Cars That Keep Car Insurance Cheap

We all have different things in mind when we're shopping for cars, but the basic theme is the same. We want a car that's going to give us the performance we want at a price we can afford. If it should happen to have great gas mileage and really cool features, that's just an added bonus. What we don't usually consider is whether our purchase is going to keep our car insurance cheap.

Maybe it's time we did.

Think about it for a moment. Let's say you purchase a car for $12,000 from a secondhand dealer, and your car insurance provider decides it's going to cost you $125 a month to carry the insurance coverage you need to keep your lender from taking your car back. That's $1,500 a year! Most people keep their cars for five to seven years, which means by the time you decide to trade in your car you'll have paid $7,500 to $10,500 in insurance alone. That's over 50% of what you paid to buy the car in the first place!

Because your insurance rates are going to have such a long term effect on your budget, it pays to do your homework and find ways to keep your coverage costs as low as possible. You could pump up your car's security features (car alarms don't cost that much to install these days). You could start taking public transportation instead of driving to work. You could drop your coverage levels to the bare minimum.

Or you could go shopping with car insurance in mind and buy a car that's going to keep your car insurance cheap no matter where you decide to drive.

The Highway Loss Data Institute specializes in compiling statistics on cars, trucks and SUVs, determining which cars have the highest number of claims every year and therefore are riskier to insure. Your insurance provider is going to look at their research and use their findings to determine how much it's going to cost you to insure your car! Cars that are frequently stolen, vandalized or involved in accidents are going to cost more to insure, while those that sit on the sidelines help keep your car insurance cheap.

What does the HLDI have to say about your car? Here's a list of the cheapest 2005-2007 models on the market to give you an example of what it takes to keep high performance cost effective:

Four Door Mini Models

1) Hyundai Accent

2) Kia Rio

Four Door Small Models

1) Toyota Prius

2) Honda Civic

3) Honda Civic Hybrid

4) Saturn ION

5) Neon Versa

6) Toyota Corolla

7) Nissan Versa Hatchback

Four Door Midsize Models

1) Saturn Aura

2) Hyundai Sonata

3) Volkswagon Passat

4) Subaru Legacy 4WD

5) Honda Accord

6) Honda Accord Hybrid

7) Mercury Milan

Two Door Mini Models

1) Mini Cooper Convertible

2) Toyota Yaris

Two Door Small Models

1) Volkswagen New Beetle Convertible

2) Volkswagen New Beetle

3) Chrysler PT Cruiser

4) Saturn ION Quad Coupe

5) Ford Focus

Two Door Midsize Models

1) Toyota Camry Solara Convertible

2) Toyota Camry Solara

3) Pontiac G6

4) Chevrolet Monte Carlo

Was your car on that list? If you drive a newer model or an SUV, check the HLDI's information pages to see what they have to say-and make sure the next time you're shopping at a used car lot you do it with this list in hand. Your bank account will thank you!