First Car

[JW1390]

Hi, I was just wanting to know what would be a good first car, I am a guy, and know insurance will be higher because of that. I want a muscle car, the two cars I was thinking about was the 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 454, and the 1969 Pontiac GTO. Does anyone know how much the insurance would be for those? Got any better ideas for muscle cars for cheaper insurance?

[kman10587]

First of all, good luck finding either of those cars in good condition. I have no clue what insurance would be like, because I have no clue what value the insurance company would put a car like that at.

[JW1390]

Well, I was looking for a while, and found them for 25,000 in really good condition, but found some in pretty decent condition for 15 grand or less...and I checked an 81' Camaro out for insurance and it was crazy, but I think the chevelle would be cheaper than a Camaro in insurance

[kman10587]

It would still be pretty expensive, and think about it, you'll probably have a minor fender bender or scrape when you're new to driving (I've had 2 in my first two years), that's NOT something you want to do to a classic muscle car. Go with something a little cheaper and easier to find. 3rd gen. Mustang 5.0s and 3rd gen. Camaro IROCs/Z28s are good bets.

[JW1390]

Yea that sounds pretty good...I guess I was a little unrealistic, the 500 lb-ft of torque...maybe I could get it when I'm 20 or something. What's the best and cheapest ways to add more horsepower? Which one would be easier to add HP, the Camaro or Mustang?

[Rufe]

I'm thinking that if you wreck that 25,000 SS454, the insurance company is going to give you about $600.00

The value in that car is "collectors" value. You will need to get special insurance for it. (ie. insure it's value, this is not a normal ins. policy).

You might consider a base v-6 camaro, should be better on insurance, and then, over time, and after gaining driving experience, swap in a v-8, and lot of the performance parts from an IROC, and gain a lot of working knowledge about real performance. You will then know first hand, when someone tries to BS you on things like sway bars, and exhausts, etc. because you will know first hand, what changing them actually did to the car.

Part of the lure of Muscle Cars, has always been with tinkering with them, not in buying some one else's project.

[JW1390]

Would it really matter what year Camaro I got? I don't like the look of the newer ones, I sorta like the 88-93's

[Rufe]

Yes, it would affect your rates.

I am not in the insurance business, so I can only generalise here, but...

Insurance companies use a formula to determine your rates.
Part of that formula is the year, make, model, engine, number of doors, etc.
Basically, if an IROC is more likely to be involved in an accident (or get stolen), as is also the case with a V-8, than a base model, it will have a higher premium. Also, repair costs, driver age and sex, and history of tickets and accidents affect rates.

Some of these you can't get away from, (your age) but you can find a car, or year, or model that has better rates. Four door cars are usually involved in less accidents, so they often get better rates.

You need to get some quotes from more than one company and compare them.

If you were to upgrade the suspension on a base car, you could have a better handling car than an IROC, with no insurance penalty.

[JW1390]

Yea, I know. But that's really not the problem right now. I need facts to convince my dad on letting me get a camaro, not a truck. (seems kind of hard to do)