I recognize gap insurance fills a need, but it bugs me because it's so variable based on down payment, car depreciation, mileage, month of loss (relative to the payback schedule), and voodoo. But nobody wants to be upside down in the event of a total loss.
A policy Liberty Mutual offers I find to be a little more palatable: Better Car Replacement. In the event of a total loss payout, they will use the value of a one year newer car, same specs, with 15,000 fewer miles for their comp. And it's a relatively inexpensive add-on – about $5 monthly when I last used it ($0 down on a new Volvo, which depreciate steeply). It helps greatly if the insured car is the last year before a redesign – there's usually a large bump in value going from "old" to " refreshed."
A policy Liberty Mutual offers I find to be a little more palatable: Better Car Replacement. In the event of a total loss payout, they will use the value of a one year newer car, same specs, with 15,000 fewer miles for their comp. And it's a relatively inexpensive add-on – about $5 monthly when I last used it ($0 down on a new Volvo, which depreciate steeply). It helps greatly if the insured car is the last year before a redesign – there's usually a large bump in value going from "old" to " refreshed."
