More millennials are moving back home - and it's making everyone depressed:

[goodwithagun]

Really.  A car is totaled in NY if the cost of repair exceeds 75% of the car’s value; he had standard insurance. 

Replacing deployed airbags isn’t cheap.  When the whole set deploys, the cost to replace them all can easily exceed 75% of the current value of the car.

You offer excuses, I offer solutions.

[Oceander]

You offer excuses, I offer solutions.

You offer nothing other than ignorant self-justifications. 

Comprehensive coverage from GEICO is not “shitty insurance” so you didn’t offer anything, just ignorance. 

[musiclady]

Really.  A car is totaled in NY if the cost of repair exceeds 75% of the car’s value; he had standard insurance. 

Replacing deployed airbags isn’t cheap.  When the whole set deploys, the cost to replace them all can easily exceed 75% of the current value of the car.

Tell him to move to a more conservative state.

[goodwithagun]

Your generation bears more blame for things becoming more expensive than the millennials do. 

As for charity - I thought all it took was some hard work and budgeting to make everything right.  Isn’t that the manna from heaven being peddled here?

GenXer here: My generation didn’t force millennials into worthless degrees with which they can’t earn a living.

[goodwithagun]

You offer nothing other than ignorant self-justifications. 

Comprehensive coverage from GEICO is not “shitty insurance” so you didn’t offer anything, just ignorance.

Obviously it is if he had to eat 75% of the cost.

Edit: I just reread and saw he was compensated for 75%, not had to eat 75%.

Not sure about the expensive state he’s choosing to live in, but here in Ohio one must carry full coverage until the vehicle loan is paid off. At that point, one can choose whatever insurance one wants. I’ve chosen to have coverage based on my vehicle’s worth upon paying it off. My current vehicle is only worth about $7K, so my coverage reflects that. Too bad this millennial didn’t think that through.

[Oceander]

GenXer here: My generation didn’t force millennials into worthless degrees with which they can’t earn a living.

Why said anything about forcing people into junk degrees?  GenX certainly bears its share of the blame for the continuing increase in costs due to increased government regulations and requirements. 

[RoosGirl]

You offer nothing other than ignorant self-justifications. 

Comprehensive coverage from GEICO is not “shitty insurance” so you didn’t offer anything, just ignorance.

Hey, maybe he should have bought a car that wasn't worth paying the comp coverage on.  Huh?

[Oceander]

Obviously it is if he had to eat 75% of the cost.

He didn’t eat 75% of the cost.  You wwould have known that if you’d read what I posted instead of presuming what ain’t so.  Insurance generally only covers 75% of the value of the car.  It varies from state to state, but most states use a similar limit. 

Thus, if the car is worth $10,000, but it will cost $8,000 to repair it, most insurance companies will consider the car a total loss and will pay you $7,500 for the car, and you have to hand them he title.  It’s only in cases of very old cars where you can avoid having to hand over the title in order to get paid on a totaled car. 

If four airbags go off, it can easily cost $6,000 or more just to replace the airbags. If the cost for repairing the rest of the damage exceeds $1,500, the car would be a write-off. 

But for the airbags, it wwouldn’t have been a write-off. 

You way want to read your own policy a little more carefully.

[goodwithagun]

He didn’t eat 75% of the cost.  You wwould have known that if you’d read what I posted instead of presuming what ain’t so.  Insurance generally only covers 75% of the value of the car.  It varies from state to state, but most states use a similar limit. 

Thus, if the car is worth $10,000, but it will cost $8,000 to repair it, most insurance companies will consider the car a total loss and will pay you $7,500 for the car, and you have to hand them he title.  It’s only in cases of very old cars where you can avoid having to hand over the title in order to get paid on a totaled car. 

If four airbags go off, it can easily cost $6,000 or more just to replace the airbags. If the cost for repairing the rest of the damage exceeds $1,500, the car would be a write-off. 

But for the airbags, it wwouldn’t have been a write-off. 

You way want to read your own policy a little more carefully.

And I corrected that while you were typing this rant.

