Which Car Should You Own To Keep Your Insurance Rates Most Affordable?

Do you consider the cost of insurance before you buy your dream car? You should. The Highway Loss Data Institute analyzes the cost to insurance companies from theft, collision, and injury claims as they relate to cars. They look at the color of the cars, how many doors they have, and even break them down type.

The Highway Loss Data Institute is a nonprofit public service organization. It is closely associated with and funded through the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which is wholly supported by auto insurers. HLDI gathers, processes, and publishes data on the ways losses vary among different kinds of vehicles. http://www.iihs.org/vehicle_ratings/ictl/ictl.htm
4-Door cars have a 93% less chance of having a claim related to theft than their sibling 2-Door cars. Buy a Buick LeSabre and have relatively no chance of a theft loss. Compare that to the convertible Chevrolet Corvette that has over 5 times the average theft rate. You may have known that. However, did you know that the Toyota Celica has a 67% higher chance of theft than the Toyota Camry?

In addition, even though the 2002 Lexus IS 300 gets a “best pick” rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety for its performance on crash tests, previous years’ models of the same car are some of the most costly in terms of collision claims. “One of the factors that come into play there is the cost of repairing an expensive vehicle,” says Russ Rader, with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

What about safety? You may be surprised at some of the results. For example, the Porsche 911 has a 67% less chance for injury claims than the norm. Go figure. The Mitsubishi Lancer has almost double the injury claim rate over the norm.

Where does you car fit for injury theft and collision? What about your dream car? Take a look at this run down based on 2000-2002 HLDI data:

Models that are among the most expensive for theft claims include:

• Cadillac Escalade four-wheel drive
• Chevrolet Corvette Convertible
• Lincoln Navigator four-wheel drive
• Jeep Cherokee four-door
• BMW 3 series Convertible

Models that are among the least expensive for theft claims include:

• Buick LeSabre
• Buick Park Avenue
• Volvo V70 Station Wagon
• Mercury Grand Marquis four-door

Models that are among the most expensive for injury claims include:

• Suzuki Esteem four-door
• Kia Rio four-door
• Mitsubishi Mirage two-door
• Kia Sepectra four-door

Models that are among the least expensive for injury claims include:

• GMC Sierra 2500 two-wheel drive
• Chevrolet Silverado 2500
• GMC Yukon XL 1500 four-wheel drive
• GMC Sierra 2500 four-wheel drive
• Chevrolet Tahoe two-wheel drive

Models that are among the most expensive for collision claims include:

• Subaru Impreza WRX four-wheel drive four-door
• Lexus IS 300 4 door
• Hyundai Tiburon two-door
• Porsche 911 Coupe
• Acura RSX

Models that are among the least expensive for collision claims include:

• Ford Excursion two-wheel drive
• GMC Safari four-wheel drive
• GMC Sierra 2500
• GMC Yukon XL 1500 four-wheel drive

Source: The Highway Loss Data Institute