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On that note, how do rates compare between, say, Miatas versus Boxters versus S2000s, etc.?
I think the Z3 is a little more fun to drive because it weighs less, has a tighter structure (because of the smaller open area) and has a tighter suspension. All of the BMW convertibles of that era have plastic windowed tops which pretty much just suck.
2025 Ram 1500 Laramie 4x4 / 2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Icon I6L Golf Cart
2025 Ram 1500 Laramie 4x4 / 2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Icon I6L Golf Cart
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
Is your wife on a separate policy? I didn't see the LaCrosse mentioned.
That's not too bad for Philly and three cars. I am surprised you keep full coverage on your 89 Caddy.
2025 Ram 1500 Laramie 4x4 / 2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Icon I6L Golf Cart
I've noticed that, too. I had thought about dropping the collision/comprehensive on my 2000 Intrepid, but I think that was only around $200 per year. And it's a good thing I didn't, as the car got totaled in a hit-and-run in the parking lot! Although that might have been covered, regardless, under the uninsured motorist clause.
My last payment in March was something like $1,395 for the year for four cars...2000 Park Ave with full coverage and an '85 Silverado and two '79 New Yorkers with liability-only. I forget now how much the antique policy was for the DeSoto/Catalina/LeMans, but I want to say around $225 per year.
I just looked mine up for the heck of it and on the car I carry collision on the liabiltity portion makes up about 57% of the total premium. I guess because my car is fairly new (09).
2025 Ram 1500 Laramie 4x4 / 2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Icon I6L Golf Cart
i have high coverage levels and collision on each car, but none of them are in any kind of luxury category. had a bumper scraper about 3 years ago.
so, 4 full time cars(2 commute, 2 pleasure) and 1 garage queen($100/year).
bill is a tick over $450 a month. put the garage queen on the road, probably next month, $500 every month.
The thing I've learned from my daughter's experience is if she gets in an accident to immediately push the car into the nearest body of water!
Three weeks ago we had a heck of a nor'easter. Now we are five miles off the ocean and the kids on the barrier island next to us (where I lived for several years until my wife got scared off by a hurricane) go to the same high school with our town.
My daughter, 21, decides that Saturday to go visit her friend who lives over there. She gets there fine. On the trip back a few hours later she somehow loses the concept of tides, despite the fact that she has never lived more than 5 miles from the ocean. She takes off at almost exactly high tide. Comes to this large body of water that she doesn't notice looking bigger than it did before. She's thinking big puddle. Keen in mind that such "puddles" have not nearly as much to do with rain coming down than ocean and bay coming up. She drives ahead.
People ask, "She drove through a flood?" I reply, "No, she drove into a flood. Had she come out the other side we might not be having this conversation."
I get a call. It is her who is now in the water which is now coming into the cabin of the car. I advise her that calling the Surf City police would likely be an excellent idea.
Oy.
I never saw the car again. I called the insurance company who virtually totaled it without looking at it. I'd have been better off if they did entirely that because when the adjuster found the damage from the previous accident he lowered the value of the car. That said I'm happy with the settlement.
She previously had fried the engine on this (largely not her fault though it would not have happened if I'd been driving her car). I still haven't paid that off - though the insurance will more than cover the rest of that.
This could go on....
Anyway, she has now inherited my wife's 00 Accord and had to learn a stick in the process and we got my wife a CPO 07 Camry XLE (the one with a four and no leather). Other than car payments things are back to normal....
water can be very strange in that you can't tell how deep it is.
you might be looking at a new clutch in the near future.
'87 BMW 325
'92 Sentra SE-R
'05 Dakota PU truck
'07 Dodge Grand Caravan
'09 Infiniti G37S
The last 3 all have collision coverage; the BMW and Sentra do not. The Infiniti is ~33% of the total.
This is in the suburbs around Baltinore City.
Newness should not affect the liability premium. A higher performance/sportier vehicle might, as might any tickets. Newness should mainly affect the collision coverage - what it costs to get you car repaired.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
Moving one of my NY'ers over to Hagerty would save me about $300 on the regular policy, and bump up the Hagerty policy by $24, if I insured it for $4K.
Your half-joke is actually their main concern :P
The New Yorker came out around $1000 on the low end, $3500 at the high end, and around $2300 for an average. The LeMans came out $3000 on the low end, $6500 on the high end, and $4750 for an average.
