TongMan

I need to know if it's a good idea to get this or not. Or any other kind of insurance that is offered at the dealership. Thanks.

unsungfate

basically, if you wreck or someone steals your car, toyota will pay back the difference of what you owe.

Kilo6_one

gap insurance is almost a must these days........here is how it works basically

say you buy a Tc, and then total it..........the insurance you have may only pay off the actual value of the car,, and not what you currently may owe.
say next year you total the car, the value of the Tc with depriciation books out at 15,500 but you still owe 17,500 gap insuance will pay that difference you owe. these are hypothetical figures, but i highly recomend it.

basically with finacning these days unless you put down 20% you will always be what they called "flipped" . meaning owing more then the car is worth.
i would get it....its worth it, but if your financing through your bank should offer it, and its less usually.
also an extended warranty, that might be worth it too if you plan to keep the car longer then the 3 year/36k factory.

Mofolepo

I know its generally not a good idea to get anything from the dealer... I know you can shop around for a bunch of things like extended warranties, so I don't see why you can't get GAP insurance out of the dealer.

GAP insurance is good if you have financed your car for say 5 years.

If you total your car before 5 years, the insurance will only pay you for the value of the car at that time, and as with most cars, the value drops 4-6 grand the moment it rolls out of the lot.

GAP prevents the scenerio where you total your car, you get insurance to pay you for it, but you still have to get money out of your pocket to pay the remaining balance on the loan. Its up to you... my friend didn't have it and had to pay up when someone else smashed his car while it was parked on the side of the road.

paultg

I got my gap insurance through my auto ins. company. It is only $42/year.

Call around, either the loan provider will sell it to you, or your auto ins. company.

Paul G.

SquallLHeart

it's a good idea... i would've been screwed if i didn't have it on my first tC (some B$#!h totalled it)

Kilo6_one

my bank sold me mine for 1.50 per month.......

shawn30

i did a trade-in and was 3500 upside down
i got gap ins when i bought the tc
if something happened would the gap ins. cover the entire loan?

jasonbegin

i got it. your dumb not to... it was an extra 250 threw toyota, and i figured if anything happens, i want to be covered, and not total a car, and thenhave to worry about coming up with 2-3k to pay it off.


GET IT.

u never know

jasonbegin

YES, Gap covers what your insurance wont...

So with GAP, your 100% coverd

Tenaj

get it no matter how good of a driver you are...

see I wasnt that good of a driver, pushing the limits too much,

7 month old brand new tC into a telephone pole and I wouldve been screwed for about 3-4k if I didnt have gap.

~$240ish through my credit union, I would never buy a new(ish) car and not get gap

shawn30

so if i crashed my car the day after i got it...i would be gaining 3500?

jasonbegin

your a little slow huh.

TongMan

this insurance is only available for new car purchases right?

ZiggyXIV

Talk about your hasty generalizations.... I opted not to get the gap and have no regrets. Instead, I put about $3k down when I bought it. Comparing the actual cash value to what I owed on the car after that, if I totaled it, the insurance company would have covered the balance of the loan and still cut me a check for the difference.

Granted, if you're trying to buy with 0 down, it's not a bad thing to have, as it will save you if you're upside down in your financing, but as long as you make a decent down payment, it doesn't really gain you that much either.

Atreyused

I put 3000 down and still got the GAP Insurance. (Better safe than sorry!!)

I learned the hard way w/ my Honda Civic after it was stolen and never recovered after 2 1/2 years of my loan. The insurance company only paid for 75% of the value and I got stuck with paying the 2700 left on the loan for a car that I did not even have anymore. Belive me, paying for something you dont have is the worst feeling you can have....

Ergo_Scion

Heard many stories just like that. GAP is a great product and generally pretty cheap.

In Texas, GAP insurance is state-regulated, so the cost is based on the amount financed. For any given Scion, it's usually less than $300. But sometimes, if you have a large down payment, the lender might automatically kick it out of the deal, so double-check your paperwork.

shawn30

haha something like that
i was just checking cause it seems to easy to commit some sort of fraud

paultg

I was able to get gap insurance on a used 2001 Subaru Impreza I purchased. Car was 3 yrs old, only had 9300 miles on it, and the loan was for about $11K dollars. It might depend on the bank you use, or the insurance company you use.

To be honest, I can't believe people don't buy it. Even if you put 3K down on the car, the value of said vehicle can vary drastically by how many miles you do, etc. and you will be upside down very quickly typically. Most cars drop $5K in value in the first year.

Now, the values the insurance companies use are different than say trade value and stuff, but I just wouldn't risk it. I've had to argue with an inusrance company once already, and once was enough.

At $42/yr for my gap insurance on my tC (financed $17,000 ish with an extended warranty) it seem like a no brianer to buy it.

My friend just crashed his 2004 Focus SVT, which the values have dropped like crazy. He had the car about a year (found a leftover 2004), put 18K miles on it.

His gap insurance saved his but, and on top of it they actually paid him $1000 extra towards the purchase of his next vehicle (part of his gap coverage). Not sure what the gap cost him, but he was sure happy to know everything was taken care of, especially since the accident wasn't his fault.

Paul G.

TongMan

So it is best to get gap insurance if you make a small downpayment? I know its good to get no matter, but small or big downpayment?