Classic Cars as daily drivers

Replying to: rorr (Mar 15, 2006 3:16 pm)

Rorr, try Hagerty Insurance (http://www.hagerty.com) I have my DeSoto and Catalina with them. As soon as I get my garage finished, I'll probably put my LeMans on with them as well.
 
They're really cheap, partly because they only hit you ONCE for liability, no matter how many cars you own. Then, they only charge something like $6.00 per $1000 of agreed upon value.
 
I'd have to dig up the bill to look at it, but I think the liability portion is only around $65 for the year. Then I have my DeSoto insured for $7,000, which would add $42 to the bill, and the Catalina for $8,000, which would add another $48. So, for like $155 a year, I have full coverage on both cars.
 
I can't remember if they have a mileage limit or not. They've never asked me for a statement though, and I've been with 'em since around 1999. As for the agreed-upon value, you can always choose to up it if you feel your car has appreciated in value. And they're not really picky about how you drive your car, as long as you do have a daily driver with regular insurance. I think the thing you really have to worry about, if you have historic tags, is that if a cop happens to see you driving to work and passing the same spot every single day, he might get suspicious and pull you over. But that's more an issue with Johnny Law, and not the insurer.
 
Oh, and even though I don't think my insurer has a problem with mileage, I don't think I've come anywhere near 2500 miles per year. I might have when I first got my '67 Catalina, and drove it all over the place. It was the first, and only convertible I've ever had. But lately I almost have to make an effort to put any real miles on it. In fact, I remember filling the gas tank around September 2004, and that lasted me until maybe July of '05! I've had the car for 12 years as of late April, but have only put around 11,000 miles on it. I've had my DeSoto for about 15 1/2 years, and I doubt if I've put more than 4,000 miles on it. It's hard to tell though, because I've only had the odometer working for maybe 2 months out of that time.
 
As for other old cars, well I've had my '79 NYer since October 2001, and have put maybe 6,000 miles on it. I've had my '76 LeMans since last April, and have put around 1200 miles on it, INCLUDING the 500 mile trip back from Ohio, where I bought it!
 
Now I put around 85,000 miles on my '68 Dart over the years, but that thing was my daily driver from around April 1992 until May 1997, when I mainly started driving a '79 Newport. And in the interim, I had an '82 Cutlass that logged about 12,000 miles, which gave the Dart time to rest, and get stripped down and repainted.

Replying to: rorr (Mar 15, 2006 2:23 pm)

i have a '91 mustang with under 31k miles on it. under 2500 a year isn't that bad. texas has warmer weather than new england. i don't even think about putting it back on the road until the sand is swept up. if i think it is going to rain, i don't drive it. did miscalculate a couple of times. once i hit my annual limit i put the cover on it and drop coverage. i don't try to stretch the calendar.
i do get pangs of jealousy every spring when i see the other fair waether vehicles back out, but i don't compromise on the roads being clean.
ok, my oldest has their permit, and we snuck it out around the block last weekend when mom wasn't home.

Replies to this message:
• Mr_Shiftright (Mar 15, 2006 6:21 pm)
  • rorr (Mar 16, 2006 6:09 am)
    • Mr_Shiftright (Mar 16, 2006 8:19 am) and 2 more...
  • explorerx4 (Mar 18, 2006 5:46 pm)
• andre1969 (Mar 16, 2006 6:04 am)
  • explorerx4 (Mar 18, 2006 5:42 pm)

Replying to: explorerx4 (Mar 15, 2006 6:06 pm)

Replies to this message:
• rorr (Mar 16, 2006 6:09 am)
  • Mr_Shiftright (Mar 16, 2006 8:19 am)
    • rorr (Mar 16, 2006 8:24 am) and 1 more...
• explorerx4 (Mar 18, 2006 5:46 pm)

Replying to: explorerx4 (Mar 15, 2006 6:06 pm)

Replies to this message:
• explorerx4 (Mar 18, 2006 5:42 pm)

Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Mar 15, 2006 6:21 pm)

shifty - I'll check with the local Mustang club to see about having it appraised. I'll want to join it anyway and I'm sure the members would have some good info about insurance.
 
explorerx4 - you ain't kiddin' about the weather. It's been gorgeous the last several days (I couldn't believe the number of convertibles I saw out and about last weekend; particularly around the lake). That was one reason I was concerned about the 2500 mile limitation.
 
Of course, with the typical Texas summer (and no AC in the car), the prime driving times may be limited to just a few weeks a year......
 
andre - that was good news about the cost w/ Hagerty. I had no idea it could be that reasonable.

Replies to this message:
• Mr_Shiftright (Mar 16, 2006 8:19 am)
  • rorr (Mar 16, 2006 8:24 am)
    • Mr_Shiftright (Mar 16, 2006 8:33 am)

Replying to: rorr (Mar 16, 2006 6:09 am)

Replies to this message:
• rorr (Mar 16, 2006 8:24 am)
  • Mr_Shiftright (Mar 16, 2006 8:33 am)

Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Mar 16, 2006 8:19 am)

"...if you qualify and stick to the rules..."
 
I'm guessing they won't cover 'incidents' while open-tracking the car.....

Replies to this message:
• Mr_Shiftright (Mar 16, 2006 8:33 am)

Replying to: rorr (Mar 16, 2006 8:24 am)

I have my '76 LeMans and '79 NYer on my regular insurance policy, with liability-only. Last year each car added $400 to the policy. This time though, I'm in the 35-39 age bracket, so my rate went down to where each of those cars only adds $293 annually to the policy.
 
But as soon as I add the LeMans to my antique policy, and, say, insure it for $4000 (I only paid $3K for it), then it would drop $293 off my regular policy, add $24 to the other, for a net savings $269.
 
I thought about switching my NYer over as well, but I don't know if they'd take it. It used to be that anything 25 years and older was a shoo-in, but the 70's and 80's sure messed that up!

Replies to this message:
• rorr (Mar 16, 2006 9:29 am)