When buying car insurance, one of the most important aspects that the car insurance company will look at to determine your rates is what type of car you drive. Statistics are kept by several agencies and companies which analyze the probability of certain types of vehicles being in accidents or stolen. Everything from the make of the car, to the year, to the color, and even how many doors it has is considered when determining your insurance rates.

Take for example, 4-door cars have a much smaller chance of being stolen than 2-door cars. A car such as the Buick LeSabre will be stolen much less than a Chevy Corvette. A Celica will be stolen more often than a Camry.  While the list of top stolen vehicles certainly changes each year, here are some of the most commonly stolen vehicles that seem to be on the list every year.

• Honda Accord
• Toyota Camry
• Ford F-150
• Acura Integra
• Nissan Sentra
• Toyota Corolla
• Toyota Pickups

Another factor in determining your insurance rates is the cost of repairing the vehicle after an accident. Clearly more expensive cars and luxury vehicles are going to cost more to insure than normal everyday cars.

Statistics are also kept on how safe a car is in an accident. Cars that have a high safety rating will cost less to ensure than those that don’t.  Smaller cars such as 2-door cars and sports cars are usually rated less highly in safety.

If you would like to get more detailed information on which cars cost more to be insured, there are several organizations to check.  One is the Highway Loss Data Institute.  You can also check the National Insurance Crime Bureau.

Now that you know about vehicles and their insurance rates, what do you do to lower your auto insurance premium?  Well, there are several steps you can take, but here are some of the simplest.

1.  Shop! Shop! And shop some more!

It has never been easier to get a free quote for automobile insurance online.  Competition among the insurance companies has made them very transparent and easy to work with.  Simply search for auto insurance in your favorite search engine, and you will quickly see many choices to choose from.

2.  Raise your deductible

Your deductible is what you pay out of pocket before your insurance covers any expenses.  By raising your deductible your premiums should drop.  You are taking a little more risk, but it is a risk that many people choose to take.

3.  Drop your coverage

You can also choose to drop the amount of coverage you have.  Most states require that you have a minimum amount of coverage to drive legally, and you can never go below the minimum.  But be careful when thinking about dropping your insurance even to the minimum.  Automobile accidents are very expensive especially if bodily injury is caused.  You certainly don’t want to pay thousands of dollars just to save a few every month.