How to Decide How Much Kansas Auto Insurance Your Used Car Really Needs

How to Decide How Much Kansas Auto Insurance Your Used Car Really Needs

When you were a teenager, did you have full coverage on your first car? Probably not. Most of us didn't. Why? Because our parents didn't think it was worth paying exorbitant auto insurance rates for a clunker we were almost guaranteed to total sooner or later! Now that you're an adult it's up to you, not your parents, and you're going to have to make a decision about how much Kansas auto insurance your used car really needs.

How Much Is Your Car Worth?

How used is your used car?

There are a couple of things you need to think about before you start calling around collecting auto insurance quotes. First and foremost, how much is your car worth? It's a sad but true fact that if you spent $500 or less on your car you're probably going to spend more to put comprehensive and collision coverage on it than your Kansas auto insurance provider is going to give you if you total it. Sometimes it just makes sense to stick with basic liability.

How Much Do You Have Saved?

I'm not trying to be pushy, but let's face it. Finances play a huge role when you go car shopping. If you don't have enough money to buy another car upfront and/or your credit's not up to the job of getting a car loan in today's strained market it makes sense to make the extra investment each month to make sure your car's protected-at least until you're in a better position to buy a new one.

What Are Your State's Minimum Liability Limits?

It doesn't matter how much of a clunker you (or your teenager) happen to be tooling around town with, you never want to be completely without auto insurance. Your car might only be worth $200, but that doesn't mean that you won't run into a $30,000 Chevy that you're going to be expected to replace. Not to mention the fun of having your license suspended for driving without a Kansas auto insurance policy. The costs, expenses, fees and legal mess of driving uninsured or underinsured can drag on for years, and that's just not a position you want to be in.

What Type of Car Do You Have?

Believe it or not, there are certain types of cars that seem to attract trouble like a magnet, even used. After all, if your car becomes used the minute you drive it off the lot we're all driving around in used cars, right? If you check out the Highway Loss Data Institute you'll find a list of the cars that are statistically more likely to be involved in an accident or be stolen, and most of them aren't new! If your car's on this list and it's going to cost more to replace than you have lying around in your bank account you're going to want to make sure you're covered by a good comprehensive and/or collision policy.

No point in setting yourself up for disaster.