whats up guys, ive been thinking about this for some time.
im still making payments to my car, and i am paying full coverage.
due to new jersey being so high in insurance rates, i was wondering if i should just get liability. would that be ok if im still making payments? cuz i think you have to have full coverage since i dont have the title yet. so technically the bank owns the car. i need some help from the experienced ones thanks.

 

Yes you have to have a full coverage since its a gaurantee for the bank that their car is safe. If you get into an accident and won't be able to pay for it, bank gets money out of insurance.
Until you pay it off, you will have to deal with it

 

If you drop full coverage and get into an accident You'll be kicking yourself in the **** for a looooooong time. My buddy did that with his 04 civic. He got rear ended by some chick who didnt have insurence. He's buying my old beatup stratus for 500 bucks but he still has to pay off his old car in full. So, now he pays 250 a month to drive a 500 dollar POS.... Play it smart, penny wise pound foolish.

 

Not very wise to drop full coverage when you have a lien on a car. I'm sure bank will know that since insurance report listed the bank as a lien holder if the car is being lease or financed. Hypotheically, if you dropped it, the insurance will notify your lien holder and you would get a letter from a bank that you need to get coverage otherwise, they will buy insurance and tack it on top of your monthly loan payment.

 

It's true, you're stuck paying for full coverage until you get your car paid off. Just like most banks make you take out fire insurance for a home mortgage. But oddly enough, you don't have to take out life insurance for student loans. I wonder why that is.

Fast forward to after your car is paid off. Even with the brutal NJ rates, I would recommend you keep the full coverage until the premiums exceed the value of your car or reaches a level you can afford to lose in the event of a total loss.

 

Where I live the rate of illegal immigrants has increased alot soo driving with liability is moronic because its always sucks when you get in a wreck with someone who doesnt speak a lick of english and has zero insurance.

Full coverage

Yah always nice.

Proph

 

One other thing. I work with a guy who was driving a beater to work one day and some highschool chick with safe auto or whatever pulled out infront of him. Totalled his car and they had to use the jaws of life to get him out. Plus his arm was messed up hardcore and so was his shoulder.

Her insurance only insured her for 25,000 so his insurance had to make up the difference where he racked up 200,000 in the hospital. So he had to sue her insurance company to pay the bills plus his arms messed and hes going thru rehab still.

Moral of the story? Cover your A$$

Proph

 

Yeah, everyone is right. Keep full coverage even after the car is payed off. My last car I only had liability and some dude hit and ran me. I was stuck with chest pains and the insurance wouldn't do squat. I had to pay for towing and I had to donate my car so I could get it to the junkyard without paying.

My current car I pay $100+ a month but at least it's full coverage. And when you get into an accident find yourself a lawyer because even your own insurance company will screw you.

In Cali the are a lot of bad drivers, everybody in my family had incidents where someone hit their car and left, and I was hit while driving and the guy kept going.

 

There are a gazillion ways to cut corners and save money and messing with your car insurance isn't one of them. Perhaps you could increase your collision and comprehensive deductible, but that's about it.

 

thanks guys, i should keep my full coverage. i hate jersey. im thinkin of moving down to carolina, where roads are smooth, and less cars, and cheap rent. jersey is getting ridiculus, theyre buliding new houses and apartments left and right, and traffic is horrible. i just felt like getting liability since my ins is almost as expensive as my car payment. i wish i went back to my old 240, 80 bucks a month liability when i was stationed in N.carolina... you cant beat that, plus no car payments. but i love my max though..

 

Well, I have never put my money where my mouth is on this one, but in general, if you are above-avg. financially speaking, and your car is paid-off, you should carry only liability. I have done the opposite--I have had full coverage since 1998, NEVER had a single claim, yet carried $200 comp and $500 collision. I am the insurance cos. dream, and what helps their CEO maintain his 5500 sq ft home, midtown Manhattan condo, and Long Island shore house.

You know yourself better than anyone. Are you an agressive driver and look for trouble? Are you a bad driver who gets scared when it rains or you see agressive people around you? Or are you a competent defensive driver? Why make insurance cos. rich? But you owe on the car so I recommend you keep full coverage.

 

I would definitely keep the full coverage if you don't own the car outright. If something happens, you are totally screwed.

I have liability only on the Max, but I also have uninsured/underinsured driver coverage. That kicks in if someone hit and runs me or doesn't have enough liability to pay all of my bills if I am hurt badly.

However, if a wreck is my fault, or my car is stolen, I am out one Maxima. I am pretty lucky in that I keep the car in a garage and my town has a fairly low crime rate. Cars don't get stolen here very often, but a lot get broken into.

I would probably crap my pants if I had to pay insurance prices like they have in New Jersey.

I have a 2001 Infiniti QX4 (full coverage), my Maxima (liability only) and a 75 Dodge pickup. All together, the insurance is just under $120/month. I do get multiple car discounts and a discount because I have the same company for homeowner's insurance.

 

Your screwed if they run and you dont get any information on them. I had the same coverage and when I got hit my insurence co said No info, No Claim... Bastards... dropped them, bought a Max and have Full coverage under Mommy... Oh and for 17 bucks more a month.. Holla!

 

That's not my understanding on hit/run, at least not damage to the vehicle.

Another thing, if one has assets, it might be advisable to get a rider beyond 500,000 coverage. Once again, not financially smart, but peace-of-mind smart.

The real dumb insurance decisions are like buying a "home warranty" on a new house. Costs on avg. $350 and maximum benefit is $1000-$1500. Who dreamt that one up? Or how about dental insurance? Typically is capped at $1600 per year with a $100 deducticble.

 

If you are still financing the car, you HAVE to have full coverage auto insurance. There is no way you can drop it until the car is paid off. That's the bottom line.

 

Hey, I live in NJ and just checked out GIECO who is new in the state. Their rates seem vey low, & you can get a quote online.

Yes, if you have a car payment you have to have full coverage, but if you increase your deductable to 1000, or as high as you can afford, you premiums will be alot less

 

I think people cheat on that one. The NMAC contract states $200 deductible on comp, yet there's been suggestions just on this thread to up it to $1000. That's because the financing co. doesn't have the time/resources to police the fact that the vehicle is insured--they only do it initially. Just think, when you shop around and change cos., do you really notify your finance co?

for the ordinary person usually insurance makes sense--but for the businessman whose business is large enough, insurance makes no sense. I always use Hertz as an example--they do not insure their vehicles through an insurance co. They self-insure--you wreck a vehicle, they lose 10 grand or whatever. But spread over their fleet it's cheaper than paying an insurance co.