I am an excellent driver with no accidents (at fault) in 35 years, and I just hate pumping out just over $945 a year for full coverage. I know it's a roll of the dice, but I feel pretty good about my safe driving skills. I would carry liability and also uninsured motorist coverage to the tune of $302 per year. Too bad auto insurance isn't as reasonable as homeowners.....

 

We all feel your pain. Insurance is a necesary evil, you hate to pay for it, but man are we glad the other guy has it if he hits us. If you drop it, just make sure you keep a chunk of change in your savings acct. At todays body shop rates, you could easily drop 7-10 grand if you wreck that baby.

 

I wouldn't recommend dropping under/uninsured motorist coverage. Too many folks are carrying the minimum these days. My dad was in an accident where a guy lost control of his car and crossed over into the oncoming lane. His car turned sideways and hit right into the front of the minivan my dad was driving. Sadly, the guy was killed in the accident. My dad survived but even with his seatbelt on he hit the airbag so hard that the bag broke and he cracked his sternum (my dad was going about 45-50 mph in traffic, the other guy was doing about 80).

Now, my dad was working at the time (company vehicle), so workman's comp helped, but they look to the other guy's insurance first. I think he had like $10K worth and that was already gone. My dad did end up (after three years) with about a $25K settlement (on top of the original medical coverage), but that accident really took its toll on him (his chest is actually dented in a little and he gets fatigued more easily now and his back is in bad shape).

Long story short, he'll be dealing with the long term effects of that accident for the rest of his life. Now, in his case, he at least got something to help out. If he hadn't been working and he had been without under/uninsured coverage (which he has), he would've been a lot worse off.

Sorry for the soapbox speech, but I can't help it. You've got a great driving record, but you drive by a lot of folks every day who don't. If they hit into you w/o enough coverage, there's not a lot that you can do.

Just my humble opinion...

 

Collision insurance, in my opinion, is worth the money, given the cost of even some of the basic repairs. I look at it is a form of forced savings. If were to drop it, I would wind up having to save up for a potential future event or be faced with letting go a large sum of cash at one point.

I agree with crucut...if you decide to drop it, plan to save an amount to offset the cost of collision repair.

I think a collision would be more likely to originate from an unexpected road condition or another driver who is not in control of their vehicle.

 

Well you havent had an accident in at fault in 35 years so to me YOU ARE DUE!! And you may be a great driver but there are alot of idiots ou there so unless you plan on driving in a bubble in your garage Id rethink it.

 

Insurance is just comfort - how bad would it hurt if someone stole your car and you were out more than $20k? Or even if it were wrecked by some unisured fool and you were only out $7k? On a purely mathematical side, the $645/yr you save will cover on average, one total loss every 37 years; statistically, a good risk will have several partial (or one total)equaling one total loss every 55 years, so that is how insurers make money. If you think you can equal or beat the statistical average and it won't hurt to be wrong, then foregoing all but liability would be okay.

 

you may be the excellent driver, but the drivers out on the road are not as "excellent" as you are, and you may be come the victim of their stupidity, and the price to pay is your mustang cause you dropped full coverage on it.

keep the full on it, you'll be glad you did

 

Well, you could do that, that's what I did on my Minivan (which was a nice one too BTW)

Then I got rear ended on the highway at 4am on a long open stretch by some assmunch in a Tahoe going about 100... and he took off... Left me with over 4000.00 worth of damage, and now if I want it fixed I have to pay out of pocket.

I'll NEVER do that again.... and I like you have never been in an accident in my 20 years of driving.

What happened was not my fault...at all... going the speed limit in the middle lane...no one else on the road for MILES....

this is exactly the kinda thing that "just can't happen"... but it does, and when it does....better off being covered...

However, had that not happened, I'd still be driving the Van, and wouldn't own the Stang...

 

You just jinxed yourself.


Seriously, I hope no one here gets in a fender bender with their Mustang.

 

I'd recommend not dropping the collision. The only car I'd recommend dropping collision on is an old car you don't care about. This way you can just trash it if the damages are too much.

Reason: There are accidents that happen in such a way that unless the other guy admits fault, there's no way to prove fault. Therefore, both people end up paying for their own damage. I was in one of these. $1500 later my car was up and running... and that was a honda with junk yard parts and a Maaco paint job. Image how much to buy new parts for a S197 plus a GOOD paint job with clear coat.

My 06 GT is fully paid off as well and I'm still sticking with full coverage.

 

Kevin,

Like spike, I would recommend dropping collision insurance on an old car.

But on a beautiful 2005 Mustang GT? I don't think I could bring myself to do that.

I'd be hyperventilating everytime I drove it worrying about being hit by some uninsured goof ball or a guy that hits and runs.

