Buy GAP INSURANCE at the dealership or no?

As the title states, what do you folks think? TIA!

 

Check and see what it would be from your insurance company.

For reference, mine is through USAA and about $5 a month from them and they offer 20% on top.

“In the event of a total loss, this coverage pays an additional 20% of your vehicle's actual cash value. ”

 

Not all insurance companies offer GAP believe it or not lol.

 

Ideally, you want to have put enough down on the initial down payment to not need gap insurance.
Gap insurance covers the difference in the loan amount, and the actual value of the vehicle.
You will always loose money on GAP insurance, unless you actually use the insurance.

“New vehicle replacement” insurance is NOT the same as gap insurance.
NVR gives you “extra” money to replace your vehicle with a vehicle of the same “Year, make, and model”.
Some use a value based on a model 1 year newer than your current model. Others give you a % over blue book.

It’s still BS. The value should be based off market price.
Not in some book or data base, that is almost always lower than market value.

I guess it’s like anything else in life, a gamble.

 

ok, so here is a case for gap insurance. My daughter was going to college out of state and wanted to lease a reliable car at her expense. She leased a Corolla for the low advertised special rate....Was like $200 per month. I was fine with her doing that as it came with new tires, brakes, everything, and had roadside assistance etc. I told her she could trade the car that I owned that she had been driving to lower her payment. Car was worth maybe $4,000. She got $100 a month off the lease payment. All fine until the car was totaled by an uninsured motorist. Our insurance company offered an amount that I considered too low. It was the payoff amount to Toyota. I complained and they told me that the owner of the vehicle had agreed and I could go away. I did...but I learned a lesson and lost the value of the trade. My understanding is that gap insurance would have provided the market value of a replacement vehicle (same model and miles, but not new) which is all that I expected. I no longer insure anything with that company because they could cash our checks but wouldn't discuss the settlement amount with us. Don't buy down a lease payment without GAP.

 

Depends on equity, depreciation and how fast you plan on paying it off in my opinion. If you have a lengthy term on a quickly depreciating vehicle its a no brainer and vice versa if you mostly own it early on.

 

There is a direct correlation between how much meaningful information you provide and the quality of replies you will receive.

 

As with most insurance, whoever sells it to you isn't doing so for free however it can insulate you from a bigger hit at once. They are betting for most it'll be a cost and not a gain.