Hi AJT.

I think many share your take on insurance companies.

Whoa! You have an '04 LS430? So do I. Silver though. 80K miles on it. Great ride.

 

Yes sir! Mine is also silver. 145k, drives like a dream. Drives the same as the day I bought it. It doesn't cost much to insure these either, my insurance went down after I bought it.

 

@mmarshall , thank you for this useful and timely post! I am getting ready to make a change and just spoke with Amica recently. Sure enough, not the cheapest, but I did think they sounded better. Many of us with these 'non-classic classics' like my 04 LS need to get more serious about shopping insurance. My car has a top end of $10k, and if I get hit in the front, each headlight is $2k to start, so you can see where that math is going. I understand the math, but I will fight a "Rebuilt" title as much as I can; I am surely not going to get one for a bumper and 2 headlights!

A few years back someone lightly bumped me in the back of my 03 LS. He had not been on his phone, he was nice, and the damage was negligible. He had GEICO! I asked them how much they would pay out on my claim before they raised his rates.......they said $500!!!! HUH!?! You can't buy a tail light for $500. I declined to claim to be nice to the guy. I went home and called my co. MetLife and asked them the same question, and they said $500, so i said good-bye. Then I went with Ameriprise, which is now Connect because they said $1000. Amica's answer? $1500. That's more like it!

Then last year I dared to start the windshield discussion with Ameriprise, now Connect on my 03 LS. OEM on 01-06 LS is around $1500. I did NOT expect them to cover it, but I wanted to make a deal assuming they might cover 25-35%....NOPE, they called one of "their" shops and got a $250 quote, which was my deductible, so they said they would not be offering any help. Amica said they would have negotiated something with me.

**If you are trying to hold on and preserve these old LS' and others, get serious about your insurance!! "just like OEM" is NOT OEM!! Stop shopping on price alone**

 

Glad it helped.

In my book, 2K for a headlight is absurd, but, unfortunately, some of the hardware for today's top-end Xenon, HID and LED lights doesn't come cheap. I always felt that halogen lights, though not as powerful as today's best, actually gave the best bang (light) for the buck....although they don't last anywhere near as long. Still, I remember, on my 1984 Mazda (where I could fairly easily replace the lights myself), I drove a lot of miles in it, and replaced both front units (sealed-beam halogens) several times. Each unit was $19.95 (often on sale for $9.95) at Trak Auto...which later became Advance Auto Parts. Today, I've heard of simple high-intensity bulbs costing as much as $800 apiece.

Quote:

**If you are trying to hold on and preserve these old LS' and others, get serious about your insurance!! "just like OEM" is NOT OEM!! Stop shopping on price alone**

I agree that price alone is not necessarily everything, and that sometimes companies have cheap policies for a reason. But the key, as with so many other things in shopping, is to look for the best combination of price and coverage for one's needs. I've found that, for my needs, and my long experience with them, GEICO is tough to beat, but each person's situation is different. USAA, for example, is very good for people in the military.

 

I have halogen lights in this F Pace rental. They are horrible. I don’t know how we ever lived with lights like this in cars...and bearing in mind that older cars had worse halogen lights...

HIDs and LEDs are so much better.

Only thing going for GEICO is it’s cheap. From a claim perspective they are very difficult.

 

There is no comparison between LED or anything else. LED is superior. I am not sure if you have ever had LEDs?

That said, I see the trade-off and the value of having inexpensive lights that do not perform as well. Replacing cheap bulbs is always an advantage for the long-term owners.


LS430 is old tech that is using front end lights that are outdated. (I assume they are Xenon)

 

I would hope they are superior at 2K apiece. My point was that halogens are almost as good for a lot less money.

To be fair, halogens do cost more than the old incandescent sealed-beams that we had up until the 1980s. But they were much better for only a little more out of one's pocket....I'm not sure one can make the halogen-LED comparison in quite the same manner.


Call it old tech if you want, but it was a wonderful car. I would say I wish they still made it, but, in actuality, it's too big for my needs today.

 

And, since the topic is insurance companies, I haven't noticed any premium-discounts given for advanced headlights, such as are sometimes given for anti-lock brakes, anti-theft devices, air-bags, etc.....

 

They aren't "almost as good" at all. But, I started another thread for that discussion.

Even Halogen headlamp assemblies are expensive in a body repair situation.

 

Judging by the vehicles I've sampled and/or owned, I'd say halogens were...but I also respect your viewon that.

 

Pretty sure you've never owned a car with LED headlights, and perhaps your IS300 had HIDs, but that was a long time ago. When you test drive cars, you do so in a highly lit area and I would imagine typically during the day. I would also assume you rarely drive at night in general.

Directly comparing halogens and LED/HID like I am right now, there is absolutely no comparison. LEDs are so superior, so much more light, light projected farther down the road and further out to the sides, adaptive lighting that is always level and follows steering inputs. If you owned a car with modern LED lighting I don't see how you wouldn't come to the conclusion that its superior.

In fact, I am driving the Pacifica at night instead of this F Pace simply because of the headlights.

And its objective, not subjective. Far more lumens are projected with HID and LED than Halogen.

 

I totally agree. The halogen lights in my old truck are awful compared to the 2 Lexus cars, it's insanity how bad they are. However, they get the job done and you get used to the awfulness. (So, I guess we did live with it.)

I'm not sure if the headlights in the Enclave in my family are LED but they are by far the best I've ever experienced. I just drove it home from Nashville last night, put the brights on and it's like you have the Sun at the front of the vehicle. They also curve at virtually all speeds, even to help in parking lots, etc.

 

What year is you Enclave? The latest ones do have LED headlights.

 

with all the things you say are in your book it must be one mighty big book.

 

I guess so. I've only been writing it for some 50 years.