Speeding tickets and accidents aren’t the only things that can boost your insurance premium, and even drivers with a spotless record can be hit with big fees. Turns out that the type of car you are driving can have more of an impact on your premium than any hiccups in your driving history. Out of all the popular cars on the market, these five are the ones that'll have you paying the highest annual insurance premiums.
Nissan Altima
Nissan Press Room
Altima owners are notorious among car insurance companies for exhibiting some of the worst reckless driving. Unsurprisingly, these cars are expensive to insure and the premium for an Altima 2.0 costs an average of $2,130. There are several theories as to why these cars are popular with bad drivers, but the main hypothesis has to do with credit scores. In the insurance industry, bad credit often correlates with irresponsible driving, and the Altima tends to be the ride of choice for drivers with low credit scores. As such, regardless of your driving history, insuring an Altima is going to cost more than other best-selling cars.
Tesla Model 3
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The Model 3 is the most affordable Tesla on the market, but it is also very costly to insure. Although the Model 3 Standard Plus has great safety ratings, insurance companies aren’t fond of some of the vehicle’s tech features. The autonomous driving system seems to be the main point of contention, as it can cause drivers to be less attentive on the road and doesn’t do very well when it comes to preventing accidents. As such, the average premium for a Model 3 comes out to around $2,447.
Volvo XC90
Volvo Press Room
The XC90 is one of the safest cars on the road and tends to overwhelmingly attract responsible drivers. The XC90 T8 Inscription is a lavish upgrade on the base model and is cheaper than most other cars when it comes to maintenance and repairs. No one really knows why, but despite all the great features, this vehicle is one of the most expensive to insure. Even the safest drivers will end up paying an average of $2,456 for car insurance.
Lexus ES 300H
Lexus Press Room
Lexus’ plug-in hybrid, the ES 300H, is the company’s most expensive car to insure with an average premium of $2,485. The ES 300H is full of great safety tech, including pedestrian detection, automatic emergency braking, a new radar system, and an improved pre-collision system. This car does have continuously variably transmission (CVT), like the Altima, but it tends to attract reliable drivers with great credit. As such, experts are still wondering why the premium is so high.
Tesla Model S
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Of all the best-selling cars on the market, the Model S is the most expensive to insure. The average premium works out to a whopping $3,960. Like the Model 3, car insurance companies are not fond of the vehicle's autopilot system, which has been linked to numerous accidents. The Model S is also a wickedly fast car with a top speed of 155 mph and taking a mere 2.4 seconds to go from zero to 60. That acceleration is slightly faster than the famous Lamborghini Aventador S. So, the high premium is pretty understandable in this case, since the Model S gives you the performance of a supercar in the body of a four-passenger sedan.
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