10 Most Expensive Cars to Insure vs. 10 Least Expensive

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 know it. Are you driving one of the most expensive cars to insure?

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.

What's the Fastest You've Taken It?
If you drive a high performance vehicle with more horsepower than General Washington's Army, insurance companies have no other choice but to assume that you will use it and practice riskier driving. Should you get into an accident, regardless of fault, the cost of returning your vehicle to its original condition can be extraordinary-- even for a seemingly innocuous fender bender.

Bigger is Safer, But Cause More Damage
Although SUVs, large trucks, and other large road warriors might be safer than compact cars in accidents, they tend to foster a more expensive liability coverage rate given the fact that they inflict more damage than most standard cars in accidents. On another note, there are still many SUVs that have inherent safety flaws in their design, specifically with rollover tests. Accordingly, insurance companies share these additional financial risks onto the driver in the form of higher premiums.

Car Insurance Companies Love Family Cars
Cars that are particularly associated as "family cars" tend to have lower insurance premiums. These types of cars include minivans, family sedans, and station wagons. Cars that are used primarily to transport a family are generally involved in fewer accidents, due to safer driving habits associated with those who transport family members.

It Doesn't Matter Which List You're On: Don't Over-Pay for Car Insurance
Insurance companies specialize in different types of financial risk and demonstrate this best in their insurance rates. Just because your insurance company affords you a wonderful rate on your homeowners insurance policy, doesn't mean they'll offer you the same deal to insure your Jeep Wrangler. Remember, the same policy can differ by hundreds of dollars from company to company, not to mention that rates are always changing. Regardless of which list your car is on, you can always get quotes to identify potential savings from a new insurance company, or any previously unrecognized discounts from your current company.

Most drivers would benefit from getting alternative quotes from various insurers at each renewal period. When policyholders find a reputable insurer offering great rates they would not have much reason sticking with current provider. In fact they might feel a bit let down with their existing providers as they might have thought all along that they have been getting decent rates. However this feeling might not be justified since such company might have really been the best choice last year. But the changes in the market, personal circumstances and most importantly in competitors could have affected auto insurance quotes lately.

Therefore it would be highly advisable to have an open mind when people are searching for cheaper rates. Having strong opinions or liking one particular insurer might hinder the process and might prevent them to have a thorough search. For example they might think highly of certain companies that they might tent to accept an offer from them pretty easily especially when it is cheaper than their current deal. Even though they might be saving some money if they continued their search a bit more their savings could be a lot more. Many people would start looking around with intention to find the best auto insurance deals. They should exhaust all the choices before rushing into making a quick decision.

Considering there are many sources selling car insurance online and offline competition in the car insurance market is quite apparent. In addition it is a lot easier to get quotes and compare insurers in any zip code especially with online car insurance comparison sites. So drivers should determine the level of coverage they like to have and run it through with several companies. Effectively they would have a shortlist of cheap auto insurance quotes in no time. Then it would be a lot easier to see how current renewal terms measure up. At this point they might have to decide whether to stay where they are or move to a superior company.

Many policyholders might like their insurers for various reasons while others would want to switch provider as a result of dissatisfaction. Formed opinion about current insurer would determine their next action a lot in various ways. People started the process mainly because they did not like existing insurer would have no problem switching to alternatives with slightly lower quotes. On the other hand policyholders who are satisfied might want to give another chance to present insurer before making the swap. This would make a lot of sense especially when alternative quotes are only slightly better.

Most car insurance companies would love to capture new customers. Similarly they would hate to lose existing policyholders even though they might be gaining many new clients. Policyholders are probably the most valuable assets and insurers would want to protect them. On that basis drivers might be able to renegotiate better rates than existing renewal terms. However they might actually need to have lower alternative quotes to have a strong negotiating position. Most companies would ask straight if they need to beat certain figure to retain the business. It might actually be a great fun to see how quickly higher renewal quote is coming down when they realize the existence of a stiff competition now.