Protecting your luxury car with the right insurance is a necessity. Luxury car insurance offers the same coverages as standard car insurance but usually involves higher liability coverage limits and some additional coverages.
Luxury insurance averages $3,078 per year, according to our data but rates vary dramatically depending on your vehicle. High-end sports cars and exotics typically cost the most to insure.
- Luxury car insurance offers the same coverage as standard car insurance, but many luxury car buyers purchase higher limits and additional endorsements.
- The national average for luxury car insurance is $3,072 according to our data.
- We found that State Farm was the cheapest insurer for luxury insurance, with an average annual rate of $1,968 or $164 a month.
What is luxury car insurance?
Most insurance companies do not offer separate policies for luxury, high-end or exotic cars. The basics of a car insurance policy are the same regardless of whether you are driving a Kia or a Ferrari. However, it is possible to add endorsements and higher coverage levels to your policy to protect your luxury vehicle.
While liability is the only insurance most states require, you will want to carry comprehensive and collision to protect your luxury ride comprehensively. These coverages will pay to repair or replace your vehicle if it’s damaged in an accident or other incident such as flooding, fire or even vandalism. Adding uninsured motorist coverage will make sure your car is repaired if you are hit by an uninsured driver.
In addition to the more basic coverages available, you may want to add a few riders or endorsements to your policy that will ensure your luxury car is treated like royalty if it is damaged or destroyed. A few endorsements to consider:
- New car replacement: Even luxury cars are replaced at actual cash value which means the considerable depreciation that occurred when you drove your vehicle off the lot will be considered when paying out for your totaled car. New car replacement guarantees you will be paid the cost of a brand-new vehicle, not just the depreciated value, if your vehicle is totaled or stolen in the first year of ownership.
- Original parts replacement: Insurers often use third-party or generic parts when repairing a vehicle because they are cheaper. This coverage ensures that your vehicle will be repaired using the original manufacturer’s parts.
- Gap insurance coverage: According to iSeeCars, which analyzed roughly 1.1 million vehicles to determine five-year depreciation rates, luxury cars tend to lose a fair amount of value in the first five years. Luxury cars lose an average of 48.1 percent in value after five years, according to their data. Gap insurance helps cover this loss by paying the difference between your insurance payout and what you owe on a loan or lease if the vehicle is totaled or stolen.
How it differs from regular car insurance
In most cases, there is no difference between luxury car insurance and regular car insurance. Luxury car owners may carry higher coverage limits and coverages and endorsements that other drivers may not need, but the basic coverage is the same.
Luxury car owners tend to carry the following coverages, which are pretty standard:
- Liability insurance: This is a required coverage in most states and will cover injuries or damage you cause to other people or their property in an accident. It will also cover legal bills if you are sued due to a car accident. Luxury car drivers often have a higher net worth and more assets to protect, upping liability limits to at least 250/500/250 is usually a good idea. The state minimums rarely provide adequate financial protection, especially if you drive a luxury vehicle.
- Collision insurance: This pays to repair or replace your vehicle if it is damaged by an accident with another car or object. While this is optional coverage, if you are driving a luxury vehicle, you will want to carry it to ensure you don’t have to cover repair costs out of pocket. Collision and comprehensive have deductibles that must be paid before your insurer pays for the damage.
- Comprehensive coverage: Like collision, this coverage repairs or replaces your vehicle if damaged. Comprehensive steps up when the damage is not caused by a crash, it covers issues such as vandalism, animal strikes, flood, fire and hail. If you leased or took out a loan on your luxury ride, your lender will require that you carry full coverage insurance which includes collision and comprehensive.
- Uninsured motorist insurance is optional in many states, but some require drivers to carry it. It pays for your medical bills and any passengers in your car if you were hit by someone who is not carrying liability coverage.
- Personal injury protection: Depending on the state you live in, this may be required coverage, mainly in no-fault states. This coverage pays your medical bills and other expenses, such as lost wages, if you are injured in a car accident.
- Agreed value: This coverage is mainly reserved for classic cars or exotics; it is not typically used for a standard luxury vehicle. While some mainstream insurers write agreed value coverage, in many cases you will need to find a specialty insurer for this type of coverage.
How much does luxury car insurance cost?
Like all car insurance, the cost to protect a luxury vehicle will vary depending on a wide range of factors, including your personal driving record and the type of vehicle you are driving.
We crunched the numbers, and the national average for luxury car insurance was $3,072. However, rates can vary dramatically. The cheapest luxury vehicle to insure is the Chrysler 300, at $2,310, while the most expensive one is the Maserati Quattroporte, which costs $6,166 a year to cover.
The higher premium is because the Maserati has a much higher starting cost, $141,000 while the Chrysler 300 starts at $37,000, which means an insurer will have to shell out quite a bit more to replace the Maserati than the Chrysler if it is stolen or destroyed.
More expensive trims lead to higher premiums, the Maserati has a leather dash and loads of technology which pushes up the cost of repairing the Maserati when compared to the Chrysler.
