how does car insurance work in california

how does car insurance work in california 

california auto insurance laws accident well im 16 right now. planning to save up till 18 and buy a car. my first question is, how does car insurance work? i know you have to pay monthly and depending on each car its different but would car insurance be cheaper when the car is leased? or when its bought?

also i know each car depreciates alot every year. at first i was thinking of leasing it but now im not sure. can someone tell me what would be a better choice on the long run?

california auto insurance laws regulations

Insurance companies have the data on millions of miles of travel for millions of people of all ages; using this data, they know exactly how likely you are to get into an accident and how much it will cost. Using this data, they bill you ahead of time for your accidents in monthly increments (actually, this is a gross simplification but you get the idea).

Do not lease a car! 
Leasing is total fail - the only way leasing works in your favor is when your company pays for it (or you are able to deduct the payments from your taxes). The leasing company figures out how much you will drive over the life of the lease, how much the car will depreciate, and what they will be able to sell the car for when - they add all this up and divide it by the number of months of the lease. Then they add in their profit. You have to pay a couple thousand dollars to begin the lease and when the lease is over, they will bill you for any mileage over what they calculated and bill you for any loss when they sell the car. Most leases are bogged down with so much fine print (and BS) that you have no real idea of the cost you only know what the monthly payments are -- remember that you have to pay a lump sum at the beginning and another at the end.