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My biggest concern with lending my car out to strangers is many insurance policies don't give the replacement value of the car if it's totaled. Typically to purchase an equal vehicle (based on year, mileage, condition), you would need to spend up to 10-20% more.

Although, I've seen a few car insurance polices offer "gap coverage" at a nice premium to make up for the difference.

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Not my experience. I've had three cars totaled over the years and always gotten what I felt was a more than fair market value settlement. I've always carried major-name insurance which isn't the cheapest but have always been taken care of when I needed it.

People often get emotionally attached to their cars and are not realistic about what they are worth.

Edit: I can easily see an insurance co. refusing to pay for damages caused while you "rented out" your car, unless you are specifically insured for that.

always gotten what I felt was a more than fair market value settlement

Yup. Me too, fortunately just one time.

I paid $20,000 for an Acura Integra. Five years later it was stolen. State Farm gave me over $16,000. I'd love for that to be a more regular occurrence (but not frequent enough that they'd cancel the policy).

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