Sorry about your luck, things like this happen. You should feel good about yourself for stepping up to the plate and doing the right thing. But...you wrote. "But I'm scared of getting ripped off by these car body shops who'd take down and repair a car in a way that's more costly than it should end up being." What more needs to be said? Fixing the car right, which means doing what is necessary to restore it to pre-accident condition means the shop does NOT cut corners to save on cost. If there is one thing that needs to be addressed here it is the near impossible demands of making the car right, and trying to do it "cheaper". The other party deserves to have the car repaired correctly. You, doing the right thing have taken the proper steps to see that this is getting done, and you should be commended for that. But then right away starting to fear a rip-off, when you have never seen the shop, or met the people that work there is an attitude that needs some correction. The other party wanted to file a police report, but have taken your word that would not be necessary. Treat the shop they choose with just as much respect. Now as far as the cost. Accidents happen, we all (well all of us that know we need to do the right thing) pay for and have insurance to help us out during these (hopefully) rare events. Get the estimate, and then decide if it's to your advantage to turn it into your insurance. If it is, then do so. If not, then rely on the shop to fix the car correctly, and then pay them for doing so. Then move on. Besides, you never know you just may have found a good body shop that you werent aware of previously. You never know when that information could come in handy for you, or a friend or relative. The bottom line, if my car gets damaged, and I am going to have it repaired by a pro, I know several that I would take it to in a heartbeat. They have the correct tools, the high tech paint booth, and the color paint blending equipment etc. right on site. These guys, everyone of them are easily NOT the cheapest I could go to, but then again doing the job right is what counts. They will do that without question.

Your best bet in a used car will be a well-maintained American car. I don't want to get into the U.S./rest of the world "discussion" being held on other threads. I'll just say that proper maintenance has more to do with a car's trouble-free operation than where it is made. Right now, there are some decent American cars out there, but perception has not caught up with the reality, so American cars suffer more depreciation than many foreign cars. As a buyer of a used car, you can take advantage of that. Some of the cars you might want to look at include the Ford Taurus, or just anything midsize or larger from GM. I'm guessing that, since you got to the age of 16 without being a "gearhead," you mostly want a comfortable, reliable car. These will do the job. They shouldn't cost a fortune for insurance, either. Mikie is right -- even if you're paying for your own insurance, it will be cheaper to piggyback on your parents' policy than it will be for you to go solo. Ask about discounts if you get good grades in school or are willing to drive only a certain number of miles per month, etc. Finally, what else I wish I'd known about cars at your age? Having a car is a joy and a privilege -- and a responsibility. As a teenager, you have the benefit of quick reflexes and (I hope) formal training. You can be an excellent driver. But there's no substitute for experience -- especially at night in the rain and on icy roads. I knew how to steer out of a skid -- until the first time I found myself in one and narrowly missed a fence as I spun into a farmer's field. It's different when it really happens. Don't fall into the trap of thinking that you're immortal (every teenager thinks so; so did I). You're in control of almost two tons of metal and glass and plastic, so be careful. When I was 16, nobody had cell phones and we were lucky if the car had an FM radio, nevermind multi-channel stereo systems and iPod links and the like. I know teenagers are better at multi-tasking than they used to be, but you still have one primary task in a car -- driving. Don't be distracted by fiddling with the stereo or talking with friends. It's okay to concentrate on driving. Professional auto racers do. Have fun! Getting my first car was a blast. I hope you find one you really like and have many happy miles with it.

The liability might not automatically cover the rental car because somebody else could be using your car while you are gone, meaning you'd be insuring two cars for the price of one. It depends on the laws of your state. If your agent says that liability DOES extend to the rented vehicle, ask them to point it out in your policy. When it comes to insurance, if it's not in writing it isn't true. Credit card coverage is usually very good, but again be sure to read all the fine print. There are likely to be "exceptions" and "exclusions." Plus, it usually covers damage to the rental only. Keep in mind that even though credit card coverage would pay for repairs, the rental company will still want to collect the daily rate from you while the vehicle is out of service. Typically, the insurance will NOT cover that.

I've seen major differences, too. We insured with Allstate for 30 years. For our cars and our home. During that whole time, we had our pick-up broken into twice, we hit a deer once, someone pulled out in front of me and I hit her van (her insurance paid) and someone broke into our garage and then stole CD's out of my car. No tickets though. When our kids were teenagers, they made us insure ALL our cars for them driving them, even though there was NO WAY they were going to be allowed to drive anything but the used car we bought for them to share. It was quite expensive. Our son got several tickets and every time he did, all our insurance premiums went up. Then, seven years ago, we bought a house in the next town that is practically a suburb of the city that we lived in, and sold our current house. Even though we only paid $68,000 for our new house, Allstate insisted on insuring it for $125,000, and the premiums were huge. We then started shopping around. We found Shelter Insurance which allowed us to insure the new house for the same amount but at a much lower rate. Our car insurance quotes were a lot less too. Of course the kids were long grown up by then. But we had a grandson growing up in our house. When he started driving, I told the agent he had his own vehicle and he was not going to be driving ours. She said, "Fine". His insurance is kind of high, but the vehicle is an older one so that helps. When we left Allstate, after having been with them for thirty years for our house and two cars, do you know no one at Allstate even bothered to even ask why we were cancelling our insurance with them? I guess they didn't need our business any more. The big question that you have to ask, when it comes to insurance, is what their performance is when you need them. For that you'd just about have to ask people who've had that experience. With Allstate, at first it was easy. The adjuster looked at the damage, we got three estimates and then they gave us a check. The last time we had a claim was when we hit that deer. They wanted my husband to drive the car 50 miles to Tulsa for the adjuster to look at it! Can you imagine driving a car with a crumpled hood that wouldn't stay closed, a dangling headlight and who knows what kind of internal damage, 100 miles total? My husband said he'd call the insurance commission, so they made arrangements to look at the car locally. The year we had so much hail, we put in a claim for damage to our concrete patio. There were circular areas about the size of a saucer, where the top layer of the concrete flaked off, but it didn't show up until winter after water had seeped into the fine cracks and then frozen. Our claim was denied, the adjuster said it was "normal wear and tear". I've known people who have insured with smaller companies and then they can't get any service. Sometimes they insist that you use cheap parts for the repair. Buying insurance is getting so complicated. Make sure you're comparing exactly because there are so many variables, and make sure you know what those are and whether you need them all. If you have an older car that's not worth very much, it may not be worth having the part that replaces your vehicle if you wreck it.