Let's face it, everybody wants to save money. In fact, in today's strict economy saving money has become something of a religion for those trying to keep a roof over their heads, food on their plate and gas in their tanks in the face of one of the worst unemployment strikes in history! That's made it really, really easy for car insurance companies to step in and lure drivers in with promises of cheap car insurance-without really realizing what it was they were getting into.

When it comes to your car insurance you can't make the decision based solely on how much your premiums are going to be-or rather, what the insurance company is advertising your premiums are going to be! There's more to consider when it comes to insurance than how much it's going to cost-for example, how much coverage you're going to be able to get. How dependable the insurance company is. How good the odds are that your car insurance claims are going to be paid in a timely and efficient manner after an accident to get you back on the roads as quickly as possible.

When car insurance companies advertise their insurance rates, they strategically leave a few facts out-for example, the fact that those numbers are what a person with an impeccable driving record driving a fifty year old rabbit with maximum safety features and minimum liability insurance (and not much else) would pay each year. If you don't fall into any of those categories (and most of us don't) you're going to be paying a lot more for your coverage.

When shopping for insurance, you want to think carefully about what you're getting for the car insurance rates they're offering. Why? Imagine for a moment that you agree to be insured under only a minimum liability policy. You're driving down the interstate at night when you hit a patch of black ice and go spinning out of control. Suddenly you're at the bottom of a 10 car pile-up...and hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of medical bills by the time everyone receives the emergency care they need.

If you're only carrying $30,000 worth of liability insurance, who do you think is going to be responsible for the balance? Right. You. That's a lot of money to try and come up with every month, especially when cutting corners was the reason you scaled down to a "cheap" car insurance policy in the first place.

Most experts recommend you carry a minimum of $100,000 per person and $300,000 per incident in liability insurance, along with comprehensive insurance for those nights you end up getting up close and personal with the wildlife (which is going to be a must if you've financed your car anyway), collision (which pays for the damages to your car if you're responsible for an accident) and uninsured motorist (for the hundreds of drivers out there that didn't even bother with cheap car insurance). Without all that you'll have a "cheap" car insurance policy all right-but in the end it might end up costing you more than you ever thought possible.