Car InsuranceInsuring a car isn’t always a just matter of picking a company and signing a policy. Believe it or not, the type of car that you drive can make a huge impact on your insurance costs—and not just because of age. The most costly cars to insure are often some of the newest and fastest, according to Motor Trend, due to risks posed by being able to reach high speeds with ease. Beyond just the speed, there’s also a matter of materials needed for repairs. Fiberglass is easy to find and fairly inexpensive in the long run, while carbon fiber and aluminum run significantly more expensive.

In 2014, the most expensive cars to insure nationwide included models like the Nissan GT-R Track edition, which was reported at over $250 per month, as well as the CL550 4Matic Mercedes-Benz, clocking in at barely $100 less per year than Nissan’s speed demon.

While international insurance trends are noteworthy, however, they’re not the end-all and be-all of insurance costs in Florida specifically. Nerd Wallet reports that Miami is one of the most expensive cities in which to pay for insurance to begin with, in part because of costly personal injury protection (PIP) claims designed to let scam artists walk away from coordinated accidents with bruised knees and up to $10 thousand to cover everything from medical bills to lost wages.

It’s hard to get a reading on which cars exactly are the most expensive to insure, considering the changing climate of car insurance today. If you’re looking to buy yourself a new car this holiday season, there are a few things to keep in mind to keep your insurance costs low:

  • What’s the car’s speed? For acceleration to miles per hour, the higher this runs the more your insurance is going to cost. This isn’t because you’re necessarily a bad driver, but rather because reaching high speeds more quickly and with greater ease makes it more likely that you or others will drive over the speed limit, often without even noticing and thereby running a much greater risk of losing control and causing an accident.
  • What material was used in manufacturing? As stated, this makes a big different on your monthly insurance costs. Carbon fiber is a better material all around, but is harder to replace if something goes wrong, meaning it will cost more to make sure everything is properly protected.
  • What color is it? No, really. Believe it or not, police officers are more likely to pull you over if your vehicle is red in color, particularly a bright, sleek, non-metallic shade colloquially known among officers as “arrest me red.”

The only way to be completely sure whether your vehicle sits above or below the average insurance costs in your area is to speak to your insurance agent about it. When it comes to Florida, insurance trends make it particularly difficult to know exactly what to expect when you sign onto a policy, so do your research beforehand. Cars purchased during the holidays often cost more to insure from the get-go, so notify your insurance agent as soon as you start making plans to try to lock in a decent rate.