Spouses - Cars - Liability - NYC & your opinion.

Sorry for the long post - rant.

Dan

My son has a 2008 GTi which he bought new. He and his fiance share an apartment in Forest Hills, NYC, they both use public transportation most of the time. Occasionally, like grocery shopping when you have lots of bags, she drives his car. Badly. Ian says the "car part" of her brain isn't on and is difficult to access, she just never had experience with them, it's just an appliance.

Oy.

Kim has six points on her license because she foolishly pleaded guilty to a speeding ticket. Her car is off the road because the even King of Spain can't afford her insurance rates. Safe Driver courses that remove points can only remove two points a year.

There have been other incidents, but today she blasted a pot hole punching the 17" tire off the rim. I think that was the final straw. When they get married she will be on his policy and certainly a bigger liability than he carries now.

This is where you guys come in:

a. Sell the GTi for about break even money and buy a beater?

b. Buy a beater and store the GTi every winter, swapping plates every six months.

c. Put snows on the GTi and drive it through the winter.

d. Your input -

Thanx, Dan

New fiance? Probably be cheaper in the long run.

Otherwise, no driving for the woman until she can drive her own car with her own insurance. Is swapping plates legal in NYC? Everything else isn't, so I'm gonna say that will get you more trouble than 6 points too. I don't think "nice car" and "car part of brain isn't on" are things that go together. At least not for very long. So, they need to be separated. If he keeps the fiance, then no driving or beater.

The two car / storage / plate swap deal sounds like more of a pain in the ass than marriage itself.

If he can sell the car and break even, he's better off. It will only continue to depreciate. Or, he can stop looking it as an asset and treat it like an appliance. That's life in the Big City.

Justifying one car in the city is hard enough, much less two.

d. - ZipCar for future Mrs. Ian

Living in NYC, the GTi will be a beater in no time anyway.

Just don't let her drive until the points are gone? Have him do the grocery shopping?

I cannot comprehend the "car part of brain is not on" thing. With me, that would mean "using .0002% of brain"

If she treats his precious possession like an appliance, buy her an appliance. Saves grief in the long run.

i'm with hess on this one, isn't this the girl that was so very supportive when he was having issues with his job a while back?

isn't it weird that some of us on this board know more about your son than i do about my best friends son?

honestly, if I lived in NYC.. I would probably not even own a car. There is just no reason to

Why should he buy a beater if the fiance already has a car?

He can keep the GTi if really wants it, then add the wife's car to the policy when they get married. Or, sell the wife's car and then buy a beater that will be her's and her's alone.

The best plan is to keep her out of any "nice" car he wants to drive.

BTW, is this the same fiance who dumped him immediately after a former employee made some unsubstantiated and fraudulent claims against him?

Make her responsible for it. Let her get, pay for, take care of, insure, her own vehicle. Take no responsibility for it yourself. With what has been said, I don't think she is mature enough for marriage. NYC has pretty good public transportation, right Wally? I would certainly keep her out of the GTI.

Wow, I agree with Hess if her driving is really that bad. Some people aren't meant to drive, and living in NYC, I think that might be a valid option for her.

Strizzo:

Yeah sometimes if fell all oogie about that. Hell when I started here he was a kid and much like SlickDizzy or CarKid, you guys knew all the foibles of cars, kids and growing pains. Maybe TMI.

CWH:

Living at the same address it doesn't matter. Insurance companies believe you would be tempted to drive each others cars and they set the rates accordingly.

Once upon a time I had a bunch of points and my insurance company dropped me, even if I put everything in my wife's name it wouldn't change things. When I suggested we get divorced on paper only just to get insurance coverage, things got worse....

yea, I went through that too.. I had a roommate who lost his liscense from too many points (not that it stopped him driving) and my insurance went through the roof. Their thought was that he might drive my car.. even though he could barely drive an automatic, let alone a 20 year old italian car with a manual trans

914Driver wrote: Her car is off the road because the even King of Spain can't afford her insurance rates.

What is "Her" car?

Make that the primary mode of transportation by having it on Ian insurance.

Keep weekend insurance on GTI. Store the GTI at dads house under a set of vinyl numbers that say GS. Allow dad to have keys on sunday.

This and

Keep the car and one key for Ian, and a Metrocard and Grocery delivery for the missus. Getting the food delivered will be less than whatever evil the Insurance company will dish out.

I dont think I could stand having a signficant other that is a bad driver and destroys cars. lol One time i went to a guys house to look at a $200 shelby charger with a bad engine, and it was one of at least 3 cars his wife had ruined in the last couple years.

I think new fiance would be my first choice, but other than that, if she cant afford to drive, then no driving. I didnt think most people even had cars in new york. I would imagine that the GTI wont stay nice there even without the finaces help, maybe a beater and one key would be the best xolution?

Based on other threads - make her buy a car with less then 100hp, no power steering, and no abs. Manual of course. A defective radio and a missing a vanity mirror would both be a bonus. If she can drive that without any problems than she is just a horrible distracted driver. If not, then shes just a horrible driver. Suspend the license.

That would be the only other suggestion. She if she can voluntarily turn in her license at which point she would no longer be an insurance risk. Of course she could no longer drive but that doesn't seem to be something she can do now.

mad_machine wrote: yea, I went through that too.. I had a roommate who lost his liscense from too many points (not that it stopped him driving) and my insurance went through the roof. Their thought was that he might drive my car.. even though he could barely drive an automatic, let alone a 20 year old italian car with a manual trans

things must be different in NJ (duh of course they are) here my house sharing buddies driving record had no effect on my ins ('course that was 30+ yrs ago)

now my 85 yo Mom's driving record doesn't seem to affect my ins..(different co if that matters)

Michigan will hold every residents license against you if they are bad drivers.

Wow... in the four years that I have lived with my roommate, I have never even been in his car, let alone drive it. That's quite an assumption for the insurance company to make.

What makes Ian think things will change in the future? Either suck it up and deal(and pay) or face the fact that it very well may be time to cash out and move on.

get rid of the car.. Car's are giant liabilities in the city.

John Brown wrote: Michigan will hold every residents license against you if they are bad drivers.

Than I guess it's Lucky Michigan has fewer residents every day

As if things were not bad enough in michigan.

the insurance industry scares me with the BS they get away with.

How about telling her to take one of the Teen Survival driving courses or do a HPDE so that she at least starts to think about the car as something that can be dangerous and that she must pay attention to things while driving?

Bob