Although you won’t be asked for proof of insurance when you cross the border or in the rare event that you are pulled over on the highway, but Mexican auto insurance should never be considered an option. Procedures following an auto collision, in Mexico, differ dramatically from those in the United States and a fender bender without insurance is a sure-fire way to ruin your vacation.
When an accident occurs in Mexico and the parties have no insurance, everybody goes to jail while the authorities sort out who may be liable for what. Having Mexican auto insurance is your get out of jail free card. Without it there is no way to determine how long you’ll be eating stale tortillas and sloppy beans. Historically, if Mexicans are involved in a wreck without insurance, all parties will flee the scene; this is something that Americans just can’t fathom.

Mexican auto insurance is relatively inexpensive compared to policies sold in the United States. Liability insurance is all you really need to stay out of the slammer, but for newer cars, full coverage is offered at very economic rate. Liability insurance, for a five day trip into Mexico may be priced at no more than around fifty dollars and full coverage of $15,000.00 only about fifty percent more.
The larger cities in all the border states have agencies that sell Mexican auto insurance and are easily found in the phone book. In the border towns insurance agencies (Seguro) are more plentiful than curio shops. It used to be more economical to buy insurance in Mexico but that is no longer the case. The most convenient way to buy your insurance is on the Internet; it only takes a couple minutes, a few clicks and a credit card. 

United States and Canadian agencies cannot sell Mexican insurance so you’ll be dealing with Mexican companies. For the most part they are honest, efficient and when claims are filed, they handle them more expediently than their north of the border counterparts. If you need it, nothing else will quite do, so don’t leave home without it.

If you are going out of town, or if your car has broken down recently causing you to refer to the use of rental car, then check out how rental car coverage can benefit you.

Rental car coverage works in the same way that regular automobile coverage does in the sense that it covers the cost of any major accidents. The amount of coverage you receive on your rental car all depends on how much you purchase and think you may need. It always helps to be prepared, but if you are only going to be driving the car from point a to point b on streets without much traffic than you don't need the full extent of the rental car coverage.

Rental car coverage works with a basic coverage plan, then it the dealership allows you to purchase added insurance in the case of an accident. The added on coverage on top of the basic coverage is a nominal fee, and it is much recommended to purchase the insurance as a safety precaution. Besides covering you medically in the case of an accident, rental car coverage does the job of protecting you financially to where you may only end up paying a hundred dollars for coverage of a totaled car. 

Rental car coverage differs from the normal car insurance coverage in the way that it is temporary. You end up paying a one time fee for the coverage, and that fee covers a certain amount of time. Rental car coverage is typically a day by day added on price, but often dealerships will have a week long coverage plan for business trips designed to reduce cost by purchasing in bulk. The temporary coverage applies to the car and the person who originally paid for the coverage under their license, so often you have to purchase a coverage for added on people if the rental car is for more than just yourself.

Overall if you are going to be in need of a rental car in the near future, check into how rental car coverage can benefit you, and end up saving you financially in the case of an accident.

If you have ever wrangled with the various options on an insurance policy, you may have wondered whether to add rental-reimbursement coverage. This is insurance that pays for the cost of a rental car - all of it, or up to some limit - while your own car is being repaired. Unfortunately, there is no across-the-board answer to whether or not to buy this coverage. Instead, it's a cost-benefit analysis where you have to do your best to weigh out the various buckets of money now, money later, and the risks.

A lot of problems in insurance are similarly tricky. Are you an exceptionally safe driver? Do you usually qualify for 'safe driver' discounts, for example? You might want to cross your fingers and say, "I am so cautious and so safe, I'm not going to get the rental-reimbursement coverage because I doubt I will need a mechanic in the first place."

It's understandable that people would go this direction. It's a hard call, especially with an ongoing recession in many places, to know how much of your hard-earned income to earmark and lock away in a more expensive policy, and how much to keep 'liquid.' However, you should carefully consider the dangers in saying no.

Although it is unpleasant to envision, consider that you might have an accident that is unrelated to your good behavior. If you are forced to rent a car out of pocket, you might end up wishing you had added rental-reimbursement coverage.

Also, salespeople can be a problem if you doubt their honesty. If you've never even heard of rental-reimbursement coverage before, and a salesman hands you a form with optional categories and checkboxes at the bottom, you might be tempted to say 'no way' out of sheer indignation. He could be preying on your caution and selling you something that is more expensive than it needs to be.

It's a minefield of pros and cons out there. If possible, ask an older relative. Find someone you trust who has been driving forever, and ask them whether they think rental-reimbursement coverage is crucial. Good luck!