Save Thousands A Year Pre-purchase

By Author: Marcus Stalder
Total Articles: 491
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Looking for a new or used vehicle? Make sure you factor the insurance rates into your understanding of what it will cost. That's one of the biggest mistakes people make. Ultimately, it's thousands of dollars of difference.

While comparing automobile types is not a surefire way to determine the rate of a vehicle - there is some variance within price and class - we can understand common trends in insurance prices.
What makes a car expensive or cheap to insure?

- Horsepower
- Safety record
- Theft record
- Price to replace
- Price to repair (including service costs)
Expensive Cars

Luxury sports cars are typically the most expensive to insure. They tend to be involved in more collisions and cost a whole lot to repair or replace. When your car has 500 horsepower under the hood, it's tough to stay within the speed limit sometimes. Insurers know that this is endangering other drivers, and they have to cover your liability. That'll cost you.

When they are in collisions, they are worse than economy cars and SUV collisions on average. They tend to have poorer safety ratings, ...
... so you will have to pay some extra there.
However, it's not true that luxury cars and sports cars are stolen the most. These vehicles usually have better safety features and the owners take more care with them, so they are pretty rarely stolen.

Insurance prices do get worse, especially when you consider imports like BMW, Ferrari, and Lamborghinis. These vehicles are expensive to repair and maintain because of rare parts and special labor.

If you aren't in the market for an ultra-expensive vehicle like that but are considering a nice sedan as an upgrade to an economy car, these rules also apply. The safety rating of a nice town car can make a big difference when compared to a cheaper vehicle - just compare two vehicles using car insurance quotes to see. That's not to say that cheap cars aren't safe - in fact, they often win the big safety awards - but mid-level semi-luxury sedans often have superb ratings.

The most expensive to insure cars of 2011:
1. Mercedes-Benz SL65 AMG
2. BMW 750i
3. BMW 750Li
4. Mercedes-Benz SL63 AMG
5. Mercedes-Benz S65 AMG

These cost well into the $3,000s a year.
Affordable Cars to Insure

These cars might not be as sexy as a Porsche or as powerful as a Mustang, but they are of good stock and tend to be more affordable - check the car insurance quotes out!
Minivans are real winners here because of their excellent safety features and their incredible durability. They tend to be quite affordable to repair as well, and smaller price tags mean they are cheaper to replace. As if that wasn't enough, how many people want to steal a minivan? They just don't have the same resale value on the black market.
However, there are exceptions to this rule. Some minivans actually do cost a lot to insure, but you'll have to see the trend and notice exceptions using car insurance quotes.

Most affordable of 2011:

1. Chrysler Town & Country LX
2. Toyota Sienna
3. Honda Odyssey LC
4. Nissan Murano
5. Jeep Wrangler