Any pennsyltuckians have classic plates? Insurance questions inside

I'm thinking about putting classic plates on the miata. It meets age/build requirements no problem, but the laws don't say anything about insurance.

Would I NEED a specialty policy like from haggerty, or would progressive or whoever be good enough?

Full disclosure: yes, I'm trying to get out of emissions testing. Not to do unsafe things, the car actually runs better with the cat converter than it did without, but because I'm running out of local places with sniffer machines. The permanent registration of a classic plate would just be a bonus.

I understand the "one day a week" clause,and 5000 annual miles, I'm just unsure with the insurance requirements of classic plates. Particularly since I don't have a locked garage for the car to live in.

In my experience with registering my classics in PA (I have two cars with Antique plates and one with Classic), PennDOT doesn't give a damn who insures the car, as long as you provide a valid insurance. When I am registering my cars, most of the time, it's my regular insurance that is submitted since I haven't put the car on my classic policy.

One thing I've learned recently: Hagerty is really just a broker, the actual policy is underwritten by another company which can vary. The insurance cards for my classics doesn't actually say Hagerty on it, but another company. I know another guy with Hagerty and his policy is actually underwritten by Nationwide.

IMHO, if the car is old enough, try to get Antique plates. Then you go without inspections entirely, vs. Classic with technically still requires annual safety inspection.

My insurance on the Chevelle (antique) is thru SF but they wrote a policy that is billed separately from my house/car/life bundle. It's pricey and I'm shopping around so ... subscribed.

https://www.statefarm.com/insurance/auto/antique-classic-cars

Insurance and plates are 2 different animals. You can have classic plates and regular insurance, as well as regular plates with Hagerty. They are not intertwined.

In reply to MDJeepGuy:

Pa has some weird rules, so it made sense to ask.

I assumed whatever regular insurance policy would still be fine, I'm just wondering if those rates would go up with classic plates as well. Being a 93, I'm not eligible for antiques yet, but I am keeping an eye on those rules as well. For what is essentially an autocross and off-road toy now, the classic restrictions are deal with able, antique might not be.

My buddy still has regular plates on his Torino with a declared value policy, but his parents took care of all that so he's not the best to ask.

In reply to RevRico:

Typically rates for specialty use (classic, antique, orv, motorcycle etc) are cheaper and tied to a total loss value but come with usage restrictions.

Mine on a 70 Chevelle SS is $40k total loss, $440/yr. 2500 mi annual limit (no daily use), and some other easily ignored rules.

Penndot Antique/Classic/Vintage Factsheet

Antique cars can't operate on the road at night and Classic/Antique/Vintage registered vehicles are not to be used as general transportation more than one day a week, s per Penndot. (Q: what's black and orange and sleeps six? A: a Penndot truck.)

Insurance companies don't care how you plate your cars, as long as they are or will be registered in your name & correct State.

Haggerty is owned by Nationwide, I've found them to be more pricey than American Collectors. None of my cool car clients have turned in claims (other than roadside), so I don't really know which company is "better".

American Collectors allows less restricted general use if you select the 5k miles per year term.

*i did not stay at Holiday Inn Express last night

I did not know Haggerty is owned by Nationwide. My policy through them is with a different provider, but I've had the policy for a few years now.

Claims wise, Haggerty seems pretty good. I recently had to file a claim and it was settled very quickly. Considering the accident was generally my fault, we'll see what happens when my renewal is up next year.

My bad, Nationwide does not own Haggerty, just "partnered" with them.

FYI, you can drive at night with Antique tags if the car was originally equipped with incandescent or better lighting stock. The nighttime restriction is for the early gas lamp cars. I'd have to find the statute but it's in there.

As stated above PA doesn't care if you have collectors insurance or regular, just that it's insured for liability. Some regular insurance companies charge a premium for a Classic or Antique registration.

