Yes, it's insane because he has antique plates.

No, it's not insane because there is a fine line between an antique car and a junk car.

Yes, it's insane because he won't be driving the car anywhere in the foreseeable future or ever.

No, it's not insane because he won't be showing it any antique shows for the foreseeable future or ever.

So go with Progressive. I think it's pretty well established that State Farm likes collecting premiums, but doesn't like to pay out on insurance claims anyway.

So State Farm's policy is bunk. Big deal. Welcome to the free market, and move on to Progressive (or keep shopping around).

Not insane; State Farm has just caught on to the scam of too many people licensing junk cars as "antique" to score the lower insurance rates-

It's not about legitimate antique cases- it's about cheap bastards trying to save a buck on their car insurance- a 45 yr old piece of shit has just as much liability hitting a motorcycle as a new Bimmer;

Unless they can factually document the usage of the car under the SPELLED OUT insurance guidelines for antique cars, pay up, sucker.

Shocker! Go with Progressive, end of story. If State Farm is to myopic to offer a reasonably priced service then you don't have to purchase it. :-)

Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.

You know that good neighbor that has a pair of binoculars and watches you and then complains that you walk around in your underwear or naked in your own house.

@cazin678: Apparently you did not read the actual story in which he says he has car license as an antique vehicle that can only be driven to auto shows and what not. Essentially the same restrictions as the insurance.

So no, there really isn't the possibility for a scam here.

Why not avoid State Farm all together and go with an insurance company that specializes in classic car insurance (ie, Hagerty ( [www.hagerty.com] ))? I use them for my '66 mustang and only pay $206/year. It seems to me that they'd be much more helpful.

no, it is not crazy. I used to have a 1969 Triumph Spitfire and my dad has had antique cars (austin healy, and now a 50's 356 porsche). That kind of insurance is intended for collectable cars that are restored to a reasonable facsimile of their org state. The photo looks like the car is a beater junk car, not a restored collectable car. paint the car, the request does not sound outrageous and while it might be a pain in the butt to deal with, it is what is required to insure the car.

There IS a fine line between a junker and an antique. This car is not a junker, though.

Coming from someone who has several classic and antique cars (some restored, others not finished yet), I have to wonder why you are going with a mainstream insurance company who insures mainstream automobiles.

There are many companies out there who specialize in antique car insurance. Hagerty Insurance is the biggest and most popular. Call around and see who you can find that actually wants your business. Personally, I would never insure one of my old cars with the same company who handles my daily driver.

Best of luck.

sure there is the possibility of a scam (not accusing the driver here, I think the decision should be up to the agent)

One could just drive it around, and if it gets in an accident, say you were going to an auto shop to have them look at something.

the plates you say? well I dont live in illinois, so I dont how much cops actually care about antique plates. Is it really worth their time to pull that over? and if they did..."Im going to the autoshop!"

I think both parties are justified, so the agent should be able to decide the consumer intention. I mean, if he has two other cars, he probably not trying to scam. If this is his only car, well, yeah, then get it painted and show you are serious about restoring it.

@Dobernala: Apparently you do not realize that its extremely easy to get antique/vintage license plates. You have a car so many years old to meet the state requirement and you go and register it as an antique. Of course the guidelines are for show purposes but its no different than scamming the insurance company because its not like anyone is going to check up on it.

For the original story all I can say is waaaaah. Companies each have their own guidelines to meet their risks. If you are not happy move on, big deal. Waste of a story.

@superchou: Your statement is mostly a subjective assessment of the posters car, and lacking in facts about insuring a car that is being restored. There are several companies that will insure your car for an agreed upon value while you are restoring it. They generally give you a certain number of years (my experience has been 3-5 years) to finish the project.

Let us all know if you find a company with more lenient policies. I have a 1983 F-150 plow truck that I'd love to insure as an "antique".

Maybe it's me, but I don't see why this story is on here. Millions of people shop for car insurance a year. Some get higher rates. Some get lower rates. Some get antique rates. Some don't.

So State Farm won't insure you - move on. Progressive will at a cheaper rate. Buy it. End of Story.

For interests sake alone, i'd like to point out the car is up for paint anyways since it "needs new paint, and a new power steering pump. Other than that, the car is in pristine condition, literally having only been driven by a little old lady to church every Sunday. The engine purrs like a kitten." Unless he going to leave it like that.

