So I vaguely remember you have to show proof-of-insurance to buy a new car (I’m in Texas), but what if you’re buying a new car and have never had your own insurance policy to begin with? I mean, in order to buy insurance you have to have a specific make/model car, right? What’s preventing this from being a chicken-and-egg problem?
in most places, you don’t need proof of insurance until you register and take delivery of the car. So find the car you want, work out the purchase details with the salesman, get the make/model and/or VIN from the dealer, and call the insurer (if you don’t have one, get quotes from the usual suspects.) then when you take out a policy on your chosen car, the insurer will fax a “binder” (temporary insurance certificate) to the dealer so they can register the car and give you your temporary plates and let you take the car.
There are tons of websites that will quote you the average car insurance rates by state. In some cases, these sites will have a link to the insurer’s website. Most states don’t require a proof of insurance until you buy and register the vehicle
Yes, the dealer takes care of the registration of the car. Your insurance carrier will provide the dealer with the information. I don’t know this for a fact, since there are 50 states with different regulations, but the licensed car dealer is most likely prohibited from selling a car without providing the registration. The states have thought a lot of this stuff through.
In New York, you need to have proof of insurance before you can drive the car. But it’s simple enough: you find an insurance company, tell them what car you are buying and arrange payment (I’m sure online brokers take credit cards). The proof of insurance form can then be faxed to you or the dealer. The dealer will also take care of registration and getting a license plate.
I went through this exact situation (in Texas even!). Once I’d picked out a nice shiny vehicle, I called an insurance company, gave them my details and I was covered. Turned up on a bicycle and drove off within an hour. Easy.
In the UK, when I bought my first car, the dealership offered me a 7-day insurance that would give me time to get my own insurance sorted. Is something similar offered by dealerships in the US?
Some dealerships have preferred agents that they work with who will write a policy on the spot for those people who do not already have an agent or a company in mind. (There is a quid pro quo: in exchange for the referrals, the agent will refer clients to the dealerships they work with.) IME, however, dealerships do not offer their own insurance.
Yes, I should clarify that was what I was referring to, it wasn’t the dealership itself providing the insurance cover.
So they do 7 day deals in the US as well?
Some states simply stipulate a grace period for submitting insurance registration. In California, for instance, you must submit proof of insurance to the DMV within 30 days after initial registration, or 45 after cancellation of an old policy.
I can’t speak for all states, but I’ve never heard of that.
When we bought the Mustang last month, we learned that most of what you all have already said is true, except CAA (AAA for you guys) are poops about dealing with car dealerships - we had to get the insurance ourselves and then get the registration/plates ourselves, too, which the dealership would normally have handled if our insurance was with anyone BUT CAA. Bah.
In Virginia they will not give you the keys without proof of insurance; not even if you have a tow truck there to carry it home.
You can get temporary insurance in NJ at least - I got it when I bought a new truck because I had just moved to NJ and my old company didn’t write in the state (my old car died). All the insurance agents told me to go with allstate at the time -they were the only ones who would write a policy and bind me in time for the temp insurance expiration. It was either 7 or 10 days for like $100 or one hundred something - pretty expensive when calculated out to a yearly premium.
Not in Pennsylvania, where I live. In fact, if you drop your insurance for any reason and don’t replace it with another policy, the state motor vehicle bureau will demand your plate and cancel your registration.
Oh, and because it seems relevant here, here’s Dante’s Insurance for the Cataclysmically Stupid. Enjoy!
Virginia would also suspend your license and fine you $1,000, even without any indication that the vehicle had been driven. Prove it’s undrivable? doesn’t matter. :rolleyes:
I once got a bill from the Commonwealth of Virginia for the personal tax on a vehicle I had not only not owned in five years, but had been sold and scrapped for parts. I tore it up and haven’t heard back from them since.
Virginia is an asshole that way.
You’d better call them. Otherwise, they’ll rack up the interest and charges for a couple of years then steal it from your Federal tax return. (They just get a judgement against you without inviting you to the hearing.)
It’s been about ten years since I got that bill, and I’d sold the car about five years before that. If it takes them fifteen years to attach my income tax refund, a judge would laugh it out of court.
I bought a new car in Texas when I didn’t have car insurance. I called Progressive before and gave them the car information of the car I was 90% sure of buying. When I had agreed on a price at the dealership, I called Progressive, bought a 6 month policy over the phone, and they faxed proof of coverage to the dealership within 30 minutes. I’m sure I could do the same thing online today even quicker.