Auto Insurance

Thursday, May 20, 2010

5 Excellent Ways to Find the Best Auto Insurance Quote for You

Times are tough and now more than ever you need to ensure that the money you spend is really worth it. Sadly, one of the things that people try to cut on when money is tight is auto insurance (or any type of insurance for that matter). However, this is the very last thing you should do.

No one ever knows when accidents occur and should you ever find yourself on a road accident where you are at fault, car insurance can save you from financial ruin. So no, don’t scrimp on vehicle insurance. However, there are ways when you can get the best auto insurance rate that can save you literally thousands of dollars down the road. Following are some of these tips.

Work on a having a good driving history.
Insurance companies are taking a risk on your driving habits. As such, if you have a good driving track record, then chances of you getting in a road accident (and ergo chances of the insurance company needing to make a payout) are slim. So, good driving record = better car insurance rates.

Know your credit score. Your credit score is one of the things an insurer takes into consideration when figuring out the auto insurance quote to give you. If your credit score is bad, this means your finances are not good, which means you’re a big risk for the insurance company, which in turn means you get a high car insurance rate.

What a lot of people don’t realize is that there are often mistakes in one’s credit score! The best thing to do here is for you to know your credit score NOW and fix any erroneous entries by getting in touch with credit report companies to get these mistakes out and thus improve your credit score. In the end, a good credit score = better car insurance rates!

Read auto insurance reviews online and learn from other people’s experience! With your good driving record history and better credit score in hand it’s time to seek the best car insurance providers. The best way to find these providers is to learn from the experience of others. A great place to be better informed is to visit AutoInsuranceReviewer.com (AIR).

AIR is third-party site where thousands of people just like you sign up and post their own personal reviews of car insurance providers they’ve dealt with. The review criteria for each vehicle insurance company are: Extent of Coverage, Claims, Customer Service, and Car Insurance Cost.

After short-listing your potential car insurance providers, don’t ring them all up as that takes a lot of time. Instead, check out car insurance quote sites online where you can fill out your details once and have the site submit your information to your chosen car insurance providers. Let THEM do the work of getting your business!

Take higher deductibles. If you can afford it, opt to pay a higher deductible (the amount you need to pay the auto insurance company before they pay any claims) than normal. It may be steep at the start but this means paying lower monthly premiums too, which in the long run means more savings for you.

Go ahead and be cheeky… ask for a discount! Nowadays, there are plenty of discounts that can be had on car insurance (e.g., low mileage drivers, presence of anti-theft gadgets in the car, car-poolers, etc.) but in many cases you do have to ask for them! So go ahead and ask! Hey, it’s your money, right?

If you are reading this article I assume you have previous experience regarding getting a car loan. Maybe you have applied to few big names and been rejected due to credit score. Maybe you even applied to few bad credit or subprime lenders but still been turned down due to a lack of credit, after all your frustrations you are ready to give up getting a new car. Just wait a second, there is an option for you if your credit score is really bad. There is few car loan providers located in the Toronto area who is willing to offer you no credit check car loans. These loans are funded privately, usually the dealerships or the owners themselves. No credit check required means no credit check required literally. The only requirement they will have is for a small amount of down payment usually less than $500.

If you are bumping into wall after wall trying to get approved the traditional way, maybe it is time for you to step back and take a good look at your financial and personal situation. If you need a vehicle badly enough for work or family, there is no other choice out there other than no credit check car loans. These loans are usually been lend out at a higher interest rate, but the plus side to the story is you can actually regain credit score through these loans. With good repayment history, your credit score can rise over time. And pretty soon you would be able to negotiate on terms such as the selling price of the vehicle or the annual interest rate and so on.

So the next time you are been turned down due to your credit history, don't give up your search yet. Just apply to a different loan source and you will be approved for a car loan without a credit check.

Once there is something goes wrong in your car, you may go to the repair shop and have a car diagnostics specialist take a look at it. However, it is costly. Do you want to tackle the problem yourself rather than take your car into the shop? If yes, then it is the site for you! Our site offers many auto products on car diagnostics. We strive to give you the most troubleshooting information as well.

Many years ago, tackling the problem yourself was a viable option if you knew your way around a car. But it is time consuming, sometimes it was a case of trial and error, checking and re-checking. Nowadays however, most cars have electronic control systems installed, you are able to check your car with a diagnostic tool, such as diagnostic connector and OBD-II code reader. In this way, you can clear out the OBD-II trouble codes in an easy way. Just follow the descriptions and do it step by step! You will finally be successful. Probably the greatest difference between car diagnostics before and car diagnostics today is that there are diagnostic technicians who are completely mobile now, saving the consumer, time, money and inconvenience

Even if there is no problem with your car, you might still need the services of a car diagnostic technician if, for example, you want to turn off the airbag facility, due to small babies, elderly or sick people being put at risk by traveling in a seat where a front-facing airbag is active. A car diagnostic technician can help you do this.
In some countries where extreme weather conditions prevail, it is worthwhile having a car diagnostic technician check over your car on a regular basis. In this way you can prevent potentially life-threatening problems from occurring.

I would like to start this article with a famous quote from oil baron Paul Getty "if it appreciates, buy it. If it depreciates, lease it". Many would say that is money management 101 or simply think it is common sense. So why buy a new car when you can lease it.

Mr. Getty's saying is a perfect fit for fleet managers and business owners alike who are building or renewing their fleets. In this article I'll point out key benefits to why leasing can be a real money saver from a business perspective.

When you buy a new car, be it privately or for a business, the minute you drive it off the forecourt it starts to depreciate, in other words you are loosing money the moment you drive your new car out of the garage you bought it from. This brings another subject into play, car depreciation, but that is content for another article.