[mirraflake]

But when big screen TV's and the like are considered basic necessities, it is no wonder you start with a struggle.  What percentage of their salary goes to the vehicle compared to a couple decades ago?

I would bet todays big screen TV's cost less in inflation dollars than what our parents paid for the new color tv back in the 60's.

I remember in the early 70's my dad paid $700 for a new calculator for the family business. Today that same calculator is maybe $20 if that.

@thackney

[Oceander]

Hey, maybe he should have bought a car that wasn't worth paying the comp coverage on.  Huh?

How would that make him any better off?  You cannot drive a car with the airbags deployed, and if you remove them because they deployed without replacing them, then you cannot drive the car because it’s illegal. 

He would still have an undrivable car unless he put another $6,000 or so into it.

[Oceander]

Obviously it is if he had to eat 75% of the cost.

Edit: I just reread and saw he was compensated for 75%, not had to eat 75%.

Not sure about the expensive state he’s choosing to live in, but here in Ohio one must carry full coverage until the vehicle loan is paid off. At that point, one can choose whatever insurance one wants. I’ve chosen to have coverage based on my vehicle’s worth upon paying it off. My current vehicle is only worth about $7K, so my coverage reflects that. Too bad this millennial didn’t think that through.

Immaterial.  It still costs $6,000 or more to replace airbags, and the car can’t be driven legally without them.

[RoosGirl]

How would that make him any better off?  You cannot drive a car with the airbags deployed, and if you remove them because they deployed without replacing them, then you cannot drive the car because it’s illegal. 

He would still have an undrivable car unless he put another $6,000 or so into it.

Or he could buy a whole second car for $3k.  Jeez.

[mirraflake]

And wages have gone up. 

Not much. Accounting for inflation they are at mid 1980's levels from what I remember reading.

IN the US today we have about 35% of the population doing very well.  Rest are in a slump

I drove out to Indy a few months back.. Saw a hundred factories advertising for jobs along I-70. Most 12-13.00 per hour.   You cannot live today on $13.00 per hour as a single person let alone a family with kiddos.

[goodwithagun]

Immaterial.  It still costs $6,000 or more to replace airbags, and the car can’t be driven legally without them.

So he takes the $7500 and buys a used car. Sheesh. It’s not rocket surgery.

Edited to add: Your excuses for this guy is why he is the way he is. It’s not his fault. It’s the insurance company’s fault, along with the auto company, as well as all the generations before him that he can’t buy a reliable fricken car and properly insure it based on its value 

[RoosGirl]

Not much. Accounting for inflation they are at mid 1980's levels from what I remember reading.

IN the US today we have about 35% of the population doing very well.  Rest are in a slump

I drove out to Indy a few months back.. Saw a hundred factories advertising for jobs along I-70. Most 12-13.00 per hour.   You cannot live today on $13.00 per hour as a single person let alone a family with kiddos.

I read somewhere that since the early 90's wage "inflation" has been about 6.5%.  Over the same time frame the price of new cars has increased about 10%.  Certainly that is more, but not considerably.

[Oceander]

So he takes the $7500 and buys a used car. Sheesh. It’s not rocket surgery.

He already had a used car.

And the underlying point is that 30 years ago, this would not have been an issue, and the accident would have put him out of pocket no more than $1,000, or even less if he went to a junk yard and bought the replacement parts himself.  The airbags make repairing a car substantially more expensive than it used to be, even factoring in inflation. 

So yes, it is harder for a millennial at the bottom end to get a simple start in life, in part because things have become relatively more expensive. 

[Sanguine]

I would bet todays big screen TV's cost less in inflation dollars than what our parents paid for the new color tv back in the 60's.

I remember in the early 70's my dad paid $700 for a new calculator for the family business. Today that same calculator is maybe $20 if that.

@thackney

The basics of life cost less of a household income today than it did when Boomers were growing up.  Food, energy, clothing, housing, etc.  We just "need" more "stuff" today. 

[goodwithagun]

He already had a used car.

And the underlying point is that 30 years ago, this would not have been an issue, and the accident would have put him out of pocket no more than $1,000, or even less if he went to a junk yard and bought the replacement parts himself.  The airbags make repairing a car substantially more expensive than it used to be, even factoring in inflation. 

