Car insurance coverage question

[Susie]

One of our cars is a 2003 VW Jetta, currently worth about $1800 (private sale - in between trade in and dealer sale price) according to Edmund's.

I've been carrying comprehensive with a $500 deductible/full glass coverage, but I canceled collision coverage on it a while ago. My rationale has been that I'm willing to gamble on my own driving to avoid an accident, but not on the likelihood of a deer running in front of me. A deer would probably total the car at this point, and it'd be nice to not walk away completely empty handed if it happened. They are everywhere here. I've hit one deer and one coyote with this car in the time I've lived in the area (both happened in 2007).

Comprehensive on that car costs $38.60 every 6 months. Is it still worth it?

Dropping to a $1k deductible would make it even cheaper, but at that point, not worth having -- the deductible would be bigger than any possible insurance payout!

[ijack]

$80/yr? Yes.

[daydreamer]

$80/year seems pretty high for a car worth only $1800. I think my comprehensive with $500 deductible was only $25/year when I dropped it. This makes me think the insurance company payout might be higher than you think.

How long will you keep the car? Assuming another 5 years and $1800 value, is it really worth $400 (though of course the cost will drop) for the potential max $1300 payout?

[Susie]

Jan 7, 2013 17:56:51 GMT -5 daydreamer said:

How long will you keep the car? Assuming another 5 years and $1800 value, is it really worth $400 (though of course the cost will drop) for the potential max $1300 payout?

It has 156k miles on it (and some rust) now, so I think 5 years would be ambitious.

Realistically... 2 years? 3? Maybe? I just blew $1100 on a new catalytic converter for it, so definitely keeping it a while to get my money's worth. I doubt I'd spring for another major repair on that order though.

[aurora]

Jan 7, 2013 17:29:34 GMT -5 Susie said:

...My rationale has been that I'm willing to gamble on my own driving to avoid an accident, but not on the likelihood of a deer running in front of me. A deer would probably total the car at this point, and it'd be nice to not walk away completely empty handed if it happened...

Not trying to be snarky, but it seems like you really answered your own question here. Seems reasonable to me if you want to pay another $160-240 over the next 2 years for some peace of mind. We might decide differently if our car were worth that little, but then again I never got around to dropping our comprehensive on our old car before we sold it so maybe I am just lazy.

BTW: I bet you'd get more replies if you posted a puppy picture with every thread you start...