What You Need to Know About Cash for Clunkers, Your Oregon Auto Insurance Coverage and You

What You Need to Know About Cash for Clunkers, Your Oregon Auto Insurance Coverage and You

If you’ve been tooling around town in an old clunker that leaves you wondering if you’re going to make it to the grocery store, much less two or three towns over, the Cash for Clunkers program may seem like the answer you’ve

Is Cash for Clunkers really the right answer for you?

been looking for. The clock’s ticking down on government funding for the program, so if you’re an Oregon driver and you haven’t taken advantage of it yet now’s the time to do it. But before you sign on the dotted line for that sweet return and a set of wheels you can trust to get you where you need to go, make sure you take the time to consider the cost to your Oregon auto insurance.

What is Cash for Clunkers?

If you haven’t taken the time to do the research on the Cash for Clunkers program everything I’m about to say probably isn’t going to make a lick of sense, so let’s go over the basics before we get into the effects it’s going to have on your Oregon auto insurance. Cash for Clunkers was an idea dreamed up by the government to help get people over the hump of this economic slump while putting them in better vehicles. When you take your “clunker” into a dealer that participates in the program you’ll be given a $3,500-$4,500 credit (give or take) to put toward buying a new vehicle.

That sweet deal is what’s making Cash for Clunkers such a popular program, and the volume of people taking advantage of it is why the clock’s slowly but surely ticking down.

Your Oregon Auto Insurance

No two ways about it, picking up a new car with a $3,000 credit is going to make life a lot easier. That’s that much less you have to finance! The fact that you’re probably going to end up financing at least part of your new purchase, coupled with what that new car’s going to do to your auto insurance rates, means that you probably want to take a few minutes to think about what you’re signing up for before you jump feet first into the new car pool.

First and foremost, financing a car means that you’re going to be signing on the dotted line for a new car payment-and if you’re financing through a dealership that car payment’s going to come well padded with interest. You might be able to afford that monthly payment, but with today’s economic situation money’s tight for a lot of us. If you’re already pinching pennies picking up a new car might make the situation worse rather than better.

And then there’s the cost of insurance. When you were tooling around town in your clunker you were probably paying minimum rates to your Oregon auto insurance carrier. It’s easy to insure a car that’s worth less than $2,000-3,000 dollars. It’s slightly more expensive to insure the $10,000-20,000 vehicles many of these participating dealerships are selling, and since you’re financing you’re going to need to carry full coverage rather than minimum liability and uninsured motorist. That’s extra money out of your pocket every month.

I’m not trying to tell you not to take advantage of the Cash for Clunkers program. It’s a great idea that’s working for many Americans. Before you run out the front door, however, take some time to make sure that it’s going to be the right choice to work for you.

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