Consumer advocates loathe the add-ons that auto dealers often try to shoehorn into vehicle purchases. They see most of the extra fees as pointless ways of gouging customers. Indeed, if the dealer talks you into fabric protection, you could be shelling out something like $200 just to have the dealership spray down the interior with a $5 bottle of Scotchgard. While many dealer add-ons are pointless and should be tossed off the final purchase agreement, one of them, known as gap insurance, is a bit more complicated.
A new car or truck loses as much as 20 percent of its value the moment it’s driven off a dealer lot. But most auto insurers only cover the replacement cost of the vehicle based on its current market value. Gap insurance, often considered an acronym for Guaranteed Asset Protection, is insurance to protect from depreciation, or fill in the “gap,” in the event of a total loss to the vehicle. So, if the brand-new car that you financed at $30,000 is totaled or stolen, but its market value is only $26,000, you’re not out $4000. Steve Lehto, a Michigan attorney and lemon-law specialist, insists that if you decide you want gap coverage, you should almost always get it through your auto insurer, not from the auto dealer, even though Lehto readily admits he’s “predisposed to disliking insurance companies.” Gap policies are often rolled into a dealer’s total vehicle financing, sometimes with little explanation. Lehto estimate...