Looking to learn about car insurance for older cars and classic/vintage vehicles? You’ve come to the right place. At Freedom National, we go beyond offering cheap car insurance online to bring you all of the information you need to be an informed driver. That includes information about specialized or unique circumstances, like when you’re looking to learn more about car insurance for older cars or classic restored vehicles.
In this article, we’ll cover all of the basics including:
- What coverage do you need for an older car?
- Are older cars cheaper to insure?
- Considerations for calculating insurance costs for older vehicles
- How to get the best insurance rates for older vehicles
- Insuring a vintage or classic car, including what makes a car a classic
Ready to get started? Let’s get you covered with all the information you need for protecting your vintage beauty.
What Coverage Do I Need for an Older Car?
If you’re looking for car insurance for older cars, you’re probably wondering exactly what type of coverage you’ll need.
If your vehicle is simply on the older side, you’ll probably need the same basic minimum coverage required of all vehicles in your state. This will be determined by the state, but usually you’ll need to have the minimum amounts of collision coverage. If your vehicle was purchased via a loan or lease, the lender may also require you to have comprehensive coverage, which covers damage that doesn’t result from accidents with other vehicles—falling trees, striking an animal on the highway, etc.
In some cases, insuring an older vehicle may be less expensive. After all, an older vehicle generally means a less expensive one, and that means less of a payout from the insurer if your vehicle is totaled in a covered accident.
However, many significantly older cars are also missing many of the safety features found in newer models. That means you won’t get discounts for having these safety features, and can make getting car insurance for older cars less affordable.
We’ll discuss the special conditions for vintage or classic cars in a later section.
Are Older Cars Cheaper to Insure?
Yes and no. While the lower overall value of an older car can reduce its insurance costs in many cases, some older vehicles have difficult-to-find parts, are harder to repair, or have special aftermarket additions that make insuring them more expensive.
That said, there are things you can do to lower the cost of insuring an old vehicle. If the car’s value is low due to its age, you probably don’t need to worry about extremely high coverage maximums, low deductibles, and other premium policy additions that can make your insurance costs higher than necessary for an older vehicle.
If your vehicle is a collector’s item, then that changes things— but we’ll discuss that towards the end of this article.
Considerations for Calculating Insurance Costs for Older Vehicles
Wondering what determines how expensive car insurance for older cars will be? Believe it or not, your vehicle’s age usually isn’t one of the most significant factors. Here are some more important factors that will determine how much you pay.
Provider
First and foremost, the insurance provider you choose will have a major impact on your insurance premiums. Some providers charge higher rates to insure older vehicles, while others are much more affordable. Your best bet is to work with someone like Freedom National that compares rates from dozens of trusted providers, ensuring you get the possible possible rates and terms for your policy.
Level of Coverage
How much coverage you decide to purchase has a major impact on the cost of car insurance for older cars. While you’re legally required to purchase a minimum amount of coverage based on your state’s regulations, there are all kinds of additions to your policy that can boost your premiums. These can range from optional coverages, such as roadside assistance or gap insurance, to higher maximum coverage limits or lower deductibles. Your deductible is how much you pay for an incident before your insurance company steps in and pays the rest.
Driver’s History
Your driving history is one of the first things an insurance company considers when setting your rates. They’re trying to assess how risky you are to assure, or how likely you are to be in an accident that they have to pay for through a claim. The more accidents, poor driving, or negative events on your record, the more likely you are to have higher rates.
Fortunately, Freedom National helps people get insured even when they have poor driving records or require an SR-22.
Driver’s Age
What’s more important than your vehicle’s age? Your age. Very young or very old drivers can expect to have their premiums be higher than that of other people, simply based on the risk factors associated with their age. Younger and older drivers have been shown to be more likely to have accidents and submit insurance claims, which makes them riskier to insure for insurance companies— regardless of whether they’re driving an older or newer car.
