Lower Your 1998 Ford Ranger Insurance Cost

Did you fall for a flashy sales pitch and buy an overpriced auto insurance policy? Trust us when we tell you there are many drivers thinking the same thing. You have multiple auto insurance companies to pick from, and although it’s a good thing to have multiple companies, so many choices can make it hard to adequately compare rates.

First Step: Get free insurance coverage quotes

Effectively comparing insurance coverage prices can be a daunting task if you aren’t aware of the easiest way. You can spend your afternoon talking to insurance agencies in your area, or you could save time and use online quotes to get pricing more quickly.

Many companies are enrolled in a marketplace where insurance shoppers enter their coverage request one time, and at least one company returns a rated price. This saves time by eliminating quote requests to every company.

To enter your information into the quoting system, click here to start a free quote.

The only downside to doing it this way is you cannot specify the companies you want to price. So if you want to select individual companies to compare prices, we have a listing of low cost insurance coverage companies in your area. Click here for list of insurance companies.

It’s up to you how you get prices quotes, just try to use the same coverage limits with every price quote. If each company quotes differing limits it’s impossible to make a fair rate comparison.

Cheap car insurance rates with discounts

Some insurance providers do not advertise every disount available very clearly, so the following list contains both the well known and the harder-to-find discounts that you may qualify for.

• Seat Belts Save – Requiring all passengers to buckle their seat belts could save 15% off PIP or medical payments premium.
• Discount for Low Mileage – Fewer annual miles on your Ford can earn substantially lower car insurancerates.
• Accident-Free Discounts – Drivers with accident-free driving histories can save substantially when compared to bad drivers.
• Theft Deterent System – Cars and trucks equipped with tracking devices and advanced anti-theft systems are stolen less frequently and will save you 10% or more.
• Good Student – Being a good student may save as much as 25% on a car insurance quote. The good student discount can last until age 25.
• Defensive Driving Course – Participating in a defensive driver class could cut 5% off your bill and make you a better driver.
• Accident Waiver – Not a discount per se, but some companies like Progressive and Allstate allow you one accident before hitting you with a surcharge if you have no claims for a particular time prior to the accident.
• Life Insurance Discount – Larger insurance carriers have a discount if you purchase a life policy as well.

While discounts sound great, it’s important to understand that most discount credits are not given to the entire policy premium. The majority will only reduce the price of certain insurance coverages like comp or med pay. So when it seems like having all the discounts means you get insurance for free, insurance companies wouldn’t stay in business. But all discounts will bring down your car insurance premiums.

To see a list of insurers with discount rates, click this link.

Tailor your insurance coverage coverage to you

When it comes to choosing the right insurance coverage for your personal vehicles, there isn’t really a “best” method to buy coverage. Everyone’s needs are different so your insurance needs to address that. For example, these questions might help in determining if you would benefit from professional advice.

• Does my insurance cover my expensive audio equipment?
• Do I have any recourse if my insurance company denies a claim?
• Will my insurance pay for OEM parts?
• Should I waive the damage coverage when renting a car?
• Is my Ford Ranger covered if I use it for business?
• Do I get a pro-rated refund if I cancel my policy early?
• Is rental equipment covered for theft or damage?

If you don’t know the answers to these questions then you might want to talk to a licensed insurance agent. If you don’t have a local agent, complete this form or you can go here for a list of companies in your area. It’s fast, free and can help protect your family.

Educated choices result in lower insurance premiums

One of the most helpful ways to save on auto insurance is to to have a grasp of some of the elements that play a part in calculating the rates you pay for auto insurance. When you understand what positively or negatively impacts your premiums, this empowers consumers to make smart changes that will entitle you to lower auto insurance prices. Lots of factors are taken into consideration when premium rates are determined. Most are fairly basic such as traffic violations, although others are less apparent such as your credit history or your financial responsibility.

• Extra policy coverages that aren’t used – There are a lot of additional extra coverages that may not really be needed if you aren’t careful. Coverages like roadside assistance, high-cost glass coverage, and motor club memberships are examples of these. These may sound like a good investment when you first buy your policy, but if they’re wasting money remove them from your policy.
• See if your company offers a multi-policy discount – Most major insurance companies apply lower prices to clients that have more than one policy in the form of a multi-policy discount. Discounts can amount to 10 percent or more. Even though this discount sounds good, drivers will still want to compare rates to help ensure you have the lowest rates. Drivers may still save more without the discount by buying insurance from more than one company.
• Auto insurance rates can be impacted by your employer – Did you know that where you work can have an impact on rates? Careers like military personnel, business owners and medical professionals generally pay higher rates than average in part from high stress levels and lots of time spent away from family. Conversely, occupations such as farmers, students and homemakers have the lowest average rates on Ranger coverage.
• Gender matters – Statistics demonstrate that men are more aggressive behind the wheel. Now that doesn’t mean males are worse at driving than females. Females and males get in auto accidents in similar percentages, but guys cause more damage. Not only are claims higher, but men get more serious tickets such as DWI and reckless driving. Youthful male drivers generally have the highest accident percentage and are penalized with high auto insurance rates.
• Is your vehicle theft-ready? – Purchasing a vehicle with advanced anti-theft systems can get you a discount on your auto insurance. Systems that thwart theives like LoJack tracking devices, vehicle tamper alarm systems or GM’s OnStar system can help prevent auto theft.
• Do safer cars cost less to insure? – Cars with five star safety ratings tend to have better insurance rates. Highly rated vehicles reduce injuries and reduced instances of injuries means your insurance company pays less passed on to you as lower rates. If your Ford Ranger scored at minimum four stars on Safercar.gov it is probably cheaper to insure.
• No policy lapses lowers rates – Having a lapse in insurance coverage can be a guaranteed way to increase your rates. In addition to paying higher premiums, not being able to provide proof of insurance may earn you a steep fine or even jail time. You could then be forced to submit proof of financial responsibility or a SR-22 with your state motor vehicle department to get your license reinstated.

