Car Insurance, Loan, Purchase, Lease Decisions

What to do when you are ready to embark on a Car or Truck shopping project

These days there are really great tools for all of us who want to be well educated and ready for getting the best deal possible.  One of the latest new tools is the web site Checkbook.org

This site provides you with the ability to find out each week what are the current incentives that are being given to dealers in your geographic area.  The newsletter / list of incentives costs US$7.

You need to check out also your local credit union to find out what are the best loan deals at the moment.  There are rarely good deals given by the auto manufacturer or the car dealership.

You need to check out also the local library and read the recent issues of Consumers Reports, of course you can also check out Consumers Reports Web site to see whether the vehicle you are considering is considered reliable and what is its safety record.

For the later, the safety record, you can also check out the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Which Cars Have the Lowest Insurance Costs?

Out of the nation’s 20 best-selling vehicles, the cheapest car to insure is the Chrysler Town & Country with the average insurance premium of $940. That’s according to insure.com. Other cars on insure.com’s list include the Ford Escape, GMC Sierra pickup and Chevrolet Impala. Insure.com also has the top 10 list for the most expensive models with the Dodge Ram pickup as the most expensive to insure with an average premium of $1,336.

According to insure.com, the differences in premiums are due such factors as histories of theft, repair costs and safety.

One thing interesting to note is the differences between the most and least expensive ones are not huge. If you exclude the two cheapest ones and the two most expensive ones, the differences are less than $200. So the differences may not seem that significant. But it may be more than other factors that effect the cost of a car like fuel efficiency. For example, the yearly cost difference between a car that averages 30 mpg compared to a car that averages 25 mpg is only $200. This assumes that you drive 10,000 miles a year and the gas price is $3/gallon.

State May Pay You for Replacing Your Vehicle

The state of Texas just recently started a new program called Drive a Clean Machine. The program is designed to remove older, more polluting vehicles from Texas roadways in counties with high ground-level ozone. Texas is using a carrot rather than a stick approach by giving vouchers worth $3,000 if you meet certain requirements. First, you have to live in participating Texas counties and your 2007 net income must be below certain limits. Second, your vehicle must meet certain conditions such as a failed emissions test or be at least 10 years old. Third, there are requirements for the car vehicle that you purchase. Please refer to the Texas website for the full details and for instructions on how to apply.

There are a lot of hoops to jump through, but the $3,000 ($3,500 for buying a hybrid) may make it worthwhile.

California also has a similar program, but it only pays $1,000.If you find other states with similar programs, please post links in the comments.

Useful Resource Before Shopping for Auto Insurance

Before you going shopping for car insurance quotes, you should check out auto insurance resources from your state’s website. In addition to providing basic insurance info, many states conduct yearly surveys of auto insurance premiums. You can use this to find some key auto insurers who might have the lowest premiums.

For example, here’s California’s auto insurance survey tool. You enter some basic info about yourself and the coverage that you’re looking for, and it’ll show you premiums from several insurers. These are not premium quotes, but you can use these to quickly find the best insurers. And unlike the private insurance websites, you don’t have to provide any personal identification.

Here are some of the best rates I found when I used this California tool. I specified Los Angeles in Burbank, basic liability only, 7,600 to 10,000 miles driving per year and no violations or accidents. Some of the best premiums included:

• Wawanesa $463
• Pacific Specialty $653
• Amica $699
• USAA $707
• Mercury $718
• Geico $767
• AAA $799

Here’s a list of states with links to their auto insurance premium comparisons:

• California auto insurance premium comparisons
• Florida auto insurance premium comparisons
• Kansas auto insurance premium comparisons
• Maine auto insurance premium comparisons (pdf)
• Michigan auto insurance premium comparisons (pdf)
• Missouri auto insurance premium comparisons
• Ohio auto insurance premium comparisons
• Texas auto insurance premium comparisons
• Virginia auto insurance premium comparisons (pdf)

I’ve left out many states, but I’ll keep working to expand it. If you have a link for a state that I haven’t included, please leave a comment.