I had a small 'fender bender' several months ago with my 1990 SE - dented the fender and broke a corner lamp. No biggie, just pulled out the fender a little and no problems driving.

However, when I went to make a insurance claim, Farmers Insurance "Totaled" my car, and I got a check for $936.00 after my $500 deductible. Heck, the tires alone are worth over half of that.

I had previously checked with my Farmers agent about just this situation. The only thing they had available was a "Classic Car" program that has the following unacceptable limits:
1) The Classic Car cannot be your primary vehicle
2) The Classic Car is limited to only 400 miles per year
It also has to be 20 years old, but mine qualifies.

I've restored my 1990 SE to near new mechanical condition, and am preparing to drop 5K on a complete first class paint job, with some interior restoration to follow.

Anyone out there found acceptable Collision and Comprehensive insurance coverage? We all have lots of $ and effort tied up in these old 3rd Gen Maxima - would be nice to have some insurance on our investments. Especially with all these drivers out here paying more attention to their cell phones and GPS screens than driving.

 

You know I've been wondering about the same thing and I don't like not having collision just incase. What about natural disaster insurance, you know with all the crazy storms we've been having all over the world in the last couple of years. You could wake up in the morning after a bad storm and find a tree on you car, those of us who don't have a garage to park our Maxima's. How much was the classic car insurance anyway? Really sorry 2 hear about what happen 2 your Max mann.

 

When I heard about the limitations of the Classic Car insurance, I didn't bother to ask the price. The main killer is the 400mile/year limitation. I have a second 1990 Maxima (GXE AutoTragic) that I could make my 'primary vehicle' that was my mother's car before she passed away. Only 42K miles, if you can believe it. A shame it's not a 5 speed SE.

As to my SE 5 speed, collision was no big deal. Nothing hurt but appearance stuff. Got an unbelievably good fender & fender well from an absolute creampuff Max from salvage for $120, and was already planning on the complete paint job. I'm more concerned about a more major collision in the future.

 

I'm glad to hear the positivity in your post, 42k on the GXE that's great but A/T isn't all that bad, a shift kit/tranny cooler and your good 2 go. Yeah stick shift is always better 2 race but actually the A/T is stronger, just need to keep it cool if your planning on running threw the gears.

 

im an auto/commercial insurance agent and i've been poned this question numerous times.

unfortunately there is nothing you can do. and they are right. your mileage is very VERY limited. most classic car insurance companies (Hagerty is a very good one) , require that you have AT LEAST $15k invested before they will even look at it and consider insuring your vehicle. as you know, a car is always a poor investment unless its rare (like a 69 charger,68 Camaro SS, 55' vette etc etc)
and not to mention the premium has to be paid in full for the year up front. you cannot make monthly payments on it. but the premium is usually around $400-$500.

 

Collector car insurance is better thru collector insurance companies, like Hagerty or Grundy. The insurance companies that are best for day to day cars do not know how to properly deal with these vehicles as well. It is best to specialize. Hagerty and Grundy have rules like the car not being a dialy, but do not give you milage limitations. If you have thousands invested it pays to have it. It is best to have an "agreed upon value" insurance since bluebook is not going reflect all of the time and effort. Collectors insurance works well for me since I do not drive her much and not at all during winter.

 

i was finally able to get collector car insurance on my 4th gen, but i hardly drive the car and i have 3 other cars to drive. it's just not going to happen with reg comp/collision. they give you fair market value and thats it.

 

I own several other cars, so full coverage on my Maxima isn't very much. If you really want to keep your car cherry, but a DD and garage the Maxima.

I think the Maxima insurance is maybe $25 or $30 a month with a $100 deductible. I have lots of photos and documentation of stuff so I should get well above fair market value for it if anything happens

 

You are going to have to go with a regular policy and inquire about a gap policy or amendments to the policy.

