I haven't done it, but I'd think it would save some hassle since the price of the vehicle is determined ahead of time. The advantage to you is a middle man, the car salesman, would be cut out of the process. You wouldn't have to play that hide the weenie game with a salesman for 3 hours to get a price. Don't know if you'd save a dime or if it would cost you more money. You can get the 'costco' price for the car and see if you think that's better than what you'd do on your own. Without further research, you're still flying blind. By research, I mean ignor the sticker price, and find the invoice price of the car. Determine what the factory hold back is (a small percentage guaranteed profit for the dealer). Determine what if any factory incentives there are. Car salesmen want you to negotiate down from MSRP. The closer to msrp they get you, the more they make. YOU want to negotiate up from invoice. How willing they are to do that depends on how hot the car you want to buy is and what volume of vehicles the dealership goes through. To me, for the costco deal to have real value, they'd be able to say up front that the price is $200 or whatever above invoice of whatever you want to buy and show you the invoice. Since they're not doing that, the dealer is still picking the purchase price which is who know's where between invoice and msrp jmo

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.

Ahhhhh....deep breath. Thank you all for your wisdom and replies! I'm going to look into the companies you suggested as we still have time to change before our old coverage expires. Now that I'm calmer (!), I think I wouldn't have hit the ceiling if yesterday's email from Esurance had included a statement like: "Please note: if this vehicle was purchased within the past XX days, please confirm that the registration has been updated to reflect your ownership" or something to that effect. I simply opened the email and was blasted with the notice that they'd found something that we'd apparently hid from them, and my interpretation of that was that it was slamming our ethics. I'm not saying that very well, but you get my drift. I also find it terribly creepy that they put the full name of a stranger in our email. When we purchased the truck last week from a long-standing reputable dealer, never in any paperwork was the previous owner's name listed. Frankly, we're buying a used truck, and the previous owner's name is none of our business. So that email on top of the previous one that claimed we'd provided inaccurate information about a gap in our coverage on top of our current insurance agent's genial incompetence on several occasions (not that his incompetence had anything to do with Esurance!) was enough to send me around the bend. We have excellent credit and a clean driving record other than a deer hit at the end of 2009 (the deer hit last fall didn't count against us since no insurance was paid out) so this should be SO simple. Thank you all again. I'm off to do some internet research! You guys are the best!

This is what I do daily. Your going from being married to widowed and that affects the rates. Two cars, cheaper than one car. One person can't drive 2 cars at the same time so see if suspending coverage to comprehensive only on one car is an option. Don't drive that car but by suspending the coverage you will save money and still retain the multiple car discount/rating. If you need to drive it you should be able to call and ask them to reinstate the coverage's while you need it. Truth is, you can leave your husbands name on the policy, however if there is a claim the claim check will be issued in both names and as long as that is not an issue with your banking institution, then it shouldn't be a problem. The problem you may encounter is that if the broker has removed your husband due to death, it's kind of hard to go back and un - endorse the policy.