Who's still carying collision insurance on a 17 year old car?

[MoRbiD]

My car is a 2005 A4 B6 1.8T 6MT Ultrasport. I have about 86000 miles on the car.

Allstate is hitting me for $158.00 USD every 6 months for collision insurance here in Western NY.

Claims people aren't very kind to cars over 10 years old. They'll total the car for even a fender bender w/no structural damage.

I keep my car in tip top shape and do most all the mechanical and body repairs myself.
No one, not even the Service Dept at the Dealership thinks the car is 17 years old.

Pay isn't going up as fast as the cost of living, I'm looking for ways to curtail spending.

Anyone else still carrying collision insurance on a B6 or B7?


Thnxs

[BumblebVR6]

I have full coverage on both my B6 with over 220k miles as well as my MK3 GTI with over 300K. The GTI gets driven less than a 100 miles a year since ‘14 but I keep it insured just in case.


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[MoRbiD]

Wow, thanks for replying.

[kwilson]

I do not have collision or comprehensive on my B6. Cheaper to self-insure.

[Kevin C]

I have both... Its not very expensive. Also comprehensive is a deal on towing charges if it ever gets stolen. On my Raider comp cost about $20 a year. Towing and impound when it was stolen was more than $300. also car without comprehensive don't get listed in the insurance database when stolen. Cops will have the info but that it. I save a lot by having my old car, its not a big deal to pay a tiny bit on insurance.

[Brake Weight]

I have full coverage on all my vehicles. It paid off when my ‘04 GLI got ‘totaled’ and I ended up buying the B6 I’m in now with a little money to mod as well as buying the Jetta back. Used the AWP head already and plan on swapping my BT setup this summer.

[Gin+]

Full coverage here. It's an extra $92 on a six month premium for comp and collision.

[Fast4esT]

mine is fully insured for the 6 months I drive it but I have been debating taking collision off and keeping just comprehensive on it. lots of animals around here to avoid. Other 6 months is just storage insurance

[EuroxS4]

I don't have collision because the minute it gets hit its gonna be totaled. LOL. Maybe once I get the avant with the 07K swap on the road ill consider. Till then nah.

Insurance companies have to be getting some sort of kickbacks when they total a car. In NJ last year we had some flash flooding, they totaled cars without even looking at them. I know this for a fact as I had 4 friends with some 2010-2016 audi's that got the floor flooded. All insurance companies totaled their cars. So to me insurance companies do very little for actual owners, if they can find a way to get out of pay out a claim they will, but your obligated to give them money that at the end they try to fuck you out of. That's the way I see it. Not saying it's not needed. In that 1% chance you have a accident its needed. But most people will try and to avoid a collision or accident if they got room to move that's a no brainer. Also NJ insurance is through the roof.

[MoRbiD]

I'm seeing some interesting arguments both for and against keep Collision insurance on my B6.

[MoRbiD]

I don't have collision because the minute it gets hit its gonna be totaled. LOL. Maybe once I get the avant with the 07K swap on the road ill consider. Till then nah.

Insurance companies have to be getting some sort of kickbacks when they total a car. In NJ last year we had some flash flooding, they totaled cars without even looking at them. I know this for a fact as I had 4 friends with some 2010-2016 audi's that got the floor flooded. All insurance companies totaled their cars. So to me insurance companies do very little for actual owners, if they can find a way to get out of pay out a claim they will, but your obligated to give them money that at the end they try to fuck you out of. That's the way I see it. Not saying it's not needed. In that 1% chance you have a accident its needed. But most people will try and to avoid a collision or accident if they got room to move that's a no brainer. Also NJ insurance is through the roof.

This is mostly what I'm seeing. I asked a Claims person from Allstate could I "stop the claim process it they were going to total the car" and just end their involvement? I couldn't get an answer.

[A4SoftWalker]

Full coverage. I'm not that confident. Towing, Property Damage, Bodily Injury,... etc.

[road_tripper]

I have totaled my 2003 twice. Once was my fault (rear quarter panel dented), and the second time I was sideswiped by another driver.

Basically the insurance company will only pay out the 'fair market value' of your car minus your deductible and salvage value. So you can do the math... based on your collision premium how many months/years of insurance payments will be more than the value of your payout?

In Nevada, where I live, it's fairly painless to:

receive the insurance payout and salvage title from the insurance company and keep the car
repair the car, take it to a shop that does the safety inspection (I'm pretty sure its just lights, seat belts), they fill out the form from the DMV
go to the DMV, wait in line to get the VIN verified, go inside with the paperwork, and get a new 'rebuilt' title. We can keep our old plates and registration.

My most recent total loss I only replaced the smashed driver's door. Not sure if I even needed to do that as the door worked just fine.

My car had 300,000+ miles, and was 18 years old. I think the fair market value at the time was around $3500.