I have a collectors policy through State Farm and it does not have a mileage restriction but I believe the age limit is 30 years. My car is also registered through the state as a collector vehicle. The most expensive quote I received was $200/yr for a $15,000 policy when I was shopping around earlier this year and it would be $100/yr next year when I satisfy the 10 years of driving experience discount.

 

Are you on a regular policy for that car or a collector?

Im in or will be in a similar situation discussed in this thread - I have alot of money into the car (maxima) but it will be my daily driver when im finished. I do not drive far back and forth from work to home though so maybe i can get some slack with that. Fortunately alot of the parts can be removed & sold if something happens but what i wont get back is money i put into paint, body work, underbody work, time, etc

 

Check out Specialy Auto Insurance policies, and get the car apprasied and you may be able insur a vaule more acceptable to you!

 

http://forums.maxima.org/general-max...-policies.html
thread i started on this, it got off topic with turbos and sheet but it has acouple facts of value in there inbewteen the garbage.

 

Hate to rain on your parade, but I had documentation establishing way way higher than market value too, and brought it with me on my visit to the Farmers Adjuster. They had absolutely no interest in even looking at it. So that approach worked like a lead balloon. Like lots of insurance companies these days, they also use a 'market value' table that is lower than ANYTHING else around.

Regular car insurance won't cut it. Only way is to get Classic Car insurance through one of the specialty insurance companies. I visited with a rep at Hagerty. He would not commit of course, but sounded positive as long as I could show I've got $15,000 invested, which I can do after my car gets it's new PPG paint job, corrosion repair, and new WW fiberglass spoiler. The car does have to be garaged, but I can handle that.

 

I still can't get my head around that these cars are starting to qualify for collector insurance. Now I kind of wish I picked up that sapphire blue VE on CL a few months back

 

You pay premiums based on a stock car, worth market value, UNLESS you tell them otherwise.

You can't change the rules after the game is played.

 

You can't depend on changing the rules Before the game either. With my insurance Co, I was unable to "tell them otherwise".

I discussed this very issue at length with my Farmers Insurance Group Agent several times. She did some checking, and there is NO provision with Farmers for establishing a 'higher than market' value for their standard collision & comp insurance no matter what documentation you have. Their only option is the Farmers Classic Car insurance with the 400 mile/year limitation.

Another Farmers Gotcha: On ANY car, they knock off another 30% to 50% on the claim, because after the repair,
the car is no 'previously wrecked' and therefore worth less than an 'unwrecked' car. After researching on the Web, Many other 'std' insurance companies pull this trick also.

 

out of curiosity couldnt you put say 1000 miles on it, and before they check every year just roll it back?

 

I have worked with my agent and she has seen the car in person and has my information on the additional value of the vehicle. The only thing I didn't include was the stereo system because they would insure that differently for everything not in the stock location (amps and subs). The HU and other speakers are covered.

Maybe Farmer's is set up a certain way. I have American Family Insurance. Maybe my agent is full of crap.

I have a "regular" policy on my car, but I have been with the same company almost 20 years and know my agent well. I am also talking about a lot smaller amount here. If my car were totaled, I would be happy to get $3k to $3500 for it, even though the kbb is half that. My insurance agent is aware of about where I stand with the car.

For anyone thinking of this type of thing, the key is not to worry about what others say on a message board, but to actually drive over to your agent's office and sit down with him/her in person and go over the little details. If I ever total my car, maybe I will get screwed, but so far everything I have dealt with on my insurance (claim on my house, claim on a different car) have been well taken care of.

They didn't even blink when one headlight on my rig cost over $1500.

 

My point is, "know the rules".
If you're paying premiums on a average stocker, how can you possibly expect to be compensated for anything other that that?

And yet...

Cheers.

 

In the impound yard, after an accident?
*Claim denied*

I suppose you COULD commit insurance fraud, if you really had your heart set on it...

 

not sure where you got your info, but when I looked into insuring my camaro as a collector car there was no minimum investment required. They only asked if there were any modifications, where it was stored and what my value estimate was plus they wanted pics inside and out. They quoted me $150 a year for full coverage on it.