If you have an older car that you think is worth something but the insurance company may not

[GAJ]

you might be interested in my outcome with State Farm.

On the Miata.net forum it became more obvious to me that my 1994 Miata R model, despite almost 190k miles and not a "recognized special model" on KBB, could be totaled with just $2000 worth of damage as they would treat it as a "base" Miata.

I was unable to find another R model for sale in the US for less than $6900 when I checked.

"The $1500 package includes stiffer springs and bushings, Torsen limited slip differential, stiffer shocks (now by Bilstein), alloy wheels, and front and rear spoilers. There are restrictions, too: power steering and anti-lock brakes are not available, nor are extra-cost items from the regular Miata option packages. "

There were over 400,000 first generation Miatas made but only 1,841 R models.

So I shot State Farm a letter asking for a declared value policy and they asked for detailed photos of all four corners, under the hood, the interior and I even sent them some of under the car with the new suspension added this year. I bought the car in 1994 and have no plans to replace it so I thought it was worth a shot.

Their response after a few weeks as it had to go before some king of "committee."

Your Miata has received antique classic status at the agreed value of $6900. Congrats!

The 6 month premium decreases from $246.43 to $117.93.

You will receive a new declarations page and ID cards in the mail. Thank you!

So, if you think that you 200k mileage older car is worth more than the insurance company might think, give it a shot! :thumbup

I never expected the COST to go down and, oddly, they didn't, (I don't think), put any mileage or storage restrictions on my new policy but I'll wait till the declarations page arrives and let anyone interested know.

 

[Blankpage]

1-877-KARS FOR KIDS
1-877-KARS FOR KIDS
1-877-KARS FOR KIDS

 

[GAJ]

1-877-KARS FOR KIDS
1-877-KARS FOR KIDS
1-877-KARS FOR KIDS

Every year I get a letter from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District offering me a thousand bucks to let them crush my car. :laughing

Never owned a car with power steering, electric windows, ABS, or an automatic and I'm not going to start now.

My wife, however, disagrees and her cars have had all the bells and whistles over the years.

 

[afm199]

Every year I get a letter from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District offering me a thousand bucks to let them crush my car. :laughing

Never owned a car with power steering, electric windows, ABS, or an automatic and I'm not going to start now.

My wife, however, disagrees and her cars have had all the bells and whistles over the years.

:laughing

I just bought my first car with power windows, locks, little TV screen, bluetooth, 12 speakers, turbo yada yada.

I love it. O, and auto transmission, my first with auto.

 

[Maddevill]

I had a 1985 VW Cabriolet. Had 213k miles on it. Finally one day it sprung an oil leak that would have been very difficult to fix. And the clutch was just about gone. DMV had been sending me those "Junk it" notices and, luckily, I had just gotten the smog done.
Took it to a junk yard on Depot Rd in Hayward. They came out and verified it had at least one working headlight, brakelights worked and the windows could roll up. (?) Then I had to prove it moved forward and reverse, which was tricky since the clutch barely engaged. Finally I was directed to drive it into the yard and walked out with $1000
I was pleased.

Mad

 

[GAJ]

:laughing

I just bought my first car with power windows, locks, little TV screen, bluetooth, 12 speakers, turbo yada yada.

I love it. O, and auto transmission, my first with auto.

:laughing

My wife's 2019 CX5 AWD Turbo, with a real 6 speed auto, not that horrific CVT nonsense, is actually an amazingly screwed together car with a high grade interior and things I would have thought frivolous/stupid had I not tried them:

Heated steering wheel, A/C front seats, adaptive Cruise Control, auto lights/wipers, 5.1 sound and heads up display.

"Stupid" options that really are great! :laughing

 

[mercurial]

State Farm has a definite biz model where it seems like they tend to be pretty forgiving about claims and reduced premiums on secondary/tertiary vehicles, but they make up for it with elevated overall premiums that rise very quickly they deem you to be at all risky.

In short, they are great if you are a rich old geezer that has tons of vehicles and likes to deal with cheerful, no hassle staff.

 

[GAJ]

State Farm has a definite biz model where it seems like they tend to be pretty forgiving about claims and reduced premiums on secondary/tertiary vehicles, but they make up for it with elevated overall premiums that rise very quickly they deem you to be at all risky.

In short, they are great if you are a rich old geezer that has tons of vehicles and likes to deal with cheerful, no hassle staff.

I think we've had State Farm for 30+ years so maybe that is a factor and while we only have three vehicles with them now that I'm down to one moto and the daughter is long gone on her own, we do have 4 properties with them and an umbrella so that may have played a role.

But if someone is in a similar boat with me in terms of the car, no matter who they are worth, why not ask, all they can do is say "no."

 

[TheRobSJ]

things I would have thought frivolous/stupid had I not tried them:

Heated steering wheel,

Ain’t that just the most pleasant thing!

20 years ago I got a new Silverado with heated seats. Came with the trim package, otherwise I wouldn’t have actually wanted those seats. I live in California, it doesn’t get that cold, why do I need that? But after trying it a few times...yup those are awesome. Fast forward to today and now both my vehicles have heated and ventilated seats, and I wouldn’t have bought them without those seats.

