When do you drop auto collision coverage?

[smokeyblue]

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.

Only problem so far . . . knock on wood . . . has been replacing 2 ball joints, radiator flush and some weird obscure thing that only ended up costing $60. Other than that I've been told that I might want to consider replacing my rear brakes in the next 10k. I have a few years to decide!

To actually answer your insurance question, I still fully cover this car and have a $500 deductible. It's only $20 more per month than just getting "crash and burn" insurance. From my experience of them paying $5k to fix this thing, I would imagine they would at least payout $5k if it were totaled. I guess that's worth $240/year to me.

 

[kathy884]

If you are comfortable self insuring the physical damage for the car, then drop the collision. If you always buy cars for cash vs. taking out a loan, when you have funds set aside allocated as a replacement fund for your car that you are ok using should something happen to your car.

Sometimes the collision coverage on an older car isn't that much and you aren't ready to self insure yet.

This is just me and how I make that decision. When I have enough money funded in a reserve to replace the car, that's typically when I drop collision. I don't have car payments per say, but I almost do have car payments, as I put aside monthly amounts to replace cars we currently have.

 

[4shinystars]

We dropped collision on all our cars, since the "newest" is a 2001 with 180k miles. My DD had a deer hit her Saab a few years ago, and since she didn't have collision, figured it wasn't covered. Wrong! It's under comprehensive, and ins paid for her car, surprisingly more than we thought, it being a 1999 Saab with over 200k miles. They use what the car sells for in the area, and since there were only a couple they could find, and they were going for good prices she got almost $1000 more than she thought she'd get.

 

[AnnaS]

We have three cars (two SUVs and one crossover). Our oldest SUV is 15/16 years old. We dropped it about two years ago. Was in great shape and low mileage. We probably/should have dropped it about a year or two before that.

 

[here757]

We dropped collision on all our cars, since the "newest" is a 2001 with 180k miles. My DD had a deer hit her Saab a few years ago, and since she didn't have collision, figured it wasn't covered. Wrong! It's under comprehensive, and ins paid for her car, surprisingly more than we thought, it being a 1999 Saab with over 200k miles. They use what the car sells for in the area, and since there were only a couple they could find, and they were going for good prices she got almost $1000 more than she thought she'd get.

Yes it was paid under compensation because it was an animal. It will also pay for break in.

 

[scrapquitler]

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.

Same here. 2008 Outback with 155K on it, and I was in a small accident this summer. I had about $5500 in damage to my car, and my insurance company was happy to pay for the repairs. I was surprised when they told me that the value of my car is still around $7000...I didn't expect it to be so high with so many miles and a car that old. I guess it's true that Subarus never die. LOL.

 

[tvguy]

Same here. 2008 Outback with 155K on it, and I was in a small accident this summer. I had about $5500 in damage to my car, and my insurance company was happy to pay for the repairs. I was surprised when they told me that the value of my car is still around $7000...I didn't expect it to be so high with so many miles and a car that old. I guess it's true that Subarus never die. LOL.

Yeah, in my zip code, high blue book now is $6,000.

 

[BarryS]

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.

I have a co-worker that traded in his early 2000s Corvette for a brand-new Camry...and his insurance doubled! His insurance agent told him that the majority of Corvette-owners are middle-aged men who don't wreck them, vs. 16-year-old's driving new Camry's their parents bought!

 

[tvguy]

I have a co-worker that traded in his early 2000s Corvette for a brand-new Camry...and his insurance doubled! His insurance agent told him that the majority of Corvette-owners are middle-aged men who don't wreck them, vs. 16-year-old's driving new Camry's their parents bought!

That is interesting. But Toyotas are among the most popular cars with thieves, and easy to steal.