The Auto Channel: North America | Europe

Insurance Cost Comparisons By Model and Make - Know Before You Get The Hots

FOR PASSENGER CARS, STATION WAGONS/PASSENGER VANS,
PICKUPS AND UTILITY VEHICLES
ON THE BASIS OF DAMAGE SUSCEPTIBILITY

MARCH 2005

 

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has provided this information in compliance with Federal law as an aid to consumers considering the purchase of a new vehicle. The information  compares differences in insurance costs for different makes and models of passenger cars, station wagons/passenger vans, pickups, and utility vehicles on the basis of damage susceptibility. However, it does not indicate a vehicle's relative safety.

The following table contains the best available information regarding the effect of damage susceptibility on insurance premiums. It was taken from data compiled by the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) in its December 2004 Insurance Collision Report, and reflects the collision loss experience of passenger cars, utility vehicles, light trucks, and vans sold in the United States in terms of the average loss payment per insured vehicle year for model years 2002-2004. NHTSA has not verified the data in this table.

The table presents vehicles' collision loss experience in relative terms, with 100 representing the average for all passenger vehicles. Thus, a rating of 122 reflects a collision loss experience that is 22 percent higher (worse) than average while a rating of 96 reflects a collision loss experience that is 4 percent lower (better) than average. The table is not relevant for models that have been substantially redesigned for 2005, and it does not include
information about models without enough claim experience.

Although many insurance companies use the HLDI information to adjust the "base rate" for the collision portion of their insurance premiums, the amount of any such adjustment is usually small. It is unlikely that your total premium will vary more than ten percent depending upon the collision loss experience of a particular vehicle. If you do not purchase collision coverage or your insurance company does not use the HLDI information, your premium will not vary at all in relation to these rankings.
In addition, different insurance companies often charge different premiums for the same driver and vehicle. Therefore, you should contact insurance companies or their agents directly to determine the actual premium that you will be charged for insuring a particular vehicle.

PLEASE NOTE: In setting insurance premiums, insurance companies mainly rely on factors that are not directly related to the vehicle itself (except for its value). Rather, they mainly consider driver characteristics (such as age, gender, marital status, and driving record), the geographic area in which the vehicle is driven, how many miles are traveled, and how the vehicle is used. Therefore, to obtain complete information about insurance premiums, you should contact insurance companies or their agents directly.

Insurance companies do not generally adjust their premiums on the basis of data reflecting the crashworthiness of different vehicles. However, some companies adjust their premiums for personal injury protection and medical payment coverage if the insured vehicle has features that are likely to improve its crashworthiness, such as air bags.

Test data relating to vehicle crashworthiness are available from NHTSA's New Car Assessment Program (NCAP). NCAP test results demonstrate relative frontal and side crash protection in new vehicles. Information on vehicles that NHTSA has tested in the NCAP program can be obtained by calling the agency's toll-free Vehicle Safety Hotline at (888) 327-4236 and through the NHTSA Web Page at: www.nhtsa.dot.gov.

COLLISION INSURANCE LOSSES
MODEL YEAR 2002 - 2004 PASSENGER MOTOR VEHICLES

Mini Cars
Make Model Relative Average Loss Payment
per Insured Vehicle Year
Two-Door Models
 121
Toyota Echo 110
Hyundai Accent 120
Four-Door Models
 126
Chevrolet Aveo 98
Toyota Echo 119
Kia Rio 125
Hyundai Accent 130
Scion xA 133
Station Wagons
 119
Kia Rio 120
Sports Models
 110
Mazda Miata convertible 95
Toyota MR2 Spyder convertible 145
Specialty Models
 121
Scion xB 4dr 119
Honda Insight 2dr 124
NOTE: Every model represents over 1,000 insured vehicle years and at least 100 claims. The experience for previous or discontinued models from 2002 – 2004 is included in the class averages.