See annual rates for luxury cars and luxury SUVs in the tables below.
Affordable insurance companies for high-end vehicles
Our data show that State Farm is the cheapest insurer for luxury vehicles, with an average annual rate of $1,968, which is $164 a month. On the other end of the spectrum, Allstate costs $4,599, which is 133% more than State Farm.
See the annual and monthly rates for luxury cars and luxury SUVs in the tables below.
This clearly illustrates the importance of shopping your coverage on a regular basis. Insurers look at a variety of factors when setting a premium and they all rate risk differently which can result in dramatically different premiums.
What is agreed value coverage and why is it important for luxury cars?
Agreed value coverage is a specialty insurance for classic cars and exotic vehicles. With agreed value coverage, you and your insurer agree on the value of the vehicle, and if it is totaled or stolen, that is the amount you will be paid – no depreciation or appreciation is considered.
While this is great coverage for classic or exotics – cars that rarely see the open road – it isn’t typically an option for standard luxury car owners. Agreed value coverage comes with significant restrictions that make it unsuitable for a car you drive often. Restrictions vary by insurer, but these are common:
- The vehicle must meet the insurer’s definition of an exotic or collector car.
- You must have a different car that you use as a daily driver.
- You need a clean driving record.
- Many policies require drivers to have at least 10 years of driving experience under their belt and be at least 25 years old.
- The vehicle must be stored in a garage that is locked and private.
- Some policies limit the number of miles the car can be driven in a year. It varies, but 5,000 miles is a common restriction.
Why is luxury car insurance expensive?
The reason luxury car insurance is more expensive is simple: Luxury cars cost more to repair or replace, making them a bigger financial risk for insurers, so they charge a higher premium to cover that risk.
Luxury cars often have a much higher price tag than a standard vehicle. If the car is stolen or totaled in an accident, your insurer must cover the cost to replace it – and that cost is often dramatically higher than that of a typical vehicle, which results in a higher premium.
Luxury cars are also loaded with technology and high-end materials that make repairs more expensive. It will always cost more to replace a teak dashboard than a plastic one, and higher repair costs lead to higher premiums. Luxury vehicles also tend to showcase all of the latest tech and gadgets, contributing to repair costs and increasing insurance rates.
Another factor that can push up the cost of luxury insurance is the driver’s DMV record. Drivers of high-end sports cars tend to like driving and, in many cases, drive aggressively, which can lead to tickets, accidents and claims, which increase premiums.
What should I look for when choosing a luxury car insurance provider?
While price is always a consideration when shopping for car insurance, it shouldn’t be the only consideration when insuring a luxury car.
Luxury car drivers want to look for insurers that offer higher coverage levels and additional coverages such as new car replacement, original parts coverage, and gap and umbrella coverage.
If you want to insure a classic or exotic car, you might need to find a specialty insurer offering agreed value coverage.
Finally, always check the customer service and claim handling ratings, as well as the financial security, of any insurer you are considering. J.D. Power rankings are excellent for claims rankings; check the financial strength of insurers with AM Best.
Are there any discounts available for luxury car insurance?
Just like all car insurance products, there are discounts available for luxury car owners. Insurers offer a variety of discounts to drivers, which can help lower your premium. Some of the most common discounts available to drivers include:
- Bundling: Buying your car, home or renters insurance from the same company can sometimes result in a big discount, up to 25%.
- Safe driver: If you keep it safe on the road and haven’t had a ticket or accident in years, you may qualify for a safe driver discount. Requirements vary between insurers, but you must be ticket- and accident-free for three to five years in most cases.
- Good student: If you have a teen on your policy who is also a good student, they may qualify for a discount. Requirements vary, but most insurers need a B average, and the discount usually ranges up to 15%.
- Low mileage: If you drive fewer than 10,000 (requirements vary) miles a year, you may qualify for a low mileage discount. Check with your insurer for details.
- Pay in full: Most insurers offer a small discount to customers who can afford to pay for their policies in full. While it won’t be a huge discount, every little bit helps.
Final thoughts on luxury auto insurance
Protecting your luxury car with the proper insurance coverage is always a necessity. Luxury car insurance offers the same coverage as standard insurance. Still, many luxury car owners carry higher coverage limits and endorsements like new car replacement and gap insurance.
Luxury cars are more expensive to insure because they have a higher sticker price and are more costly to repair due to luxury trims and loads of technology. Our data show that a luxury car insurance policy averages $3,072, but rates can vary dramatically by vehicle.
Resources & Methodology
Sources
ISeeCars. “Top 25 Cars That Hold Their Value the Best – and the 25 Worst.” Accessed September 2024.
Methodology
CarInsurance.com commissioned Quadrant Information Services to pull rates for 40-year-old males with a 12-mile commute, 10,000 annual mileage and no violations on record. The analysis covered a full coverage insurance policy with limits of 100/300/100 and $500 comprehensive and collision deductibles. We analyzed 28,561,720 records across 510 ZIP codes, 128 luxury vehicles and 58 insurance companies nationwide.