Cheapest Cars to Insure

By BLAIR S. WALKER, AOL AUTOS

See 2008 Land Rover LR3

Nobody wants eye-popping auto insurance premiums in addition to monthly car payments. So if you're considering purchasing a small sedan, not factoring in your personal driving records, the Honda Civic is the least expensive car to insure in that niche. Conversely, a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 4WD is the most expensive.

If the market for large luxury SUVs has caught your eye, a Land Rover LR3 will keep your insurance pain to a minimum, while a Porsche Cayenne will maximize it.

Those and other insurance-related facts are compiled by the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI), a non-profit organization dedicated to reducing the deaths, injuries and property damage stemming from auto crashes. Supported by auto insurers, HLDI rates vehicles based on what insurance companies pay out in losses for various makes and models.

Least & Most Expensive Car to Insure
	Least Expensive	Most Expensive
Small Sports Car	Pontiac Solstice - 73	Honda S2000 - 196
Midsize Luxury SUV	Volvo XC90 - 62	Cadillac SRX - 129
Small SUV	Jeep Wrangler LWB 2-door - 63	Mitsubishi Outlander - 120
Midsize Luxury	BMW 3 Series Wagon - 58	BMW M3 - 301
Small Pickups	Dodge Dakota Quad Cab - 75	Mazda B plus 4WD - 160
Small Four-door	Honda Civic - 105	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 4WD - 437
Midsize Four-door	Subaru Outback 4WD - 72	Nissan Maxima - 137
Large Luxury SUV	Land Rover LR3 - 53	Porsche Cayenne - 121
Above are a few collision averages gleaned from HLDI data. The least expensive vehicle to insure in the category is first, followed by the most expensive with corresponding collision damage scores.

HLDI data looks at six insurance coverage areas, including property damage liability and personal injury protection. However, payouts pegged to collision damage are the key indicator used here.

"Collision damage is one of the big things that insurers pay for," HLDI spokesman Russ Rader said. "If a vehicle that you're looking at has very high losses under collision coverage, insurers are paying out a lot of money to repair that vehicle. Therefore, you're likely to pay more to insure it."

HLDI's stats cover 2004-06 vehicles and include accidents that occurred up to May 31, 2007. The vehicles being examined have only been sold once and have been assigned numerical collision-damage scores, with 100 representing the average collision loss for all vehicles in a given category.

The Lincoln Town Car's category-leading 96 means it fares 4 percent better than average when it comes to collision losses that insurance companies pay for very large luxury cars. The 459 score generated by the basement-dwelling Maserati Quattroporte is 359 percent worse than average.

See 2008 Porsche Cayenne

It's not difficult to divine from those scores that the Lincoln will cost considerably less to insure than the Maserati.

In the large pickup truck category, the Dodge Ram 1500 Mega Cab got a 53, which is 47 percent better than the average for its large-pickup brethren. Listed at the bottom of the pack was the Nissan Titan King Cab, which received a 121.

The cheapest car to insure among midsize sports cars is the Ford Mustang GT convertible, which earned a 100. On the other hand the Dodge Viper convertible, with its 865 collision-damage score, would appear to be an insurance nightmare.

Of course insurance companies take other things into account when determining how much your auto insurance will cost, said Carolyn Gorman, of the Insurance Information Institute. "A lot of different factors, such as your driving record and where you live, will affect your auto insurance premium," Gorman said, adding that age, gender, credit history and miles driven each year also play a part.

But a major component affecting auto insurance premiums is within your control. To find out if a new vehicle you've been eyeballing has high collision-damage losses, visit HLDI's Web site at www.iihs.org. Click on 'Research & stats,' then click on 'Insurance losses by make and model.'

"Generally speaking, as you look at the data one of the things you'll see is big and boring sedans have lower insurance costs," Rader said. "So vehicles that don't go fast and don't have a lot of extra parts that are easily damaged in a crash are going to have lower insurance losses. If you're looking at a European luxury car, or a souped-up high performance car, you're likely going to pay more to insure it."

Read More: Top 11 Safest Cars 2007 & 2008

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139 comments

AnvilsSongCrafts 10:30:03 PM Nov 06 2008

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US automakers are broke, and unions are what made them that way. they will reform themselves after they "die" and after they shed themselves of the parasite unions that killed them.Then they will be able to actually compete.

AnvilsSongCrafts 10:28:13 PM Nov 06 2008

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aol sucks

Whispr2horses 03:21:17 AM Oct 05 2008

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I plan to buy another car in the near future and because our economy, I will buy American ( and make sure it is manufacture in America). Chevy is another vehicle our family depends on, but, since I don't really NEED a truck right now, I will be shopping very smart before I buy. The insurance and safe car tests I see on AOL are limited and do not show ALL the makes or models. I think I will keep looking.

Whispr2horses 03:15:00 AM Oct 05 2008

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We have Hondas in our family. I drive a 86 that was handed down to me...it just keeps on going and going, I'm proud to pass by the BMW's and Hummer's , because I know that I get better gas mileage and I pay less for tags and insurance too! It is a very reliable car. Exellent gas mileage, low maintenence, trouble free.

Loyalwolf1 08:24:14 PM Jun 18 2008

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well i never owned a honda or anyother car like that i have always bought american and have had several chevy's last 350,00 miles with very little problems. no matter what you have if you follow the manufacotrs reccomndation they last forever!

Pats37sdaman 06:55:29 PM Apr 14 2008

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I bet that foreign cars like farrari and lamborgini, are much more expensive than the ones you got listed. Think about it your insurance is a percentage of the vehichles worth. If you buy a $250,000. car than your insurance is going to be well if you can afford the car you probably don't care.

laiconna 11:35:58 PM Apr 11 2008

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My 92 Honda Acccord has 350.000 miles and it still runs great. My newest accord has over 115.000. American made cars a being made much better now. but because of the poor quality and arrogance of the industry in the past, people are reluctant to buy those cars. Myfriend just traded her 95 chrysler van in for a new one. She wouldn't think of buying any other brand. Remember, Chrysler was the first American Auto Manufacturer to offer the 100.000 mile warranty on their cars. That was unheard of in the industry at that time. That's what saved them.

Bendrummin10 01:13:08 PM Apr 10 2008

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As far as i have read, hondas go forever, especially if you do regular maintenance. My fmaily has owned everal Taurus' and every one has served us well until about 100k when it starts having problems. We also have a 2001 Dodge Grand caravan that has over 130k and runs great. We have driven it across the country several times on many long road trips and it has never left us stranded or broken down on the road; although we did have to invest some money into a new belt and brakes recently, it has done terrific.

As far as insuring cars go, i have found that insuring Honda's, especially civics, is hundreds more expensive than insuring even a Mustang (i am a young male driver so that means alot!). A good example is i got a quote from two different insurance companies and both of them were wanting to insure a 14-year old civic, for the EXACT SAME PRICE as a BRAND NEW Dodge Caliber! Maybe its just my area but that is ridiculous (BTW i live in a very very safe subburban area; very very low cri

bedroomvvarrior 12:03:59 PM Mar 19 2008

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bedroomvvarrior 12:03:48 PM Mar 19 2008

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I have always bought GM products. As a mechanic I have always told everyone I know to buy GM but now that they seem to be trying to screw their workers and only worried about profit I will start buying Honda and Toyota if they don't pull their head out of their A$$. If they continue to try to screw the UAW I will do everything I can to help bring the big 3 down.

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