The Cheapest Cars to Insure

Your auto insurance price is calculated with a few factors in mind — your years of driving experience, ZIP code, and coverage amounts all influence the price you’ll pay. But there’s one other big factor: The make and model of your car.

The least expensive cars to insure aren’t the smallest, the cheapest or even the safest. “The cheapest cars to insure are the most common,” says Sean Tucker, a managing editor at Kelley Blue Book. He has covered the automotive, car insurance and financing industries for more than two decades.

While it’s likely not worth shopping for a replacement, your future insurance bills should be a consideration the next time you visit the sales lot. After all, choosing a car that’s affordable to insure could make a big difference for many years to come.

Here’s what you need to know about the cars that are the least expensive to insure, and what factors play into auto insurance pricing.

On American roads, the SUV is king. According to data from Experian, about 62% of all new cars financed in the second quarter of 2025 were SUVs. As these vehicles have grown in popularity, repair shops are increasingly carrying replacement parts, which has driven down the cost of repairs. Insurance prices have fallen accordingly.

Consumer Reports analyzed insurance quotes from more than 500 insurers housed on insurance shopping platform Insurify. The drivers CR reviewed were between the ages of 20 and 70 and maintained credit scores of 600 and higher. Based on policies ranging from the minimum requirements of all 50 states up to $50,000 of liability coverage per person, $100,000 of liability coverage per accident, and property damage liability limits up to $50,000, Consumer Reports determined the five models that stand out for insurance affordability.

While the average annual auto insurance premium sits at $2,697 per year, these five SUVs cost several hundred dollars less per year.

You don’t have to buy a Rolls Royce to see your car insurance premium go up. “Luxury cars are more expensive to insure than the mainstream cars,” Tucker says.

A BMW X3, for example, costs $3,894 per year to insure according to Bankrate data for a single 40-year old driving 12,000 miles per year. A similarly-sized standard SUV like the Honda CR-V, however, costs about $2,270 per year to insure.

If you want the nice features of a luxury car without the price tag, Tucker suggests opting for a highly- equipped version of a standard model. This is even more effective when the brand you’re considering has a luxury brand affiliated with it. Think: Ford and Lincoln, Chevrolet and Cadillac, and Honda and Acura.

“Toyota and Lexus are the same company, so if you buy a Toyota Camry and a Lexus ES, those are functionally the same car,” Tucker says. “It might make sense to buy a very well equipped Camry rather than a similarly equipped Lexus because your insurance will be cheaper.”

According to Bankrate data, the typical Lexus ES owner pays $460 more per year than a Toyota Camry owner for the same coverage in 2025.

“Electric cars are more expensive to insure than gas-powered cars right now,” Tucker says. But, he says that’s not always true of all EVs across the board.

“It’s partly a phenomenon confined to Tesla,” he says. “Teslas have a unique structure where the battery is part of the structure of the car, and they can’t repair a part of the battery. If one part of the battery is damaged, even slightly, they have to replace the entire thing. That’s almost half the cost of the car.”

But other EV brands don’t face this same issue. “Some of the GMs and Fords have more modular batteries, where they can repair part of it,” Tucker explains.

Since Teslas are the most common electric vehicle on the road, however, their high insurance prices push up the average, which is $528 more per year than the average gas-powered vehicle according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

But high insurance costs for electric vehicles is something Tucker expects to improve with time. “The more common these things are, the more common the repair parts will be,” he says.

Regardless of your ride, it’s still possible to save on your car insurance. Take these steps to bring down your bill:

• Shop around: Each insurance company considers your car, location, driving record and more differently. Getting several quotes from different insurance companies with the same coverage limits and deductibles can help you ensure you’re getting the best price for you.
• Bundling: Getting your renters insurance or homeowners insurance from the same provider as your auto policy, a practice called bundling, could help you score discounts on both policies.
• Pay in full instead of monthly: “Paying annually in one lump sum is cheaper than paying monthly,” Tucker says. If this is in your budget, many insurers offer a discount. Plus, you might also avoid installment fees for each transaction with some insurers.
• Pay attention to discounts: “Look for a good student discount, look for a discount for taking a defensive driving class,” Tucker suggests. You may also be able to find discounts for affiliations with organizations you’re a part of.
• Raise your credit score: Your credit score isn’t just important for getting your auto loan — in many states, your credit-based insurance score is the foundation for calculating your premium.

At CNBC Select, we work with experts who possess specialized knowledge and authority, gained through relevant training and experience. For this story, we interviewed Sean Tucker, a managing editor for compact and full-size vehicles at Kelley Blue Book. He’s covered the insurance and automotive industries as a writer and editor for the past 25 years, and has written for U.S. News and World Report, CNN and the BBC.

At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice to help them make informed financial decisions. Every car insurance article is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of insurance products. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics.

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