Cars? Insurance?

[VetteMuscle427]

Now that I finally have some money, it is time to get rid of this beater that I'm driving. Anyone have ideas for cars? I'm thinking along the lines of a Jeep Wrangler. But others have caught my eye.

Along with this there is insurance. Right now I have USAA through my parents. Is there a better insurance company?

 

[webmaster]

Is there a better insurance company? Well, I am sure that you are going to get a wide range of opinions on that one. For me, I have had State Farm, Allstate, Geico and others. I have had USAA since '96, when I got picked up for commissioning, and they have been the best in terms of service. With that I mean, when we had an accident (two unfortunately), the claims adjustment was rapid, and they were very professional and courteous. I had bad experiences with State Farm and Geico in the past. USAA also gave me a list of approved repair shops, and let me decide on where to take the car. Post fender benders (2 in a 8 year period, both the cause of other drivers, even though we were in "no fault" states), there has not been an appreciable change in our premiums.

I am of the opinion that you get what you pay for. Those low premiums may be nice, but how will the company be when you need them? I also imagine that you are in the sub 25 year old bracket, and are paying the price right now....

I will say that I have heard some better comments about Geico over the past couple years, they are probably cleaning up their act some.

 

[46Driver]

I have nothing but good things to say about USAA - very professional company. Cars??? I was passing through the airport in Vienna last week and they had a Chrysler 300 C on display. Beautiful! Can you say Hemi?

 

[VetteMuscle427]

300C is nice... but at 33grand base for the hemi, I think that might be a little out of my price range.

 

[Banjo33]

I owned a '99 Wrangler and hated it! My wife and I bought it new and traded it in for a Silverado a year later. Once Chrysler put their 4 banger in them, it was all down hill. I averaged probably 15 mpg, it would top out at 80 mph, and on the highway, road noise was horrendous and it had the aerodynamics of a brick (you could really feel it when getting up to speed on the interstate). Wind noise wasn't too awful bad, even with the soft top...they've really improved upon their design. I blew three exhaust manifold gaskets in that year, probably just a manufacturing defect with the head/manifold...warranty covered the repairs. I loved the way it felt when driving it though, real boxy. But if you want a jeep, buy an old CJ (pre-Chrysler AND pre-square headlights) with their straight six...they were awesome and make great "project" vehicles. As an av.stud, expect to do a lot of driving. If you get sent to Kingsville or Meridian you'll be leaving town a lot to just "get away". With that in mind, you'll want something comfortable to drive, not to mention to haul a couple people around in.

 

[VetteMuscle427]

I was under the impression that all NFO training was done at NAS Pensacola

 

[NeoCortex]

I just changed mine over and USAA wasn't the cheepest, so I went with another Co.

 

[lowflier03]

What car you get depends on what you are looking for in one. If you just want something cheap and fun, then yeah a wrangler works. I wanted a fast sports car that I could play with and mod but wouldnt be too expensive. So I bought a dodge stealth TT. I pay the price on insurance, but its worth it. Alot of guys buy mustangs because they are cheap and give the impression of performance without really having any.

 

[RickyDT34]

Alot of guys buy mustangs because they are cheap and give the impression of performance without really having any.

LOL. Nice.

 

[Slammer2]

I got a Dodge Stratus R/T 2 months ago. It looks nice and performs really well. Insurance?? They don't even send you a complimentary jar of Vaseline...

But I just turned 21 today so hopefully it will go down next bill. I dont have any tickets or accidents or anything. I hear the 25 discount is when it really goes down though. I'm using State Farm right now.

 

[skidkid]

You'll pay more with USAA but if you need them you will be glad you did. They dont dick around they will get your vehicle fixed quickly without needing multiple estimates.

 

[lowflier03]

Yeah, USAA has been great with me. My first car got totalled by a hit-and-run driver, and USAA hooked me up with a rental right away. They also were very quick about doing the estimate, paying me and everything else. They also didnt lowball me on the payout.

 

[VetteMuscle427]

Yeah... I was looking at the Stratus R/T. So you say that it is nice?

 

[Slammer2]

Yeah... I was looking at the Stratus R/T. So you say that it is nice?

yeah it performs great. I especially love it on the on-ramps to highways when you have all the guys in their mustangs and what not trying to cut you off. I have the R/T coupe. Totally different car than the sedan. The coupe is actually built by mitsubishi and the sedan by chrysler at two different plants. Also better engine in it. My cousin is a mech. engineer for daimler chrysler so he was able to hook me up with a control number that gets it 3% below dealer cost. Plus at the time (not sure about now) they were offering $4500 cash back. It's been around $3000-$4500 cash back over the last few months. I was just thinking about this the other day....designed by germans, built by japanese, and it has american warranties. Shoot me a PM if you have any questions about it.

Slammer

 

[rare21]

German and Japanese? WWII anyone? Mitsubishi had American slaves make their vehicles (Mitsu corp). The Germans (VW, Mercedes) had enslaved Jews make their vehicles. i'm all American made vehicles.