What has been the most outrageous car insurance quote you have ever been given?
When my son was coming of driving age my ever astute insurance company gave me a phone call. The call had to do with which one of our vehicles would be “assigned” to my son when he got his license. At the time we had one new vehicle …a Dodge Durango …still under finance and with the requisite collision and comprehensive endorsements any car owner would have with a new vehicle. The other vehicle was a Chevy S10 pickup, paid for but still relatively new and, also, with good collision and comp deductions.I could see were this was going …sort of reading the writing on the wall.So, I cringed and said, “The Durango.”Now, before we went further, the nice gal on the phone told me this would be a quote for my son, added to the Durango, as an “occasional driver”. This “occasional driver” status meant, basically, driving the vehicle very little and not very far. It did not, like my son envisioned, include driving it to and from school everyday.The keyboard tapped away and the moment came and the six month premium went from something like $650 to well over $1800 …three times my original premium.Needless to say that didn’t happen. What did happen was a lesson, from this nice gal on the phone, on how to deal with “inexperienced drivers” and keeping your insurance premiums below that of the GDP of some small nations. Also how to protect your personal assets from any potential lawsuits arising from any accidents caused by your “inexperienced driver”. If you want to know how it worked out just ask in a comment.
Is it bad to buy a car with over 100k mileage?
I am attaching a picture of the first car I owned. A 2004 Hyundai Sonata V6 that I bought in 2010 and I had it for around 18 months. It had 104,000 Miles on it when I got it for $4500 and it had 130,000 Miles on it when I sold it to a dealer for about $3700, when it was going to need a timing belt change soon.I ensured that the car was in good condition when I got it, the only money that I had to spend on it was for oil changes. Insurance was $65 or so per month. It was the top of the line model. Pretty powerful, handled reasonably well, leather seats, good AC and everything in the car worked. I have never owned a car since that was a better bargain or cost me lower per mile to drive. I even spotted it on the road a year or so later and it still seemed to be going good.Hitting 100,000 Miles is one of the most significant events in the history of a car with respect to depreciation. However, much like how a new car depreciates quite a bit the moment it is driven off the lot, the reason for such depreciation is more psychological than rational. There is no reason to believe a car with 101,000 is any less reliable than a car with 97,000 miles but they usually have a considerable price difference. This usually means, if you are careful about the vehicle you pick and ensure that the car in question has been maintained well throughout its life, a car that has just crossed 100,000 miles is among the best bargains you can find.Most cars that have been made in the last 15–20 years are very reliable machines. Even the brands not conventionally well known for making long lasting vehicles, like American, Korean car makers etc have made tremendous improvements in overall vehicle reliability and often offer much better deals than a Honda or a Toyota which depreciate slower due to their reputation for reliability.If you are in the market for a really cheap but still reasonably reliable car, cars with 100,000+ miles on them are an excellent place to start looking. The only caveats would be to ensure the particular vehicle you are considering is in good condition and you are fully aware of potential maintenance work or consumables that may fail in the near future and set aside enough money to be able to afford having such work done.