dreamcar2012

i need your opinion.....would you have the highest deductible on you car insurance to save money?

Jprime84

Dont have a deductible you cant pay if you had to. If you do that the insurance isnt any good. I would go with the highest deductible that you know you will be able to get the money together fairly easily for.

doobs41378

Find out the difference in price. Then do the math. For example, if you save $50 dollars a year to go from a $500 to $1000 collision deductible and you need to put in a claim, then it will take you 10 years at $50 per year to get that $500 back....

snagitseven

That's not the only math that needs to be calculated. In most states, making a claim usually increases your rates. If you are predisposed to avoid making smaller claims in light of this and paying out of pocket, a high deductible makes sense.
In MA, if you make a claim, your rates usually go up and don't drop back down completely for up to five years. Therefore, I look at auto insurance to indemnify me against major loss only (I have a $1000 deductible). Same with my homeowners policy.

dreamcar2012

thanks everyone for your input! i truly appreciate it!

Macallan21

I have a $100 deductable. I haven't change my policy in over 10 years. And I don't plan to. It's to my advantage to report any accidents and get things fixed because it costs me so little. Especially because they can't jack your rates enormously to recoup ALL their cost...since that's against the law. I had a $11,000 accident recently, and they raised my rates 40% for 3 years. Effectively an extra $350/yr.

jdong

Come laugh at me: I originally had a high deductible in a vandalism-prevalent area, and I ended up making 3 claims within 2 months due to a streak of awful car luck. Ended up being out $3000. Immediately dropped my deductibles to $500 for collision and $250 for vandalism. Since then, had to make one vandalism claim.

I would recommend playing around with all the numbers and seeing how much of an impact it has on your premiums.

vtheman

Cheaper isn't always good. Believe me, I do this for a living. You get what you pay for especially in the insurance world. Since you own an Audi not a 1999 Hyundai you want to make sure that the company you go with will pay for an OEM parts and will handle your claims fast.

Macallan21

Who does that?

All State, State Farm, Farmers Insurance, AAA, etc don't mess with non-OEM parts. They generally offer lifetime coverage on the repairs, and it's to their advantage to pay for good OEM stuff upfront than to pay again later or be sued.

a5sport

Maybe not now...but I had several really bad vandalism claims many years ago on cars I owned outright (no finance or lease), talking 20+, with both GEICO & Allstate, and both companies refused to allow the body shops to use even repro-parts. They insisted that only used parts from a junk yard be used. The shops tried to fight them...but with no luck.

In each case, as soon as the car was fixed, I dropped them like a bad habit, and went with another insurer.

Needless to say...I will never...ever...do business with either one again.