Here’s a great way to reduce your auto insurance

Get rid of cars that aren't working anymore.

Last week we got rid of a van that we found out would cost almost as much to fix as we had paid for it.  (No, not this one.)  The vehicle had sat for long enough that it didn't start anymore.  We had someone tow it away for a song ($80).

In any case, I'm just glad not to have to look at it in my driveway anymore.

We did a good chunk of what is considered good due diligence when we bought this used van:

• Checking what the market price of the vehicle is
• Checking for big warning signs on the vehicle (leaks, bad internal odor, etc.)
• Taking it for a decent test drive
• Asking about the vehicle's history
• Verifying title

What we didn't do was take the vehicle to a mechanic to have it checked out.  A lot of places recommend this, but I wonder what people would say if I actually took them up on it.  It seems a little odd to ask, “Hey, can I take your vehicle to a mechanic?  I promise to bring it back.  Really, I do!”  In retrospect I suppose it's probably no different than taking it for a test drive.  It just takes a bit longer.

It turned out that we only drove this van for a few months before it had some serious issues.  We had bought this van because the other van (yes, this one) seemed to be falling apart, too, but thankfully that one was a relatively inexpensive fix, and it works fine now.

In any case, we logged on to our auto insurance company's website and cancelled the coverage for our clunker.  We'll be getting a couple hundred dollars back in a couple of weeks.

Now we're down to two cars for the first time in quite a while.  I question whether the extra car we had was worth it.  I don't think it really was.  The couple of times we made use of the extra car really didn't justify the extra cost, and we ended up with more headaches with the extra vehicle.

But the good news is that I'm paying a lot less for my auto insurance!