Does the Color of Your Car Affect Your Insurance Rate?

It's easy to see why people might think the color of your car can impact your insurance rate. If you buy a fire-engine-red vehicle, for example, the insurance company might assume that you're a flashy driver with little respect for traffic laws. Or if you purchase a black car, maybe insurance carriers would be worried about other motorists seeing you in the dark.

Does Car Color Matter for Insurance Rates?

None of this is the case. The color of your car has no affect on your insurance rate whatsoever. This is a car insurance myth. When you sign up for auto insurance, most providers don't even know what color car you have.

It's true that a reckless driver might be drawn to bright red or canary yellow, or even burnt orange cars. But that same driver might purchase a black, blue or green car, so the color of the vehicle isn't indicative of how any motorist will behave on the road. If such assumptions were valid data used by car insurance companies, everyone would drive hunter green and navy blue vehicles-except those with vast stores of disposable income.

What Does Affect Insurance Rates?

The number of tickets you've accrued. The amount of car accidents in your history. The year, make and model of the vehicle you buy. Where you live. How old you are. Even your gender.

All of these factors will affect your insurance rate, but the color of your car isn't one of them. Insurance companies want to use solid empirical data to determine how much of a risk you pose behind the wheel of your vehicle, and if they were to consider the color of your car, their reasoning would be flawed.

If you want to enjoy low car insurance rates, it is important to focus on the type of car you will be driving. The insurance on a brand-new SUV with a big engine and all the upgrades will cost more than insuring a mid-size sedan that's a couple years old. Even if the sedan is blood-red with white racing stripes, and the SUV is tan with black trim.

Again, the color of your car won't affect your insurance rates.

How to Choose a Low-Insurance Car

If you want to ensure low car insurance rates, your best course of action is to research premiums before buying a car. Make a list of the years, makes, and models you are considering, then request separate quotes for each. You will learn which will carry, on average, the lowest auto insurance premiums so you can make an informed decision.