2004 Toyota 4Runner Car Insurance Rates – 10 Tips to Save

Are you burned out from paying out the nose to pay car insurance each month? You’re in the same situation as many other drivers. People have multiple insurers to buy insurance from, and although it’s a good thing to have a choice, so many choices can make it hard to find the lowest cost provider.

Consumers should take time to compare prices before your next renewal because prices trend upward over time. Just because you had the best quotes for 4Runner insurance a year ago other companies may now be cheaper. Ignore everything you know about car insurance because you’re about to find out the things you must know in order to save money, get proper deductibles and limits, all at the lowest rate.

The purpose of this article is to teach you how car insurance quotes work and some money-saving tips. If you currently have car insurance, you will most likely be able to cut costs considerably using these tips. Consumers just need to understand the best way to get comparison quotes online.

Lower-cost auto insurance rates with discounts

Some providers don’t always publicize every available discount in a way that’s easy to find, so here is a list some of the more common and also the more inconspicuous credits available to you. If they aren’t giving you every credit possible, you could be getting lower rates.

  • Responsible Drivers – Drivers who don’t get into accidents may save up to 50% more for 4Runner insurance compared to rates paid by drivers with frequent claims.
  • Smart Student Discounts – A discount for being a good student may save as much as 25% on a insurance quote. Earning this discount can benefit you well after school through age 25.
  • Homeowners Pay Less – Simply owning a home may trigger a policy discount on auto insurance because owning a home requires personal responsibility.
  • ABS and Traction Control Discounts – Cars with ABS and/or traction control are safer to drive so you can save 10 percent or more.
  • No Accidents – Insureds who avoid accidents and claims can save substantially in comparison to accident-prone drivers.
  • Theft Prevention Discount – Vehicles equipped with anti-theft or alarm systems can help prevent theft and will qualify for a discount on a insurance quote.
  • Driver’s Ed – Have your child sucessfully take a drivers education course in school or through a local driver safety program.
  • Passive Restraint Discount – Vehicles with factory air bags or motorized seat belts can get savings of 25 to 30%.
  • Save over 55 – Older drivers may qualify for a small discount on rates for 4Runner insurance.
  • No Charge for an Accident – This one is not really a discount per se, but a few companies such as Allstate, Progressive, and GEICO allow you one accident before your rates go up as long as you don’t have any claims for a set time period.

A little disclaimer on discounts, most of the big mark downs will not be given to your bottom line cost. Some only apply to specific coverage prices like liability, collision or medical payments. Even though the math looks like adding up those discounts means a free policy, you aren’t that lucky. Any amount of discount will reduce your overall premium however.

A list of auto insurance companies and a summarized list of policyholder discounts are detailed below.

  • State Farm discounts include Drive Safe & Save, good driver, driver’s education, student away at school, accident-free, defensive driving training, and good student.
  • Liberty Mutual offers discounts including teen driver discount, preferred payment discount, multi-car, multi-policy, exclusive group savings, and newly married.
  • American Family has discounts for accident-free, TimeAway discount, air bags, bundled insurance, mySafetyValet, multi-vehicle, and defensive driver.
  • Progressive has savings for multi-policy, online quote discount, online signing, good student, continuous coverage, multi-vehicle, and homeowner.
  • Farmers Insurance may include discounts for pay in full, bundle discounts, multi-car, early shopping, mature driver, homeowner, and youthful driver.
  • Auto-Owners Insurance policyholders can earn discounts including student away at school, company car, anti-theft, safe driver, and anti-lock brakes.
  • SAFECO includes discounts for teen safe driver, accident prevention training, multi-car, anti-theft, safe driver, and drive less.

When getting free insurance quotes, it’s a good idea to every insurance company how you can save money. Depending on the company, some discounts might not be offered on policies everywhere. To see providers that have a full spectrum of discounts, click this link.

Tailor your auto insurance coverage to you

When buying adequate coverage, there really is not a “best” method to buy coverage. Your needs are not the same as everyone else’s and a cookie cutter policy won’t apply. For instance, these questions might point out if your insurance needs would benefit from an agent’s advice.

