# Stupid Question about Car Insurance for a New Car **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 15, 2011, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-question-about-car-insurance-for-a-new-car/592737 "2011-08-15T00:38:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-question-about-car-insurance-for-a-new-car/592737/21 "2011-08-17T03:59:45Z")
The last two times I bought a car, the insurance on my previous car carried over with a 30 day grace period. My very first car was while I was living at home so I believe the insurance allowed for my mother’s policy to cover it for a few days until we got everything sorted out. This was in Illinois. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-question-about-car-insurance-for-a-new-car/592737/22 "2011-08-17T16:54:59Z")
> [@MsRobyn](#): > > 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. It’s a Virginia judge, and he wants to get paid. . .\* ETA: \*His salary that is, didn’t mean to imply otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-question-about-car-insurance-for-a-new-car/592737/23 "2011-08-17T18:20:50Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > It’s a Virginia judge, and he wants to get paid. . .\* > > ETA: \*His salary that is, didn’t mean to imply otherwise. Maybe the Virginia judge won’t laugh, but the PA judge it has to go through will. ---
**Author:** ![BrandonR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@BrandonR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrandonR)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-question-about-car-insurance-for-a-new-car/592737/24 "2011-08-18T23:12:31Z")
Thanks for all the info, everyone. Another question: what about having needing insurance before test driving the car? ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-question-about-car-insurance-for-a-new-car/592737/25 "2011-08-18T23:21:32Z")
> [@BrandonR](#): > > 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? If you are financing a vehicle, new or used, the lender will require the dealer to make sure you have insurance, and the dealer thus requires it of you. This is in case the vehicle is wrecked or stolen during the term of the loan; the lender needs to make sure it’s going to get paid. If you’re paying cash, the state you live in will care but the dealer will not. And obviously there’s no lender to care. It’s utterly irrelevant whether you have had insurance in the past, though having insurance on your trade greatly simplifies the process of getting it on the bought vehicle. > [@BrandonR](#): > > Thanks for all the info, everyone. Another question: what about having needing insurance before test driving the car? When I sold cars, we didn’t check for insurance before letting the customer take a test drive _with the salesmen in the car_. If we were puppy-dogging the vehicle – that is, letting the prospect take it home for a few days to try it out and thus get emotionally attached to the car – we required proof of insurance ahead of time, so someone with no insurance was out of luck there. The same thing applied if you were taking the car to your mechanic to get it evaluated, though there was an easy work-around that case: you’d designate what mechanic you wanted to do the pre-purchase inspection, and someone from the dealership would drive it there and get it back. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-question-about-car-insurance-for-a-new-car/592737.md?page=1)