Miata Mailing List: May 1993, Message #58
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   From: (none)
Subject: Re: Miata Club et al.
   Date: (none)



On Wed, 12 May 1993, Steve Davis wrote:

> 
> Thanks to everyone for the info on the club.  I wonder if I should go  
> ahead and sign up now, or wait until I get my free (summer?) issue.
 
Go ahead! It's only money. :-{)

> On another note, how does one handle one's insurance company when one  
> is into autoXing?  Just curious; I'm already having enough trouble  
> just because I traded a "sensible" Civic sedan for a red Miata!

First, about the trouble from the trade-in. The only increase you should
have seen from buying the Miata is due to it being a "sporty" car, and it
costing more than the Civic. Mazda was very careful about the design,
working hard to keep the Miata out of the full-fledged sportscar lists.
The car I traded in for my Miata was a Chevrolet Cavalier Z-24, and my
insurance went down slightly, due to the drop in straight line performance
(the measure insurance companies seem to use for determining rate classes).
 
What my agent told me, when I asked about insurance at autocrosses, is
that I had two choices. First, I could just ignore the "problem". My car
isn't covered for time trials, racing, etc, so any damage that would
otherwise be covered is *not* covered under a regular auto policy. In
other words, under this plan, I take all the risks associated with
motorsports (or I lie to my insurance company when I make a claim). The
other choice is to buy racer's insurance, which my agent knew nothing
about, other than that it exists. 

Considering that there's no real chance of a claimable accident when
autocrossing anyway (at least, not if your car is well-maintained) I went
with ignoring the problem. I'm not covered at autocrosses, other than
liability insurance carried by the event organizers. Which I consider a
must; I won't drive in an uninsured autocross. I can't afford the cost if
someone gets hurt by my car, no matter who did the original stupid act
that led to the injury.

--
Ken (Del Val Miata Club)

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  Ken Warren             |"Nothing good has ever been reported about the
                         | full rotation of a race car about either its
  E-Mail: kenw@netaxs.com| pitch or roll axis."            Carroll Smith
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