Buying a used Model S, bad idea?

[JSH]

Originally Posted by Piotrsko

Why not? All my stuff is set up that way. If you hit the 10 yr old Golf, it pretty much insurance totals it every time, ditto for the 23 year old F250, and the 35 year old Ranger. I drive such that I probably won't have a major accident unless someone else is at fault. I would be pissed off at someone thrashing my stuff and THEY had better have good insurance because all that old stuff isn't going to be cheap to replace

I supose JSH will say that's not how it works.......

If you finance, you don't get such a choice

I say keep full coverage on a vehicle unless you can afford to replace it out of pocket or go without it. Personally I also keep full coverage on my vehicle because the savings from dropping collision and comprehensive are tiny.

Collision on my Astro is $11 every 6 months and comprehension is $8 with a $100 deductible. It makes absolutely no sense to me to drop coverage on a $6,000 vehicle to save $39 a year.

The Bolt costs an extra $121 every 6 months for full coverage with a $250 deductible. So $242 a year to avoid the risk of replacing a $20,000 car. I would have to go accident free for 82 years to break even dropping full coverage.

Another way to save on insurance is to pay every 6 months or annually. Insurance companies will generally give a 10 - 20% discount for paying in a lump sum instead of monthly.

[JSH]

Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary

But in the end, if I bought a car right now, like the Tesla, it would be financed. I did throw the Tesla out there as an option, but my plan right now is to just keep using the Avalon and saving what money I would be paying for it if monthly payments continued. Maybe, if I keep it long enough, I'll have enough saved up to buy a new car outright.

That is what my wife and I did. We had a loan on the 2003 Jetta Wagon TDI. Paid it off in 5 years and drove it for 10. We used the money saved to buy its replacement with cash. We didn't have a car loan for about 15 years but the Bolt and Acura have a loan due to stupid low interest rates. They are both financed for 5 years at 2.25%. I can't see how it makes any sense to cash out investments to buy a car when even a CD has a higher return than the loan.

However, that is with my circumstances with money in hand to pay off the loan if I needed to. I wouldn't carry a loan on a car if I didn't have enough reserves to either keep making the payments or pay off the car if I was to lose my job.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by JSH

Personally I also keep full coverage on my vehicle because the savings from dropping collision and comprehensive are tiny.

Who is your insurer? My experience is that comp/collision are like 2/3rd of the premium with a $1,000 deductible. Liability only ends up being super cheap.

[JSH]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

Who is your insurer? My experience is that comp/collision are like 2/3rd of the premium with a $1,000 deductible. Liability only ends up being super cheap.

Progressive at the moment - it was similar with PEMCO before.

Below is the 6 month premium for the Bolt. The total is $282. Liability and personal injury are $114. (It really bothers me that personal injury coverage is required in Oregon - I have medical insurance for that)

The 2011 Acura is $244 for full coverage. The 2004 Astro is $106. Total 6 month premium for 3 vehicles is $632.

[Isaac Zachary]

I think location really affects insurance. I can't find any insurance for less than $1,000 for 6 months for a 2013 Toyota Avalon and now they want double that for a 2014 Tesla. And that's with a single speeding ticket my whole life many years ago, and my wife with zero tickets, both of us not being spring chickens anymore either.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary

I think location really affects insurance. I can't find any insurance for less than $1,000 for 6 months for a 2013 Toyota Avalon and now they want double that for a 2014 Tesla. And that's with a single speeding ticket my whole life many years ago, and my wife with zero tickets, both of us not being spring chickens anymore either.

I don't think it matters that much.

Just took 5min on Progressive's website and got a quote for your Avalon in Gunnison for $145 for 6 months of liability only. $143 more to add comprehensive with a $1,000 deductible. $46 more to add collision with a $1k deductible. $385 total for 6 months of comp/collision coverage on your Avalon in Gunnison, and I'm 41 years old.

I've had several license suspensions and many tickets in my youth. Last ticket was probably 9 years ago.

You're either not disclosing important information for why your premium is so expensive, or you're doing insurance very wrong.

Getting a quote and purchasing insurance takes like 10min when done online. That reminds me, I should shop for insurance again since I've been with Geiko long enough that rates have crept up. New customers get the best rates. Best to always be a new customer. "Loyalty" discounts don't exist. Long term customers just pay more.

[Isaac Zachary]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

I don't think it matters that much.

Just took 5min on Progressive's website and got a quote for your Avalon in Gunnison for $145 for 6 months of liability only. $143 more to add comprehensive with a $1,000 deductible. $46 more to add collision with a $1k deductible. $385 total for 6 months of comp/collision coverage on your Avalon in Gunnison, and I'm 41 years old.

I've had several license suspensions and many tickets in my youth. Last ticket was probably 9 years ago.

You're either not disclosing important information for why your premium is so expensive, or you're doing insurance very wrong.

Getting a quote and purchasing insurance takes like 10min when done online. That reminds me, I should shop for insurance again since I've been with Geiko long enough that rates have crept up. New customers get the best rates. Best to always be a new customer. "Loyalty" discounts don't exist. Long term customers just pay more.

I got an online quote from Progressive that was about $720 for 6 months. They were the cheapest online quote I could find. But after 6 months they raised it up past what I was paying with AAA.

I got an online quote for the Tesla Model S from several companies and the cheapest was around $1,400 for 6 months. But when they got back to me it was closer to $2,000.

The only other thing that I've disclosed to the insurance companies is that the wife did hit a rock in a parking lot that dented the Leaf back when we had it 5 years ago, which insurance did pay for (except the $1,000 deductible) and was the only time insurance paid for anything for us. Maybe that's why our insurance is so high.

I don't know what else I could be doing wrong. I do the online questionaire they have and answer all the questions. My auto loan allows me to have up to a $1,000 deductible, so that's what I put.

[redpoint5]

I believe credit score is a factor too. How much of a factor, I don't know, but if it were my company, it would be a very large factor. People that are financially responsible are way more likely to also be responsible drivers.

I probably have a credit score of around 800.

All that said, the quote I got didn't identify me personally, as I didn't provide my SSN. They gave me a quote for a generic 41 year old male who lives in your area.

In my experience, I can get the quoted price even after completing the rest of the application by providing SSN.

[Isaac Zachary]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

I probably have a credit score of around 800.

And we both have credit scores of around 800 too.