Out of principal alone, I would go with another company. It's a bonus that Progressive offers a lower rate. I had a great experience with them and would recommend them.

State Farm doesn't want your business.

Insurance is great. And $300 vs. $200 is a 50% premium, not 33%.

@tujsin: Hey, thanks for the tip! Just went to Haggerty's web site, $124 / 6 months, even lower than Progressive, and it includes comprehensive and collision.

The chances of me scamming State Farm are pretty slim. I'm a Mutual member with two cars besides this one (three total), a boat, a house, and a liability umbrella with them. I've been with them and this agent for 20 years and have guaranteed renewal on all my policies regardless of claim history. The only thing that screws me on the guarantee is misrepresenting my use on one of my policies.

@twophrasebark: Just for the record it's been to three shows since I bought it. Very popular car with the fans. Push-button transmission, and the interior is perfect. Since it's not yet painted it's usually the only car at shows that kids can touch. Mopar fans love it.

I'm not sure the real question is being asked. Do you need to insure it AT ALL at this point? The car is clearly not ready for a parade or show, and it sounds like the engine is in good shape. If you will be restoring it while it is on your property, you may not need car insurance on it until it is ready to show off.

Be careful, though, and make sure that leaving it uninsured won't make insurance costs skyrocket later, as they can with insurance for a regular-use car.

@Gaseous Clay: For the love of god. The Consumerist and Firefox let the Blink tag exist? There is just no excuse for this. I thought we left this one far behind us in the 90's.

@Gaseous Clay: I'm glad someone pointed that out, really starting to bug me.

I think its a fair request. State Farm probably put it in place to avoid any old 'antique' getting insured and then claimed. Like a previous poster said, no matter what you're driving, you still have the same odds of getting hit/hitting someone else.

I've been a State Farm policyholder for many, many years, and never had an issue with them covering or paying claims. My father-in-law, on the other hand, dumped State Farm, and got Progressive for a dump truck he had, and they were a royal pain to get to pay anything. He still hates Progressive to this day.

So for me the adage would be 'you get what you pay for.'

$2000 is pretty insane to insure that - realistically, you cannot replace the car for that. Buying a car like that for $2000, if it's really in as good of shape as he descripes, is a steal.

I'd consider a program that specializes in older cars like Hagerty's or ANPAC's CHROME program.

@brainswarm: Next thing you know marquee will make a cameo!

This seems 100% reasonable to me- keep shopping until you find what you want. Their logic of saying that a POS like that wouldn't show is pretty understandable- sure there is a chicken and the egg scenario (how can you get it painted without insurance etc...) just rent/buy a trailer- because I don't think anyone will want to see that in a show as is. :)

first off, all you jackasses who know nothing about old cars and antique plates(their purpose and use) need to just shut the hell up. This is a complex insurance issue and if you don't have anything useful to say, show your intelligence and shut up. Seriously, you never hear people say, "That guy in the meeting that just sat there quietly, he doesn't know shit."

Secondly, don't bother with State Farm. They've been pulling bait and switch on all sorts of programs like this for DECADES. They tried to pull it on me when I was a student in college and getting good grades. They offered a discount to good students, but not if they attended the school I attended. Just move on to a better insurance company. Yes, you're right that they're being stupid about it, but don't try to out-stupid them. Hit them with the bad press(I'd say you've completed that), tell the story every time it seems relevant, buy insurance from a better company and move on.

Like a good neighbor, state farm will scare.

@cazin678: Good for you. Learn to read, just try. If you had taken the time to actually read the story, you would have learned that he has antique license plates, which I would think would be enough to show his intent not to drive the car other than the agreed places. Honestly, fuck state farm and just go with whatever is cheapest.

There's an additional issue that State Farm (and many of the posters here) are ignoring. When talking about collector cars - which is what "antique cars" are, there's something even more valuable than a fully restored antique.

It's called a "survivor" and it's an antique car in intact and unrestored condition. The paint on that car may be bad, but it's the original paint. As an antique Mopar survivor that runs and drives it's quite valuable. It's also nearly irreplaceable; finding another one of these in any condition is highly unlikely.

