Owning is a car is complete pleasure – not. The moment you drive it home, you will be reminded by the many responsibilities and documents you’ll have to accomplish to register it. And of the many things a car will cost you, one of them is the insurance. You know how hard it is out there on the road. One can be too careful, but when disaster strikes, you’d hope you had car insurance. If the cost bothers you, take heed of these suggestions so you can be wiser about it.

Compare insurance deals. Just like any insurance deals, don’t take the first proposal you receive. Instead, look around for insurance companies that offer the best rates. It also pays to read the policies fully so that you will be knowledgeable of the insurance’s coverage and limitations. You’d want an insurance company that doesn’t give you any hassle during a claim. You could also ask your colleagues for referrals on car insurance.

Once a proposal interests you, bombard the agent with all the questions in your head until you’re a hundred percent sure that the coverage gives you the most advantages, as compared to the others. Read the fineprint!

Use the insurance for major damages. (Or, if your car gets stolen.) It would be unwise to avail your insurance just to cover a little scratch. Most insurance policies would demand a participation fee, which, oftentimes is more than the cost of having a small ding or scratch repaired.

Choose your car wisely. If you were to buy a car, don’t just think of its coolness factor or how shiny it is. It would be more practical to look at costs a particular car will have you paying in the long run. Usually if the car is kick-ass, the higher you will tend to pay for it because it’s more prone to theft. There was a time when hatchback safety records were so poor that insurance for hatches were a killer. So try to find out which car would have the best premium buck per bang.

Remember that person who bought a BMW she can’t really afford? How about you? Have you said, “I’m broke!” How many times did you hear yourself say that? Money goes out faster than it comes in so you just can’t seem to hold on to it for a long time. If you can only track where most of your expenses go, you might be surprised that your car has been eating up a big slice of your income pie. And since we both know you love your car next only to yourself, you might have overspent on it on some days. Can you afford this?

There is a clear economic mechanism behind ownership of cars. The question of buying new or buying used is an age-old issue. Buying new means that you make enough to make the monthly payments. Sure you get a 3 to 5 year bumper to bumper warranty. But would that cover the huge depreciation of cars per year? Buying used means that you gamble on reliability in exchange for more mileage and a much lower sticker price.

The moment you own a car, you also sign up for a lot of costs. So before you drive home those wheels, ask yourself practical and reasonable questions. Do you really need a car? If you hate public transportation, you might think you have to get a car soon. But don’t forget you have alternatives such as car pooling with your friends. If you really feel the need to drive, you can still save loads by getting one of those slightly-used cars instead of getting a super shiny and super expensive SUV.

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I’m a tightwad myself though I have to admit that I takes a lot of planning and budgeting to even save up 40% of my monthly income. Even if that meant not finishing my project car quickly or not buying a brand new car at all. But some people just can’t resist buying a swanky car. However, there’s a lot they don’t get about simply buying one. Here’s one case.

Vivian Snyder bought a brand new BMW (no model mentioned, but MSRP’s supposedly $100,000 so that might be an M6). Now, most of us common folk would just dream about owning one. She probably did and got herself one. The catch. She’s only making $2500 a month. On a disability check no less! Payment for the car takes up $1300 of it a month. And now she’s blaming the dealership for the “scam.”

Now that shouldn’t be the case as dealerships, by principle, should be doing a credit and income check on potential buyers to make sure they can make the payments. With Snyder’s case, she got the car without presenting any documents and the dealer bloated her income to allow her to buy the car.

It’s a case of who should get blamed for what. The dealership for seedy practices? Or the buyer for not even . I have to admit that, sometimes, consumerism can drive us wild but taking on something without being clear with the cost would be is careless. So who’s to blame?

Source: CBS 5 via Subdriven

Yearly, you pay for your auto insurance coverages so that just in case some crazy motorist (or pedestrian) decides to make life miserable for you by involving you in an accident, you’d be able to claim something. And it is definitely handy at times given all the crazy drivers out there. Better safe than sorry.

An interesting scenario: What if some jerk cuts your lane and causes you to swerve and crash against the road railing. The whole side of your car is damaged and the jerk sped off. Will you still be covered by your insurance? But there’s no actual contact. The jerk never hit you anyway.

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Getting insurance should really depend on a lot of factors. Many swear by a comprehensive insurance since it will ultimately shield you from a lot of liabilities just in case you meet that “You’ve really done it this time” situation. However, as time goes by, your car depreciates and repair costs would vary. and if you’re pretty much a safe drive who just drives his car a few miles to work, you might just be paying insurance that might be enough to buy you a newer car.

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