By Evan Kowalski · Editor
Published · Updated
Answer in brief
Your car's make, model and year set its collision and comprehensive premium through a rating symbol derived from real claims experience. Expensive-to-insure vehicles share traits: high repair costs (sensors, aluminium, luxury parts), high horsepower, high theft rates, and high injury losses for either occupants (very small cars) or others (very large trucks and SUVs). The difference between two similarly priced vehicles can be 40% or more of the premium, which makes an insurance quote on a specific car a sensible step before buying.
What the symbol captures
Industry databases track collision, comprehensive, injury and liability losses for every make/model/year. A vehicle's symbol reflects how often it is in claims and how much they cost. Original price matters less than people assume—repair complexity and loss frequency matter more.
Traits that raise premiums
- Sports and performance trims, including fast versions of ordinary cars.
- Luxury brands with expensive parts and higher theft.
- Models with driver-assistance sensors in bumpers and windshields—cheap to buy, expensive to repair.
- Very small cars (occupant injuries) and very large trucks/SUVs (damage to others).
- Models with high theft rates in your region.
- Electric vehicles, in many cases, because of battery and body repair costs.
Traits that lower premiums
- Mid-size sedans, minivans and small/mid-size SUVs with mainstream parts.
- Strong crash-test ratings and standard automatic emergency braking.
- Low theft rates and factory anti-theft.
- Vehicles a few years old, where value has fallen but safety equipment is modern.
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Entries in this guide
Specific questions answered in more depth.
Questions & answers
Are new cars more expensive to insure?
Usually—higher value and more sensors—but newer safety features can offset part of that.
Does car colour matter?
No. Insurers do not rate on colour.
Are electric cars more expensive to insure?
Often, because of battery and body repair costs, though it varies by model.
Terms used in this guide
- Vehicle rating symbol
- A number assigned to each make/model/year from its claims experience, driving collision and comprehensive premiums.
- Collision coverage
- Pays to repair your car after a crash, minus the deductible.
- Comprehensive coverage
- Pays for theft, weather, vandalism, fire, animal strikes and glass.
Sources and references
Legal figures on this page (minimum limits, filing periods, statutory benefits) are checked against the primary law or the state insurance regulator listed below. Links and figures last verified Nov 2026.
- Advanced driver assistance — Insurance Institute for Highway SafetyIndependent researchEffectiveness of automatic emergency braking, lane departure and other systems in reducing claims and crashes.
- Trends and Insights: Auto insurance rates (June 2024) — Insurance Information Institute (2024)Independent researchWhy premiums rose 2021–2024: crash frequency and severity, repair and labour inflation, vehicle technology, attorney involvement.
- Insurance losses by make and model — Highway Loss Data InstituteStatistical dataRelative claim frequency and severity by vehicle under collision, property damage, comprehensive, PIP, MedPay and bodily injury coverages.
- Vehicle ratings — Insurance Institute for Highway SafetyStatistical dataCrashworthiness and crash-avoidance ratings by make and model.
- Top Safety Pick awards — Insurance Institute for Highway SafetyStatistical dataCurrent award winners; useful when choosing a vehicle for a new or young driver.
- 2019–2023 Auto Insurance Database: average premium supplement — National Association of Insurance Commissioners (2025)Statistical dataCountrywide average expenditure $1,281 in 2023 (+13.98%); combined average premium $1,438; state tables for liability, collision and comprehensive.
- Facts + Statistics: Auto insurance — Insurance Information Institute (2025)Statistical dataNAIC countrywide average auto expenditure: $1,127 (2022), $1,282 (2023); most expensive states in 2023 were Florida, Louisiana and New York.
- How much auto coverage do I need? — Insurance Information InstituteConsumer guidanceWhy state minimums are a floor; choosing liability limits that protect assets; when collision and comprehensive are worth keeping.
Practical guidance on this page is original editorial work. Cited sources support factual statements and do not endorse this site. Dollar ranges described as typical or illustrative are editorial estimates, not figures from these sources.
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