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Does My Car Color Affect Insurance?

red car

Many people have different opinions and questions on whether the color of your car matters to insurance companies. Are certain color cars cheaper to insure? Are red cars more expensive? Does the color of my car matter when it comes to getting an insurance quote? In this blog post, we will answer some common questions about car colors and if it can affect insurance prices or not. 

  Does Car Color Affect Insurance?

For many years, Americans have anecdotally debated whether the color of your car impacts the cost of your auto insurance, but according to the Institute of Insurance Information, insurance companies typically do not care what color your car is when creating your insurance quote. 

In the past, it was believed that certain car colors would rack up higher insurance costs. For example, many believed that red cars had higher premiums because of their associated level of risk. However, there is no evidence that this claim is true. 

In fact, many insurance companies will not even ask what the color of your car is when creating your custom insurance quote. Instead, they want to know vehicle information like the car’s make, model, year, and safety features as this information gives the insurance company a better idea of the vehicle’s reliability and safety – two factors that are much more important when determining a vehicle’s risk profile.  

If your auto insurance provider does ask about the color of your vehicle, this may indicate that this particular company has a history of increased claims from drivers with certain car colors. In this case, your car’s color may or may not impact the price you are quoted. 

When Does Color Affect Auto Insurance Price?

One of the only times your car’s paint color will impact your insurance is if you had a custom paint job that changes your car’s original color or looks. Since paint jobs are often expensive, this increases the value of your car, and in return, you could see your insurance rate go up. 

If your vehicle has had a paint job, it’s important to report this to your insurance company so they are made aware of the changes and they will not invalidate your policy. 

Factors that Affect Your Auto Insurance Rate 

If car color doesn’t affect your insurance rate, what does? Insurance rates are determined by many factors. Here are a few important ones to be aware of:

  • Make and model
  • Year
  • Mileage
  • Your driving record
  • Geographic location of the car’s registration address
  • Age of driver
  • Gender of driver
  • Years of driving experience
  • Vehicle safety features 

Read more about factors that impact your car insurance rates.

Insurance rates will be different for each person and vehicle, so it is important to get a quote from a trusted insurance provider in your area. Thankfully, Rate Retriever makes it easy to find the best insurance provider for your unique driver profile. Take our short quiz and we’ll match you with the best providers for you.  

About Rate Retriever

At Rate Retriever, our mission is to make the way you shop for insurance transparent and fair through user-friendly tools that respect your privacy and deliver reliable, comprehensive results.  

So we took everything we hated about comparing insurance quotes online – the spam, the long questionnaires, the limited choices, the inaccuracy of quote prices – and threw it out the window, favoring a short form that more accurately estimates what you’ll pay at each of the top insurance providers near you. 

Rate Retriever is an independent company that is not owned by an insurance provider, nor do we provide insurance ourselves. This independence allows us to be your free and impartial insurance research tool, helping you make the best decisions for your insurance needs.  

We may earn a commission when you click one of the links or call one of the providers listed on our site; however, we do not allow our partnerships to influence which information we provide. 

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