Quote:
Originally Posted by extrashaky
I would look for a door to swap onto it. This is how a body shop would find it:
http://www.car-part.com/
I don't know where you are, but I saw three potential donors within an afternoon's drive of where I live for less than $500. You'll want to search using your zip code to see what's near you.
Most people who hate insurance companies don't understand what they're buying. Insurance isn't an arbiter of "fairness." It's a hedge against financial risk. That's all. You pay it now hoping you won't ever need to use it, but it allows you to drive knowing that your risk is limited (not eliminated) when you do need it.
In your situation it probably makes more sense to fix it yourself and not file a claim. Sometimes that's what happens. The insurance company isn't to blame for that. The hedge will still be there when you total your car and do actually need it.
As for compulsory liability, anybody who complains about that is a fool. The alternative is litigation on practically every accident that happens. Not only would attorney's fees for suing or defending yourself be a lot more expensive than insurance, your taxes would also go up as well to pay for the additional government bureaucracy and court system to handle all the extra litigation. We've already been there, and that's why we have compulsory liability insurance in the first place.
I have several dings on my BRZ. I haven't filed a claim for any of them, because they would be below my deductible. I just keep driving with them. Eventually this car will need a repaint anyway, so I'll just have them all smoothed out at once. They don't prompt me to boohoo about wasting my insurance premiums every six months, because I understand from the outset that that's not why I pay for comprehensive coverage on the car.
Not only are our cars holding their value pretty well, they're also uncommon enough that someone who wants one will not pass up a chance to buy one over a few minor repairs. Diminished value is an issue when you have a vehicle with a rebuilt title that was totaled and rehabbed, or when you have a vehicle that sold for $70K new. After a few years our cars are in a value range where there's no point haggling over a door ding. A buyer isn't going to walk away over that. |
The thing about insurance is that I have my doubts about them really being a safety net as opposed to being an all out profit organization that tries to make as much money as they possibly can get away with. I have no numbers to back up my doubts and I'm not about to go dig them up.
I totally understand what you're saying about the insurance being a safety net in case something really bad happens but but my question is does it really have to be that high? and am I happy to pay at least 150 $/month for only liability insurance? Anyway, this is going way off topic, next thing to discuss will be the health insurance problem.
Back to the cars, I like what you're saying about our cars being rare and hopefully will hold their values. Mine is low mileage (still I think it's at 7k miles right now and I've had it for over a year) and bone stock. Not that I bought it to keep its value, I bought it to have as much fun as possible on a street car and I am getting my money's worth. It just sucks to lose money this way. Besides, I really love this car and don't want any damage what soever to come to it.