Help a first-time antique car buyer with insurance?

[jpage]

I may be wrong, but I think you can only register a car as a regular car, antique or classic, but not more than one. If you register it now as a regular car, you'll pay the standard fees for title, registration and licensing. Later , if you want to change it to antique status, you'll be required to retitle it as antique, which will cost around $100 I think, and apply for an antique plate, which is also around that figure now. I still think, that you'd be further ahead to go the antique route.  Good luck in whatever you decide! Where is McKean county, I'm not familiar with it. I live in the Johnstown area.

Edited July 28, 2021 by jpage (see edit history)

[bryankazmer]

It's not an issue of scale, it's the terms and actuarial risk of the policy.  The low cost hobby insurance programs  are not meant to cover daily use and clearly state it, although the definition of "occasional use" varies by company.  When I used an antique as my daily driver I insured it as such. Just get an agreed value.

[1935Packard]

I don't work in the insurance industry, but my sense as an outsider is the business model is usually based on assessing risk in large numbers. They come up with categories of easily-verifiable cases that lead to relatively predictable costs over lots of people, and that lets them price out insurance that will generate their profit.  The individual who is low risk but doesn't fit into a preexisting box can run into problems, which can be very frustrating.  Anyway, good luck!

[TAKerry]

Mckean County is on the NY border, western edge of the state.  About as far away as one can get in PA away from me ( I live 2 miles south of the South East corner).  

[charlier]

16 hours ago, jpage said:

I may be wrong, but I think you can only register a car as a regular car, antique or classic, but not more than one. If you register it now as a regular car, you'll pay the standard fees for title, registration and licensing. Later , if you want to change it to antique status, you'll be required to retitle it as antique, which will cost around $100 I think, and apply for an antique plate, which is also around that figure now. I still think, that you'd be further ahea, they can't be that far behind!  Good luck in whatever you decide! Where is McKean county, I'm not familiar with it. I live in the Johnstown area.

 

Yes, there are fees for regular use tags. When one changes to Antique Tags there are different fees that one must pay and there is no discount involved when changing vehicle designation.

 

The current cost to register a vehicle in Pennsylvania as an Antique, Classic or Collectible is $84 for the plate + $58 Registration Fee + $5.00 Local fee for a total of $147. If one wants a Personalized Plate then add an addition $112 which brings the total to $259. This information comes form the current PA MV-11 form on the PA DOT website.

 

I'm glad I registered all my vehicles for Antique tags when the fee was $97.50.

 

[60FlatTop]

On 7/24/2021 at 2:08 PM, DecoDog said:

A) Don’t have a second modern car as a daily driver (my partner uses their work vehicle as our commute car, or I walk).

You may want to have a discussion with the agent for the company covering this car. You could be an uninsured driver in some states.

[Paul Dobbin]

Alright guys, here's the deal:   Find good local agent who reprsents a good company like State Farm.  They will tell you whats available to you.   Standard car insurance, their company's collector car insurance, assigned risk (State pool insurance) or they can

refer you to an agency where you get Lloyds of London type speciality insurance.   There is a place for everybody, however the costs

will be all over the place.   If you are not a fit for all companies, pick one that you do fit into or forget your plan to drive a 1936 DeSoto like a Toyota.   Don't be like the smart ass kid with a new Corvette and a Learner's Permit who lives with other teeneagers and wants cheap car insurance like his grandfather has.   He doesn't have a 40 years of accident free driving experience, 4 other cars, a house and a 6 car garage or a 1962 Corvette like his grandfahter has, who has earned the cheap rates.

[Frank DuVal]

7 hours ago, charlier said:

If one wants a Personalized Plate then add an addition $112 which brings the total to $259.

WWOOWW!!!

 

Here in Virginia it is only a $10 upcharge. No wonder we have more personalized plates than any other state!😉

[John_S_in_Penna]

4 hours ago, Paul Dobbin said:

...forget your plan to drive a 1936 DeSoto like a Toyota....

 

There's a lot of prose in this topic to wade through,

but he never said he planned to use the DeSoto as a

regular car!  Just the opposite, in fact.

[Frank DuVal]

5 hours ago, 60FlatTop said:

You may want to have a discussion with the agent for the company covering this car. You could be an uninsured driver in some states.

I see what you are saying, Bernie. The employee is a covered driver, but the non-employee is not. There is no agreement between the company that owns the vehicle and the non-employee driver. I'll just assume Deco means the employee drives the car when they need to go somewhere, not Deco behind the wheel. Therefore Deco has no vehicle for his use. Nowadays this also applies to people who use Uber, etc and do not own a car, but get around just fine. 

[DecoDog]

Appreciate everyone’s thoughts on this topic. Using all your combined wisdom I managed to get everything sorted! 
 

Specialty insurance saved the day. Massive premium but that’s the cost of being a unproven liability! 
 

Just put the plates on the car today! Ready for my first full drive this afternoon, up along a sleepy 1930s state park to an ice cream stall. 
 

It’s been a stressful journey from purchasing to registering but happy it’s in the rear view now. 
 

Thanks to everyone who commented, it’s always exciting seeing a new notification. 

[rocketraider]

On 7/28/2021 at 4:19 PM, Frank DuVal said:

WWOOWW!!!

 

Here in Virginia it is only a $10 upcharge. No wonder we have more personalized plates than any other state!😉

I spit my drink out when I saw $112 too. 

 

Don't give Richmond any ideas. I want another personalized SCV plate for the Mercury but between the extra cost for first the specialty plate and then the personalization, plus the aggravation of scheduling an appointment, haven't done it. The state-run likker stores are running as lickety-damn-split as they can go while all the other state agencies are still half-capacity if that much.

 

Now if we could get our Solons to enact some meaningful legislation to get bogus antique plates off the road, instead of something that is either punitive to legit antique plates or a barely disguised money grab...

 

DecoDog, I am happy to hear you got insurance and plates on your DeSoto squared away!

[TerryB]

DecoDog went out for a drive and we never heard from him again.  Hello DecoDog, are you out there?

[cahartley]

On 7/27/2021 at 7:54 AM, DecoDog said:

Hey there! 
Definitely not looking to daily drive a 1930s car for all the reasons you outlined, I just find it rather silly that there’s so many restrictions to protecting it. I don’t mind driving the car very sparingly
 

and to answer your question I’m in McKean County in PA!  

Here in Wisconsin having ANTIQUE plates carry some fairly steep restrictions though I doubt any cop in their right mind would ever stop anyone driving a car plated that way.

One is offically restricted to driving the car only to and from car shows and for "maintenance".......needless to say the cars I had plated as such required a LOT of maintenance...... 😜

COLLECTOR  plates have few restrictions and the law reads "SHOULD not be used for every day transporation".

To me that's a suggestion so I drive one of them just about every day when the weather permits.

A retired County cop friend of mine said any cop that would stop me for driving any old time with the ANTIQUE cars needs to find something better to do....... LOL