Why is nissan altima insurance so high

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Nicholas Hinrichsen - Published: August 1, 2022

On average, the Nissan Altima car insurance costs $1,446 per year in annual coverage for standard insurance coverage. Of course there are lots of factors (such as location, driving record, driver age) that could alter your true insurance cost so we put together some great guides and calculators to help estimate and find your personalized cost to insure.

• Average car insurance rate: $1,548 per year, $774 per six-month policy or $129 per month.
   

• Average cost to insure a Nissan Altima: $1,446
   

• Altima vs. average vehicle insurance cost: $102 below average

These averages are based on rates from major auto insurance companies like AllState, Nationwide, Geico, StateFarm, Liberty Mutual, USAA as well as other insurance companies like MetroMile, etc.  These quotes are also based on recent model year (2013-2020) including new cars, and the most common trim level rather than much older vehicles where insurance prices decline and coverage limits often change.

The chart below gives some great details for how the Nissan Altima insurance costs compare to other Nissan models:

You might notice that the Altima are substantially different than other models in the Nissan portfolio. The reason for these differences (despite the same coverage) is often due to:

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• Differences in safety features (such as number of air bags, adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning, anti-lock brakes, electronic stability control, traction control, etc).
   

• Differences in NHTSA (national highway traffic safety administration) or IIHS (insurance institute for highway safety) safety ratings and crash test ratings.
   

• Differences in the cost for replacement or repair
   

• Differences in vehicle size (e.g. a large SUV is likely to inflict more property damage than a Smart Car for example)
   

• Differences in ease of theft (electronic keys, anti-theft systems).

All of these can have a material impact on auto insurance rates.

Your insurance premiums typically cover three different areas:

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• Liability Coverage: This full coverage plan will cover the damage to other property or persons as a result of an accident you have. If you crash into another vehicle and both occupants are injured, this coverage will pay for their medical bills, bodily injury, property damage, and any other expense. These medical and liability payments are often the largest risks insurance companies underwrite. Standard Liability insurance for the Nissan Altima typically costs $372.

• Collision Coverage: This coverage typically pays for physical damage to your vehicle as the result of a motor vehicle accident. If you are leasing your car, or if the vehicle is financed then the lender will typically require collision coverage. Standard Collision coverage for the Nissan Altima typically costs $594.

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• Comprehensive Coverage: Comprehensive insurance coverage is the portion of your insurance that helps pay to replace or repair your car in the case its damaged in any accident it's not a collision. That's why it's occasionally called "other than collision" coverage. As is the case with collision, if your car is leased or financed, your lender will typically require this coverage. Standard Comprehensive coverage for the Nissan Altima typically costs $322.

It should be noted that when we discuss “standard” coverage this means:

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• Liability limits of 250/500/250. These individual figures mean:
   

  • $250,000 limit of bodily injury per person. This means for each person in the accident, the personal injury award to each individual can be a maximum of $250,000. 
     

  • $500,000 limit of bodily injury per accident. This means that no matter how many people in the accident, the total limit the insurance is willing to pay is $500,000 in medical payments, bodily injury damages for everyone injured. So if an accident injures 4 individuals with claims of $250,000 each the policy would not breach the per person limit, but would be above the accident limit.
     

  • $250,000 limit of property damage per accident.
     

• A deductible of $500. For any claim, you the insured will pay the first $500 towards that claim.

You can see a breakdown of how this coverage stacks up here:

When looking at any insurance rate comparison be sure that the policy coverage limits are the same. Some states have minimum liability limits that are required which are often substantially below standard policies (although cheaper). In addition, some states allow for uninsured motorists - so please check that your policy has provisions for coverage under these circumstances, i.e. uninsured motorist coverage (UIM).

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You might notice that the liability coverage for the Nissan Altima is only $372 of the $1,446. That leaves a full $1074 that’s used to pay for damage to your own vehicle. Given that the value of older Accords is substantially less nowadays here’s how many years of insurance payments would pay for a complete replacement.

One of the biggest drivers to the insurance cost is the age of insured driver; with age comes experience. More than anything else, having a young and inexperienced driver can be a huge source of higher insurance rates.

Using data from various insurance providers, Nissan Altima insurance rates for a teen driver who is 16 years old can be as high as $5318. Male drivers that are younger tend to get more speeding tickets and cause at-fault accidents, compared to their counterpart female drivers. Therefore, their starting rate is higher.

As drivers get older and more experience, costs stabilize between 30-60 years old. For the same Nissan - insurance costs for a 40 year old are just $1446. The elderly have higher rates beyond these ages.

As a general rule of thumb insurance varies a lot by region. The actuary is trying to determine a few things based on the area you live in:

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• Is the likelihood of an accident higher in your area (typically denser areas have more accidents per mile).
   

• Are the repair costs higher where you drive/are located. Labor rates in Los Angeles for body-shops are substantially different than those in Topeka, KS.
   

• How does your mileage and time-in-car vary according to your locations.

One easy way to get lower insurance rates (besides being a safe-driver) is to raise your deductible. A deductible is the money you pay towards an insurance claim out of pocket, and the deductible is the “first” money paid towards in any claim. In other words if you file a claim for $600 and have a $500 deductible - you would pay the “first” $500 towards the claim before insurance would cover everything above $500 (but not to exceed insurance limits). 

For the Nissan Altima insurance policies we looked at the impact of changing the deductible from $100 to $1000 for a standard full coverage policy. At $100 deductible the auto insurance quotes were $1850 while at $1000 they were $1238 - a difference of nearly $612 per year. If you’ve got a few claims, and you’re able to save money diligently - then raising your deductible can be a very effective means to reduce your car insurance costs.

You can see how insurance prices vary by deductible below:

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Bundle your insurance policies and keep them all in one place with one of the top insurance providers by using a multi-policy discount. You can save money and time in combining two or more insurance policies. For example, if you are a homeowner and a vehicle owner, you can see what type of discount is available and compare pricing.

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Other steps to find the best insurance?

Although finding the best rates for insurance can be deceptive hopefully this guide helps you find fair rates and compare rates more broadly across vehicles. To get a personalized free quote, just keep a few things in mind:

• Not all insurance providers will provide rate quotes to “aggregators” (e.g. Geico, Progressive, and other insurance providers often avoid giving quotes through comparison sites). So getting car insurance quotes may require going directly to the insurer in some cases.
   

• Ensure you’re comparing like:like coverage for insurance costs. Remember that finding the lowest rate of insurance is NOT the goal since often competitive policies can leave out key coverage. Make sure to decide on your level of coverage first, then compare quotes that will include all future benefits (such as good driving discounts or other member affiliations).
   

• Check out the claim-free discount the insurance company offers. If you are a safe driver, this can impact the amount of yearly savings you accumulate. For example, at TD Insurance, you can save up to 30% on your car insurance rates. 
   

• Work with an insurance agent who can answer any and all questions you may have about the process before you sign on the dotted line. Find better rates ahead of time and get the right coverage for you!

Your quote will be highly dependent on your driving history. Being a safe-driver will save you an immense amount of money in the long run. Check with providers to see what discounts are available for “good driving behavior” and validate what that good driving behavior is.

Not only can you save on your auto insurance, you can save even more through lowering the rate on your car loan. Unlike all the other auto refinance lenders, we are the only fully digital platform that let's car owners like you refinance their cars from the comfort of their own home.

No need to set a foot in a bank or credit union. You can lower your rate or get cash in as little as 20 seconds.

Curious how much you can save today? Follow three simple steps to refinance your Nissan Altima loan, get approved in seconds and save thousands in minutes.