subject: Does the type of car I'm driving affect my insurance rates? [print this page] Does the type of car I'm driving affect my insurance rates?
There are a lot of factors influencing the rates any driver is charged with by the insurance company. Things like credit rating, driving experience, age, sex, place of residence, education and marital status contribute to the final premium a driver receives with his or her policy. However, the most overlooked and at the same time important factor that affects insurance rates is of course the car being insured. There's a huge difference in trying to insure an SUV and a typical sedan. So if you don't have an idea of how your car can insurance the rates you pay here's a short overview of car types with their pros and cons in terms of insurance.
Small cars
Smaller vehicles with modest engine volume and performance are usually very easy to maintain and repair. And this is usually reflected in car insurance rates the owners of such cars get from their insurers. On the other hand, small cars rarely have the security features and the overall driver/passenger safety if compared to larger cars. Just try to remember what cars get the most damage in serious accidents. Of course, the smaller ones - it's pure physics. So the reduced safety sometimes outweighs the pros of small cars making it a bit expensive to insure them.
Medium size vehicles
The most common type of vehicles - sedans and hatchbacks of medium size range - are in the sweet spot in terms of insurance. On one hand, they usually have medium performance and reasonable maintenance costs, making them quite cheap to insure. On the other hand their security features and safety ratings are much better than with small cars, which also contributes to better rates. So as a result we have an optimal combination of pros to get good car insurance rates. Of course, there are exceptions from the overall trend, so you'll have to check every car make and model before making the decision. But the overall situation is more favorable to medium class cars than to any other vehicle types.
Large SUVs and trucks
Larger cars usually have great performance, power and security features. It's always better to be in the larger car during the accident since it gets far less damage. However, the overall tendency to inflict more damage than smaller vehicles makes it a bit expensive to insure large trucks and SUVs. Moreover, this type of cars has higher theft rates than small and mid sized cars, which also contributes to higher premiums. So you'll typically end up paying more to insure a truck and SUV, not mentioning that the cost of maintaining them and their gas mileage aren't making them any cheap to drive.
Sports and performance cars
The fascination with powerful muscle cars and sports vehicles will always result in higher premiums. First of all, such cars statistically have more insurance claims than other vehicle types and are known to provoke aggressive driving. These cars also have higher theft rates and are more expensive to repair. So if you want to keep your rates low this isn't the best type of cars to consider.
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