When you go out and buy a new car, chances are you will finance it. Not too many people walk up to the dealership and pay cash for the car. When you finance, part of your contract with the bank or the finance company is to keep a minimum amount of car insurance. They generally stipulate that you have to buy comprehensive coverage in addition to your liability coverage. While you get online and search for the best car insurance in terms of price, and compare quotes and specific coverage's, you probably aren't thinking about depreciation.
Depreciation is when the value of a good declines over time from its original price. Cars are notorious for quick depreciation. Part of that is because cars are a production commodity. As quickly as a model hits the factory line, a new and improved one is in the prototyping phase of production, and still another is being worked out on the computer. Technology for communications and entertainment as well as materials used for safety equipment and fuel efficiency are making new strides in innovations that customers want to see in their new car. Therefore, last year's model left on the parking lot loses value, and the one you drove away and used loses value even quicker. The fact that you are now moving parts and putting wear and tear on the vehicle just speeds up the loss in value.
Your loan pays the amount down in a linear fashion. You create the loan to be a consistent debt you can pay over time. If you were to graph it, it would be a straight line sloping down. The degree of slope would depend on how many years your financed the car. The depreciation graph would look more like a steep slope that eventually slows down near the middle to end. If you graph the two lines on the same space for a five-year loan, somewhere around year three your loan value will equal then drop below the depreciated value of the car. If you were to get into an accident in the first year or two of the loan, you would cover the loan amount still owed above what the insurance company paid for the depreciated value. To insure against that get a quote on GAP insurance. GAP insurance will mean the cheapest car insurance you have for your new car won't leave you without a car if you are in an accident that totals you auto.