Even though I won't discuss car depreciation in detail here, that is something you have to take for granted when leasing or contract hiring a car or a whole fleet. I recommend German cars as they depreciate far less than other brands. More on this later.

First of all let us understand the concepts of car leasing. The concepts of leasing a car are fairly simply, yet many business owners and fleet managers are often sceptical about it. First of all car leasing is not renting as many people mistakenly believe.

That said, leasing is a financial method, similar to a loan. When you lease a car you will be paying a set amount a month to purchase a new vehicle, but this vehicle won't be yours. At this point you might be asking yourself, what is the point in all this, paying for something that won't be mine?

If you asked yourself this question, I have to agree with you to a certain extent, but there other benefits that make car leasing more attractive than buying a new car. First, monthly payments are on average 30% to 60% cheaper than the ordinary car loan and there isn't the need for a huge upfront deposit. In general the majority of car leasing companies will only ask for a deposit of 3 monthly payments.

Second, you can renew your fleet every 2 to 4 years depending on your leasing contract. Not to mention that road taxes are usually included in the lease price and as they are brand new vehicles, warranty covers most of the maintenance costs.

Third, as afore mentioned maintenance costs are little to none specially because when you lease you will always have new car in hand and you do not need to worry about it breaking down unless it is a manufacturers problem. In those cases maintenance is also free of charge.

Fourth, no used car hassles, Lease and eliminate the headaches of trying to sell used cars. With leasing you simply return it to the leasing company and choose a new one. Imagine renewing your whole fleet of vehicles by simply ringing your leasing company and scheduling it, no hassles, no time off work hopping from dealer to dealer after the best deals.

As you can see there are countless benefits that make car leasing better than buying from a business standpoint. A recent study revealed that 20% to 25% of all new cars, trucks, SUVs, and vans are leased. In the premium segment numbers are even higher, approximately 75% of luxury cars purchased in the UK are leased.

Determining the lease price of a car

To determine the lease price of a given car, a series of factors are to be considered. First we have the initial purchase price, it is brand new, millage and condition are disregarded, if it is a used car these three factors are brought into the equation.

But the two most important factors that will influence your monthly payments are residual value and depreciation. Residual value is an estimate of the value a given vehicle will have when it reaches the end of the lease.

As afore mentioned depreciation has a great influence in the final price of your monthly payments. In short, it refers to the reduction in the car's value caused by age. Brand and model are closely related to depreciation, as some brand depreciate less than others.

Reason why I recommend German cars is their depreciation factor is way better than other brands like some Asian brands like KIA and Hyundai. For instance, you can lease an Audi for less than £240 a month, way less than what you will pay a loan on the same car.

Car insurances prices are increasing on the back of the credit crunch and are hitting drivers hard at a time when many can’t afford the extra expense. Unfortunately, more and more people are simply not getting auto insurance. This is foolish, and can result in financial ruin if an accident occurs.

However, there are ten simple ways to reduce the price of your auto insurance which moneysupermarket.com have come up with based on their vast experience with car insurance firms:

1. Work on a having a good driving history-Insurance companies are taking a risk on your driving habits. As such, if you have a good driving track record, then chances of you getting in a road accident (and ergo chances of the insurance company needing to make a payout) are slim. So, the better you drive the cheaper your insurance.
2. Cut down your mileage- Reducing the number of miles you travel will also reduce the price of your insurance. However, don’t go over the mileage you state as this will render your policy void if you have an accident after you pass the limit.
3. Know your credit score- Your credit score is one of the things an insurer takes into consideration when figuring out the auto insurance quote to give you. If your credit score is bad, this means your finances are not good, which means you’re a big risk for the insurance company, which in turn means you get a high car insurance rate. What a lot of people don’t realize is that there are often mistakes in one’s credit score! The best thing to do here is for you to know your credit score NOW and fix any erroneous entries by getting in touch with credit report companies to get these mistakes out and thus improve your credit score. In the end, a good credit score means cheaper insurance.
4. buy online- most auto insurance firms offer cheaper deals online than they in store or over the phone due to reduced admin costs.
5. Shop around- It’s easy to simply accept an offer from your current insurer. However, moneysupermarket.com believes that shopping around and getting quotes from different insurers can save the average driver $326 a year.
6. Read online reviews- The only danger with shopping around is that you don’t know what the customer service will be like from the new insurer. Therefore try visiting AutoInsuranceReviewer.com (AIR). AIR is third-party site where thousands of people just like you sign up and post their own personal reviews of car insurance providers they’ve dealt with.
7. Haggle for a deal- Nowadays, there are plenty of discounts that can be had on car insurance but they won’t simply be given to you. So go ahead and ask! More often than not if you inform them that you have been offered cheaper elsewhere but would prefer the level of service offer by them, they will lower their prices.
8. Take higher deductibles- If you can afford it, opt to pay a higher deductible (the amount you need to pay the auto insurance company before they pay any claims) than normal. It may be steep at the start but this means paying lower monthly premiums too, which in the long run means more savings for you. However, it is a risk as it will mean you are more at risk if you do have an accident.
9. Park safely- Where you car is parked during the day and at night will influence the amount you pay, and if your insurers are told your car is parked on a driveway or in a garage, they are inclined to reduce the price of your policy. However, if your car is damaged when parked on the road outside your house when you have stated on your policy that you park in a garage, expect to have problems when making a claim.
10. Fit an alarm- Fitting an approved alarm and/or immobiliser is another great way of reducing your insurance price as it reduces the chance of your car being stolen.