American culture attributes the car we drive to our persona - defining our values, our sense of style, and to some extent, our eccentricities. It's the reason that Corvette owners wave to each other, and why everyone feels the need to catch a look to see who's driving the Hummer. In the same manner, the car we drive also determines how much we pay for car insurance. Easily an afterthought to the monthly car loan payment, many owners are "car-broke" because of their insurance costs and don't even know it. Are you driving one of the most expensive cars to insure?Factors That Determine Car Insurance Rates
There are a handful of factors that determine how much a person pays for insurance, including gender, age, driving record, location of residence, annual driving mileage, credit scores (in most states), and most importantly, the car we drive. Although common-sense holds that the more expensive a car, the more expensive the insurance, this is not always the case. Insurance rates differ greatly between makes and models. If a car performs well in crash tests, it's not frequently stolen, and has additional safety or anti-theft devices, it will generally cost less to insure it. On the other hand, if your car is flashier, attractive to thieves, and doesn't wow anyone in the crash tests, it will cost more to insure.
Ten Most Expensive to Insure
1 Aston Martin DB9
2 Bentley Continental
3 Dodge Viper
4 Porsche 911
5 Chevrolet Corvette
6 Porsche Cayman
7 BMW X5
8 Cadillac Escalade
9 Land Rover Range Rover
10 BMW 128I
Ten Least Expensive to Insure
1 Mercury Grand Marquis
2 Buick Lacrosse
3 Toyota Avalon
4 Kia Sportage
5 Chevrolet Equinox
6 Ford Escape
7 Kia Optima
8 Subaru Tribeca
9 Buick Lucerne
10 Ford Ranger
To create each list, we carefully analyzed rate data for every driver with a 2009 model vehicle who visited our site for an auto insurance quote this year. After combing through tens of thousands of quotes, we came up with an average rate for each make and model and sorted the results by price. Each make and model must have had at least 50 quote requests to qualify.
