Insurance depreciation: Time to sell?

[LiteX]

Cheapest insurance I can find is with Just Cars..
Aged 23 and currently paying 1.3k premium for 20k agreed value (Modified DC5S).

PG your insurance is so cheap!

[Apu]

Peter, I use third party fire and theft on my cars. It was difficult to make that decision (and I am nowhere near you in terms of OCD) but it made practical sense. I reason that by pocketing the difference, I can fork out the difference should I write off one of the cars.

You can't look at it from a single car perspective, but the savings you would get across all your cars - let's say you save $2K across all of them...you've now got that $2K to add to your DC2R. Of course you'd be very, very unlucky to write off 3 cars but how likely would that be?

[PG_DC5]

Cheapest insurance I can find is with Just Cars..
Aged 23 and currently paying 1.3k premium for 20k agreed value (Modified DC5S).

PG your insurance is so cheap!

rural/regional areas haha, much less likely to have a crash in the company's eyes. Which is a bit truthful, mum has been hit in her Civic (always from traffic coming from behind) 8 times in her civic now (latest was yesterday) in sydney. the car is only 6 years old as well .... so many new bumpers

[LiteX]

Peter, I use third party fire and theft on my cars. It was difficult to make that decision (and I am nowhere near you in terms of OCD) but it made practical sense. I reason that by pocketing the difference, I can fork out the difference should I write off one of the cars.

You can't look at it from a single car perspective, but the savings you would get across all your cars - let's say you save $2K across all of them...you've now got that $2K to add to your DC2R. Of course you'd be very, very unlucky to write off 3 cars but how likely would that be?

I would'nt get third party... I had a accident on my father's car and it was the other drive at fault. My father's insurer (AAMI) would NOT let us claim from them even though it wasn't our fault and I even had picture evidence. The other driver would not admit its his fault and we could not claim off his insurance company either. There was not that much damage so we just left it as it is

[delusional]

Ywah, i would only get 3rd party on a cheap car just for peace of mind if anything ever does happen.

[Apu]

I would'nt get third party... I had a accident on my father's car and it was the other drive at fault. My father's insurer (AAMI) would NOT let us claim from them even though it wasn't our fault and I even had picture evidence. The other driver would not admit its his fault and we could not claim off his insurance company either. There was not that much damage so we just left it as it is

Well...that's why it's Third Party. It doesn't cover your car. It is the risk you take, but you've got to balance the emotional vs economic value, which is why Peter is asking this question.

[Apu]

Ywah, i would only get 3rd party on a cheap car just for peace of mind if anything ever does happen.

So what is a cheap car? Whilst I like my car very much, insurance values it at about $10K...I consider that cheap, and I'm sure Peter feels the same, but emotionally...the car is "highly valued".

[delusional]

Cheap in my opinion would be under 5k

[LiteX]

Well...that's why it's Third Party. It doesn't cover your car. It is the risk you take, but you've got to balance the emotional vs economic value, which is why Peter is asking this question.

I still wouldn't go for third party unless car is worth less than 5k. There is SO MANY stupid drivers in Sydney, and if third party won't cover your car even if you aren't at fault, which means you will have to chase the other driver and his insurance company which is way too much hassle.

[Setanta]

I know what you guys are saying. The reality is that until I bought the DC2R I'd never comprehensively insured a car before. That was 27 years of owning cars prior to the 'teg. Even my EF9 SiR was third party and that was the only car that I've owned that was written off when a bus took it out. I'm coming around to your way of thinking Bryan because I know I can't replace the E30 coupe for the amount I've insured it for (coupes are on the increase with average ones hitting 8K - thanks to the stance generation) and there's no way that if the 2R was written off that I could replace it for 13K given my need to have it at my standards. Sad really as I have just under a grand of brand new OEM plastics and trim ordered so that it still looks new (again OCD is bad m'kay?). Not to mention it is booked in to have a few paint chips sorted.

I guess the issue for me is the investment in maintaining it to keep it as fresh (maybe fresher than when I bought it). Cars are always an emotional investment for me - there's not one that I don't regret selling or losing right back to my '73 Skyline and '74 Civic that I owned in the 80s. I lost the EF9 which I had an affinity to - it was the perfect car for me and has never been replaced because of the time and effort I put into it over the years and am coming to the realisation that I'm in the same boat again - in a car that can't really be replaced from my perspective. I get that cars depreciate, I get that most DC2Rs are getting on in years, are modified (for better or worse) and are subject to a formula based around Redbook but to my prejudiced eyes, my 'teg is one of the few remaining low km, close to factory spec examples on the road and it's there for my weekend enjoyment.

I'm writing a letter to the insurance company to see where I can go with this.

I think you're right Bryan - fire and theft (for all 3 cars) and then enjoy the cash difference.

[Apu]

I had to make that difficult decision too Pete. Come over for a beer again and we can moan over how we're getting ripped off on insurance...paying more to insure diminishing value.

Seriously, come over for a beer. I've got an Elise in the garage now too!