According to Progressive Auto Insurance, here is the breakdown of reasons that cars are stolen in the U.S.: 55% were unlocked, 34% left the windows open, 6% left keys in the car!
Driving around without car insurance is illegal in most states
Do not drive around without auto insurance, it is illegal. In fact, most auto insurance companies will not insure you if you are currently uninsured. They won't even give you a quote. This is why it is important that you never let your car insurance coverage lapse. Allstate and GEICO are probably the only companies who will still give you car insurance coverage if you are currently uninsured.
Always shop around for the lowest car insurance rates
Note: Unfortunately, if you don't currently have car insurance, you won't be able to use Comparison Market, in this case, try GEICO instead. Comparison Market gives you a better way to shop for auto insurance. Instantly compare accurate rates from America's top insurance companies, including Travelers, The Hartford, Liberty Mutual, Safeco and others. Comparison Market allows you to:
Don't fall into the gap!
If you owe more on your car than it is worth, if you lease, or if you put down less than 20%, you should get Gap Coverage from Gapinsurancequotes.com. Most people refer to it commonly as "gap insurance". Don't even bother buying it from dealers, they charge $500-$700 when you can get it online directly from Gapinsurancequotes.com for less than 1/2 the car dealers. If you owe $20,000 on your car, but it's only worth $16,000, you're upside down. You total the car, or it's stolen, your insurance company gives you $16,000. You must still come up with $4000 to pay off the bank, plus your $500 deductible! Gap coverage protects you against this. The better ones cover up to $500 of your deductible.
Why you must get a copy of your driving record
I highly suggest you get a copy of your drivers license record BEFORE shopping for insurance. Many of us have errors in our driving report that drive up our auto insurance rates. I once paid a traffic ticket and attended driving school, but they never credited my driving record! How did I find out? Allstate canned me! That's not the way you want to find an error on your driving record. In the newspaper, a clerk of the court admitted they had a 20% error rate, and shrugged it off as normal. So lucky 20% me had my license suspended by mistake. Don't let this happen to you! Trust me, you don't want to go through what I did to fix it. If you go to driving school or pay fines, keep the receipt in your wallet for 3 years or until you renew your license! If you get pulled over by the police, it's your only salvation from being arrested for driving with a suspended license. Just like your credit history determines your car loan approval, your driving record determines how expensive your auto insurance will be.
VIN# Window Etching can Lower Your Insurance Premiums up to 15%
If the car dealer say it's already on the car and can't be removed, don't buy the car and save yourself $300-$900. You can get your own VIN etching kit cheaper online. VIN etching kits are about $19.95. Remember, lenders don't require you to buy useless extras. The only thing a lender requires you to do is pay back the loan.
Don't Forget To Budget In Auto Insurance And Warranties!
Don't overlook this important part of car buying, you'll be in for a shock later. Get a quote on the car you want, and most important of all, shop around! For discount car buying you'll see our recommendations for sites like InvoiceDealers, Cars.com, Yahoo!Autos, Autos.com, Edmunds.com, MyRide.com and CarsDirect, but don't just stop there, what about insurance? There's some good sites that help you find great deals on car insurance with insurance rate comparison engines. You'll be surprised how much some new cars cost to insure. Some cars are very difficult to insure. Years ago State Farm only insured my Trans AM GTA if I had an alarm and a garage. Insurers require a garage for Corvettes. Know your insurance costs before you buy a car, and plan your monthly budget accordingly to accommodate the insurance. A lot of people drop the ball on this one. Depending on where you live, you could pay $1400 a year for insurance on a new car. This is an average of $116 per month. This is where people make a big mistake, forgetting to include insurance in their budget. If you're buying a car on the hairy edge of what you can afford, insurance payments will drag you under. Insurance payments are part of your monthly cost of ownership.
While you're shopping for insurance, here's a few online sites that give you free quotes online. To get the most accurate pricing, be very accurate about the info you enter. Also, try to enter the exact same coverage you desire from each online site you visit, to get a true apples to apples comparison. These sites will give you quotes to compare before making your final decision. Get quotes from as many sites as possible to get your best price, then when you are ready to buy, call the company you chose and verify the price with them. When you decide to buy insurance, don't think you can be smart and neglect to tell them you had a speeding ticket last year. They'll find out when they check your driving record after you apply, even all your out of state tickets, and your rates will increase accordingly.
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