Insurance is basically paying to transfer risk. The more risk you transfer, the more $$$ you pay. My attitude is different from yours, however. I pay to insure against risks that are at least somewhat likely to happen. I don’t pay to insure against risks that are extremely remote. We don’t have the bare minimum of insurance, but I’m also not looking to pay for million-dollar policy limits.
In other words, sure, we could be involved in an at-fault accident with someone driving a Ferrari or other ultra-expensive vehicle, or which causes death or permanent injury to someone else. And if that occurs, the civil damages would exceed my policy limits many times over. However, we expect that if an accident occurs, it will involve a production vehicle, worth $100k or less, and there will be no permanent injuries.
In the event of a serious/outrageously expensive accident, if the plaintiff is foolish enough to pursue a judgment against someone who makes about $60k in a year, the result would be Chapter 7 bankruptcy, and the debt being discharged. Our state homestead exemption prevents the judgment creditor from slapping a lien on the house, and state and federal exemptions protect my IRA and 401k. Everything else has limited judgment exemption limits, and limited bankruptcy exemption limits, but also isn’t worth a whole lot to a creditor.
Federal law specifically allows debts resulting from an at-fault auto accident to be discharged in bankruptcy unless you were driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol. And we don’t us drugs or alcohol. So any such debt would be discharged.
I am familiar with this car. There used to be so many of them, but now they are extremely rare. At 277,000 miles, this is well-used, but not necessarily used up.
And the parts for this model are still readily available. You can still buy new struts, strut mounts, bellows and bumper kit, control arms, etc. Don’t forget that both of the engine options use a rubber timing belt, though they are non-interference if the belt should fail.
Unlike you, I don’t view these risks as extremely remote
In my area, almost everybody gets sued if there’s an accident
imo, the legal industry AND the insurance industry both need massive overhauls
Where I’m at almost everybody that is NOT at fault claims permanent injury and usually successfully collects an extremely large payout
Every single colleague I’ve ever had in this country has sued and collected fat payouts when they’ve been rearended, even if it was just a 2mph tap at a stoplight. Every single one. Not one single exception
I think that might be a function of the lawyers and the insurance industry. They probably collected a big payout because the at-fault driver’s insurance policy provided that. If your colleague had been rear-ended by an uninsured motorist, would the attorney have filed a lawsuit knowing that there would be little or no chance of collecting a judgment? Like @bcohen2010 said, you can ask for a million dollars but if the money isn’t there…
Earlier message from someone: expected lifetime for the 4A-LC 1.6 L SOHC engines are 300,000 miles. That is an average for a population, given no knowledge about any specific member of the set. Given specific knowledge about this specific engine (at 277,000 miles, running fine), we can predict an above-average lifetime for the engine. A conservative estimate at this point would be, for example, that this engine might last 10% above average, which is 330,000 miles. That means 53,000 miles remaining. Since my annual mileage is low, that represents many, many years. If I were to increase my annual mileage a lot to 7,500/year starting today, it would take more than 7 years to drive 53,000 miles. Therefore I am not planning to scrap the car now just because it is time to replace the tires and struts.
In six or more years I might consider whether the car seems to be used up. But at that time the car could still be running fine, so a revised estimate of expected engine life based on updated knowledge might be increased: 1.2 X Average = 360,000 miles.
My dad used to say, you can’t get blood out of a turnip…
Even with insurance, if someone is in the bottom (even middle) income bracket and still renting, how much money can you get over what the ins provides…
Or even if you own (haha) but still have a 25 year mortgage, make $80,000 a year (in the south) and are making monthly payments on 2 cars, how much you think is really in the bank???
Yes, in 2016 I had compression and leakdown tests performed, and valves adjusted. The surprising issue with finding mechanics who can do that work was that a number of mechanics thought that the engine requires shims for valve adjustment. It does not. The mechanic whom I ended up having do the work gave me an estimate based on the valves being screw-adjusted, which was correct.
In 2019 I had been trying to trace an ongoing oil leak for a few years, which became especially bad that year. I had the same mechanic try retorqueing the cylinder head bolts, since it could correct a possible oil leak from the head gasket. So while he was doing that anyway I also had him adjust the valves again, even though it was only three years after the previous adjustment.
Both times, the valve adjustments made a noticeable difference in the power – not a placebo effect.
The oil leaks turned out to be due to the distributor O-ring being brittle and cracked (which a not-good mechanic years earlier should have dealt with when he installed a replacement distributor), which the proficient mechanic in 2019 easily replaced. And the cam and crank seals which were “dry as toast” and replaced in March, 2020 during a timing belt job done by another good mechanic, and which should have been dealt with a few years earlier by another not-good mechanic.
Oh absolutely I agree, if you have assets, they need to be covered by whatever means… But the person with basically zero assets has no need to have max coverage…
+1–on both counts.
Back in the '50s, my brother was crossing the street and was hit by a car that was signaling a turn–but then failed to turn and hit him. Luckily, even though he went flying, my brother wasn’t badly hurt, and the only real “damages” were the bills from the ER and our family doctor.
