Full coverage auto insurance or not?

[Roundabouts]

So I hate paying car insurance until I need it.  Guessing we are all on the same page.  I love saving money.  So was thinking about liability insurance vs full coverage.   The only reason to consider full coverage on our rigs is towing and windshield replacement.  All rigs are getting up there in yrs and have used the towing several times.   Which ended up being cheaper than paying for the towing out of pocket.  Also since they are doing lots of road construction on the freeway around here we have had to have a windshield replaced.  The guy that did it said going through our insurance co saved us about $350.  I did not check on that so can't say for sure.   Full coverage would be a total of about 90 bucks more to the policy every 6 moths so 180 per year or $15 per month.  Of course if we don't need either of these over the next few years it is a waste of money.  I know that the insurance co would not offer that if the odds were not in their favor. 

Question what would you do?

[Preceptor]

What do you drive, how much do you drive, where do you drive, how in love with your car are you, and do you owe on your car?

Depending on the answers above there are a lot of tricks you can do.  I just recently got rid of collision which saved a ton because 1.)my car is paid off  2.)the amount of money I save over 5 years could almost pay for a new car 3.) I don't have to drive very much, and I am a good drive so I am not overly worried about being at fault.

Every situation is different, post a little more on yours and I will try to give advice

[Roundabouts]

03 mazda pick up left full coverage on that driven daily at least 23 miles.  Paid for.  02 suzuki vitara 4x4 paid for driven maybe 25 miles a week
93 ford f250 4x4 paid for driven ? 25 miles last month.  mainly for work on the property or to go get supplies hay firewood building materials that won't fit in the other two cars. 

I LOVE my vitara.  That thing will all but climb a tree.  It's the best car I have ever had that fits me like a glove.  I use that thing to haul stuff and it works great to pull out bushes or trees fence posts.  It's like my little working mule. Not a lot of power but enough for me.  It will be a sad day when it dies. 

I am at home most of the time so it's mainly short trips around town.  One trip maybe on the weekend down the freeway.  Mazda mainly freeway driving.  f250 combo driving.

Ended up leaving full coverage on the mazda and putting liability on the other 2. 

Didn't make sense to spend more for the amount of times & miles driven.  Just let the numbers do the thinking on this one.  I am sure others have contemplated this also.  At what point do you drop down in coverage.  I have always felt bag the dang car I want good medical coverage!  I can rebuild or replace a car way easier than I can my body.  Know what I mean?

[flippydidit]

Whenever we pay off a vehicle, we drop down to liability coverage.  Remember that AAA costs about $35 a year (if I remember).  It covers your towing, and where we live in Florida, the insurance has to replace your windshield once a year (silly socialism).

[95bravo]

I think for a daily driver full coverage makes the most sence, unless your driving a beater you can walk away from.

[flippydidit]

We've dealt with different claims before.  So unless you're going to carry full coverage and GAP coverage, you're better off throwing the savings difference between liability and full coverage into your bank account.  By the time your insurance pays out on a claim, you could have covered it cheaper out of pocket.  At least that's our experience.

[backwoods_engineer]

Whenever we pay off a vehicle, we drop down to liability coverage.  Remember that AAA costs about $35 a year (if I remember).  It covers your towing, and where we live in Florida, the insurance has to replace your windshield once a year (silly socialism).

Ditto what flippy said.  I work on my own cars, so if I crash one, I'll put it back together.  If someone else crashes me, they can buy me a new truck :-)

[Bonnieblue2A]

I think for a daily driver full coverage makes the most sence, unless your driving a beater you can walk away from.

This is where I am on the topic as well. I dropped down to liability only on one vehicle about two years ago. It is the first time I haven't had a vehicle fully insured. I don't drive it daily anymore but didn't trade it the last time gas prices soared and I purchased something more efficient.

For a paid for vehicle: if it is not a big deal to take a total loss if something happens, go with the liability only. If it is going to put a hurt on your finances if you total a vehicle or it is stolen, keep full coverage. Only you really know if that $90 is worth it to you.