The advice to go with collector's insurance is good; Hagerty or Grundy are well known. Avoid mass-market companies like State Farm: if it's hard to get them to sell you a policy at a reasonable rate, imagine what they'd be like if you submitted a claim.

I'll spell it out: enter a claim on that car and they'll tell you it's worth $200, call it totaled and give you a check for $200. Get the collector's insurance!

And don't let this car go without insurance. It's probably the only one left in original condition. Get it appraised.

@humphrmi:
What part of humprmi's last post are you people missing? He's explained his situation twice... even taken the advice many of you OP bashers have offered and gone elsewhere... and you still keep accusing him of trying to scam the damned insurance company. Ah well, dumbwhore said it about as well as it can be said.

If this car IS in an accident of any type how is SF going to match the existing paint finish? They can't, they'd have to pay for an entire repaint.

And while whuffo makes a point about "survivor" cars, this car would not qualify as a survivior simply because of the paint condition. From this web site [www.survivorcarshow.com]
"Over 50% of the original finishes (paint, fabrics, plating) remain good color references for restoration of a car just like it."

Go with Hagerty FTW. You'll be much happier in the end.

My wife and I refer to State Farm as "Snake Farm". Go with Hagerty's. since they deal with sort of thing and are offering a good rate. Vote with your dollar. Don't try to teach SF to sing, you'll just get dirty, waste time, but at least won't be annoying a pig.

Since you're shopping, you might want to consider looking at insurance for your other cars. You might save even more. Let your SF agent know, too.

That's a cool car. Nice find, and nice old lady who only drove it to church on Sunday.

I've never been to an antique cars show. Might be a fun way to spend an afternoon!

Good luck with the insurance. Especially since many insurance salespersons have part time jobs in snake oil sales.

State Farm is just clueless. I had a 1971 Dodge Challenger (fully restored and street-legal) on my insurance, fully covered for everything, including high-deductible collision coverage designed specifically for collectibles.

At least twice I got calls from SF corporate drones suggesting I'd save a whole lot of money if I dropped the collision on a car that old. Yeah, right.

I finally gave up and went with Foremost. Not only do they have a clue about collectible cars, they sent out an agent/auditor who was almost as gaga about it as I was. When I finally sold it, he was one of the people who bid on it.

@infecto:

Word. If I had a dollar for every 80's beater I saw with "Historic" tags sitting in a shopping center parking lot around here, I'd have a bunch of money. Here in Maryland, the only restrictions are that the car be 20 years old (or 18 if it's a car from a make that no longer exists, which has always made want to buy a 1990 Plymouth Sundance and get historic plates) along with the usual car show restrictions.

While it does sound like the OP isn't trying to scam SF, I can understand the policy - it's a good way to filter out the person who is actually restoring a car from the ones who are trying to save on insurance and tags on their '88 k-car and don't want to dump money into it to paint it.

So, um, all the people who say his car isn't good looking enough to be in a car show without a paint job anyways? Mayhaps you need to take a closer look at the photo. In the photo, the car IS IN a car show...

It would be rather hard to scam the insurance company anyway. State Farm offers lower insurance premiums if you drive less than 6000 miles a year. What do you think would happen if I got into an accident with a car that's less than a year old and it has 8000 miles? State Farm could legally drop the policy, and I'd have nobody to blame but myself. The same goes with an antique like that.

Their requirement that it be painted is probably part of their definition of "restored", where they believe an antique must have some sort of great value. Here's an old post (circa 2005) by a guy who seems to be in the same situation as you: an old car that's not worth a ton of money that you just want as an antique. The guy tried one of the suggested insurance carriers and was able to get $30/year for it:

[www.jalopyjournal.com]

At the very least you should paint it to prevent rust. Makes sense that an insurance company would be concerned about rust destroying the only value the car has left.

@erebusrat: LOL, Big car show tag in the front window and sitting right next to a cherry red 1970-era VW Beetle. I was waiting for someone to notice.

So to get the cheaper insurance, you need to paint the car, increasing the insurer's liability. You're dealing with morons.

Vote with your feet! If it were me, I'd move all my other policies to another company as well.

For anyone saying that the companies do this to avoid getting scammed by people who want the antique rates but still drive the car as a general use vehicle, in what way does State Farm's verdict that the OP had to paint the car and *then* they would ensure it as an antique prevent such a scam?