Others urged my father to sue the guy who hit my brother, but he refused to do so because the guy was a lowly-paid guy who worked at the counter of the parts store that we patronized. To quote my father, “This guy has 5 kids and I don’t want to take food off of the family’s table”.
That’s probably because most “modern” Toyotas with adjustable valves did use shims. No offense, but I think your Toyota’s so old, that it predates the use of shims. Those guys that assumed your car uses shims probably haven’t ever adjusted valves on a Toyota as old as yours
that makes me believe your valve lash was possibly/probably too tight . . . many guys believe valve lash only needs to be adjusted if the valves are noisey, which would be too loose. But if it’s too tight, you won’t hear it, but it’ll definitely make a difference
This was a fairly common issue on those older Toyotas, and something that isn’t dealt with much these days, as Toyota hasn’t used distributors in ages now
Many shops want to quote a low price to replace the timing belt, so they don’t include the price for the seals, tensioner, water pump, etc. Many mechanics also don’t replace these if they aren’t “bad” when they take off the cover. That’s false logic, imo
Sounds like your father was a good man. I couldn’t imagine suing someone and then seeing his face when you buy parts at the neighborhood store he works at. For me, the idea of suing someone for an honest lapse in judgement and/or traffic accident is analogous to “crossing a bridge” and there may be no coming back from that. Plus I believe you don’t kick a man when he’s down. His insurance probably went up drastically, he feels bad enough about the accident and now you’re piling onto that. Settle up and move on with your life . . . that would be my advice, fwiw
Yes, my Dad was a good man, but that parts guy had no clue as to who we were. My father made sure that only I accompany him to the parts store after the accident. He told my brother to stay home or find something else to do. And, the parts guy had no insurance, which was legal in those days.
My cousin was uninsured or underinsured . . . I forgot which, as it was a long time ago . . . and something happened
Anyways, it literally cost her everything and even that wasn’t enough
She had this financial judgement hanging over her for years or decades and it prevented her from getting a loan, credit card, mortgage, etc. It even prevented her from getting a decent job, which pretty much assured everything else was also impossible for her
Yeah, she miscalculated and made a mistake and she paid for it for decades afterwards . . . Until she came into her inheritance and was able to settle up and move on with her life
I really can’t say if different states make a difference. One thing about having some reasonable level of liability coverage is that you get free lawyers, and not the ones just out of school.
I never understood how some people can be sued, they don’t bother to fight the lawsuit, don’t bother trying to hide assets (if they aren’t going to declare bankruptcy), don’t bother to plan out and file for bankruptcy (if bankruptcy is an option), and just allow their wages and bank accounts to be garnished for years on end.
I remember when the Great Recession hit, and my hours at work were being cut, and I felt that layoffs were imminent. Therefore, in February of 2009, I made the financial business decision to quit paying all of my unsecured debts, and let everything go to collections and charge-off. That ended up being a good decision, because I ended up being laid off in August of 2009. The money I saved not paying my debts allowed me to keep my rent and utilities paid, and food on the table.
Fast forward to September of 2012, and I was employed again, but making far less than I was before. I got a knock at the door, and was served with a lawsuit for my Discover Card, which I had quit paying back in 2009.
By this point, the alleged debt had more than doubled, and I had no desire to give up the money which I had earned over the summer, and needed to pay bills during the winter slow months.
Therefore, I filed an answer to the lawsuit, and went through the discovery process, etc, not because I expected to win, but to buy time. I dragged it out for 4 months, which gave me time to spend my non-exempt funds on living expenses, and complete the petition and schedules to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Of course, this ran up their attorney fees, which were ultimately added to the judgment, but I had no intention of paying any judgment, so I didn’t care.
Once they got their judgment, they tried to levy my bank account, which had less than $200, so they didn’t get anything, and the following week, I filed for bankruptcy. All of my debts were discharged without so much as a peep from creditors. My only regret was not filing sooner.
And this is precisely what your cousin should have done, the moment she was served with a lawsuit. She should have gone online, written down the case numbers for other lawsuits filed by the same plaintiff, gone to the courthouse, and paid to have the documents copied. Then she could have used the other defendants’ answer as a template to create her own, used their discovery requests as a template to create her own, etc. She could have dragged out the lawsuit, to buy time, spent down her non-exempt funds, prepared to declare bankruptcy, and done so. It’s really sad that she wasted all this money paying toward this debt, and even sadder that she squandered her inheritance to pay a judgment, which could have been discharged in bankruptcy long ago.
I wasn’t trying to insult your cousin, whom I don’t know. I was just recounting my experience, navigating dreadful economic times, and dealing with a creditor lawsuit. And many people, even today, are served with lawsuits for at-fault car accidents, defaulted consumer debts, etc, and they don’t bother to answer the lawsuit, they don’t make the creditor prove the alleged debt, and once the judgment is granted, they don’t bother closing bank accounts, changing jobs, hiding assets, etc. Instead, they just let their wages and bank accounts be garnished for years on end, often making little impact on the judgment. A savvier person would declare bankruptcy, and eliminate the debt, while protecting their wages and personal property…yet for some reason many people don’t do this.