CAR LOANS

[sahd03]

If you are upside-down on a car loan, is it worth a few more bucks a month to get gap protection? This is assuming you are going to suck it up and keep the car until it's paid off.

[Lucky13]

My vote is yes.

If your insurance claims your vehicle as a total loss they will most likely way under value what it's worth so the gap between what they will pay and what you owe can be thousands. When my R1 was stolen they way under valued the bike. I bought it in May for MSRP (10,299) and it was stolen in Oct. They valued the bike @ $7200. Needles to say I hadn't made 3k worth of payments. The gap insurance covered the difference.

[sahd03]

Yeah, considering how far I have to go and how much driving I do..... the $8/month might prove to be well worth it... it just kills me to admit that I was dumb enough to allow myself to get into this position....

I guess there's really no good reason NOT to get the protection...

[Lucky13]

I'm suprised it's a monthly cost..When I bought my bike it was a one time price written into the loan ($350 i think)....The only other thing I can add is check how it works. For my bike I couldn't use the gap insurance unless the difference was greater than $1000...

[sahd03]

I think this is similar. THere is a minimum gap and I think the min is the same. But again, given the length of time left on the loan, the min is probably not an issue.... Thanks for the input.

[TLRMan]

Hmmmm...just paid cash for my Wife's new 06 (car)...I guess i don't need that. BUT..it is worth every penny if you need to use it...

[sahd03]

I made a rash decision a year ago, regretted it and wanted out ASAP and then ended up where I am. For someone so snal about financial decisions, it was a first. And a last.

I'll finish out the loan with the gap protection. Either way, i'll have it until it's paid off - either it gets totalled (hopefully not) and paid off with the protection or I just wait until it's paid off and move on. Perhaps my new-to-me bike needs to wait...

[benVFR]

Cars are like that.. they get under your skin and convince you to make stupid decisions.

They've done a good job of programming us all over the years... even more apparent now that one of my brothers sells cars & my other brother will probably go work for GM/Ford/Chrysler next year when he graduates.