Insurance advertising tricks

Consumers constantly see and hear ads for auto insurance savings by State Farm, Geico and Progressive. All the companies make the same claim about how much you will save if you change your policy.

How does every auto insurance company give you a lower rate? This is the way they can do it.

All companies can use profiling for the type of customer that makes them money. For example, this type of risk profile could possibly be married and over the age of 30, insures multiple vehicles, and drives a vehicle with a low ISO rating. Someone who matches that profile is entitled to the best price and will save a lot of money.

Consumers who fall short of those criteria will get a more expensive rate with the end result being the driver buying from a lower-cost company. The ads say “customers that switch” but not “everyone who gets a quote” save that much when switching. That’s why insurance companies can advertise the savings.

This really drives home the point why you really need to get as many free car insurance quotes as possible. It’s impossible to know with any certainty which company will have the lowest car insurance rates for your situation.

Auto insurance policy specifics

Understanding the coverages of your policy aids in choosing the best coverages for your vehicles. The coverage terms in a policy can be difficult to understand and reading a policy is terribly boring. Below you’ll find the normal coverages available from auto insurance companies.

Med pay and Personal Injury Protection (PIP)

Med pay and PIP coverage provide coverage for short-term medical expenses such as EMT expenses, pain medications, nursing services, rehabilitation expenses and funeral costs. They are used in conjunction with a health insurance plan or if you lack health insurance entirely. It covers you and your occupants and also covers any family member struck as a pedestrian. Personal injury protection coverage is not available in all states but it provides additional coverages not offered by medical payments coverage

Collision insurance

Collision insurance pays to fix your vehicle from damage resulting from a collision with a stationary object or other vehicle. A deductible applies and the rest of the damage will be paid by collision coverage.

Collision coverage pays for things such as sustaining damage from a pot hole, backing into a parked car, rolling your car and scraping a guard rail. Collision is rather expensive coverage, so analyze the benefit of dropping coverage from vehicles that are 8 years or older. Drivers also have the option to bump up the deductible in order to get cheaper collision rates.

Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist (UM/UIM)

This protects you and your vehicle from other drivers when they do not carry enough liability coverage. This coverage pays for medical payments for you and your occupants and damage to your 1998 Ford Ranger.

Since a lot of drivers have only the minimum liability required by law, it doesn’t take a major accident to exceed their coverage limits. For this reason, having high UM/UIM coverages is very important. Usually the UM/UIM limits are similar to your liability insurance amounts.

Liability car insurance

Liability insurance can cover damage or injury you incur to other people or property in an accident. It protects you against claims from other people, and does not provide coverage for damage to your own property or vehicle.

Liability coverage has three limits: bodily injury for each person, bodily injury for the entire accident, and a limit for property damage. As an example, you may have values of 50/100/50 that means you have a $50,000 limit per person for injuries, a limit of $100,000 in injury protection per accident, and $50,000 of coverage for damaged propery. Alternatively, you may have one number which is a combined single limit which provides one coverage limit and claims can be made without the split limit restrictions.

Liability coverage protects against claims such as bail bonds, medical services and repair costs for stationary objects. How much coverage you buy is your choice, but consider buying as large an amount as possible.

Comprehensive insurance

Comprehensive insurance coverage will pay to fix damage that is not covered by collision coverage. You first must pay your deductible and then insurance will cover the rest of the damage.

Comprehensive coverage protects against claims such as rock chips in glass, hitting a bird and a tree branch falling on your vehicle. The maximum payout your auto insurance company will pay is the actual cash value, so if it’s not worth much more than your deductible consider removing comprehensive coverage.

In Summary

While you’re price shopping online, never buy lower coverage limits just to save a few bucks. There have been many cases where an accident victim reduced collision coverage and found out when filing a claim that their decision to reduce coverage ended up costing them more. Your aim should be to buy a smart amount of coverage at an affordable rate, but do not sacrifice coverage to save money.

We covered many ways to lower your 1998 Ford Ranger insurance prices. The most important thing to understand is the more companies you get rates for, the better your comparison will be. You may be surprised to find that the lowest prices are with some of the lesser-known companies. These companies can often insure niche markets at a lower cost than their larger competitors like State Farm, Geico and Nationwide.

Other resources

• Comprehensive Coverage (Liberty Mutual)
• Neck Injury FAQ (iihs.org)
• Understanding your Policy (NAIC.org)
• Air Bags: Potential Dangers to Your Children (Insurance Information Insitute)
• Auto Insurance 101 (About.com)