Nissan’s 600-Horsepower, $150,000 GT-R Tops Insurance Cost List

(Bloomberg) -- When it comes to auto insurance, speed costs.

The most expensive 2015-model vehicle to insure in the U.S. is Nissan Motor Co.’s 600-horsepower, $150,000 GT-R Nismo, at an average $3,574 a year, Insure.com said Tuesday in a statement. The 621-horsepower Mercedes-Benz SL65 AMG convertible and the 645-horsepower Dodge SRT Viper held the next two spots.

See slideshow: 10 Most Expensive Cars to Insure - 2015

Expensive vehicles cost more to repair and “the people who buy the cars that are made for speed are going to want to try them out sometime,” Penny Gusner, an analyst at the information website, said in a telephone interview. “The likelihood of them having a more severe crash compared to the soccer mom driving 35 miles an hour in the neighborhood is a lot higher.”

The rankings are based on national averages for 1,522 models, for a 40-year-old man with a clean driving record and good credit. Prices were from six large insurers: Allstate, Farmers, Geico, Nationwide, Progressive and State Farm.

The lowest-cost vehicle is Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV’s four-wheel-drive Jeep Wrangler Sport, at $1,134. Another Jeep model, the two-wheel-drive Patriot Sport, was second-least expensive, followed by Honda Motor Co.’s four-wheel-drive CR-V LX sport utility vehicle.

“Cars that are cheapest to insure typically are easy to repair or have fewer claims or both,” Gusner said in the statement.

Dan Bedore, a spokesman for Yokohama, Japan-based Nissan, didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on the GT-R’s ranking.

Insure.com noted that insurance premiums vary widely by state, with a GT-R owner paying an average of $6,630 a year in Montana and $2,012 in Hawaii.

Data wasn’t available for all models, particularly exotic cars, Insure.com said. The website is owned by Foster City, California-based QuinStreet Inc.

 

Bloomberg News
Customer experience Digital distribution Core systems
MORE FROM DIGITAL INSURANCE