(June 9, 2015) In addition to being the unofficial start of summer, Memorial Day is also the year’s busiest weekend for car sales and the kick-off to a three-month period in which 27 percent of all annual car sales are recorded. That number may be even bigger this year, given record-low interest rates according to WalletHub’s Q2 Auto Financing Report.

With that in mind, WalletHub continued its analysis of the car insurance landscape in search of insights that may help consumers make more informed decisions when they hit the car lot.

As we reported in our California Car Insurance Landscape Report, car insurance premiums are driven by a number of factors — including your driving record and experience, city of residence, the historical characteristics of drivers in your area and even your choice of vehicle. This report focuses on how car insurance premiums vary depending on the type, age, cost and make of the car you buy.

Key Findings

    • It is wrong to assume a linear relationship between the price of a car and the cost of insurance. In fact, the more expensive a car, the higher the variation in insurance premiums becomes. Cars in the same price range have a difference in insurance premiums of up to 39 percent;

    • Based on our regression analysis, only 22 percent of the increase in insurance premium can be attributed to an increase in the car price. The remaining 78 percent depends on the body type, age and make of the car;

    • New sedans are, on average, almost $150 cheaper to insure than 3-year-old sedans from the same price range; and

    • As for body type, sports cars are the most expensive to insure — 24 percent more expensive than Crossovers/SUVs, which are the least expensive to insure — followed by trucks, at 13 percent more.