!8: Saved Racing Seats Corbeau: October 2011

!±8± Old Car? Be Your Own Insurance (Sort Of)

While many of us wish we could always be driving a brand new car, that's not always possible. And so we resign ourselves to driving cars that may be considered old by today's standards -- Cars that have advanced beyond ten years of age. (Oh, how sad it is that we think of them as old sometimes...)

For instance, my daily driver is a 13 year old Mazda Miata. I don't consider her old in the least! Actually, my oldest car is 20 this year... And the next car I'll be picking up will be around the Miata's age. My youngest is 9 years old this year.

In my Miata's case, her age has become a black mark to the insurance company. According to Kelley Blue Book, she may not be worth so much anymore. That doesn't mean, however, that she's worth what they say she is.

My Miata has quite a bit of work put into her -- suspension work, Enkei wheels, Corbeau seat and harness, a roll bar and other modifications that make her my perfect daily driver but also my weekend race car. None of this work, however, is taken into consideration by the insurance companies. She's still worth the same as a stock Miata to them.

To this end, I have a savings account in which I set money aside, just for the Miata. This is to cover her in case anything actually happens, because there's a good chance that if anything major ever did, she'd be totaled in a heart beat. Just because a car is totaled doesn't mean it's impossible to put back together... Many a Miata have been totaled simply because of hail damage -- something somewhat easy to fix.

When you have an older car that's worth more than what insurance may say it is, be your own insurance company, too -- set aside money to cover your car in case anything were to happen. This won't replace your auto insurance entirely, but having a supplemental account will make you feel a bit better in case the unfortunate happens.