So yes, it is harder for a millennial at the bottom end to get a simple start in life, in part because things have become relatively more expensive.

Again, that’s not my experience at all. I refuse to be a victim, though.

[Oceander]

Again, that’s not my experience at all. I refuse to be a victim, though.

Why are you throwing irrelevancies in here?  My friend is far from being a victim; he’s doing quite nicely because he does work hard.  But that doesn’t change the fact that the financial hit for him from what used to be a minor accident was quite substantial.  Much more substantial than it was when I was growing up. 

[RoosGirl]

Why are you throwing irrelevancies in here?  My friend is far from being a victim; he’s doing quite nicely because he does work hard.  But that doesn’t change the fact that the financial hit for him from what used to be a minor accident was quite substantial.  Much more substantial than it was when I was growing up.

It is interesting to me that you offer no wisdom to this young friend on how he could have improved his situation, by buying a cheaper car for example, so that he may apply it to his life going forward.  The whole situation you lay out is that he is the victim of: insurance, Gen Xers, the government, the winter, you name it.  You would serve him better by pointing out that he would not be out as much money, and could afford another car, if he had spent less on the first one, instead of arguing that every aspect of the situation was out of his control.

[Oceander]

It is interesting to me that you offer no wisdom to this young friend on how he could have improved his situation, by buying a cheaper car for example, so that he may apply it to his life going forward.  The whole situation you lay out is that he is the victim of: insurance, Gen Xers, the government, the winter, you name it.  You would serve him better by pointing out that he would not be out as much money, and could afford another car, if he had spent less on the first one, instead of arguing that every aspect of the situation was out of his control.

Again, you bring in irrelevancies and points that were not brought up.

Very simple question: is it more expensive now, after factoring in inflation, to repair a used car that has been in a minor fender-bender than it was 30 years ago, before airbags became mandatory?

A simple yes or no will suffice. 

[goodwithagun]

Why are you throwing irrelevancies in here?  My friend is far from being a victim; he’s doing quite nicely because he does work hard.  But that doesn’t change the fact that the financial hit for him from what used to be a minor accident was quite substantial.  Much more substantial than it was when I was growing up.

We’ve all had hard times, and if he’s complaining about this as much as you’re complaining for him, then he’s choosing victimhood. A couple of years ago I racked up $20K in medical debt in eight months. Since it happened over two calendar years I couldn’t write anything off. Payment plans to the hospital? Yeah, they EACH (three different hospital systems) wanted $800/month payments. Thankfully we are capable of pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps and the kids got used to rice and beans. Actually, they already liked rice and beans, they just got a little cranky about the frequency.

Someday my kids will know mommy battled cancer and the reason we ate so funny and didn’t go on vacations is because it cost a lot. My hope is for my kids to use this model for the mountains they’ll have to climb in their futures. If I complain about it or make excuses, they will do the same when they face difficulties. If we’d gone into even more debt so that the kids didn’t experience abnormalities then they might do the same to feel good about themselves later on.

By modeling strong behavior, hopefully they won’t be bitching about poor auto insurance policy choices. They’ll accept that they made a mistake, take their lumps, and then learn from the mistake.

[RoosGirl]

Again, you bring in irrelevancies and points that were not brought up.

Very simple question: is it more expensive now, after factoring in inflation, to repair a used car that has been in a minor fender-bender than it was 30 years ago, before airbags became mandatory?

A simple yes or no will suffice.

Short answer, "yes" with an "if." Long answer, "no" with a "but."

[goodwithagun]

Again, you bring in irrelevancies and points that were not brought up.

Very simple question: is it more expensive now, after factoring in inflation, to repair a used car that has been in a minor fender-bender than it was 30 years ago, before airbags became mandatory?

A simple yes or no will suffice.

You know what can be done about cars that are now more expensive to repair than they were 30 years ago? Nothing. You know what can be done to protect one’s automobile? Insurance. If decent coverage isn’t affordable for you, then maybe your car isn’t either.

Again, I offer solutions and you offer excuses.