Car Insurance? Third Party only?

[NewbStache]

Is it ever worth having collision and comprehensive? I currently have it on a 2011 Sonata, that I could maybe sell for $7000. My plan is once I am able to easily afford to replace it with something like an old civic (under $5000), then I will have only third party liability.

Does this make sense, or should I ditch it now?

[Mon€yp€nny]

It all depends on the value of the car, the age, the difference in coverage vs what you pay each month plus what risk you are able to cover yourself. There are various calculators available online to see wich insurance is best for you.
It also depends on the replacement car you would like to buy.
A tree totalled my husband's car last year (he wasn't in it), we got €1000 for the car from the insurance. When we wanted to buy the same brand, we discovered the equivalent newer models were more expensive than what we had paid for the car. Although we really liked the brand and model, we switched to another to save money. Should you absolutely prefer a certain model, it is good to know what those cost now.

I think 7000 is still a nice value. Should you have an accident and you made a mistake (maybe only in the eyes of the insurances), you will loose that 7000. Maybe collision for another year, or two, won't be that much more expensive and pays should you have a bad day? See what it would cost more versus just third party.

Can you shop around for a cheaper car insurance?

[NewbStache]

It all depends on the value of the car, the age, the difference in coverage vs what you pay each month plus what risk you are able to cover yourself. There are various calculators available online to see wich insurance is best for you.
It also depends on the replacement car you would like to buy.
A tree totalled my husband's car last year (he wasn't in it), we got €1000 for the car from the insurance. When we wanted to buy the same brand, we discovered the equivalent newer models were more expensive than what we had paid for the car. Although we really liked the brand and model, we switched to another to save money. Should you absolutely prefer a certain model, it is good to know what those cost now.

I think 7000 is still a nice value. Should you have an accident and you made a mistake (maybe only in the eyes of the insurances), you will loose that 7000. Maybe collision for another year, or two, won't be that much more expensive and pays should you have a bad day? See what it would cost more versus just third party.

Can you shop around for a cheaper car insurance?

I have shopped around already, and I'm paying about $1600 for the year. Looks like if I went with just liability, would be $811. That's for 2 million. I would probably drop it to 1 million, but I don't think it would affect the total a whole lot. Yea, I think maybe keeping it for a little bit longer would be a good idea. Eventually the value of it would drop anyway.

[Mon€yp€nny]

Maybe you can find the average depreciation in value for your model online?
And what is the amount set for what we call 'own risk' per accident in the coverage? Makes a difference whether the first hundred or 500 in damage comes out of your own pocket.

Is that 1600 for collision or the best insurance?
~ 800 = 50 per month. That is a lot, I guess car insurances are cheaper here.

Is damage to windows included or is it cheap to buy that coverage? Here we pay a few euro per month extra and when we damage our car window, we have it replaced at a shop that is preferred supplier to our insurance and we don't even see the bill. I'm even covered for free use of a car while they replace a window. (Me and the latest Mini didn't get along).

[RobFIRE]

If you would save $800 a year switching to third party only, that sounds like a significant amount saved, provided that you could comfortably cover the replacement vehicle cost in the unlikely event that you are at fault for a major accident.

When I had a car worth a bit less than that I looked at doing this. Prices in the UK are a bit different and the saving for third party only wasn't that much so not worth it, but I did increase my excess to about $1000 (from the minimum which was something like $250) as it saved quite a lot.