Cars with Cheap Insurance: Lower Your Monthly Costs

1. Cheapest Cars to Insure
2. Cheapest Cars to Insure: Make
3. Cheapest Types of Cars to Insure
4. Our Methodology
5. How Your Vehicle Affects Car Insurance Rates
6. Most Expensive Cars to Insure
7. Frequently Asked Questions

When buying a new car, there's more to consider than just the sale price, especially if you're trying to keep costs down. The cheapest cars to buy may not actually be the most affordable to own in the long term. One thing you need to consider is how much the car will cost to insure. We've scoured trusted websites to find cars with cheap insurance and their monthly car insurance rates.

This list includes some of the most popular cars in 2021, according to sites like Kelley Blue Book and WalletHub. The cheapest cars to insure change yearly, and your insurance rates will also vary depending on your driving record and other factors.

Cheapest Cars to Insure

This list of cheap cars to insure takes the average auto insurance rates across various zip codes. This should not be used as an exact indication of how much it will cost to insure these types of cars, as insurance rates vary depending on various factors.

Other Cars with Cheap Insurance

• Fiat 500X
• Honda Pilot
• Ford Transit Connect
• GMC Canyon
• Mazda CX-3

Cheapest Cars to Insure: Make

The vehicle makes that generally come with cheaper car insurance rates consistently get high marks for vehicle safety, so it's no surprise that they make the top list.

1. Nissan
2. Honda
3. Toyota
4. Chrysler
5. Dodge
6. BMW
7. Lexus

Cheapest Types of Cars to Insure

If you're still trying to figure out what type of vehicle you want, perhaps the cost of car insurance may help. In general, the cheapest cars to insure in order from least to more expensive are:

• Minivans
• Crossovers
• SUVs
• Pickup trucks
• Sedans
• Coupes

You can see how insurance companies decide on premiums. The vehicles on the top list are usually bought by families, with drivers more likely to drive carefully and safely. They're less likely to be involved in drag races or high-risk driving behaviors.

Our Methodology

We chose a handful of trusted websites that published their own lists of cheapest cars to insure. As expected, these lists were not identical, as each used its own methodology and information. We chose our top list based on the number of times these vehicles are featured in each of these lists and where they were ranked. 

We chose not to look just at the monthly premiums across all websites, as each used different methodologies and made different assumptions about the driver and minimum coverage. 

How Each Publication Chose Their List

Each website we gathered data from used their own sample user profile and coverage limits. 

• Forbes Advisor: Forbes retrieved insurance rates from Quadrant Information Services on the top-selling 2021 cars. 
• NerdWallet: Nerdwallet took average insurance estimates for all 50 states and Washington, D.C. for the top-selling models in 2021. 
• The Zebra: The Zebra collected insurance rates using their proprietary quote engine which includes more than 83 million rates across all ZIP codes in the U.S. 
• WalletHub: WalletHub looked at the 26 most popular cars and collected insurance quotes for California. They pulled insurance quotes for 2014 models, instead of the latest car models. 

How Your Vehicle Affects Car Insurance Rates

Auto insurance companies take a variety of things into account when deciding on your insurance premiums. Your personal details and driving record aside, the type of car you choose impacts your insurance rates immediately.

In general, you're more likely to have higher premiums if your car's make and/or model:

• Has low safety ratings (e.g., minimal safety features)
• Is expensive to repair
• Has been involved in several claims (including for both accidents and theft)

If you add features to your car, it will also increase your car insurance rates since add-ons make your repair costs increase.

Most Expensive Cars to Insure

If you're trying to avoid paying high insurance premiums, you'll want to avoid these types of cars:

• Luxury cars: High-end luxury cars are some of the most expensive vehicles to insure because they have high repair costs. Not only are parts usually more costly than other cars, but you may need to go to a specialty auto body mechanic who may charge more for labor.
• Sports cars: Sports cars can be seen by your insurance company as high-risk vehicles. Not only are they built to go fast, making them more prone to accidents, but those who choose to buy these cars are generally younger and less trusted by auto insurance companies.
• Electric and hybrid vehicles: Electric vehicles may be a crowd favorite these days, especially with the price of gas. However, you may notice your insurance rates are higher than your gas vehicle. This is because repair costs for electric cars are generally higher.
• Cars prone to theft: Insurance companies will look at claims records when determining your insurance costs. If you have a make or model that has been involved in several theft claims in the past, your comprehensive insurance rates will likely be higher.
• Newest models: Newer cars generally cost more to insure because they're worth more than older cars.