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Post by Peace Sign on Sept 1, 2022 12:55:17 GMT
My son saved up and bought his first car, a 2011 Nissan Sentra. We paid about $4700 for it.
I can't decide on insurance coverage and was hoping someone with experience could give me their opinion. Three options:
Full coverage with roadside assistance and $1k deductible.
Comprehensive, liability, roadside and 1K deductible.
Liability only, with roadside and a 1k deductible.
Full coverage is $1100 a year, that's in MY name. It seems silly to spend all that on a $4700 car.
What did you do in this situation?
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Post by littlemama on Sept 1, 2022 12:59:58 GMT
What is the price difference between each level of coverage?
If there were an accident, would your ds be able to afford to replace or repair the vehicle without full coverage? What if someone is injured in the accident?
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Post by workingclassdog on Sept 1, 2022 13:00:07 GMT
We only did liability on our older cars. I can't remember if we had roadside or not.
Only once did we do full coverage as it was our only vehicle and it wasn't a super old car but definitely not newer.
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Post by beepdave on Sept 1, 2022 13:03:10 GMT
It's up to you whether you want to gamble that $4700 or not. I always get full coverage. I can't afford to replace a $4700 car if someone hits me tomorrow. That's how I look at it. He's only 18, he's still inexperienced, and I'm most worried about the other drivers out there.
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blue tulip
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,984 
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Post by blue tulip on Sept 1, 2022 13:09:42 GMT
can you afford to buy another $4700 car if it gets totalled? that's your answer.
my son's car was $2k. we didn't have full coverage, because at that price point we could replace if he wrecked it. and he did this spring, and we did replace. if it was over $4k, we would have full coverage on it because that would be harder for us. it's basically a decision that your personal budget will dictate.
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smartypants71
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,701
Location: Houston, TX
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Post by smartypants71 on Sept 1, 2022 13:14:32 GMT
My son is on my policy with a paid-off car and a 1000 deductible. I don't want to replace a car if something happens. Also, he is required to keep a $1000 cushion in his bank account in case something does.
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milocat
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,426
Location: 55 degrees north in Alberta, Canada
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Post by milocat on Sept 1, 2022 13:16:51 GMT
No I wouldn't have collision (full coverage) on a vehicle of that value. If he had an accident the first year that's $1100 plus $1000 deductible, in one year you've already spent $2200, that's half the value of the car. If he had one in a few years you've already paid more in insurance and deductible than the car is worth. Take the difference in the full coverage and next or low level and save it towards a new vehicle. Do you need comprehensive? How worried are you about things like fire, theft, hitting an animal? If not very worried I'd just have PLPD on it to cover the other car in case of accident.
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Post by mikklynn on Sept 1, 2022 13:18:47 GMT
Have you compared the difference between lower deductibles and $1000? It's not that much different for me to carry a $100 deductible.
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lindas
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,151
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Post by lindas on Sept 1, 2022 13:29:38 GMT
I sold insurance for 30 yrs and every time a client asked me that question (age of driver didn’t matter) they got the same response……can you afford to replace the car if it’s totaled in an accident. I also always advised getting comprehensive coverage, windshield replacement isn’t cheap. Look at the difference between the $1000 and no ded if you have that option. Sometimes the price difference isn’t worth the higher out of pocket expense.
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Post by Peace Sign on Sept 1, 2022 13:57:14 GMT
these are excellent, excellent questions!! i'll do some more digging. this really helped. thanks!!!
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Post by workingclassdog on Sept 1, 2022 14:21:58 GMT
Just a little FYI.. get windshield insurance!! (For me) it's $5 a month and it is so totally worth it. Free replacement, no deductible. We use this almost once a year. We found this out the hard way after a windshield for some little car we had cost close to $700 (20 years ago)..
