Gap insurance on my 2007 Tahoe?

Question

I just bought a 2007 Tahoe with 7K miles on it. I put $12K down. Negotiated cost of the vehicle before interest, tax or extended warranty was $33,995. All said and done the loan amount is $27K..Blue book is actually worth $36-$38K which is actually more than what I paid for the vehicle.

Question is: Do I really need Gap insurance?

Answer 1

I got gap insurance on my car, but I had credit problems at the time and put very little down, so it was probably the opposite of you - if car was totaled in an accident, they may not have paid the full amount of teh loan, so the gap insurance covers that - you should be fine without the insurance

Answer 2

If you feel like you can sell it for more than you bought it for, then no.

Answer 3

As long as you keep your loan paid down below the ACV(actual cash value) of the vehicle, you don't need it. My next suggestion is to find another value besides Blue Book. No insurance company out there uses Blue Book because their prices are so inflated. Check out NADA.com and see how much it values out as a private party sale in "average" condition. If your vehicle will be a daily driver, it definitely won't be in "excellent" condition, and chances are, it won't even be in "retail" condition. Remember, retail condition of a vehicle means that it has shampooed carpets, steam cleaned engine compartment, like new tires, etc. In a nutshell, get a REALISTIC view of what your insurance company might pay you if the vehicle were totaled and base your decision off that.