I've known guys that have dropped their collison insurance and saved money. I've also known guys that have wound up paying for a dead horse after their car was totaled.

So it's a crap shot...a roll of the dice. It's a gamble I wouldn't want to lose.

Best of luck and wishing accident free driving whatever decision you make.

 

No way no how I wouldn't skimp on insurance. If you have good medical insurance they you can skip the auto insurance medical, other then that, forget it. My g/f's crappy old Integra had someone try to break into it to steal the STOCK $5 radio and failed. Total bill was almost $4000 to fix it. Cost her $100. You could bump a parking poll and ring up a $3000+ bill. It's worth the extra $50 per month. Just pay it in full once a year to get the maximum discount.

You can also jack the deductables up on everything but theft and comprehensive to save a few $$. If you have $100 deductables on collision and move it to $1500 it will save you at least $100. As much as it seems for insurance, my Starbucks costs me a lot more. Break down the difference(say $400 at the most) down to the day to see if its worth saving $1.20 to have virtually no coverage. And uninsured is the most important coverage of them all. If you ever need it once, it pays for itself. Some idiot that may not even have a licence or even legal citizenship in a $200 uniusured car can cost you tens of thousands of dollars. What are you going to do, sue them?

Keep full coverage with high coverage maximum payout rates. Pay in full each year(saves $200 on average from monthly), and jack the deductables as high as possible on liability/collision(not on the coverages for things beyond your own control-comp/uninsured/theft). Cross shop your current company with someone like Progressive. Don't skimp on yourself, just shop wisely. Your insurance gives you a lot of extras like legal coverage in a lawsuit-happy country. If you can afford a new Mustang and keep a nice house and work for a living, I wouldn't let your *** hang out there for a possible disasster for $1 a day.

 

Yeah.. ditto. Forgot about the whole getting stolen thing. That's a good reason alone to keep the insurance.

My wife's Acura Integra was stolen 2 years ago. They took the leather seats, radio, spoiler, and 50 CDs (but they the left $50 she left in the ash tray.. weird), then dumped the car in some random neighborhood. No other damage was done to the car (it still ran fine and there was no body damage other than the spoiler missing). The insurance company totaled it and she got a nice check for $9K (about how much you'd pay for that car if you bought it used form a dealer). If she had no issuance, we would've been SOL.

 

your nuts. your talking about $53/ month difference? for that much money i would rather know im coverd but thats me. its not you that you need to worry about its the idiot on their cell phone that didnt see you coming

 

Yea, and a lot of accidents that are NOT your fault end up with the insurance company throwing full legal power at you to get out of paying you. Typically the SR-22 type insurance companies that charge the most will fight the hardest. You can get rear ended at a complete stop and a week later their company will call you and start the conversation "so I see you hit my client, what are you going to be doing about this?". Especially if they find out you don't have good coverage. Someone does $15000 damage to your car, the insurance company wouldn't blink spending $10k in legal fees trying to get out of it. If you are insured, your company's lawyers will be going to town for you without you even having to lift a finger.

To put it in perspective, my daily Giant salad bar($6), juice and soda($3), snacks here and there($2), pack of smokes($4), and a trip to starbucks just about every day($4) costs about $500 per month. Just bite the bullet and think of it as a necessity like electricity or water. If you are trying to save money on insurance but are keeping a luxury item like a cell phone or cable TV, your priorities are skewed. Don't underestimate another driver's ability to become most selfish devious person you ever met, and that's just the ones that are legal insured drivers.

 

The main barometer to decide if you 're going to drop collision should be the value of the car. If you're driving a $1,500 car with a $500 deductible and paying $1,000 for full coverage then it's a no brainer. But if you're driving a $15k car then you'd be crazy to drop it. I don't care how good or careful of a driver you are, accidents do happen. If you're comfortable absorbing the cost of a total loss then by all means go for it. If not, better keep it.

 

Don't get rid of that collision insurance... I just got in what looked like a minor accident that turned out to be $7000 in damage. I was pulling into traffic and some woman in front of me in a CR-V and I didn't see when she slammed on her brakes. anyways, I paid the $500 deductable and my car is back good as new.

High bumpers on SUVs are devastating... they line up right with your radiator support

 

If you're driving a junker, you should get basic liability and uninsured motorist insurance. Get hit by an illegal alien with no license and good luck.

 

I wouldn't go without full coverage on a car that new either. You should ask your company how much you can save by raising the deductible. Perhaps going to $1K or even $2K deductible will cut your costs considerably.

 

this is my reccomendation as well. keep like 2k in the bank, then if something happens thats all that you lose. i am seriously thinking about incrasing mine as well.