The driver that hit me, his insurance company had an idiot claims adjuster. I was in contact fairly often. She would not send me an offer in a timely manner because she was trying to get a statement from a third driver. Unfortunately for her, she took over 30 days (in Nevada the at-fault insurance company has to send an offer letter within 30 days of the accident). I wrote a complaint on the state's dept. of insurance web site, and the very next day someone else from the at-fault driver's insurance company called me and gave me the good news that my car's fair market value was $3500, and started the paperwork for the salvage title.

I still have my liability insurance. I might add comprehensive as it is fairly inexpensive. My insurance rates have not changed based on the vehicle being 'rebuilt' (totaled). Twice.

[Turbavanttro]

I pay $1400 per year for full coverage through Hagerty with a $50k payout for total loss. But my car isn't exactly near stock.

[CJM_RVA]

I have full/comprehensive on mine. I looked at the numbers when setting up the coverage and it wasn't that much more (far below $100 for the 6 month period). If I do something dumb and total it I can't just turn around and come up with the cash out of pocket to buy another one, plus comprehensive covers your situations like falling trees, fire, and whatnot. Way back in the day carrying comprehensive on a Crown Vic I only paid 1800 bucks for helped me out, as after it caught fire my payout was $2800.

[MoRbiD]

More good stuff. I see many are paying less than me, but insurance is a local thing. I'm sure being in NYS isn't helping me.
What I have learned is that the old axiom of "dropping collision insurance when the car is over 10 years old" doesn't always have to be true.

[SoundEfx]

If the price difference isn't great, I'll keep collision as the benefits out way the saved money most of the time.

[DPDISXR4Ti]

I still have full coverage on my 20 year-old A4, and every time I go to pay the premium I say, "I really need to investigate whether this makes any sense!". And then I just pay it and forget about it for 5 months until the next bill shows up - rinse, lather, repeat.

So in short, be smarter than me and actually investigate whether it makes sense or not. :)

[road_tripper]

collision insurance is pretty cheap for our cars because the payout is so low. However, I've learned the hard way that making a claim and having the insurance company cut me a check results in 3+ years of increased premiums for ALL the coverages (medical payments, liability, uninsured/underinsured driver, etc)

Ask your agent what causes increased premiums... besides 'covid', executive pay hikes and other nonsense.

[walky_talky20]

This is mostly what I'm seeing. I asked a Claims person from Allstate could I "stop the claim process it they were going to total the car" and just end their involvement? I couldn't get an answer.

I don't think they can brand the title if you don't sign the title over to them (or apply for salvage certificate). And you must forfeit the title (in one of those ways) in order to get the payout. So I think if you refuse their payout and don't sign anything, the car cannot be totaled. Basically, if there is no total loss payout, there is no total loss. This can be due to you disagreeing with their valuation of the car, or disagreeing on their estimate to repair it, or just refusing the whole thing. If it is different than that in your state, that's messed up.

[sleuthnorange]

I carry collision on my 2004 Audi A4 Ultrasport. $96.10 per year in WI. $1000 deductible though.

[MoRbiD]

I don't think they can brand the title if you don't sign the title over to them (or apply for salvage certificate). And you must forfeit the title (in one of those ways) in order to get the payout. So I think if you refuse their payout and don't sign anything, the car cannot be totaled. Basically, if there is no total loss payout, there is no total loss. This can be due to you disagreeing with their valuation of the car, or disagreeing on their estimate to repair it, or just refusing the whole thing. If it is different than that in your state, that's messed up.

You know I never thought about that. The problem is I really can't get any information about the claim process without, well filing a claim. I do need to find out the value of my car. My Allstate agent says the adjusters use Kelly's Blue Book but I've heard different.

[DownhillA4]

Full coverage, State Farm. Also limited on mileage a year at 7k makes it slightly cheaper... I average about 300miles a year on the car LOL.

[Spike00513]

Is it just me or is comprehensive on an $18k vehicle over $100 a month
Why

And if so, why are people complaining about $100 a YEAR


Comprehensive with low or no deductible because you know how driving school is in our country.
It's expected to be hit by someone without insurance or license once a year.
True story been there done that

[oaybar007]

I'm late to respond, but this might be helpful.

I keep full coverage on all my cars (b6, b8.5 s4 and a subaru). All are paid off. So for the B6, my agent acknowledged that the car is rarer and I backed up that argument with actual documented sales showing the true value range of the car. A couple BaT sales and anything I could average and show for him to take to their underwriters or whoever. Basically making the argument that this cars value is not easy to pin down and a normal right off in the event of a loss is not adequate. They put a rider on my policy to value my 2004 1.8t quattro 6spd at $15,000 for 2022. 2020-21 it was 10k. I pay a bit more for this but I have basically all my insurance for home, auto, life, business, etc. with the company so it was not that hard. If you speak to your insurer they may have options to make it appealing. I just won't take the risk of self insuring anything in my state. People are nuts on the roads here in Maryland.

EDIT- Agreed Value or something to that verbiage is basically what I'm referring to. Here's a good explanation of it.
https://www.valuepenguin.com/agreed-value-car-insurance