patentcad

So I own a 2011 Toyota Prius, 133K miles, and a 2017 Corvette, 1K miles, and one other car. Imagine my surprise when my auto insurance renewal comes in last week and they are charging me the $650 over six months for each car. The same premium. Even though if the Prius was totaled we'd get a check for maybe $10K, if the Corvette was a total loss the insurance company would have to pay out over $60K. It took some persistence, but I finally talked to a Nationwide underwriter and here's why:

• Collision insurance on the Corvette is a higher premium, as you might expect.

• Liability insurance on the Corvette is way lower. Apparently the insurance company payout on Prius liability claims is exponentially higher: a Prius is far more likely to get into a crash that results in the insurance company writing a $100K+ settlement check.

So I kept thinking about this and realized that people probably drive Prius cars 5x + more miles than Corvette owners do. So they are more likely to get into an accident.

Also, I would imagine that the AARP demographic of the Corvette has to mean that Corvettes don't get wrecked too often, the drivers are more experienced, and they're not so crazy. Of course now that I'm driving a C7 that whole 'Corvettes don't crash much' thing could go right out the window.

Rebel Yell

Insurance is a strange bedfellow. While mines not quite that much I have the same deal. I have a 2006 Mustang GT with 90K miles, and the insurance for it is approx. 40 bucks less than a brand spanking new Corvette. Go figure.

TyBoo

Six month premiums for full coverage:

2014 Corvette Stingray: $257.10
2009 Toyota Prius: $195.30
2016 Chev Siverado: $212.10

And now that I looked, my liability is highest on the Toyota, as well. Weird. The truck is second and the Corvette has the lowest cost liability. This is with no vehicle designated as primary and the C7 not listed for low annual mileage.

Maybe the Prius costs more because it has two motors! Or maybe because most everyone on the road seems to think they have to get ahead of the thing so they almost run me off the road trying to pass or pull out in front of it. I just chuckle and think, "I'll see you in the spring."

ShahulX

i pay 127 more over 6 months on my 17 vette grand sport vs my 14 volt... oddly my 16 mercedes C300 4matic more than either...

Daekwan06

Insurance premiums take a lot of calculations into account. Driving record, zip code where garaged, annual milage, daily driver or weekend toy, accident/claim rate, etc.

As you can imagine most Corvettes are weekend toys w/very little annual milage. The chances of a Prius being in an accident or filing a claim are much, much higher due to a few reasons.. they are much more plentiful, they are daily drivers for millions of people and they are much more likely to file a claim for any reason due to their popularity.

Either way, it should be no surprise that a Prius (which has a pretty complicated drivetrain) is just as much to insure as a Vette. In the eyes of the Insurance company.. the Prius is probably 5x more likely to file a claim than the Vette.

TyBoo

^^^ Makes sense. Thanks.

RULOOKIN

I pay less for my 2017 grand sport corvette that cost 113,000 here in Canada than my 2011 grand sport that was 60,000 used ???

Kent1999

Not surprised at all. Liability for damaging/injuring OTHERS is where the BIG exposure is for insurance companies, not your own vehicle repair costs, which in most cases can be puny compared to the cost of payouts to the other injured party.

Total your own Prius? Likely $25K or so, with a well-defined maximum payout.
Damage/injury to others? Could be >$100,000 (or whatever the limits of your policy are) PLUS the ins company's own costs of time, fact-finding, interviewing, and other subrogation expenses.

2fastnow

I think it's more about market share. Insurance company's try to find car lines that other companies won't insure or overlook for there own reasons. Not all insurance companies are huge.

Rebel Yell

That's why I like this forum. There is always someone that has more insight on subjects that I can only guess about.

Clc3251

Traded a 2007 Lexus ES350 on a 2014 Vette. Insurance went up $90 per year, however they reduce it over the winter because it's garaged for several months so it will actually be lower. Go figure.

dbirdhouse1

same here; my '14 Vette and '13 Prius; course it helps to be 62 and only 9 miles from work (and my lovely bride is less than 4 miles from her school).......

rrsperry

There's a little game I play with some friends on Facebook. We call it CAMRY CORNERS. (But basically any Toyota) where we post pics of Camrys with bashed corner bumpers. Toyota drivers hit lots of things... hence higher premiums.