Six Tips for Buying a New Car

Are you looking to buy a new car? Whether you’re looking for a family minivan, a sporty car, or a fuel-efficient vehicle, here are six tips to factor into your research.

 

1. Check the safety ratings – The nonprofit Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) offers vehicle safety ratings. Its annual list of Top Safety Picks are based on how well a vehicle protects its occupants in a crash. They also compile a list of insurance losses by make and model. These insurance loss results generally are good predictors of the experience of current versions of the same vehicle models.

 

2. Go green – The Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Vehicle Guide can help you pick the cleanest and most fuel-efficient vehicle to meet your needs. It provides information about the environmental performance of vehicles and provides you with dynamic search and sort capabilities, including a side-by-side comparison of three vehicles. You can also view a list of the EPA’s most and least fuel-efficient vehicles.

 

3. Check your coverage – You should contact our agent to see what the new insurance rate will be for your new car. The vehicle make and model are among the several factors that may affect the cost of your auto policy.

 

4. Update your auto policy – After buying your new care, try to contact your Agent the next business day to add your new car and review your coverages to ensure you’re properly insured.

 

5. See if your policy offers New Car Replacement Coverage – New cars depreciate quickly; the standard auto policy only offers actual cash value and the compensation may only be enough to purchase a used car as a replacement. Your agent may be able to offer an endorsement that protects your new car against depreciation for some period of time.

6. Add road service coverage / Rental Car Expense – No one likes to be stranded by a broken-down car. If your car becomes disabled, Road Service coverage pays for reasonable auto towing and required labor costs at the site of the vehicle breakdown, it may max at some amount (ex. $50 or $75). If your car is at an auto body shop due to an insurance claim, would your family need a rental car during this period? If they would, you may want to purchase Rental Car expense; this coverage would provide you with funds to pay for the rental car while your car is being repaired.