  • Can I make deliveries for my home business?
  • Does my policy cover me when driving someone else’s vehicle?
  • Can my babysitter drive my car?
  • Can I rent a car in Mexico?
  • Do I need roadside assistance coverage?
  • How high should deductibles be on a 2004 Toyota 4Runner?

If you can’t answer these questions but you think they might apply to your situation then you might want to talk to an agent. To find lower rates from a local agent, simply complete this short form or click here for a list of auto insurance companies in your area. It only takes a few minutes and can provide invaluable advice.

Specific coverages for a Toyota 4Runner

Knowing the specifics of a insurance policy aids in choosing which coverages you need for your vehicles. The coverage terms in a policy can be confusing and reading a policy is terribly boring. These are typical coverages available from insurance companies.

Medical costs insurance

Medical payments and Personal Injury Protection insurance kick in for bills for hospital visits, dental work, rehabilitation expenses, surgery and EMT expenses. The coverages can be utilized in addition to your health insurance policy or if there is no health insurance coverage. Medical payments and PIP cover you and your occupants and will also cover if you are hit as a while walking down the street. Personal injury protection coverage is only offered in select states and gives slightly broader coverage than med pay

Coverage for collisions

This covers damage to your 4Runner resulting from colliding with another car or object. You first must pay a deductible and then insurance will cover the remainder.

Collision can pay for claims like colliding with another moving vehicle, colliding with a tree and backing into a parked car. Paying for collision coverage can be pricey, so consider dropping it from older vehicles. Another option is to increase the deductible to get cheaper collision coverage.

Liability coverage

Liability coverage provides protection from injuries or damage you cause to a person or their property that is your fault. This insurance protects YOU from legal claims by others, and doesn’t cover damage to your own property or vehicle.

It consists of three limits, bodily injury for each person, bodily injury for the entire accident, and a limit for property damage. You commonly see liability limits of 25/50/25 that translate to $25,000 bodily injury coverage, a total of $50,000 of bodily injury coverage per accident, and $25,000 of coverage for damaged propery. Another option is a combined single limit or CSL which provides one coverage limit without having the split limit caps.

Liability can pay for things such as repair bills for other people’s vehicles, loss of income, medical services and medical expenses. How much liability should you purchase? That is a decision to put some thought into, but consider buying as high a limit as you can afford.

UM/UIM Coverage

This coverage protects you and your vehicle’s occupants when the “other guys” either have no liability insurance or not enough. It can pay for hospital bills for your injuries and damage to your Toyota 4Runner.

Due to the fact that many drivers only purchase the least amount of liability that is required, their liability coverage can quickly be exhausted. That’s why carrying high Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist coverage is a good idea. Normally your uninsured/underinsured motorist coverages are similar to your liability insurance amounts.

Comprehensive or Other Than Collision

Comprehensive insurance covers damage OTHER than collision with another vehicle or object. A deductible will apply and the remainder of the damage will be paid by comprehensive coverage.

Comprehensive coverage pays for things such as hitting a bird, a tree branch falling on your vehicle and theft. The most a insurance company will pay at claim time is the cash value of the vehicle, so if it’s not worth much more than your deductible it’s probably time to drop comprehensive insurance.

Shop smart and save

We just covered some good ideas how to lower your 2004 Toyota 4Runner insurance car insurance rates. The key concept to understand is the more rate comparisons you have, the better likelihood of getting low cost insurance. Consumers may even find the lowest car insurance rates come from some of the lesser-known companies. Smaller companies may have significantly lower premium rates on certain market segments compared to the large companies like Allstate and Progressive.

Lower-priced 2004 Toyota 4Runner insurance is available from both online companies and from local insurance agents, so you should be comparing quotes from both in order to have the best chance of saving money. A few companies do not provide rate quotes online and most of the time these regional carriers only sell through independent agents.

When getting insurance quotes online, it’s a bad idea to skimp on coverage in order to save money. There are too many instances where consumers will sacrifice liability coverage limits to discover at claim time that their decision to reduce coverage ended up costing them more. The ultimate goal is to buy a smart amount of coverage at an affordable rate while not skimping on critical coverages.

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