well, old news now.

Thank you! I am so excited for our trip! Never been to DL before, so I'm really excited for it. It's probably going to be a long time before we make it back to WDW again (plus I'd sort of like to wait until they have a lot of the new construction finished), so this is a great little in between trip.

 

[bearzabout]

We use our auto insurance when we rent vehicles. Make sure a rental is covered for collision.

 

[yoopermom]

I shouldn't have it on my 2005 Subaru Forester w/275K miles on it, and yet I still do . First I postponed it this fall because it was deer season, and never fails I would hit one the minute I dropped it, and now it's winter, and.... I promised DH I would drop it once the last of the snow melts .

I know a couple thousand bucks is only a couple thousand bucks, but it's a start towards a replacement vehicle, at least...

Terri

 

[tvguy]

I'm fairly inexperienced with car insurance in general, so this might be a dumb question. How much does your driving record play into your collision costs? I just checked DH's and mine's policy after reading this. His collision is $65 for a 2013 SUV, mine is $104 for a 2012 sedan. The only thing on my record in over 10 years of driving is I accidentally backed into someone's car in a parking lot and she had some damage, nothing major by any means though. DH had a speeding ticket two years ago that came off with driving school. Is there a reason his would be so much lower than mine? His car is way nicer than mine. Mileage is within 10k of each other.

Another huge factor, how many claims your insurance company has for that model car. Sounds like they have a much lower rate of claims for your husbands SUV than your car.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Another huge factor, how many claims your insurance company has for that model car. Sounds like they have a much lower rate of claims for your husbands SUV than your car.

Oh that's interesting, I've never heard that!

 

[tvguy]

Oh that's interesting, I've never heard that!

When I had teen drivers, I called the insurance agent and asked what the cheapest car would be to insure them in.
There are cars that have a much lower claims history.
Cars like Crown Victoria, LeSabre, Impala, Taurus and Lincoln.

 

[DisneyMandC]

When I had teen drivers, I called the insurance agent and asked what the cheapest car would be to insure them in.
There are cars that have a much lower claims history.
Cars like Crown Victoria, LeSabre, Impala, Taurus and Lincoln.

I guess I just always assumed certain cars were cheaper due to the make/safety qualifications of it, but I can definitely see how the claims history would play in as well. Well our collision won't be coming off of either for a while, so I'll just keeping sending money to good ole Flo.

 

[smokeyblue]

I shouldn't have it on my 2005 Subaru Forester w/275K miles on it, and yet I still do . First I postponed it this fall because it was deer season, and never fails I would hit one the minute I dropped it, and now it's winter, and.... I promised DH I would drop it once the last of the snow melts .

I know a couple thousand bucks is only a couple thousand bucks, but it's a start towards a replacement vehicle, at least...

Terri

I got in an accident a little over a year ago with my 2007 Subaru Outback with 163k miles on it and it was over $5,000 worth of repairs. I was shocked they paid it! I was hoping that they wouldn't and I could just buy it for salvage and have our family friend fix it for much, much less and just drive it as is since I only drive 3,000 miles/year.

 

[usnuzuloose]

I have to much invested in the cars. I would not remove anything. But that is me

 

[tvguy]

I got in an accident a little over a year ago with my 2007 Subaru Outback with 163k miles on it and it was over $5,000 worth of repairs. I was shocked they paid it! I was hoping that they wouldn't and I could just buy it for salvage and have our family friend fix it for much, much less and just drive it as is since I only drive 3,000 miles/year.

LOL. I take it the Subaru wasn't your car before the crash, because 3,000 miles a year on a car that is 8 or 9 years is about 136,000 miles short of 163,000.

 

[smokeyblue]

LOL. I take it the Subaru wasn't your car before the crash, because 3,000 miles a year on a car that is 8 or 9 years is about 136,000 miles short of 163,000.

Purchased it with 154,000 miles about 4 years ago. Subaru's sell at a crazy premium here! Went out of state and found a nice high mileage one with a near mint interior. Crazy to say, but I could probably sell it for not much less than I bought it for, but I plan to run it into the ground.

 

[MillauFr]

I have to much invested in the cars. I would not remove anything. But that is me

Why would you ruin your insurance record over a few thousand dollars? Those insurance companies are pure evil and will use any piece of information to destroy you. If I had an accident the last person on the planet I would tell would be my insurance agent.

 

[tvguy]

Purchased it with 154,000 miles about 4 years ago. Subaru's sell at a crazy premium here! Went out of state and found a nice high mileage one with a near mint interior. Crazy to say, but I could probably sell it for not much less than I bought it for, but I plan to run it into the ground.

They're big with skiers here. They're not on my mechanics list of recommended cars. Not really an issue of reliability, but when something does go wrong (like their notoriously poor head gaskets), it tends to be more labor intensive to fix than other brands. There is some part of the evaporative system on one Subaru he was working on, he had to drop the entire rear axle/differential to get to. Other makes it's right under the hood. But, like he says, fixing Subarus has been a lot of food on his table.
To be honest, that may not be all Subaru's fault. A lot of Subaru owners I have known over the years tend to ignore scheduled upkeep.