Type of Vehicle
It’s not just about your vehicle’s age— it’s type also has an impact on how expensive it will be to insure. Some older vehicles are straightforward and dependable, and will be less expensive. Others have special, rare, or difficult-to-find parts, and their overall repair costs are higher, which will result in higher insurance premiums. Before purchasing a specific older model, look into that model to see how it rates for repairability and insurance costs.
How to Get the Best Insurance Rates for Older Vehicles
Want to get the cheapest car insurance for older cars? Here are some of the best ways to reduce your premiums while getting the coverage you need for your older vehicle, ranging from strategic moves you can make when getting insurance to the way you keep your vehicle safe from theft and accidents.
Consider Minimum Coverage
If your vehicle’s value is relatively low, consider purchasing just the minimum coverage required by law as opposed to boosting your policy with lots of optional coverages. For example, let’s say your older car is worth $2,000. Do you need coverage that will pay for $15,000 worth of damage to the vehicle? No, because anything over $2,000 and your insurer will simply total the vehicle, anyway.
Boost Your Deductible
Another way to lower your monthly insurance premium is to raise your deductible, or the amount you’ll pay before your insurance company steps in and pays for the rest in the event of a claim. Older, lower-value cars usually don’t need as low deductibles, as their overall value often doesn’t justify it.
Get Anti-Theft Devices
Older vehicles, particularly those that are vintage or have collector value, can still be susceptible to theft. Some insurers will let you lower your insurance premium by agreeing to install anti-theft devices on your vehicle, helping protect it from thieves and retain its value to you and your insurer.
Get Gap Insurance
Gap insurance is designed to cover the difference between what your car is worth and what you still owe on it in a loan or lease agreement. This can help lower your costs in the event that your car is totaled and your insurer assesses it to be worth less than what’s left on your loan.
Drive Safely
As we mentioned in the previous section, your driving record is a significant factor in determining your insurance premiums. Avoiding tickets, driving infractions, DUIs, and other serious negative events on your record is a great way to keep your premiums low— and keep you and other drivers safe along the way!
Insuring a Vintage or Classic Car
Let’s talk classic cars. If you have a vehicle that’s classified as a ‘classic,’ your insurance rates and rules may be different.
One of the most important differences with classic car insurance is the inclusion of ‘agreed value coverage,’ which means that you and your insurer come to an agreement on how much your car is worth based on an appraisal.
That said, only some vehicles qualify as classic cars.
What Makes a Vehicle Vintage or Classic?
Wondering whether your car is a ‘classic’ or just old? Here are some of the criteria, though it may differ by state and insurer.
Generally, your vehicle must fall into one of the following categories to begin the qualification process: it must be at least 25 years old, a modern muscle car, an ‘exotic’ car, or a specially modified vehicle.
Even if your vehicle meets one of those qualifications, it must also meet most or all of these criteria:
- In good condition
- Parked securely on a regular basis
- Not used for daily commutes or tasks
- Not used for racing
- Driven less than a certain amount of miles per year, usually between 5,000 – 10,000
Finally, you must be eligible as a driver to receive classic car insurance. You usually must be at least 25 years old, have a clean driving record, have no more than one at-fault accident in the last three years, and own and use a different vehicle as your primary automobile for commutes and other frequent trips.
If you meet all of these criteria, you may qualify for classic car insurance, which can be less expensive than standard car insurance for older vehicles.
Conclusion
At Freedom National, our mission isn’t just to provide cheap car insurance online for people all over the country. We want to help you become a more informed, safe, and confident driver, and that begins with knowing the secrets to vehicle safety, important insurance facts, and how to navigate the rules and regulations of your state or area.
If you want to learn more, explore our knowledge base for a range of articles to help you expand your car insurance expertise.
If you’re ready to receive a free online quote from Freedom National for vehicle and get coverage in minutes, get started now. Freedom National is one of the most trusted providers of cheap car insurance online in the nation, automatically comparing rates from several major and minor insurers to find you the best possible rate and coverage. We even help people get insured who may have negative events on their driving record, from DUIs to required SR-22s.
Get covered for less today, with Freedom National.
