Comparing Insurance for Honda, Toyota and Hyundai: Average Yearly Costs
Before you purchase a new or used vehicle, there are a few things that you should investigate, including the cost of owning it. That cost extends past just the purchase price, of course- it also includes other factors such as repair costs and, of course, the cost to insure your vehicle choice. While there is no way to determine your exact cost of insurance based on a car maker or even a model choice, you can get a very good idea of how much you will be spending for your insurance.
What Are the Most Popular Cars?
The most popular cars are typically determined based on consumer surveys and prior sales. They are usually the best buys because they are reliable and fairly priced. The following are the cars and light duty trucks from the Top 50 in that category for these three automakers. At,
- Number one: Honda CR-V
- Number 2: Toyota Rav 4
- Number 3 Toyota Camry
- Number 4: Honda Civic
- Number 5: Honda Accord
- Number 8: Hyundai Elantra
- Number 10: Hyundai Sonata
- Number 16: Toyota Prius
- Number 22: Toyota Corolla
- Number 28: Honda Pilot
- Number 29: Toyota Highlander
- Number 34: Toyota Tacoma
- Number 37: Honda Odyssey
- Number 43: Hyundai Accent
- Number 45: Hyundai Tucson
- Number 49: Toyota Sienna
Toyota has seven of the Top 50, and both Honda and Hyundai have four vehicle models on this listing.
Which Cars Are the Least Expensive to Own?
The cost of car ownership should be looked at from the breakdown of the various expenses in a typical year, which can include:
- Monthly payment if there is a lien on the car
- The cost of fuel and other fluids to run the vehicle, which goes up the more you drive
- The cost of parking and storage
- The cost of insuring the car
Here is the list of the Honda, Hyundai and Toyota models that made it onto the lowest cost list for 2011.
- Two different models of the Honda Accord (The Accord is offered in different price ranges with various accessory packages and engine sizes.)
- The Honda Ridgeline (A light duty truck)
- The Honda Pilot (Honda’s small sports utility vehicle)
- Toyota Yaris
- Honda Civic (the hybrid model)
What Are the Best Used Car Values?
Because a car starts to depreciate once it is driven off the lot, there are many makes and models that retain little value at trade in time. While there are a number of factors that determine the value of a used car, there are some cars that remain at a higher value than others. Car values are determined by:
- Value at the time of original sale
- Maintenance records, fuel efficiency
- The way that the car has been maintained by owner (s)
- The price for which you can actually buy the car
Here are the best used car values for Honda, Hyundai and Toyota
- 2004-2009 Honda Elantra
- 2004-2009 Honda CR-V
- 2006-2009 Honda Azera
- 2004-2009 Honda Odyssey (Minivan)
- 2004-2009 Toyota Tacoma (a light duty pickup truck)
What Are the Most Frequently Stolen Vehicles?
One of the things that determines insurance cost is how likely the vehicle is to be involved in accidents or to be stolen. Despite the theories that it is only newer or sportier cars that are stolen, there are a number of older model, family sedans that make it to the listing of the top stolen cars. These are the top ten most frequently stolen cars according to the National Crime Information Center:
- 1995 Honda Civic
- 1991 Honda Accord
- 1989 Toyota Camry
- 1988 Toyota Pick up
- 2007 Toyota Corolla
Side by Side Insurance Cost Comparisons
To determine which is the best overall value, it is important to understand how different factors can influence the price either up or down. There is no way to give a definitive answer for insurance cost because of the variations that exist. These are only rough estimates given for possible insurance rates.
- Toyota and Honda have comparable estimated yearly insurance rates at $997 and $960 respectively.
- The estimated cost for the Honda Odyssey is $1,095 and the Toyota Sienna is $1,133.
- Of the three makes, the estimated yearly insurance cost is the highest for Hyundai with an average cost of $1,520. However, the Honda Civic is slightly higher than that at $1,670 per year.
You can see that there are variations from model to model, even within the same automaker, making it even more important to do research before making an auto purchase.