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Post by Bridget in MD on Sept 1, 2022 14:28:17 GMT
Also, its not just about affording a new/used car, its FINDING ONE. My DS was in an accident this spring, our 2000 Ford Explorer was totaled. I feel like they gave us $3K for it? BUT it was worth SO MUCH more to us to have a running, reliable older car. Then, when we went looking for a used car to replace the explorer. We ended up buying a 2012 Ford Fusion, which I think cost us like 10K. That was WAY more than we wanted to pay, but we were looking for low miles and an older car and thats what the market was at the time. We'd see a car online and call a dealership and it would be gone by the time we'd call. We barely got our car - we went up to test drive it at 230pm, and someone had an appt to see it at 3pm. That person was 15 min late and we were signing the papers to buy it by the time they got into the dealership. As they were bringing the car around another couple saw it and were like, "hey we were here to see that car!"  |
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Post by Peace Sign on Sept 1, 2022 14:33:07 GMT
Also, its not just about affording a new/used car, its FINDING ONE. My DS was in an accident this spring, our 2000 Ford Explorer was totaled. I feel like they gave us $3K for it? BUT it was worth SO MUCH more to us to have a running, reliable older car. Then, when we went looking for a used car to replace the explorer. We ended up buying a 2012 Ford Fusion, which I think cost us like 10K. That was WAY more than we wanted to pay, but we were looking for low miles and an older car and thats what the market was at the time. We'd see a car online and call a dealership and it would be gone by the time we'd call. We barely got our car - we went up to test drive it at 230pm, and someone had an appt to see it at 3pm. That person was 15 min late and we were signing the papers to buy it by the time they got into the dealership. As they were bringing the car around another couple saw it and were like, "hey we were here to see that car!" this is true. we had been looking for about 4 months to find just what he needs. |
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Post by calgaryscrapper on Sept 1, 2022 14:48:54 GMT
Is there any way to reduce the cost of Insurance (it looks like you got a real good rate)? When our Son was that age and took drivers education and proved he got good marks through University he received a discount on his Insurance.
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Post by Peace Sign on Sept 1, 2022 15:24:32 GMT
Is there any way to reduce the cost of Insurance (it looks like you got a real good rate)? When our Son was that age and took drivers education and proved he got good marks through University he received a discount on his Insurance. he's not in school at this time, but i am going to shop my insurance around this fall, or have the agent do it. |
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Post by femalebusiness on Sept 1, 2022 15:25:18 GMT
In most cases even if he has full coverage and totals his car, they won't give him the full price that he paid for the car. The older the car gets the less they pay.
Find out the difference in premiums between PLPD and full coverage. Put the difference in the bank.
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momto4kiddos
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,151
Jun 26, 2014 11:45:15 GMT
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Post by momto4kiddos on Sept 1, 2022 15:31:19 GMT
Usually the higher deductible, like the $1,000 will keep the costs a little lower so we always opted for the $1,000 deductible.
Depending on the worth of the car...if it's worth the $4700 he paid for it then it might be a consideration to keep the full coverage on it for a time. My reasoning for considering that was that if my kiddo wasn't likely to be able to come up with the $3700 (after deductible) to replace then they'd at least have a start towards replacing the car if it were totaled. Not everyone would agree with my logic, but for the first year or so we did it that way.
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Post by Peace Sign on Sept 1, 2022 15:40:32 GMT
Full coverage with roadside and rental is $1107 a year, liability with comp and roadside is $764, liability with roadside is $676.
Does that change your minds??
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Post by MissBianca on Sept 1, 2022 15:42:21 GMT
So to give you some background for context my oldest drives a 1982 Land Rover which would totally be good with liability only, however because he was a teen driver we got full coverage. We live in such a sue happy society and I’ve seen too many instances of teens being taken advantage of that we just opted to go over board with coverage.
Fast forward 7 years(2021) and my next oldest got into an accident with his 2008 Subaru that had full coverage and not only totaled his car but the person he hit. Our insurance handled everything and we have not heard a peep from anyone. I just like having peace of mind having full coverage.
Also get the glass coverage! My cars are magnets for rocks on the road and getting my windshield fixed for free is worth the $5 extra.
