AverageVetteNut

When I traded in my 2005 Titan in on my Cobalt SS ( after owning the truck 6 months from new ), I was $7k upside down before downpayment...

The dealer's finance person is the one who brought up the Gap insurance to me, and I got it included in the cost of the car, and it added $8 a month to the payment.

Well WELL worth it IMO. If you are in a pinch and this kinda thing happens to you, it is a lifesaver should the car get stolen, wrecked, etc...

I'd be 8K in the hole if I wrecked it tonight and it was totalled and didn't have it.

mich150

That's funny. If you were smart enough to save 60K, you would be smart enough to make more than 2,500 on your cash. Just goes to show that you are living check to check and bought a vehicle that you cant afford. 60K at 10%+/year duh... Can you do the math? Pay cash and put liability on the car and you save $150 a month in insurance plus what your (sorry, you're) paying in GAP. I have a free car every 10 years for what you are paying in idioit fees. Kids, save your money, buy a car you can afford and leave the money making to people with brains.

mich150

If you buy a car with tax, title and license included in what you financed with 0 down, I want to help you. You will forever be broke and never save any money. Please be smart and don't live your life for a car and a payment. Learn how to make money and save for a want. Econimics 101, wants are unlimited! Someone please back me up! Why do you think the US in the credit crunch we are experiencing? The bank should not be able to give you this loan. You should have to put 20-30% down and earn what you get. We all need a wake up call... Thats why I pay cash, for all the idioits out there! Thanks for the income...

Duallyvette

Flame me too. I don't believe in gap insurance, extended warranties, and most other insurance coverages. These "products are designed to make MONEY for the sellers, not to help you in a time of need. The odds are in their favor. I ask my insurance agent how much health insurance would cost in order to cover anything that could possibly happen to me. He said that you could add several policy's, but he, I and five other well off people couldn't afford to pay for it. There's no guarantees in this life. crap happens and it costs money. While your buying gap insurance, did you forget credit life insurance, the interior/exterior protection package ? etc.... The finance manager at the dealership makes LOTS of PROFIT selling things that cost the seller, and are worth, very little. You might as well invest at the roulette wheel in Vegas or in lottery tickets !!!

Cjunkie

hmmm i think your intelligence just came through with a statement like that.

Cjunkie

smart move

AverageVetteNut

I have no problem making the payments.. hence why I pay between $50-100 more a month than what the payment is and have it applied to principal.

The $8 a month is well worth my piece of mind. Yes, in reality I could be throwing that money away, but should the unthinkable happen... I'm not having to come up with the $ then.

Duck916

So, how much liability coverage do you carry?

I own a couple cars outright (not my Vette). I still carry collision coverage on them because I don't want to take a $20,000 loss if one gets totaled. The cost of the physical damage coverage is only about $400 a year (each), a reasonable amount to pay for $20K in protection.

You're right that, on average, any insurance product is a money loser in that the insurer expects to make a profit overall. Still, we all have different thresholds of risk. I wouldn't buy collision coverage on a $5000 car, but I do on the $20,000 cars. Some people I know with more money than me won't put collision coverage on a $100,000 car. The difference is our taste and capacity for risk, not our intelligence.

mikeyc6

I tend to agree, most of the time. Think of it this way, it's all about statistics. If, statistically, they didn't make more money off you by selling you the insurance, they wouldn't sell it at all! So if you are being charged $500 for insurance, you can bet your last penny that means on average, people spend less than $500 when they are not insured. So the "value" of what you are buying is, statistically, less than $500. Now, do you want to risk being on the losing end of that statistic? There are certainly people who have gotten back much more than the $500 they put into it. All depends on if it "scares" you to have to pay out if you happen to be unlucky enough to have it happen to you. $500 to a lot of people is worth the peace of mind.

Mike

Gattaca

Never argue with an idiot, they bring you down to their level and beat you with experience.