It makes perfect sense. If someone hits that car, the insurance can't pay you to put it back in that condition, unless they bought you a new panel and took some steel wool to it first. Not only that, but you can (from the photos anyway) hardly tell what's metal and what's rust, so they have no good way of really knowing what shape the body itself is in, unless you had an on-site inspection done.
I think they made a good call. I would still leave instantly for a cheaper rate, but I would also get that thing painted. I am willing to bet that ANY company would give you a hard time if you tried to claim damage in an accident if your car looked like that, classic or not!

As the OP, I want to thank all the great comments from people here, especially the people who gave some great suggestions for classic car insurance. I'm sort of new to this (restoring classic cars) and I still need to build my contact list.

I think the issue here is not "can I get a better deal from X insurance company," it's that State Farm offers insurance for Antique Vehicles and it just seemed silly to me that my car, a 45 year-old rare Newport, doesn't qualify. (To see just how rare it is, go to Ebay and Google - Ebay has one, and the few that pop up on Google are from last year.)

So let's set aside comprehensive coverage for a minute, and just talk about the liability. If the considered the car an antique, my total premium would be around $200 for six months. I don't know what part of that includes comp, but it's still substantially less than the $300 that they quoted me as a "regular car" for just the liability. So just talking liability only, how does a paint job decrease the liability risk?

As to determining it's eligibility, as someone pointed out above, the agent probably made the determination of eligibility himself. So he only had the pictures of the car, and my history with him, to work from. I've been with Bernie Majewski for 20 years. I'm a Mutual member. I have two other cars, a house, and a boat. All of those policies have use restrictions on them, and I've never violated one of them. I've never been a problem customer, I don't call every couple weeks and whine or threaten to leave State Farm. In return for his 20 years of doing nothing for me, he has collected a tidy sum of commissions from my policies. Yet despite this, he doesn't seem to think that I'm going to adhere to the restrictions of an Antique Vehicle policy, so he's not going to write it.

So I'll go somewhere else, of course. But as a good consumer, I'm going to let my fellow consumers know about the silliness first. Maybe someone in State Farm corporate will see this post and give me a call tomorrow, and try to work something out, who knows. If not, my fellow consumerists have helped me find an alternative solution that doesn't break my bank. Thanks.

If State Farm is the snake, Nationwide is the devil itself. I switched from Nationwide to State Farm and literally dropped my auto and home premiums in half. HALF for identical coverage AND added a new vehicle.

It is true though, you get what you pay for, however, your chance of actually needing to file a claim is probably lower given that the car isn't a daily use vehicle. Don't park near trees.

Um, then insure it with someone else. We have had GREAT experience with USAA.

I think this was some bean-counter's attempt to keep people from registering their real junkers as antiques and then getting the cheap rate, but it's a poor criteria on which to judge whether or not the car has antique status. What they should do is have the car appraised. I mean, that would cover the value of it regardless of the whether it was a very classic and expensive car with a bad paint job or some real clunker with a new back-alley paint job.

Go somewhere else.

Too bad it was intended for restoration or I'd get out the can of puke-green house paint and paint it with a 4" brush. There ya go, State Farm, brand new paint job!

To be fair... it DOES need a paint job...
but yes, completely insane. Agreed. I can't see how they can make decisions on whether to insure your car or not based upon how it looks. Performance, on the other hand, would be another issue.

@Wyndikan: Yes, agreed, and in fact I have every intention of having it painted sometime in the next year. Unless you're a somewhat skilled DIY, paint jobs on classic cars are very pricey. I'm saving up. I'm sure it'll look great once it's done. But meanwhile State Farm wants me to pay a 50% premium, until I paint it. I've got other things I would like to do first (i.e. the power steering pump I mentioned in my post). But instead of restoring this car on my own terms, I have to bend to State Farm's dictation of what level of paint proves I won't drive it except to shows and parades. Or, as many others pointed out, go somewhere else.

Go to a REAL collector's vehicle insurance company. They appreciate the fact that a vehicle may be a work in progress and not everything is mint. Insure it for what it would cost to replace it now, then raise the coverage when it has new paint, interior, etc., while only paying maybe $200-300 a YEAR for coverage. Of course there are restrictions on how many miles per year you can drive the car and where it can be driven, but if you've got collector's plates on the car, you're already dealing with those restrictions anyway.