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Post by Laurie on Sept 1, 2022 16:00:46 GMT
With these numbers I would do liability. In 12 months the difference would be over $5K so for me it would make sense to keep that savings.
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Post by stormycat on Sept 1, 2022 16:22:27 GMT
Always get rental coverage too, it’s really cheap to add to the policy. With parts being back ordered the shop could have your vehicle for a long time.
I always get the highest rental coverage , it covers 60 a day. The last accident they had my minivan for over 2 weeks. I need a vehicle as I drive a lot and need a van for my disabled son and wheelchair. It was worth the money
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Post by littlemama on Sept 1, 2022 16:45:40 GMT
With these numbers I would do liability. In 12 months the difference would be over $5K so for me it would make sense to keep that savings. Her costs are per year, not per month |
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Post by Eddie-n-Harley on Sept 1, 2022 16:54:13 GMT
Full coverage with roadside and rental is $1107 a year, liability with comp and roadside is $764, liability with roadside is $676. Does that change your minds?? What is the difference between "full" and liability + comprehensive? I thought they were the same. |
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lindas
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,151
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Post by lindas on Sept 1, 2022 16:59:20 GMT
Full coverage with roadside and rental is $1107 a year, liability with comp and roadside is $764, liability with roadside is $676. Does that change your minds?? So what your basically looking at is a difference of $20 a month between full and just comp. That’s a no-brained for me, I would do the full. My DS totaled his car within the first 6 months of owning it. If we hadn’t put full coverage on it he would have been walking for a long time. |
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lindas
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,151
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Post by lindas on Sept 1, 2022 17:02:01 GMT
Full coverage with roadside and rental is $1107 a year, liability with comp and roadside is $764, liability with roadside is $676. Does that change your minds?? What is the difference between "full" and liability + comprehensive? I thought they were the same. Full coverage includes collision. Comprehensive only covers fire, thief and vandalism. |
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Post by Peace Sign on Sept 1, 2022 17:02:47 GMT
Full coverage with roadside and rental is $1107 a year, liability with comp and roadside is $764, liability with roadside is $676. Does that change your minds?? What is the difference between "full" and liability + comprehensive? I thought they were the same. as it was explained to me - comprehensive covers hitting a deer, fire, theft or a tree falling on your car. things that you didn't cause. |
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Post by hop2 on Sept 1, 2022 17:38:37 GMT
Car insurance sometimes does more than you think ( or at least good car insurance does ) when my sons car was hit the rental thru the insurance company was less than 1/2 what renting it himself would have been. The sky rocketing car rental costs did not affect rental thru insurance companies as much last year when rentals were out of control because the insurance companies already had contracts in place. DS lives alone 2 hours away there was no way we could help him. It was a huge benefit saved well over $1000 in rental costs.
All I am saying is weigh all of what is included in your plan before deciding. Then go with what you decide.
Perhaps if you go with a lower plan make him put the savings aside in a bank account so it’s there if anything happens.
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Post by Basket1lady on Sept 1, 2022 19:51:30 GMT
We just had liability on the kids vehicles. If they wrecked it, we weren’t going to replace it. We did have roadside assistance as it’s cheap ($2 a month?) and I wanted them to get help if needed. We also carried rental coverage. They won’t rent a car to an 18 year old, but they would rent to me and the kid could have my car if they needed to get to a job. I think it was $4 a month or something like that.
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Post by gracieplusthree on Sept 1, 2022 20:03:17 GMT
I only have liability and comprehensive(which I will not do without because we have a lot of deer) on my car, but is a 2000.
When my kids were 18 they were driving my '94Cherokee which also only had liability and comprehensive..
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Post by jenjie on Sept 1, 2022 20:12:16 GMT
I’m super impressed you were able to find a car at that price! The ten year old minivan I bought Logan (plus service plan) cost pretty much the same as DD’s brand new Honda HRV. Which is why she bought a new car instead of used.
We always get full coverage insurance. About the rental car cost, when dd totaled her old car she was given a budget of $50 per day for rental. Anything over that would be out of pocket.
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