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Actual Cash Value: How It Works for Car Insurance

admin — Sun, 26 Apr 2026 14:36:18 +0000

Graphic by Lauren Swift

Because cars depreciate so quickly, it’s easy to become upside down on an auto loan or lease, especially if you put little or no money down. GAP insurance coverage, or guaranteed asset protection, can help mitigate this risk. It helps pay the difference between what your car is worth and what you owe the lender or leasing company. Some car lease contracts require GAP coverage.

Many GAP policies even cover your collision or comprehensive deductible. And with GAP coverage, you won’t have to worry about whether the ACV of your vehicle is high enough to pay off your loan or lease. Many drivers carry GAP insurance during the first several years of owning a car.

For example, if you owe $40,000 on your car loan, wreck the car, and your vehicle’s actual cash value is $33,000, your insurance company will pay $33,000. You’ll have to come up with the extra $7,000 to pay off your loan. But GAP insurance, if you have it, covers the additional $7,000 for the replacement value. In this case, being covered for replacement value with GAP insurance makes sense.

For car buyers who pay cash outright when they purchase a vehicle, it doesn’t make sense to carry GAP insurance because they don’t have any loan differences to worry about.

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Google Meet now works on Apple CarPlay

admin — Sun, 05 Apr 2026 01:17:36 +0000

Google has just announced that it’s bringing support for Google Meet to Apple CarPlay. This will let you stay connected hands-free and join meetings while on the road with a single tap.

Google Meet is now available among all the other CarPlay apps on your car’s dashboard. It seamlessly transitions from your iPhone too, ensuring you never miss a discussion.

For safety reasons, you can only participate in calls in audio-only mode while in the car, to maintain your focus on driving. That means your camera will be off and you won’t see the incoming video content, you will just hear the audio.

Aside from support for audio calls and joining meetings, the CarPlay version of Google Meet also lets you view your upcoming schedule.

Google Meet is coming to Android Auto as well, “soon”.

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Long-term test: MINI John Cooper Works

admin — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 20:47:46 +0000

Since the John Cooper Works arrived on our fleet, MINI has upped the price from £31,200 to £33,530. That’s a fairly significant jump, because it means the car is now more than £2,000 dearer than its closest competitor, the Volkswagen Polo GTI.

In addition, the JCW is now £5,000 more than the MINI Cooper S and £3,500 more costly than the new Skoda Fabia 130 – two cars that I would definitely consider going for, thanks to their slightly softer, more friendly chassis set-up.

If you do opt for the JCW, it makes sense to do what we did and choose the £3,800 Level 3 option pack. This brings much-needed tech such as a heated steering wheel and seats, a panoramic roof and a head-up display, which is a must considering the lack of a screen for the driver.

MINI John Cooper Works: Second report

Funky hatch is – mostly – helping our man recapture his youth

Mileage: 6,331 miles
Efficiency: 38.7mpg

If there’s one car brand that trades heavily on its youthful appeal, then it’s MINI. And potentially the most youth-oriented of its models is the JCW hatch I’ve been running over the past few months. I really enjoyed blasting it around the Curborough sprint course when it first arrived, and more recently I’ve noticed this hot hatch may have been influencing a change in my lifestyle.

Although I’m very much on the far side of 30, I’ve decided that now is as good a time as ever to get into some of my old pastimes. Despite how creaky and distinctly un-youthful my body feels, I’ve managed to nail down a ‘pop shuv-it’ in skateboarding (you might want to play Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater if you don’t know what I’m on about), started playing for my local 11-a-side football team, and even tried to make sure I’m not completely wasting the money I spend on my gym membership.

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