Do red cars really cost more to insure?

by Fishman » Fri May 23, 2008 07:19 pm
Posts: 143
Joined: 04 Apr 2008

(Or how the car you drive affects your rates)

The answer is no, the color of your car is not taken into rating consideration at all. This has become a prevalent myth, most likely, because red is such a popular color for sports cars.

In reality, there is no simple answer to what cars cost more than others to insure.

Every mass produced vehicle is assigned a rating symbol by the National Insurance Services Offices (ISO). The actuaries at ISO crunch all sort of statistics about the particular vehicle to arrive at it's rating symbol and insurance companies use the rating symbol determine the physical damage rates for that car.

Some of the data taken into consideration includes, of course, the cost new, and current value, of the vehicle. Things like what percentage of fatal accidents occur in that vehicle, the average amount of damage sustained by and caused by that vehicle in a collision, safety features, cost of aftermarket parts and more also affect the rate.

This is why a used Camaro will often cost more to insure than a new Cadillac even though the Camaro is much less expensive. It is also why your new car costs more to insure than the older car you traded in, even though the new car is packed to the gills with the latest in hi-tech safety equipment.

As the price of everything rises, the cost of insurance becomes an important factor to keep in mind when making a new car purchase, most especially for younger drivers.

Another public service provided by FISHMAN.

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