Choosing between basic liability and full coverage for your first car - what did you go with?

Funny thing is, even with all that experience, I still second-guess myself every time renewal season rolls around...

Man, I feel that. My ‘68 Dart’s been through three insurance setups in five years because I keep flip-flopping. Once paid for full coverage and then realized the payout wouldn’t even cover half the restoration cost if something happened. Now I just cross my fingers and keep a tarp handy when storms roll in. It’s a gamble either way, but sometimes the peace of mind isn’t worth the price tag - especially if you’re already handy with a wrench.

It’s a gamble either way, but sometimes the peace of mind isn’t worth the price tag - especially if you’re already handy with a wrench.

I hear you, but my luck’s so bad I could total my car backing out of the driveway. Full coverage feels like paying for a lottery ticket I hope never gets cashed in, but with my driving record, liability alone would be like playing Russian roulette with my wallet. At this point, I just budget for the deductible and pray my parallel parking doesn’t make headlines.

Been there. I remember when I got my first minivan (don’t judge, it was a steal), and I thought about going with just liability because the thing was already old enough to vote. But then my youngest decided to “help” me wash it with a rock, and I realized my luck wasn’t much better than yours. Full coverage suddenly felt like a safety blanket I didn’t want to give up, even if it meant eating more ramen for a while.

Honestly, I get the whole “peace of mind” argument, but sometimes that deductible feels like a cover charge just to use your own car. Still, after watching my neighbor’s kid back into my bumper last year - while I was sitting in it - I’m sticking with full coverage for now. Maybe one day I’ll trust my parallel parking skills (or the universe) enough to downgrade, but today is not that day.

“that deductible feels like a cover charge just to use your own car.”

That line cracked me up because it’s exactly how I felt the first time I had to cough up $500 just to get a dent fixed. Here’s how I’ve generally approached it: If the car’s worth less than what I’d pay for a year or two of full coverage, I start leaning toward liability only. But, and it’s a big but, every time I think I’m ready to make the switch, life throws me a curveball - like the time a tree branch decided my hood was the perfect landing spot during a windstorm.

I’m with you on the peace of mind thing, but I also get tired of paying for something I might never use. My compromise has been to raise my deductible as the car gets older, which drops the premium but still covers me if something major happens. Not perfect, but it keeps me from feeling like I’m just burning money every month.

Honestly, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer. Some years I regret not downgrading, others I’m glad I kept the coverage. It’s kind of like gambling, but with more paperwork.

I’ve definitely wrestled with this same decision, especially once our family started growing and we had to budget for more than just car stuff. When I bought my first car, I went with full coverage because it was still pretty new (to me, at least) and I was terrified of something happening that I couldn’t afford to fix. That deductible did sting, though - felt like paying twice just to get back to square one.

A few years later, when the car had more miles and a couple of dings, I started questioning if it was worth it. Like you mentioned, the peace of mind is nice, but after a while you start adding up all those premiums and wonder if you’re just throwing money away. I remember one winter when my neighbor’s kid accidentally backed into my parked car. The repair cost was almost exactly my deductible, so insurance barely helped. That’s when I realized sometimes you’re just paying for the “what ifs.”

Now that our current car is older, we’ve switched to liability only. It was a little nerve-wracking at first, but honestly, the savings have been worth it. We keep a small emergency fund set aside just in case something big happens. Not saying it’s the right move for everyone - if we had a newer or more expensive car, I’d probably stick with full coverage for longer.

It really does feel like a gamble sometimes. You hope you never need it, but life has a way of surprising you... usually at the worst possible moment. Still, I’d rather have some control over what I’m spending each month than feel like I’m stuck in an endless loop of premiums and deductibles.

Funny how much thought goes into something you hope you’ll never actually use.