If you are currently driving under 5000 miles a year the car is emissions exempt so you should only be charged for inspection and a sticker fee (or something like that) for emissions. No advantage to going to the classic tag now. Just wait for 2018 and go for the Antique. Classic and Antique registration costs the same, and it's a once and done deal. I think either is $140 now.

In reply to Rob_Mopar:

Link from Penndot states no operation at night but all lights must work.

In reply to etifosi:

Umm... no. An antique registered vehicle doesn't necessarily need modern lights, but there are no specific restrictions on nighttime use. My guess is this verbiage was written when many antique cars often had gas lights, which work marginally at best and often don't have rear lights at all. However, if one were to add more modern lights to these cars, they would be legal at night.

Antique & Classic FAQ

In practice, it seems to be up to owner discretion. Whenever I see police on the road while driving my classic an antique registered cars, they either totally ignore me or wave.

I have antique plates on my 1975 Datsun 280Z. I have driven it many times at night with no issues. My understanding is that it's considered a "modern" antique and while the official wording says no nighttime operation, in actual practice it's permitted.

My car is insured through State Farm with an agreed upon value and very high coverage values for $226 per year. I didn't originally need to have the car appraised when I put it on this policy but now I need to do that if I want to up my stated value. With the rising prices on S30s, I'm certain that I'm insured for less than I could sell the car for but I'm physically disabled and cannot drive the car and it's been sitting in the garage undriven for the past two years. I feel pretty safe not getting an appraisal right now and will work on that if I'm ever able to drive it again.

The permanent registration and not needing state inspections or emissions testing is worth the hassle of the antique plates. While they say that you can only drive it once per week, I used to drive it whenever I wanted. I figured once per week is 52 times per year so two drives a week in July was just using up one from my February allotment.

I actually have another question about the plates. The miata is a very unique color, and I did a pretty bad job painting it so it stands out some. If I happen to pass the same cop 2 or 3 times in a week with classic plates on, what kind of trouble could that cause?

Just a ticket or could the registration be suspended?

Like I take the car to work during the summer, or just running around with my daughter?

Weekends I know I'm good for "club activities" because my region does full weekend autocrosses.

Not sure. I've never been hassled about it, but I tend to use my classic cars pretty much as the rules allow. The most use my cars see at one time is during multi-day club events like when I go out to Carlisle for the import show or trips to classic car events like Watkins Glen or the American British Reliability Run.

Occasionally, I'll take one out to run local errands after work to give a car some exercise. I was away from home for most of 2016, so my cars all sat quite a bit.

Otherwise, it's hard to really know how much a particular cop will be a stickler for the rules. Your area could play a role as well. I live in Lower Bucks, which is quite densely populated suburb of Philly. It seems as long as you aren't doing anything wrong, the cops around here have other things to be concerned about than a guy driving around an old car. Personally, I'd try to limit use mainly to weekends with maybe a commute to work a couple of times a month until you get a feel for how truly visible the car is...

I don't know if they offer this where you guys live but I just got Antique Extended Use plates for my 25 year old Corvette. It allows me to drive all I want from April til October. November to March is for Car shows, service station, demonstrations only. Plates were half the price of normal plates. Also I have State Farm, antique insurance with 5000 mile limit ( which is more than enough for me ) $7500 replacement value was under $11 a month. I have never known the police to hassle guys with antique plates driving somewhere other than a show. I just didn't want to be limited in the summer. Winter it will get parked obviously.

PA's antique and classic tag restrictions are completely ignored by law enforcement unless some private citizen decides to complain about you. Even then I'm not sure I would expect anything more than a warning.

I tow my race car and perform normal truck duties with my Lightning and nobody cares. I also don't drive it every day.

I've seen several vehicles being used on a near-daily basis with specialty tags. Now that photos aren't required some are real POS's too. No one pays attention.

Inspection stations need a bit of educating on Classic tags as the place I worked couldn't decide if my cat-free Lightning should get a sticker or not despite it not needing a emissions test.