One thing that surprised me, with the LeMans, is that the 350 engine boosts the value by 15% above base, but a 400 or 455 only boosts it by 20%. Oddly even the Olds 260 V-8 boosts its value by 10%...personally I think an engine that small in a car that big should drop the value!
I guess it's conceivable that they'd insure my NYer for $3500. Only one way to find out I guess...try it! I want to at least wait until I get the nice aluminum rims and proper whitewall tires on it so that it shows up a little more respectably in photos!
No one price guide is good for all types of cars. They all have their "right on" numbers and their "gaffes".
What I often do, for starters, is average out perhaps 6 price guides, then compare to an averaged out set of comparables say from Hemmings or some of the better internet sites. Then I use a software program to select past eBay auctions and graph their average bid prices (as you might imagine, lower than asking prices you see).
This can be time consuming but it's wayyyy better than just picking out numbers from one book.
But with the more mass produced 70s and 80s collectibles, it's not really necessary to do all that, since their prices hardly ever go up or down.
I can't believe a base LeMans would be worth more than a comparable Grand LeMans, let alone a spread of $1000-$2500!
Just for kicks, I also checked a 1979 Newport with a/c, and they came up with a range of $1800-4100, with an average of $3383.
I know 70's cars aren't worth much for the most part, but is there any reason the cheaper versions (Newport versus NYer, LeMans versus Grand LeMans) would actually show a higher value?
And speaking of '76 LeManses... OUCH!!
Yeah, my point of the post was that another poster mentioned that liability was the majority of the premium. Mine is nearly a 50/50 split and I was thinking because my car is newer that the collision cost was higher.
2025 Ram 1500 Laramie 4x4 / 2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Icon I6L Golf Cart
As for that '76, listen to used car dealers' favorite mantra---there is an [non-permissible content removed] for every seat.
I was wondering that, too. FWIW, they made about 96,000 LeManses in 1976, and 15,582 of them were Sport Coupes, like that eBay car. For comparison, they made 14,757 Grand LeMans coupes.
When he says there are 800 left, I wonder if he means 800 1976 LeManses, or 800 Sport Coupes? What would be a typical survival rate for a 1976 car, I wonder? 800 out of 15,582 comes out to about 5%. 800 out of 96,000 comes out to about 0.8%.
But regardless, I'd love to know where that statistic came from.
A safe estimate would be, after 35 years---maybe 10%, so around 1500 cars---but again, how many people care how many are left? It's not like the collector car hobby is feeling the effects of a 1976 Le Mans shortage.
If everybody cared in the first place, the survival rate would be the same as for a GT 350R or a Tucker or some of the Hemi Cudas----incredibly high rate of survival.
So really, the scarcity of '76 Le Mans coupes is probably for the wrong reasons.
Well yeah, main reason is that it just wasn't a popular car when new. Incidentally, 1976 was the Grand Prix's best sales year in history. The GP looked like a whole lot more car than a '76 LeMans, but didn't cost all that much more, so buyers flocked to it in droves. And yeah, a '76 Grand Prix isn't exactly high on most classic car buyers' lists either, I can see the attraction...although I just happen to prefer the LeMans, personally.
Interestingly, just about every time I go on to ebay, and check out '76 Pontiacs, there's almost always a Grand Prix or two, or even 3-4 at any given time. And naturally, a ton of Firebirds and Trans Ams. But a LeMans only pops up every once in awhile. And a full-sized Catalina or Bonneville is fairly rare. Oddly though, it seems Venturas pop up fairly often, considering they weren't really strong sellers, when new, either. Understandably it's the coupes that seem to have survived.
I'd imagine '77 LeManses have had an even lower survival rate. For one thing, they built fewer of them...only around 80,000 miles. But the real achilles heel was engine changes. On the lower end, the Chevy 250-6 was replaced with the less-durable Buick 231, although I'm sure few of these cars were equipped with 6-cyl engines anyway. The real killer though, was the Pontiac 301, which made its debut that year, and I believe was the most common engine used in these cars. In 1976 at least, most of them had the durable, if thirstier, Pontiac 350, either in 2- or 4-bbl form. And yeah, a '77 LeMans isn't exactly a desireable car either, but I have a thing for 'em. Wouldn't mind having a brown 4-door with Texas county-mounty stickers and lights on it. :shades:
However, if you had the only one in existence, I don't honestly think you'd get much more for it. So if there are 1500 of THAT TRIM LINE, that's a glut.
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