 

[Blankpage]

I like have all that shit on a vehicle even though I don’t use it much. Nice to know it’s there just in case.

 

[mercurial]

I think we've had State Farm for 30+ years so maybe that is a factor and while we only have three vehicles with them now that I'm down to one moto and the daughter is long gone on her own, we do have 4 properties with them and an umbrella so that may have played a role.

oh yea, you are their responsible, multi-policy dream customer. :cool

 

[Kornholio]

The only time I've found heated seats to be of any value is when you have leather (or "leatherette") seating surfaces. And even then, it's only because the seats themselves get damn cold in the winter. But since I'm too cheap to spring for leather interior, I don't really worry about it. :teeth

 

[bpw]

State Farm has a definite biz model where it seems like they tend to be pretty forgiving about claims and reduced premiums on secondary/tertiary vehicles, but they make up for it with elevated overall premiums that rise very quickly they deem you to be at all risky.

In short, they are great if you are a rich old geezer that has tons of vehicles and likes to deal with cheerful, no hassle staff.

State Farm sure does seem to like insuring low hassle, low risk customers. I have always gotten very good rates with them, but prices sky-rocket if you are in a higher risk group.

I have my vintage stuff with Hagerty who is like State Farm times ten. The upside is if you have a garage and good driving record they will insure your vehicles for damn near nothing. The last bike I added to the policy was something like $45 a year to insure for 7k value and zero deductible with a bunch of liability coverage.

 

[Wolf]

I never expected the COST to go down and, oddly, they didn't, (I don't think), put any mileage or storage restrictions on my new policy but I'll wait till the declarations page arrives and let anyone interested know.

By being classified as "rare/antique", State Farm may have gotten the policy underwriter changed to a different company or something, hence the lower rate.
Like now it's underwritten by Hagrity, and Hagrity goes "a fookin MIATA? $100"

Just speculating.

 

[Kurosaki]

It was kinda pointless with my Supra. It was worth much more in the eyes of the community but there's no way I could justify that to insurance. They don't acknowledge engine swaps. Or rather, I would be dumb to tell them I had done one. I don't know for sure if that would have axed my insurance for any fine print reason but I wasn't willing to take that chance.

Just had to show them similar examples. They didn't need to understand those cars were engine swapped as well.

 

[bpw]

It was kinda pointless with my Supra. It was worth much more in the eyes of the community but there's no way I could justify that to insurance. They don't acknowledge engine swaps. Or rather, I would be dumb to tell them I had done one. I don't know for sure if that would have axed my insurance for any fine print reason but I wasn't willing to take that chance.

Just had to show them similar examples. They didn't need to understand those cars were engine swapped as well.

That is whats so great about agreed value, you just tell them what you want to insure it for and assuming you don't ask for something ridiculous they write you a policy and charge a premium based on that value.

 

[Kurosaki]

That is whats so great about agreed value, you just tell them what you want to insure it for and assuming you don't ask for something ridiculous they write you a policy and charge a premium based on that value.

Fair point. The premiums for agreed upon values from any place I shopped were so much higher, I couldn't justify it. And then had to deal with the headache on the back end.

Insurance is always a bit of risk/reward choice of course.

 

[Eldritch]

you might be interested in my outcome with State Farm.

On the Miata.net forum it became more obvious to me that my 1994 Miata R model, despite almost 190k miles and not a "recognized special model" on KBB, could be totaled with just $2000 worth of damage as they would treat it as a "base" Miata.

I was unable to find another R model for sale in the US for less than $6900 when I checked.

"The $1500 package includes stiffer springs and bushings, Torsen limited slip differential, stiffer shocks (now by Bilstein), alloy wheels, and front and rear spoilers. There are restrictions, too: power steering and anti-lock brakes are not available, nor are extra-cost items from the regular Miata option packages. "

There were over 400,000 first generation Miatas made but only 1,841 R models.

So I shot State Farm a letter asking for a declared value policy and they asked for detailed photos of all four corners, under the hood, the interior and I even sent them some of under the car with the new suspension added this year. I bought the car in 1994 and have no plans to replace it so I thought it was worth a shot.

Their response after a few weeks as it had to go before some king of "committee."



So, if you think that you 200k mileage older car is worth more than the insurance company might think, give it a shot! :thumbup

I never expected the COST to go down and, oddly, they didn't, (I don't think), put any mileage or storage restrictions on my new policy but I'll wait till the declarations page arrives and let anyone interested know.

So weird that the premiums go down with the increased value. I have to assume they are now putting you in the risk bucket with the '57 Chevy that only gets driven to a car show category.

 

[Butch]

I have “declared value” with Hagerty for decades. They have beed pretty good to me.

https://www.hagerty.com/insurance/classic-car-insurance/

I actually made a claim once. I still haven’t hit anyone yet.

 

[Abacinator]

The only time I've found heated seats to be of any value is when you have leather (or "leatherette") seating surfaces. And even then, it's only because the seats themselves get damn cold in the winter. But since I'm too cheap to spring for leather interior, I don't really worry about it. :teeth

My back loves heated seats regardless of the time of year :laughing