Is it cheaper to insure a car or a truck?
Is it cheaper to insure a truck or car? That answer depends a lot on the type of truck or car you'll be driving. Unless you're driving a fancy sports car or a semi-truck, cars and trucks often cost about the same to insure. It can be cheaper to insure a car over a truck simply because trucks are larger and cause more damage in an accident. To compare auto insurance costs for truck vs. car in your area, enter your ZIP code into our free comparison tool below.
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Leslie Kasperowicz
Farmers CSR for 4 Years
Leslie Kasperowicz holds a BA in Social Sciences from the University of Winnipeg. She spent several years as a Farmers Insurance CSR, gaining a solid understanding of insurance products including home, life, auto, and commercial and working directly with insurance customers to understand their needs. She has since used that knowledge in her more than ten years as a writer, largely in the insurance...
Farmers CSR for 4 Years
UPDATED: Jun 6, 2022
It’s all about you. We want to help you make the right coverage choices.
Advertiser Disclosure: We strive to help you make confident auto insurance decisions. Comparison shopping should be easy. We are not affiliated with any one auto insurance provider and cannot guarantee quotes from any single provider.
Our insurance industry partnerships don’t influence our content. Our opinions are our own. To compare quotes from many different companies please enter your ZIP code on this page to use the free quote tool. The more quotes you compare, the more chances to save.
Editorial Guidelines: We are a free online resource for anyone interested in learning more about auto insurance. Our goal is to be an objective, third-party resource for everything auto insurance related. We update our site regularly, and all content is reviewed by auto insurance experts.
UPDATED: Jun 6, 2022
It’s all about you. We want to help you make the right coverage choices.
Advertiser Disclosure: We strive to help you make confident auto insurance decisions. Comparison shopping should be easy. We are not affiliated with any one auto insurance provider and cannot guarantee quotes from any single provider.
Our insurance industry partnerships don’t influence our content. Our opinions are our own. To compare quotes from many different companies please enter your ZIP code on this page to use the free quote tool. The more quotes you compare, the more chances to save.
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Are you trying to decide on your next vehicle? 62% of vehicle shoppers consider insurance costs when vehicle shopping. So what’s cheaper to insure – a car or a truck? Today, we’re getting to the bottom of the question.
It Depends on the Type of Truck and Car
You already knew this was the answer to the question. There are many different types of cars and many different types of trucks. We can’t definitively tell you that it’s cheaper to insure a car or a truck.
Insuring a Honda Civic will cost less money than insuring a semi-truck, for example, and insuring a Maserati will cost more than insuring a Ford F-150.
Beyond obvious differences in value, there are other things to consider when comparing car and truck insurance.
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Cars and Trucks Often Cost About the Same to Insure
There isn’t a significant difference between insuring a car or a truck. In certain cases, truck repairs can be more expensive. In other cases, car repairs can be more expensive. Many trucks are domestic models, for example, which means repairs are typically cheaper. Cars are more likely to be imported, which typically means more expensive repairs.
In general, car and truck insurance policies are about the same price if both vehicles have approximately the same value. However, sometimes, the larger size of a truck can have a big effect on your insurance policy.
Are Trucks More Expensive to Insure?
You can cause more damage driving a Ford F-350 than you can driving a Prius. This is often reflected in the price of your insurance policy.
The larger size of trucks (and SUVs) tends to make them safer than cars. That may be true. Drivers and passengers are typically safer in a truck during a collision than they would be in a car. That means lower medical bills for insurance companies in many cases.
However, these cost savings are sometimes balanced out by higher costs for property liability. Trucks are larger, and they can cause significantly higher damage to other drivers and property.
Are Trucks Cheaper to Repair?
In certain situations, truck owners may pay less for insurance than car owners. That’s because it’s cheaper to physically repair a truck if damaged. The bed of a truck can easily make up over half the length of a vehicle. This bed is mostly sheet metal. The back-end of a car, in comparison, has seats, additional windows, doors, electronics, and other components that can raise repair costs.
Ultimately, insurance companies take data from previous vehicle repairs they’ve made. They use this data to cover the cost of future policies. Typically, this data shows that it costs less to repair physical damage on an average pickup truck than it does to repair physical damage on a car.
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Trucks Aren’t Always Cheaper to Repair
Trucks are sometimes cheaper to repair – but not always. Modern trucks come with many of the same features you see in cars. Trucks have become less of a recreational vehicle and more of a practical vehicle. They’re not just used for work anymore. That means trucks have four doors, comfortable amenities, complex electronics, and smaller beds.
Furthermore, trucks often have four wheel drive systems that are much more costly to repair than the two wheel drive systems on cars.
All of these factors can lead to higher repair bills, raising the cost of truck repairs to about the same rate as car repairs.
How to Compare Insurance Quotes to Get the Best Rates on Car or Truck Insurance
Ultimately, there are countless factors that go into the price of car and truck insurance. Sometimes, the price varies widely between a car and truck of equal value. In other cases, it’s significantly cheaper to insure a car – or much cheaper to insure a truck.
Trucks tend to have cheaper external repairs but costlier internal repairs, for example. Cars can have more expensive repairs, but they also cause less damage to other vehicles and property during an accident.
Regardless of these factors, insurance companies will look at your personal factors – like your credit history, your driving history, your history of insurance claims, and the type of insurance requested – to set your rate. These factors can often have a more significant impact than just the type of vehicle you own.
Compare insurance quotes between providers to ensure you’re getting the best rate on your car or truck insurance.
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Leslie Kasperowicz
Farmers CSR for 4 Years
Leslie Kasperowicz holds a BA in Social Sciences from the University of Winnipeg. She spent several years as a Farmers Insurance CSR, gaining a solid understanding of insurance products including home, life, auto, and commercial and working directly with insurance customers to understand their needs. She has since used that knowledge in her more than ten years as a writer, largely in the insurance...
Farmers CSR for 4 Years
Editorial Guidelines: We are a free online resource for anyone interested in learning more about auto insurance. Our goal is to be an objective, third-party resource for everything auto insurance related. We update our site regularly, and all content is reviewed by auto insurance experts.