Casting about for car insurance bargains? A recent survey compared the auto insurance costs for some 900 vehicles and found that the Toyota Sienna LE came out on top.
This work-horse of a minivan shared the top five slots with four other minivans in the survey, which took into account rankings for 2012 models. Sitting pretty on the top five of the list for vehicles that require the least-costly car insurance, along with the Toyota Sienna LE, were the Toyota Sienna (not the LE), the Jeep Patriot Sport, the Jeep Compass Sport and the GMC Sierra K 1500, in that order. Among the top ten winners were the Chevrolet Silverado 1500, the Dodge Grand Caravan, the Ford Escape XLS, the Toyota Sienna 6-cylinder and the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 with extended cab.
In general, pickup trucks and some types of crossover SUV’s won the top spots on the list of vehicles with the best value for car insurance, and luxury cars such as Mercedes and Audis placed the highest on the reverse list for cars that are the most expensive to insure. Obviously, replacement and repair costs for luxury cars with hand-made parts are going to escalate the cost to buy auto insurance coverage for them, and place them firmly on the list of most-expensive car insurance with the least value, comparatively.
Editing director of Insure.com, Amy Danise, offers the opinion that, while it is not clear why certain cars came in with better showings on the list than others, what is abundantly clear is that minivans always come out on top, and that minivan owners derive deep benefits from others who have insured these particular models and gone for respectable periods of time without making expensive auto insurance claims. Minivans, she says, are the vehicle of choice for families who drive with children in their cars.
The insure.com least-expensive to insure survey produced national rankings based on six different carriers: Farmers, Nationwide, State Farm, Allstate, Geico and Progressive. The numbers were derived from average auto insurance rates in ten different zip codes from each state represented.
The survey posited that the sample driver would be a middle-aged (40) male with an impeccable driving record, who drove twelve miles to and from work every day, and whose car insurance had comprehensive and collision coverage with a $500 deductible.
These days, you can’t afford to drive the roads without auto insurance. A serious accident can land you in court, or bankrupt if you go without it. But car insurance prices vary enormously among the many providers, and a little comparison shopping can go a long way toward getting the best value and the best coverage for your individual insurance needs.
