car insurance question (credit report, student loans, live)

[jefkritz]

i'm moving to madison in the fall, and i'll be getting a car before then. i'm still deciding what to get, but i'll probably end up getting a sedan or hatchback, preferrably front wheel drive.

my question is: does anyone know if certain cars have cheaper / more expensive insurance in madison? for instance, i know that in detroit jeeps have higher insurance rates because they get stolen more often than other cars.

if it matters, i am a 23 year old male with a clean driving record

[ranger17]

id suggest the following, regardless of where one lives. When narrowing down your choice of autos, you should also be checking with your current carrier as well as a couple other insurance companies to get some basic quotes on each. They can and do vary widely on the same car. Normally, if a car is higher in one locale due to theft or repair costs, it is higher in other spots as well ( at least that's what they say when they raise your rates ).
Our daughter ( still in WI ) drives a new TC, and the coverage wasn't much different then her older Saturn taking all things into account. My wife and I lived in madison area for 22+ years, and drove everything from trucks and suv's to sedans and turbo toys. With clean records, the ins wasn't nearly as wild between each model. In fact, we paid more for a Honda sedan then we do for her TC ( with 8k in mods that are also covered ).
Long story short, keep an open mind but get the type of car that you like and need, and find the ins coverage that best works for your budget. Oh, and keep that good record--THAT is huge!
Good luck with your move.

[MidwesternBookWorm]

The other thing that can have a huge impact on your insurance cost is your credit rating. Insurance companies are permitted by law in Wisconsin to pull credit reports on customers, and they bump up the prices on folks with poor credit scores. I am not sure what the rationale is, but I know someone whose credit rating dropped following a messy divorce, and his auto insurance just skyrocketed, even though he hadn't had so much as a parking ticket his entire life.

So pay off those student loans and keep your credit report clean!