A couple of weeks ago I bought a used car in cash, and now I need to get used car insurance. Now, I know this car isn’t top of the line, but I’m not sure what kind of coverage I should get. Some help?

Anthony

Good question, Anthony.

Used cars tend to cost more in upkeep than do new cars, especially the used cars which can be bought for cash. They need more repairs more often and are less reliable on the road. On the bright side, though, you don’t have to make a monthly payment for them, so the only thing you need to think about is getting car insurance coverage, which confuses a lot more people than just you, Anthony. On one hand, everyone wants to protect their car, but that protection needs to be taken down a notch or two with used car insurance.

Every state except New Hampshire makes you get some kind of car insurance, usually just the basic liability.This coverage takes care of the other driver and their car insurance claims if you cause an accident, but the amount that the state makes you get normally isn’t enough to protect for real. If you want to stay on the safe side, I would get more liability than required. That goes even if you have the cheapest car in the world, and it goes even more so if you have a big, damage causing vehicle like an SUV.

When thinking about what kind of coverage you should get beyond just that, you have to take into account the cash amount that you paid for the car in the first place, and remember that you probably paid more than it is actually worth. If your car is worth than a thousand dollars, stick to the basic coverage. If it’s worth a little more, you should consider a little further and might decide to only get liability or to get a little more.

As someone who has had bad experiences with cash cars constantly breaking down, I suggest that for an older car you get mechanical breakdown coverage, since you normally don’t have the option of getting a guarantee. Not all car insurance companies offer this, but it is extremely useful. GEICO is one of the companies that does.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.

If I drive safe for three years straight, does my car insurance company have to give me better rates?

Don’t you wish?

Although it might be nice if safe driving automatically gained you cheap car insurance rates, it is not something that you can always take for granted. Some car insurance companies require longer periods of time, and other may factor in what exactly your previous offense were, or even how many non fault car insurance claims you have on record.

The best way to make sure you get better rates after a long period of safe driving is to make sure that you know this from the get go. Shop around and get safe driver auto insurance quotes online, and find out who gives safe drivers the best prices, when, and what the discounts are.

cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.

How do I save on the car insurance that I already have?

Luke

Great question.

Let me keep this simple and quick. There are so many ways to save on car insurance that you wouldn’t believe, but the easiest ways are the following three.

1. Jack up your deductible. Getting a low deductible brings higher car insurance premiums, and considering that you will rarely use that deductible, it just doesn’t make sense to be paying so much over time to pay a smaller price one time. Instead, keep out of your car insurance claims office when it comes to fender benders and save it for the serious stuff. Raise your deductible and make sure you have money set aside to pay for it should you ever have to make a claim.
2. Get rid of what you don’t need. A lot of people end up paying too much on their car insurance premium because they have coverage that just isn’t necessary. You can save a lot of money by going down to just the state minimum on your car insurance and getting rid of things like collision and comprehensive. As a warning, though, only do this if your car isn’t big on value. If you have a car that is worth a lot, stick with the bigger amount of coverage.
3. Discounts! There is a plethora of discounts out there from everything ranging from your report card to your air bags, and depending on the company, in some cases you could save more than three fourths the amount of your premium. It’s worth looking into if you have the qualities typical of a responsible driver, considering that you could save so much.
4. Shop around. You could get a much cheaper price than you have right now just by getting a free online auto insurance quote and comparing the quotes from different companies to see who is best in price with the most value.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.