Please recommend some car insurance (USA)

[Mrs. Garrison]

I am long time State Farm customer. I have never had a problem with any of my policies or claims and have several policies with them.

I have State Farm too and never had a problem. I had a janky insurance years ago and then someone rear ended me and the person had State Farm.. they took care of me so well, got me a rental car and fixed my car up. Everything went so smoothly and I felt like they really took care of me so I decided to switch to them.

I've had State Farm for many, many years, and have my house insured with them too. They have always treated me well, and were absolutely stellar in getting my car repaired last fall when I got T-boned by the teenager who turned in front of me.

I have been with the same State Farm agent since 1999 and had great luck with them. The agents office was blown away by a tornado earlier that year...

I have both cars and the house through them, giving me multi-car + multi line discount. The only claim i have had was during a major hail storm we had back in 2010....which damaged one vehicle and also the roof on my house had to be replaced. They took care of me promptly and im satisfied with the process.

Over the years i have had several discounts, which keep my premiums pretty low. I have a friend who is an insurance agent, i ran my figures by him just to see if he could compete with them, he said "no way...stick with what you got". Ive heard that from other companies like Allstate, for instance, nobody can touch State Farm.

Prior to State Farm i had a brief encounter with Progressive, who quoted me one figure for coverage but when i signed up with them and sent in the initial payment they suddenly sent me a bill for $500 more for the 6 month period! I was high risk at that time, but in my initial conversations with them i was very forthcoming about all of my excessive speeding tickets....so they should have taken that into consideration with their initial quote, which was basis for me choosing them. Instead they mislead me....which i haven't forgotten. While others here have had good luck with Progressive....i wouldn't use them again if they were free

 

[hand0lotion]

I have USAA also since my father was an officer in the military. Love it. They have the best customer service and rates. Funny when other car insurance companies try to sell me a policy, I tell them I have USAA and they just go, oh, ok... thanks for your time. They know they can't beat it. They also offer other services and from what I understand you don't have to be a military family or relation for some of the services offered. I found this on a financial blog: or you can just straight to the usaa.com website.

Who Can Join USAA?

Hmm, from skimming this article, doens't look like USAA offers car insurance for non-military. But thanks for sharing-- maybe others on the board can benefit

 

[hand0lotion]

I'm going to ressurect this thread for 2 more questions (please help ):

-if the car I'm getting is a real cheapie (US$3000 to 5000 from a dealers' lot, which means the car is actually worth less than that), should I still go with comprehensive coverage and the bells and whistles (like how the people posting on this thread suggested)? I am really hoping for some coverage if I total my car, I can't lose all $3000-5000 if I get into an accident. I'm a college kid and that's LOT of $$ to me!

-what is the order of buying a car off the dealer's lot? Is it: test-drive, negotiate the price, drive it off to a mechanic, drive it back a few days later (once the mechanic is done), either return the car or make a payment, THEN call the car insurance company just before I'm driving it off the lot after I've paid for it?

It seems incredulous that the dealer people will let me drive it off for a few days to take to a mechanic. I guess I have to put some kind of deposit?

 

[Mrs. Garrison]

I would get enough coverage to make sure that if you are involved in an accident that any and all damage would be paid for. For instance, if you are at fault in an accident that the damage exceeds your policy limits, you could personally be held liable for the balance.

As for buying the car, once you have done the research at home on the type of car you want, you find several that you want to look at and then go for a test drive. Don't buy the first car you look at! I know that sounds crazy, but some people actually do that. Make sure you look long and hard to know whats out there and try to make the best deal. Most pre-owned cars or private party cars wouldn't not mind if you take the vehicle off to a mechanic for inspection, though they probably want you to return it within hours and not days. Keep in mind, if you dont buy that car then the amount of time you have it out for inspection is lost time for them because they might have another buyers for that car show up while you are getting it looked at. Im sure they would copy your info and request you only put XXX miles on it while having it looked at. Or if its a private party, you might ask the owner if you can bring a mechanic with you (if you know someone who is willing to go with you).

Once you negotiate your best deal, then you arrange your financing or payment terms. If you are paying cash then thats another issue. Its admirable that you would do that, but since you brought up the mechanical aspect of this, might i suggest that you buy a new car with a warranty to avoid any mechanical problems (for at least a few years anyway)? This way you get a warranty along with piece of mind. Lets say you have $5000 cash today, you find a used car and you strike a deal on it at $4000, leaving you only $1000 left to get your insurance and pay for your title and registration, taxes. Then you have the car 6 months and your transmission goes out...no warranty....and you find out its going to cost $2000 to replace. Or you need new tires....brakes...etc. Sure some of this would be discovered when the mechanic looks at it....but he might not catch all of the problems. Like if the engine block develops a crack and suddenly you need a new engine...

Im not trying to scare you away from buying a used car, mind you, im just trying to point out that if you put down a couple of thousand for a cheaper new car then you might get a really good APR on a loan and have a really cheap payment plus a lot of piece of mind.

That said....cause i really dont know much about your situation....if you have a good relationship with a good mechanic then by all means use their judgement and advice. There are lots of great used cars out there to be had that would probably suit your needs.

Best of luck to you!

 

[hand0lotion]

Thank you so much, Mrs Garrison, you've been most helpful. I don't think I could do a new car though, de-values too quick. Even a 3-4 year old economy car is gonna stretch it for me if it sells for ~$8000. eep.

The used car dealers I'm looking at sell their cars as-is, but they said I could take it to a mechanic to check over first. (thanks for putting the perspective of hours, not days in my head). They said they need to see my 'full coverage insurance card' before I can drive it to my mechanic, and I'm like WTF. I've never owned a car in the US, of course I don't have car insurance now. Don't think I can just buy 'full coverage car insurance' off the bat either, right?

I'm going with a friend's dad to the dealership but I don't want to impose on their family's car insurance plan and put myself under their plan as I drive a few miles to the mechanic. It's really my last resort as there are limits to my imposing-ness on other people.

 

[Mrs. Garrison]

Thank you so much, Mrs Garrison, you've been most helpful. I don't think I could do a new car though, de-values too quick. Even a 3-4 year old economy car is gonna stretch it for me if it sells for ~$8000. eep.

The used car dealers I'm looking at sell their cars as-is, but they said I could take it to a mechanic to check over first. (thanks for putting the perspective of hours, not days in my head). They said they need to see my 'full coverage insurance card' before I can drive it to my mechanic, and I'm like WTF. I've never owned a car in the US, of course I don't have car insurance now. Don't think I can just buy 'full coverage car insurance' off the bat either, right?

I'm going with a friend's dad to the dealership but I don't want to impose on their family's car insurance plan and put myself under their plan as I drive a few miles to the mechanic. It's really my last resort as there are limits to my imposing-ness on other people.

I would check with the Dealership and see if they offer some type of warranty on what they are selling. Also, you could ask the mechanic to see if he could accompany you to the lot. As for having insurance prior to the sale, probably not going to happen unless you are put on a family members insurance and then you could drive it off.

Of course the dealership is just trying to cover their ass on this one, they have insurance on all their vehicles they sale and all their salespeople. If you test drive the vehicle (with a salesperson) and get into an accident then you are covered on their policy. But i get their point too.