I personally would not purchase Gap Insurance but I would purchase an extended warranty if I knew I would hold onto the car for a number of years.

yarbsea

DUDES you are all crazy if you don't buy GAP. POINT BLANK.Unless you pay cash for your car - Don't believe me? Then check out http://www.geocities.com/yarbsea

I had a brand new dodge pickup...flipped it, burned up...crispy. If I hadn't bought that "unnecessary" $300 gap coverage I would have had to cover the difference of around 5 grand - and that's just BASIC depreciation without fees/taxes/etc.

Instead of acting high and mighty about "cash is king" - get real. Join most of us in the REAL WORLD. I fly jets in the USAF and make about 75k so no dude, I can't stash away 50k and pay cash. And you know what, I'd rather borrow the money today and drive than get killed in some random country and never have experienced the PLEASURE you must feel being able to pay cash. So congratulations - you're set...leave us peon's to our own devices.

armyyellow05

Enlisted here so I definitely feel that. Go try and kick in doors in Iraq for a few months and see if you give a flip about those kinds of things.... Enjoy it today you cant take it with you.

Shangreer

LOL, I love guys like this. How much you want to bet, he hasn't got a dollar to his name? Probably driving around in a 15 year old Mustang bragging to everyone about how he could own a Vette if he really wanted one, but he really likes his Mustang.

One thing you can always count on is that people who have money don't need to brag about it. The ones who brag don't. And, while I don't have an opinion about Gap insurance, I think anyone who buys at $60,000 car and only puts liability on it has more money than sense. The other thing in life you can count on is that someone else's stupidity is going to destroy your hard earned toys. I'd just as soon have insurance when that happens. I am only 36 and have had 3 cars damaged ($2500 plus) and I have never hit a soul.

Shan

Ghost Rider Jay

ok...so that idiot that wrote about not being able to afford the car if you finance it...what a f$%@in idiot! the guy is nuts! why pay for a car cash when you could use the banks money for free. especially the people with 0% financing. i leased the car and i leased my other car as well. i'm 25 with 2 cars. definately not broke. i own my own business and my own home. i'm on the right track! as far as the gap insurance goes...unfortunately the car wasn't a total loss so i didn't take advantage of the gap insurance. but if it would have been a more severe accident than i would have only paid about $8.00 to the gap insurance which would have covered about $5000.00 it's easy math. why are there so many ignorant people on this earth! i get my car back next week...woo hoo!

mich150

I am so far behind... You must be the same guys that are buying your vettes' on a reverse mortgage and still working at 75!

Thrill6

$150 a month for comprehensive and collision insurance? I pay $300 per YEAR for that on my 07 vert for that (liability is another $300). I could have paid cash for my car, but I still financed it. I still have my 65k earning more money than the 5% interest on the loan, plus I still have the 65k in the bank! Even if I paid cash, I would still have full coverage because if I wreck the car, or it got stolen I would be out the value of the car. $300 is cheap insurance.

For the sake of your example, $1,800 year in savings on insurance would take you 15 years to have enough money to buy another $60k car even if you earned 10% return on the savings. If cars go up 2% every year (along with the insurance savings to make things equal), it would take 19 years before you could purchase another inflation adjusted vehicle of the same cost with the earned savings. If you have enough money to pay cash for a car I suggest that you take some of that money and buy yourself a college education. Looks like you could use it.

moolys

That was a nice DSOM Vert it broke my heart to see the car all busted up like that glad that your family was ok well you got another orange I think for O9 it is discontinued I saw that on another post we will see.

mvcrash

Lets have discussion with no name calling please...

3and8fan

Question about gap ins and amount of loan. When I purchased my 07 coupe I took out a 10,000 loan. Three banks said I could NOT get gap ins for this loan. The amount financed was too low. One of the banks was Bank of America. What loan amount does gap ins become avalible?

Duck916

Gap insurance covers the difference between the loan amount and the value of the car (as paid by insurance). Unless your $10,000 loan has an amortization schedule of 10 years or longer, you will never have a "gap" to worry about. Your car will always be worth more than the loan balance.

Banks will sell gap coverage on a $10,000 loan, but it would only make sense if the car's value had a chance of dipping below the balance of the loan.

I'm pleased (and a little surprised) the bank refused to sell you something you didn't need.