Why It’s Cheaper to Insure a Big Chevy Than a Tiny Civic

When you first think about it, something as small as a Honda Civic should be pretty cheap to insure. Well, compared to something huge like an extended cab Chevy pickup anyway. The reality is quite different, and the full-size truck will be the more affordable of the two. Yes, the half-ton road monster is more affordable to insure than a diminutive nearly two-seater Civic. I couldn’t believe it myself.

Car insurance companies have their own algorithms to determine your insurance rates, and some are more mysterious than others. However, this part is not so mysterious. Let me explain, one of the biggest things that affects your car insurance rate is the driver’s risk factor. This risk factor includes the type of car being insured plus probably hundreds of other things that have to do with the driver and probably the driver’s grandmother. In this article I want to talk about the car, because I was surprised when I found out that this huge Chevy is cheaper to insure than a small car like a Civic. So after looking around a bit, it was obvious why that is.

If you think about it, what kind of person drives a Honda Civic? Probably a young man, maybe a college student. I’m just speculating here, but it makes sense to me. Now, a young man like that is very likely to be speeding, not wearing a seatbelt, running a red light and other risky things, and he’s probably doing all of the above at the same time.

Now think about a Chevy half-ton extended cab truck… It’s more expensive to buy and requires more money for fuel. Chances are a driver of something like that will be someone a bit older and probably more mature. This type of person is less likely to do unwise things on the roads, and precisely because of this fact, this type of person, or a person who drives this type of car, will have a lower risk factor, which in turn cheap car insurance.

The list of the 10 cheapest cars to insure for this year does not include a sedan or a coupe. All 10 are SUVs, Pickups, or Pickups. A bigger, less sporty car statistically means a safer driver.

So the bottom line from this is if you want to save money buy a bigger car, not as sporty. A van, an SUV or a pickup, to be more specific. Some crossover car types also made the top 20 list, so they may be good candidates as well.