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> Vehicle insurance on an old vehicle: $300/mo Wow. In Spain you would pay between €150 to 200 per year of insurance for the typical old cheap car. 400/year fo

by j1elo 6y ago

> Vehicle insurance on an old vehicle: $300/mo Wow. In Spain you would pay between €150 to 200 per year of insurance for the typical old cheap car. 400/year for a nice, semi luxury one. I knew some things were expensive in the States, but this particular one surprised me a lot.

simfree 6y ago
Depending on the car and where you live insurance can be lower or higher. Outside of collector/classic car insurance policies (eg: this is not a daily driver car and you agree not to exceed a low number of miles yearly) or parked insurance (a few hundred miles a year), there is not $200 to $300 a year car insurance in the USA. Tribal reservations don't require license plates or insurance usually, and you cab choose to self insure if you have sufficient cash set aside.
- robocat 6y ago
  > and you ca[n] choose to self insure if you have sufficient cash set aside. I think you are ignoring the third party risks - damaging an expensive car or hurting someone. In that situation, you use insurance if you want to protect your money. If you have no money, insurance make little sense, and you just suck up the risks of pranging your beater.
  - simfree 6y ago
    Self insurance is not legal if you do not meet your state's requirements for cash set aside for self insurance purposes and vehicle count. This is usually a sizable sum of money that you need to set aside to self insure.
- dstaley 6y ago
  > Outside of collector/classic car insurance policies or parked insurance, there is not $200 to $300 a year car insurance in the USA. Absolutely beg to differ. I was on a high-deductible, low-benefit plan for a two-year old used economy car in Louisiana with no marks on my driving record for $250/month. The insurance cost was more than the monthly cost of the car. That being said, it was more than the state mandated liability insurance, but it still wasn't anywhere near the levels of insurance I now have in Washington State on a brand new Tesla Model 3. As you mentioned, it's highly dependent on where you live, but it's absolutely feasible to be paying $200-$300/month for insurance. Edit: Apologies to parent comment. This was a reading comprehension failure.
  - 0x0000000 6y ago
    The user you replied to said per year, not per month.
    - dstaley 6y ago
      Well that'll teach me to read the comments after a full day of work. Thank you for the correction!
  - selimthegrim 6y ago
    Louisiana is high because of the plaintiff friendly courts where even minor accidents are litigated, the trial lawyers making money off of it, and the traffic courts which bargain down speeding tickets to brake tag violations all the time (which is priced in by the insurance companies) Source: I live in New Orleans.
tedsanders 6y ago
It's not typical in the States. I own a new vehicle, have comprehensive insurance, and pay Geico ~$60/mo. I suspect that someone paying $300 for an old vehicle has either (a) an expensive low-deductible plan, (b) a driving record with past insurance claims, or (c) an expensive old car.
- WarOnPrivacy 6y ago
  Minimum coverage, modest car, clean record, over 30 is ~$220/mo for most carriers here, $150 if you're eligible for USAA. For each factor you change you can add another 15%-40%. I'm paying $400/mo for 2 cars, no collision, above min medical.
  - v0x 6y ago
    That seems very high. I pay $28/mo with USAA. Clean record aside from a minor at-fault collision a few years back. edit: Upon further review, it's actually double that ($56/mo), as apparently it's billed in two-week intervals.
    - WarOnPrivacy 6y ago
      > That seems very high. Yep. We all pay very high rates. Household insurance isn't any better. We lost our last house because insurance increases over 4 years doubled our monthly mortgage payment.
grandmczeb 6y ago
A lot depends on the state, type of coverage, driving history, and which company you use. The average range in Texas is ~$45-165/month depending on coverage[1]. I personally pay a bit over $50/month for a 2010 Honda Accord in California. I wouldn’t take the costs listed in the parent comment literally. [1] https://www.bankrate.com/insurance/car/states/ https://www.bankrate.com/insurance/car/states/
havernator 6y ago
Liability insurance in the US may end up paying out for medical bills.
heavyset_go 6y ago
You can get cheaper coverage, but it's barely insurance at that point. They'll sell you the bare minimum that's legally allowed to be sold as insurance even if it doesn't cover liability, medical costs, etc.
dv_dt 6y ago
One side effect of the US not having universal healthcare (and overpaying massively for healthcare as one result) is that leaks into litigation on other insurance for just about everything from cars to homes to retail business etc... Our non profit Parent teacher association and the schools themselves have to carry insurance for events in case someone happens to get injured.

