Small cars, saving money, mpg, and insurance - the other shoe to drop (lease, car insurance)

[Sayantsi]

So a lot of people buy smaller cars for the increased mpg and gas cost savings, but apparently these smaller cars have higher insurance costs due to higher bodily injury costs, higher theft rates, and the fact that more small cars are used in street racing and such. What does this mean in terms of cost savings? You save on gas, but pay more for insurance! (from an article I read in today's paper)

For a 40 yr old male driver, the average price to insure a Honda Civic is $412 more per year than with a CR-V. The Civic gets 36 mpg hwy, the CR-V, 27. Assuming you drive them 10k mi a year and gas costs $3, the cost difference in gas is $278. So, you actually end up paying more per year for the higher mpg car - $412 for insurance - $278 for gas savings = $134 more you pay for that Civic.

Interesting huh?

Lets say you have a hybrid car, and insurance is higher than on a normal car - hybrids cost more to repair. The Camry hybrid costs the average 40 yr old male $1,957 to insure per year, the normal Camry is $1,302, about $650 less per year in addition to the initial cost savings in buying the less expensive car. The normal Camry gets 31 mpg hwy, the hybrid 34 mpg. The hybrid is $5k more than an SE model, your typical Camry.

At 10,000 mi per year, your gas savings are $82/yr with a hybrid Camry, but you paid $5k more for a base hybrid over a base SE, and your insurance is $650 more! You have to really love the environment to buy a hybrid Camry...

This is just a few cases, but indicates a trend. Heavier vehicles get lower mpg, but cost less to insure. Its an interesting argument for a larger vehicle for those looking to save money, not just save the environment.

[Hungry For Cheese]

My case

26 years old, good record
2007 Civic EX in L.A. 1700/year
Drive 15k/year and get about 27mpg
Spend about $2k in gas per year is it's at or just below $4/gal
Payments are 330...anything else would've been higher because I put 0 down.
I pay 350/mo or $4200

Before
1996 Caprice that gets 15mpg
15k per year would mean $4k on gas/year
Insurance was about $1200 a year for liability
No payments


I pay about $2000 more on my Civic, assuming $500 a year for repairs on it, and $1000 for the Caprice...although it was higher.

Just a different comparison.

The new Scion TC would've been higher in insurance for me. I was told the Civic, for me, was one of the cheapest to insure...the broker was suprised too.

[ucfjtm]

Small sport coupes and sedans that cross into that tuner market will cost more in insurance due to theft, accident, and driver demographics. That means that even Civics and Corollas are affected by this aspect of the market. Stick with less popular cars in the tuning world if you want to keep insurance low. Avoid "luxury" brands, especially if they also fall into the tuner market (like the Acura RSX and Infiniti G35). Especially avoid more expensive cars that are primarily targeting the sports car racer market, namely the Subaru WRX STi and Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution - $30k cars with high rates of thefts & accidents.

The best way to save on insurance is to simply drive a car that isn't worth much. A new Corolla worth $15,000 costs more for me to insure than a 1995 Eclipse GSX (4 cylinder turbo all wheel drive 2 door sports coupe).

Gas prices are frequently a non-factor for my car choices, simply because the difference between my current 20mpg sports car that requires 93 octane gas and a new 35mpg car on 87 octane isn't as significant as many think when you factor in the price of the car.
15k miles @ 20mpg = 750 gallons of 93 octane @ $3.50 = $2625.00
15k miles @ 35mpg = 428.5 gallons of 87 octane @ $3.25 = $1392.60

My current car is paid off.. so my yearly expense is $2625 + insurance of $1200 = $3825.
The "new" basic car will cost me gas + insurance + payment.. $1392.60 + insurance of $880 + yearly payments of $3000 = $5272.60
Clearly, the better choice for me is to stick with my sports car in great condition, which is much more enjoyable to drive, than to buy a new economy Corolla or Civic. Even if I factor in the sale price of the sports car to break even on the overall cost difference over the next five years, it's not worth it from a driving experience standpoint.
What drives me nuts are those who feel like they have to sell/trade their 35mpg Civic/Corolla that's only a couple years old for a Prius that costs $25,000, all for the sake of saving a little money on gas. If they have the political focus of consuming less oil, that's a solid reason, but to do it from a financial standpoint is ridiculous.

[hsw]

Would buy/lease new car that's safest one can afford....

Crash-related injuries/surgeries/disabilities/loss of ability to work, etc can be a hell of a lot more expensive than any car/MPG/insurance cost deltas....

Many crash test datapoints don't reflect safety of higher-end cars; active safety; and/or many real-world scenarios like rollover (and roof strength); or risk of whiplash injuries upon being rear-ended, etc etc....

Some lighter cars like 3100lb Porsches are rather safe....but many of safest cars (w/both superb active safety of sharp chassis/brakes/stability controls, as well as passive safety of well-engineered crumple zones, airbag systems, seats/head restraints, etc) are perf sedans like some 4600+lb MB-AMGs, like S63 or S65....

Some Japanese-engineered cars like Camrys/Accords offer decent reliability (though not convinced new Camry/Accord are more reliable than latest new MBs)...but have serious doubts about real-world safety of any Japanese-engineered car/SUV (as I do about any US-engineered car/SUV, no matter weight/bulk)....

If cash constrained but trying to protect self and one's health, would lease a new MB C300 or an Audi A4....

[Fnix]

My street/strip truck has 380 horsepower and insurance is $432 per year. It is safer then a car all metal, way faster then average car, and hardly anyone crashes them because you hardly see any of them anymore. Go old if you want cheap insurance.

[NHDave]

That's why I like my 3800 lb, 5 star crash rated, 07 Charger, it'll pulverize a Prius

[okie333]

Originally Posted by NHDave

That's why I like my 3800 lb, 5 star crash rated, 07 Charger, it'll pulverize a Prius

haha ya it would, wow didn't know the charger had such good crash ratings, that makes it even sexier of a car. lol

[NHDave]

Originally Posted by okie333

haha ya it would, wow didn't know the charger had such good crash ratings, that makes it even sexier of a car. lol

Yup It weighs about what the muscle era chargers do

[yo vanilla]

The first thing I'll say is don't take any car advice from a newspaper journalist. There are too many different factors to consider on car insurance to make any kind of generalization. There are a lot of small cars that are very safe, and there are a lot of big cars that will crumple like an accordian. A friend of mine has a Hyndai Sonata, mid-size car which is more expensive to insure because replacement parts are expensive. I've got an Impreza WRX (safest small car on the road a couple years running), my wife has a Mazda6, and insurance costs are within $5. Just a couple examples.

[ucfjtm]

Originally Posted by NHDave

Yup It weighs about what the muscle era chargers do

Minus the manual transmission of the muscle era chargers.