 

 

Small Cars
Make Model Relative Average Loss Payment
per Insured Vehicle Year
Two-Door Models
142
Volkswagen New Beetle convertible 74
Volkswagen New Beetle 91
Mini Cooper 99
Saturn ION Quad Coupe 124
Pontiac Sunfire 133
Chevrolet Cavalier 135
Ford Focus 142
Honda Civic coupe 150
Mitsubishi Eclipse 152
Volkswagen Golf 156
Honda Civic hatchback 186
Hyundai Tiburon 201
Toyota Celica 203
Acura RSX 224
Four-Door Models
123
Saturn ION 107
Volkswagen Golf 112
Hyundai Elantra 113
Volkswagen Jetta 113
Honda Civic 118
Chevrolet Cavalier 118
Ford Focus 120
Toyota Corolla 120
Kia Spectra sedan/hatchback 126
Volvo S40 129
Dodge Neon 131
Suzuki Forenza 141
Nissan Sentra 148
Mazda 3 151
Subaru Impreza 4WD 155
Suzuki Aerio 160
Mitsubishi Lancer 165
Subaru Impreza WRX 4WD 257
Dodge SRT-4 287
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 4WD 514
Station Wagons
110
Volkswagen Jetta 80
Ford Focus 87
Suzuki Aerio SX 4WD 96
Volvo V40 99
Pontiac Vibe 4WD 104
Pontiac Vibe 106
Subaru Impreza 4WD 107
Toyota Matrix 4WD 118
Toyota Matrix 120
Suzuki Aerio SX 129
Mazda 3 136
Subaru Impreza WRX 4WD 154
Sports Models
143
Audi TT Quattro roadster 106
BMW Z4 Roadster convertible 107
Audi TT roadster 110
Audi TT coupe 111
Mercedes SLK class convertible 119
Chrysler Crossfire 121
Audi TT Quattro coupe 124
Mitsubishi Eclipse convertible 135
Porsche Boxster convertible 181
Honda S2000 convertible 225
Specialty Models
89
Toyota Prius 4dr 74
Chrysler PT Cruiser 4dr 86
Honda Civic Hybrid 4dr 103
NOTE: Every model represents over 1,000 insured vehicle years and at least 100 claims. The experience for previous or discontinued models from 2002 – 2004 is included in the class averages.

 

 

Midsize Cars
Make Model Relative Average Loss Payment
per Insured Vehicle Year
Two-Door Models
117
Chrysler Sebring convertible 77
Chevrolet Monte Carlo 105
Oldsmobile Alero 110
Pontiac Grand Am 112
Toyota Camry Solara 121
Chrysler Sebring 125
Audi A4 Cabriolet convertible 135
Honda Accord 140
Dodge Stratus 147
Infiniti G35 164
Four-Door Models
104
Saturn LS 75
Toyota Avalon 82
Subaru Legacy/Outback 4WD 84
Toyota Camry 90
Saab 9-3 91
Mitsubishi Galant 94
Honda Accord 97
Oldsmobile Alero 98
Chevrolet Malibu 101
Hyundai Sonata 104
Chrysler Sebring 104
Pontiac Grand Am 110
Volkswagen Passat 111
Kia Optima 112
Infiniti I35 115
Nissan Altima 115
Dodge Stratus 115
Acura TSX 118
Infiniti G35 122
Volkswagen Passat 4WD 124
Audi A4 134
Nissan Maxima 138
Mazda 6 141
Audi A4/S4 Quattro 143
Mitsubishi Diamante 143
Station Wagons
76
Chevrolet Malibu Maxx 52
Saturn LW 67
Subaru Legacy/Outback 4WD 70
Volkswagen Passat 86
Audi A4/S4 Avant Quattro 107
Volkswagen Passat 4WD 121
Sports Models
149
Chevrolet Corvette convertible 71
Chevrolet Corvette 113
Ford Mustang convertible 126
Lexus SC 430 convertible 126
Mercedes SL class convertible 142
Ford Mustang 156
Porsche 911 convertible 163
Nissan 350Z convertible 175
Mazda RX-8 176
Porsche 911 Coupe 194
Nissan 350Z 206
Luxury Models
131
Saab 9-5 station wagon 82
BMW 3 series station wagon 84
BMW 3 series station wagon 4WD 88
Acura TL series 4dr 95
Lexus ES series 4dr 100
Saab 9-5 4dr 104
BMW 3 series 4dr 4WD 105
BMW 3 series convertible 111
Mercedes C class 4dr 116
Mercedes C Class 4dr 4WD 116
BMW 3 series 4dr 117
Volvo S60 4dr 121
Volvo S60 4dr 4WD 128
Mercedes C Class station wagon 133
Mercedes C Class 2dr 136
Jaguar X-Type 4dr 4WD 141
Mercedes CLK Class 2dr 177
Lexus IS 300 Sportcross station wagon 178
BMW 3 series 2dr 183
Mercedes CLK Class convertible 199
Lexus IS 300 4dr 229
NOTE: Every model represents over 1,000 insured vehicle years and at least 100 claims. The experience for previous or discontinued models from 2002 – 2004 is included in the class averages.