by j1elo 6y ago

simfree 6y ago

Depending on the car and where you live insurance can be lower or higher. Outside of collector/classic car insurance policies (eg: this is not a daily driver car and you agree not to exceed a low number of miles yearly) or parked insurance (a few hundred miles a year), there is not $200 to $300 a year car insurance in the USA. Tribal reservations don't require license plates or insurance usually, and you cab choose to self insure if you have sufficient cash set aside.

robocat 6y ago
> and you ca[n] choose to self insure if you have sufficient cash set aside. I think you are ignoring the third party risks - damaging an expensive car or hurting someone. In that situation, you use insurance if you want to protect your money. If you have no money, insurance make little sense, and you just suck up the risks of pranging your beater.
- simfree 6y ago
  Self insurance is not legal if you do not meet your state's requirements for cash set aside for self insurance purposes and vehicle count. This is usually a sizable sum of money that you need to set aside to self insure.
dstaley 6y ago
> Outside of collector/classic car insurance policies or parked insurance, there is not $200 to $300 a year car insurance in the USA. Absolutely beg to differ. I was on a high-deductible, low-benefit plan for a two-year old used economy car in Louisiana with no marks on my driving record for $250/month. The insurance cost was more than the monthly cost of the car. That being said, it was more than the state mandated liability insurance, but it still wasn't anywhere near the levels of insurance I now have in Washington State on a brand new Tesla Model 3. As you mentioned, it's highly dependent on where you live, but it's absolutely feasible to be paying $200-$300/month for insurance. Edit: Apologies to parent comment. This was a reading comprehension failure.
- 0x0000000 6y ago
  The user you replied to said per year, not per month.
  - dstaley 6y ago
    Well that'll teach me to read the comments after a full day of work. Thank you for the correction!
- selimthegrim 6y ago
  Louisiana is high because of the plaintiff friendly courts where even minor accidents are litigated, the trial lawyers making money off of it, and the traffic courts which bargain down speeding tickets to brake tag violations all the time (which is priced in by the insurance companies) Source: I live in New Orleans.

tedsanders 6y ago

It's not typical in the States. I own a new vehicle, have comprehensive insurance, and pay Geico ~$60/mo. I suspect that someone paying $300 for an old vehicle has either (a) an expensive low-deductible plan, (b) a driving record with past insurance claims, or (c) an expensive old car.

WarOnPrivacy 6y ago
Minimum coverage, modest car, clean record, over 30 is ~$220/mo for most carriers here, $150 if you're eligible for USAA. For each factor you change you can add another 15%-40%. I'm paying $400/mo for 2 cars, no collision, above min medical.
- v0x 6y ago
  That seems very high. I pay $28/mo with USAA. Clean record aside from a minor at-fault collision a few years back. edit: Upon further review, it's actually double that ($56/mo), as apparently it's billed in two-week intervals.
  - WarOnPrivacy 6y ago
    > That seems very high. Yep. We all pay very high rates. Household insurance isn't any better. We lost our last house because insurance increases over 4 years doubled our monthly mortgage payment.

grandmczeb 6y ago

A lot depends on the state, type of coverage, driving history, and which company you use. The average range in Texas is ~$45-165/month depending on coverage[1]. I personally pay a bit over $50/month for a 2010 Honda Accord in California. I wouldn’t take the costs listed in the parent comment literally. [1] https://www.bankrate.com/insurance/car/states/ https://www.bankrate.com/insurance/car/states/

havernator 6y ago

Liability insurance in the US may end up paying out for medical bills.

heavyset_go 6y ago

You can get cheaper coverage, but it's barely insurance at that point. They'll sell you the bare minimum that's legally allowed to be sold as insurance even if it doesn't cover liability, medical costs, etc.

dv_dt 6y ago

One side effect of the US not having universal healthcare (and overpaying massively for healthcare as one result) is that leaks into litigation on other insurance for just about everything from cars to homes to retail business etc... Our non profit Parent teacher association and the schools themselves have to carry insurance for events in case someone happens to get injured.