kmcrawford111

I'm looking to cut the money I sink into owning my truck. I'd like to get rid of the thing and be down to one car for the wife and I, but I'm not quite there yet. After learning from these forums, I was able to get a small discount for driving less than 7,000 miles a year ("utility vehicle"), which dropped my monthly rate from about $42 to about $38. That was cool, but I'm looking for more - I believe I can keep my yearly mileage under 1,000, so I'd like to pay something appropriate for that. This "pay as you drive" would be the cat's ass, but it's not available here. Are there any providers that can cut my rate even more for driving so little - providers that offer lower caps than 7,000 mi.? I do get a combined insurance discount through Allstate, so the difference will have to be more than a small amount.

Thanks, all!

28 year-old male
married
1998 Ford Ranger

RT

I'm with State Farm and as far as I know, 7,500 miles a year is the cutoff. They even say you're supposed to document your mileage so it can be proven. If anyone does 1,000 or less, I'm certain you'd have to keep odometer readings to prove it. Not too difficult, but still.

wb647

I have State Farm, and when I dropped my mileage to 7500 they actually sent me check-up notes a few times requesting my current mileage. I blew one off, and they started calling. Geesh.. I spent some time on the phone convincing them that people do actually ride their bicycles to work.

jpdesjar

This is a great idea, I am with StateFarm also and I recently paid my car off so now I am looking to pay the least amount possible to insure my car.
I wouldn't mind sending them my mileage as long as it is worth it.

Psydotek

I've been thinking of looking into this... With my new car-train-bike commute, i'm only driving 9 miles a day, 5 days a week which means a little over 2300 miles a year.

Unfortunately, i do have to drive to work sometimes (1-3 times a week either to bring supplies into the office or because my legs are tired from a long weekend ride/triathlon) and my girlfriend lives 35 miles away (which can add up).

jpdesjar

Do you bike to your girlfriend's place sometimes? When my car needed some repairs and was sitting in the driveway for a bit I let StateFarm know and they put my on a no-use status for a while which was very cool. Sounds like your commute is pretty fun.

Steve Hamlin

Related thread: https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=410235

If you're in one of Progressive's test markets, you may be in luck. . . !

CliftonGK1

Liberty Mutual cut my rates first when I went under 7500/year. Then again when I went under 5000/year. They were surprised when I called and asked about further lowered rates and said I was on their lowest plan, but when I told them I bike commute and put under 2500/year on my Jeep they dropped it to "recreational vehicle" status and cut my rates even lower. :-)

n4zou

Sell the car and get a scooter. I put 16,000 miles on my TANK Urban touring 250 this past year. I drive it year round in all weather. I no longer own any other motor vehicle. If I must I'll take a Taxi as there is no public transportation in my area. I only did that 3 times in the past year so taking the Taxi was much less expensive than payments, insurance, and service. I needed a truck once last year so I rented one for the weekend. My scoot also gets great fuel mileage. I only use 2 gallons a week so even at $3.50 a gallon I'm just spending $28 a month for fuel for it. My insurance is so cheap the company will only sell it to me by the year, which is $50.

andrelam

I just saved $100 per year by reducing my State Farm insurance from Driving to and from work more than 7500 mile to not to and from work and less than 7500 anually. That still leaves my '03 Volvo wagon costing around $600 per year to insure. The cheapest rate you can get is classic car insurance. That does not mean that the classic car has to be expensive... just old and prove that you take it to car shows. I have a '63 Volvo coupe and it is assessed at $7,000 value, certainly not a very expensive nor valueble classic car, but I fun with it. It costs me $126 per year to insure with the same coverage that I have only '03 wagon.

Happy riding,
André

tarwheel 

My insurance company cut our monthly rate by about $5 when I told them I was bike commuting and cut my driving from 10,000 miles/year to 5,000 miles/year. However, they cut our monthly rate by another $75 simply because my daughter turned 19 and had been driving for 3 years without an accident or ticket. The way to really cut your rates is to sell your truck and bike commute every day, but I understand the reluctance to do that. I also drive a Ford Ranger and really appreciate having the truck when I need to haul stuff. Also, I'm not thrilled with the idea of riding every single day whether it's raining, snowing, sleeting, thunderstorming, hurricaning, or whatever. And sometimes I need to drive due to doctor or dentist appts., meetings, etc.

My Ranger has a 4-cylinder engine with manual transmission, so it actually gets pretty good mileage. Coincidentally, it gets about 22 mpg on average, and my usual bike commute route is 22 miles, so I save a gallon of gas every day I bike to work.

kmcrawford111

I thought about that, but it seems to me that any day I could use the scooter I could also use the bicycle. Distance isn't an issue - I just cycled 8 days in a row. My main reason for still keeping the truck is for very severe weather... I do ride as much as possible but I am still apprehensive about thunderstorms and I have been doing partial commutes for snow (new to riding in snow). I don't think a scooter would fare any better (or at least not enough to make buying one worthwhile), at least in my area where winter can be severe. I bike at least 80% of the time year round, but that % is lower in the winter, perhaps 75%. Weather is the main issue. The Prius can haul a surprising amount of stuff. Ideally I would drive the Prius instead of the truck, but that isn't always an option (wife may be using it, or may want to use it).

Where do you live?

kmcrawford111

My Ranger is the same, manual 2.5L 4-cylinder. Years ago when I calculated MPG I was at 22, but more recently I was up to 24 - more efficient driving, I think.

I really wish we had a car sharing programme here. The truck would be gone. Not that I hate it - it's largely been reliable. But I'd like to pare my belongings down - not to mention the room that would be avaialable for more easily storing and working on bikes! It just seems like a waste to keep the truck considering how little it is used. Maybe I can start a sharing program with it??

LeMansGTi

is it 7k or 7500 for each car you own or all of them combined?

Lot's Knife

I drive my 1992 Nissan NX about 200 miles a year.

Geico cut my 6-month premium by about 20 bucks.

Basically, I keep the car so that I can occasionally drive to the bike shop. It's nuts.

amjones

Hmm, 16000 miles / 104 gallons = 154mpg. I'm skeptical.

Steve Hamlin

As they say in the commercials, "Your mileage may vary."

However:
https://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2007...care/#more-278
see the third paragraph. . .

Apparently, 100 mpg is easy; the new line is 200 mpg.

Then there's the (experimental) car that gets over 2843 mpg.
https://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24111771/

gmule

I have an old car and I ride my bike more than I drive my car. My car insurance is 17.00 a month now. I used the mileage that was recorded between emission inspections as my proof of not driving my car. Since my car is old, license plates cheap too. They 38.00 a year.

kmcrawford111

7,000 for the one car.