Another often overlooked consideration might be to increase the amount of your deductible in order to drop the insurance premium.

[Roundabouts]

Like I said we went full on the mazda a daily driver commuter.  The other 2 are liability since they wont even be driven 100 miles per month.  So that even got me thinking that if I am not driving that much why the heck do I even need two cars in the first place.  I do love my little vitara and it is a 4x4 gets about 27+mpg.  We do have a need for a big truck ( first check 15mpg on the F250) So thinking humm   maybe get rid of mazda and there  by getting rid of the full coverage.  Course it is hubby's truck so better let him come to that conclusion.  Tried to give a slight nudge on that and got " 1 is none and 2 is one so we'd better keep the 3." as a response.   Dang now he is paying attention    

[Bonnieblue2A]

Like I said we went full on the mazda a daily driver commuter.  The other 2 are liability since they wont even be driven 100 miles per month.  So that even got me thinking that if I am not driving that much why the heck do I even need two cars in the first place.  I do love my little vitara and it is a 4x4 gets about 27+mpg.  We do have a need for a big truck ( first check 15mpg on the F250) So thinking humm   maybe get rid of mazda and there  by getting rid of the full coverage.  Course it is hubby's truck so better let him come to that conclusion.  Tried to give a slight nudge on that and got " 1 is none and 2 is one so we'd better keep the 3." as a response.   Dang now he is paying attention    

I suspect he may have been willing if it weren't his truck in the offing line. First the debit card, then his truck in the crosshairs.     

[Roundabouts]

I suspect he may have been willing if it weren't his truck in the offing line. First the debit card, then his truck in the crosshairs.     

I KNOW I KNOW he always knew I can play hardball    I almost feel sorry for him heehee.  Naaaa I also am willing to put my camera on the chopping block and my stereo + speakers    Saved for 15 yrs to get them mama loves her tunes

[livinitup0]

does AAA cover lockout services or rental cars? These and other small conveniences are benefits to my full coverage. Although not used very often, they seem like they would be worth 1 or 2 years worth of the difference between full coverage and liability. Ive still got a loan on my car so I dont really have the choice yet but if AAA can ciover some of these things it would be worth making the switch once its paid off.

[endurance]

For me, if I absolutely have to have the car to get to work and don't have enough to buy a new one in the bank, I'm keeping it insured.  That means our two daily drivers are insured, but our 14 year old pick up truck we use for weekend chores and hunting season sits with liability only.  While it could be argued that we have a spare vehicle with the truck, with a 60 mile commute (round trip) at 14 mpg, that's 4.2 miles per day vs. 1.4 gallons a day with my daily driver.  It doesn't take long with that price difference to put anyone in the poor house with gas at $4 a gallon.

That's my strategy at least.  I'm already saving for a replacement car, but it'll be a couple years before I can plunk down cash.

[Texas Sawduster]

My 2 cents worth.

Living in the Greater Houston area.
Meaning trips to Harris County from where I live and using my daily driver ( 2001 F250 ) as my all in all vehicle, I keep full coverage on it. It's admittantly higher in Texas but I also have to look at the theft rate for vehicles down here.
F250 is a hot item in Texas. Does not take em long to leave the country down here, either whole or in parts.

I would love to drop down to the bare minimum but can't until a number 3 vehicle is found. Which probably won't happen anytime soon.

[Bonnieblue2A]

does AAA cover lockout services or rental cars? These and other small conveniences are benefits to my full coverage. Although not used very often, they seem like they would be worth 1 or 2 years worth of the difference between full coverage and liability. Ive still got a loan on my car so I dont really have the choice yet but if AAA can ciover some of these things it would be worth making the switch once its paid off.

AAA does cover lock-out services using their providers and discounts on rental cars, among hotel discounts and other things, but not rental car insurance IIRC.  MY auto insurance will only cover rental cars if it is a matter of my personal car being in the shop for service. AAA seems to more than pay for itself every year so I keep a membership in addition to my full auto coverage. YMMV