Safety agency lists best, worst cars to insure

September 27, 2009 | By admin |

Next time you see a Subaru Impreza WRX in your review mirror, get out of its way. Speed up. Slow down. Pull over to the side of the road and let it pass. Whatever it takes - just get away from it. If you don’t, you may regret it.

Edmunds Straightline Blog explains, “Every couple years, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), the non-profit testing and research agency supported by auto insurance companies, releases its model-by-model insurance loss rate scores. And it just so happens that among 2005-2007 models, the Subaru Impreza WRX had the highest loss rate among all types of coverage.”

That means insurers paid out more to repair WRXs than any other model of car. Insurers paid out more claims to repair cars hit by WRXs than those hit by anything else. WRX owners even claimed more non-crash-related damage than owners of any other car.

The Wall Street Journal notes, “Auto insurance costs aren’t the first thing most shoppers think about when they evaluate a new car to buy. But it’s an important cost to consider.” For example, the Journal notes, a car shopper who buys “a big car that gets 20 miles to the gallon, instead of a small car that sips fuel at the rate of 30 miles to the gallon…could pay about $625 a year more for fuel.” But if that small car is a WRX, the owner could quickly erase those savings with insurance payments.

The Journal obtained quotes from Allstate Insurance Corp, and assuming a Washington, D.C. address and a good driving record, found that the WRX could cost nearly $600 more per year to insure than a comparable Ford Taurus.

Your own perfect driving record won’t necessarily help you avoid those charges. The Journal explains, “Even if you have a spotless record of safe, accident-free driving in a Subaru WRX, you are also paying for the damage racked up by the other WRX drivers who aren’t as careful as you are with this high-performance, turbo-charged machine.”

That may ultimately be the problem with the WRX - it’s not the car, it’s the people who drive it. After all, Edmunds Straightline notes, the WRX offers a lot of horsepower for a low price. “Build a performance car and price it low enough for younger drivers to afford, and then, the insurance companies step into to ruin the fun,” they comment.

It’s actually possible, IIHS data show, to buy a powerful sports car that’s relatively easy to insure. The Corvette Convertible, for instance, makes the list of the ten best insurance risks. Even some relatively affordable sports cars, like the Mazda MX-5 Miata, crack the top ten.