 

 

Large Cars
Make Model Relative Average Loss Payment
per Insured Vehicle Year
Four-Door Models
80
Buick LeSabre 55
Buick Century 65
Pontiac Bonneville 67
Buick Regal 68
Chevrolet Impala 76
Ford Taurus 83
Mercury Sable 85
Chrysler Concorde 85
Pontiac Grand Prix 96
Dodge Intrepid 102
Chrysler 300M 104
Hyundai XG350 107
Station Wagons / Minivans
70
Pontiac Montana SWB 57
Mazda MPV 58
Pontiac Montana LWB 61
Ford Taurus 62
Oldsmobile Silhouette 63
Chevrolet Venture LWB 69
Dodge Caravan 71
Mercury Sable 76
Chevrolet Venture SWB 76
Sports Models
103
Ford Thunderbird convertible 60
Jaguar XK series convertible 248
Luxury Models
116
Buick Park Avenue 4dr 62
Audi A6 4dr 80
Cadillac DeVille 4dr 88
Volvo V70 station wagon 4WD 93
Volvo V70 station wagon 97
Volvo S80 4dr 98
Acura 3.5 RL 4dr 102
Cadillac Seville 4dr 102
Lincoln LS 4dr 111
Audi A6/S6 Quattro station wagon 112
Lexus LS 430 4dr 112
Lexus GS series 4dr 115
Audi A6/RS6 Quattro 4dr 122
Volvo C70 convertible 122
Jaguar S-type 4dr 125
Mercedes E class 4dr 127
BMW 5 series 4dr 133
Infiniti M45 4dr 134
Cadillac CTS 4dr 137
Infiniti Q45 4dr 152
Jaguar XJ series 4dr LWB 193
Jaguar XJ series 4dr 205
Mercedes CL Class 2dr 305
NOTE: Every model represents over 1,000 insured vehicle years and at least 100 claims. The experience for previous or discontinued models from 2002 – 2004 is included in the class averages.

 

 

Very Large Cars
Make Model Relative Average Loss Payment
per Insured Vehicle Year
Four-Door Models
71
Ford Crown Victoria 72
Mercury Grand Marquis 76
Station Wagons / Minivans
70
GMC Safari 54
Chevrolet Astro 4WD 63
Pontiac Montana LWB 4WD 65
Chevrolet Astro 65
Oldsmobile Silhouette 4WD 65
Honda Odyssey 66
GMC Safari 4WD 67
Nissan Quest 68
Chrysler Town & Country LWB 69
Dodge Grand Caravan 71
Toyota Sienna 72
Chevrolet Venture LWB 4WD 72
Toyota Sienna 4WD 76
Ford Freestar 77
Chrysler Town & Country 4WD 81
Dodge Grand Caravan 4WD 82
Kia Sedona 83
Chrysler Town & Country SWB 86
Luxury Models
139
Lincoln Town Car 4dr 84
Mercedes S class LWB 4dr 4WD 105
Audi A8 L Quattro 4dr 133
BMW 7 series 4dr LWB 150
BMW 7 series 4dr 167
Mercedes S class 4dr LWB 181
NOTE: Every model represents over 1,000 insured vehicle years and at least 100 claims. The experience for previous or discontinued models from 2002 – 2004 is included in the class averages.

 

 

Pickups
Make Model Relative Average Loss Payment
per Insured Vehicle Year
Small Pickups
97
Chevrolet Colorado series 85
Chevrolet S10 series 4WD 85
GMC Sonoma series 4WD 85
Nissan Frontier series 87
Mazda B series 93
Dodge Dakota series 93
Toyota Tacoma series 96
Ford Ranger series 97
Dodge Dakota series 4WD 101
Nissan Frontier series 4WD 102
Chevrolet Colorado series 4WD 103
Mazda B series 4WD 106
Ford Ranger series 4WD 108
Toyota Tacoma series 4WD 110
Large Pickups
86
Ford F-150 series 4WD (NEW) 63
Nissan Titan series 4WD 67
Ford F-150 series (NEW) 70
Dodge Ram 1500 series 4WD 79
Chevrolet Silverado 1500 series 4WD 79
Ford F-150 series 4WD (OLD) 80
GMC Sierra 1500 series 4WD 81
Dodge Ram 1500 series 85
GMC Sierra 1500 series 89
Chevrolet Silverado 1500 series 90
Ford F-150 series (OLD) 90
Toyota Tundra series 91
Nissan Titan series 97
Toyota Tundra series 4WD 105