Every car is classified in a certain way by the insurance companies – passenger, convertible, truck, luxury, high performance, sports car, etc. You may not be aware of this but the car you drive or are considering buying may be in a category that you’d not expect it to be and you may be paying extra for insurance because of that. Many foreign cars, especially, are considered high performance cars by U.S. insurance agencies, despite the fact that you bought it for its safety rankings and the quality of the workmanship.
Insurance companies typically use one or more of the following items to classify your car:
- Type and size of engine
- Car manufacturer
- Style
- Model name or series number
- Restraint system
- Type of transmission
- Horsepower
- Wheel base
- Weight/height
- Exhaust system
- Cosmetic accessories such as spoilers or wings
Every insurance company has a different set of guidelines for that determination, so it pays to shop around with different insurance carriers to get auto insurance quotes. And if you haven’t yet bought the car, ask about insurance for a different model, maybe an earlier year, or without features that change the classification.
Comments on this entry are closed.