Tomorrow I’m test driving three cars, all five speeds, to see which one handles the best under my hand. They’re all Toyotas, so it’s not a competition among brands. Rather it’s among models.
I’ve been online searching for insurance quotes on my potential new car, searching for what my current car gets in the open market, and also searching for the safety rating of the three models I’m considering. It’s quite daunting.
I’ve learned that all three of these models cost more to insure than Earl’s fancy Lexus. As my insurance agent said, “The price of a car isn’t directly related to the insurance cost.” It seems the industry believes Earl’s car is less prone to accidents, because it’s bigger, and more prone to survival than any of the models I’m considering.
“I’ll walk away if I’m in an accident,” Earl regularly reminds me. “You might not.” Maybe not, but I drive defensively and have never had an accident since I started driving on public highways. Besides, what Earl gains in comfort and car payments, I gain in gas mileage and the knowledge that there are fewer and fewer people out there who can drive a stick-shift and want to steal one.
As for what my current Neon gets on the open market, that is a well-kept secret. I’ve been searching websites to learn what I might expect when the car salesman and I get down to mano a mano, but I can’t find that magic number without giving out a lot of personal information, the better for car dealer wolves to find me. I don’t want people calling me, at least not just yet. So I still don’t know what my trusty Neon is worth.
Finally, the safety ratings . . . those statistics that, one would think, help raise or lower the insurance rate. Except that I have it on the best authority that one’s insurance is tied to one’s credit score. I called my agent to inquire why, and he told me that people with high credit score do not report fender benders to their insurance companies. Rather, they pay to repair them themselves so as to keep their premiums low. I see the rational, but it makes me wonder why we have insurance in the first place.
Armed with this data, I’ll show up at the dealership tomorrow to test drive the cars I’m interested in. And, truthfully, I’m not sure any of this research is valuable. In the end, I’ve always bought a car on gut reaction. And always been happy with it, even it if wasn’t a fancy car wannabee.
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