Most of insurance buyers often forget that they are insuring a certain thing and it directly influences the final price of the policy. When speaking about auto insurance, the car you drive is the primary factor that affects your insurance costs and at certain moments the insurance company point of view of the car can be quite surprising to usual drivers. Insurance companies have internal charts and ratings, assessing how much it will cost you to insure any given car make or model. And the primary elements that set the car in this rating are the risk factor and the theft factor of this particular make and model. The risk factor relates to how the car will perform in an accident and how likely it is to end up in one, while the theft factor, eventually, deals with the likelihood of the vehicle to be stolen.

When a new car comes out, it is placed at a certain place within the rating as compared to other similar models and the insurance rates are set accordingly. And as experience with this particular model accumulates in the company’s records, the model can be moved in either direction within the rating, making it cheaper or more expensive to insure. Of course, other things like your driving record and credit score also influence the cost of insuring your vehicle, but the car is actually the most important and crucial factor you will have to deal with.

In general, it will be more costly for you to insure sports cars, luxury cars and SUVs. Some companies rate SUVs differently because of their increased safety for the people inside, while others take in regard the fact that these vehicles are likely to cause more collision damage than others. Sports cars are much more likely to end up in a serious or even tragic accident due to their power and speed that is so tempting to be pushed to the limits. And luxury cars are usually the target of auto theft due to their price, and are more expensive to repair because of exclusive parts and costly service.

Car insurance experts state that the most attractive and non-expensive class of vehicles to insure are mid-class and middle sized cars. It is important that the car has good crash-test ratings and additional safety features installed, being safe in case of an accident. Small light-weight cars are cheaper to repair but they get damaged more easily and this may lead to serious injuries to those who are inside of it. The higher is the mass of your vehicle the less damage it will take in case of collision. That’s why big SUVs are considered to be quite safe from this point of view.

It is good to see what car insurance rates you can get for different cars before you actually buy the auto. If the question of insurance price really concerns you then choose a vehicle that is cheaper to insure. And if the rates don’t bother you much, just buy a car that you really like.

Wherever you look, the news about recalls is headlining with Toyota leading the pack with the highest profile problems. Indeed, the US lawmakers have begun a formal investigation into the problem of the sticking accelerator pedal. This is not a simple issue of a manufacturer with a faulty vehicle. The problem is the US is supposed to have a formal system in place to ensure that only safe vehicles are allowed on the roads. To this end, the Department of Transport established the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) as its agent to collect information about traffic accidents. If patterns emerge, the NHTSA is supposed to liaise with the manufacturer to get prompt action to repair the problem. The insurance industry is also supposed to send data to the agency. Because insurers are handling claims on a daily basis, they should be the first to know whether there are design faults causing accidents. Indeed, State Farm is on record as saying it notified the NHTSA of unintended acceleration problems in Toyotas in 2007. If that is confirmed and other insurance companies also sent in reports of the same problem, the lawmakers will want to know why the NHTSA failed to take any action. When Toyota learnt of the problems is also going to be a key issue.

Ignoring the obvious damage to the brand, the other question for all of us is what will happen to the premium rates on the models recalled. There is a simple answer: nothing in the short term. There is also a more complicated answer. The premium rates for any given make and model of vehicle are set by looking at the accident statistics over the years the vehicles have been on the road. These are already set and will not change significantly. The other factors include the cost of replacement parts which will also not change significantly. So, in principle, there is no reason for premium rates to change. Except there are two important left to discuss. The first is good news and bad news. The good news is that premiums are likely to fall. The bad news is that premiums will fall because resale values will fall as the brand is damaged. When you total your vehicle, you get the value at the time of the accident. If the motor trade mark down the resale value, you will get less. If the payout by the insurers falls, the premiums will be reduced to reflect this saving. The second issue affects your liability if you are involved in an accident. You now know of several problems with different makes and models. If your vehicle is called in for modification or repair, go immediately. If you neglect to go and are then involved in an accident because of the problem, you are partially at fault and your payout from the insurance company will be reduced. Your only remedy will be to claim from Toyota itself. This will be expensive and may only recover a part of your losses.

Dealing with the auto insurance industry is never easy and, when the vehicle manufacturers also get into the act with defective products, this just adds to your problems. For now, there should be no cause of concern so long as you pay the premiums on time and take the vehicle in for modification or repair as soon as you get the recall notice. Then, although it may be for the wrong reasons, you could use this site to look round for cheap car insurance. As the resale values fall, it may start to cost less to insure your Toyota.