What color cars are more expensive to insure

It’s a tale as old as time—if you drive a red car, you’ll have a higher insurance premium. Right? Perhaps even worse, you’ll get pulled over more often by the police. 

We’re putting this myth to rest. Whether your car is red, white, blue, or hot pink, its color does not impact the price of your insurance coverage or the likelihood that you’ll get a ticket—at least not directly. 

Let’s take a cruise between fact and fiction when it comes to the color of your car. 

In this article we’ll gloss over:

Can my car insurance company charge me a higher premium because I have a red car? 

In short, no. The color of your car should not be an issue when you’re shopping around for insurance quotes. When auto insurance companies calculate the level of risk that you might face as a driver, they are not interested in knowing whether your car is red. 

When you sign up for a Lemonade Car policy, we do not even ask you what the color of your car is. We will only request these details if you file a claim for roadside assistance to help us find your car more easily if it needs a jump start while you’re stranded in a Walgreens’ parking lot in the middle of a snowstorm, for instance. Your safety is what’s most important to us, not the color of your car.  

What factors do impact my auto insurance price?

Now that we’ve set the record straight about a car color’s impact on auto insurance rates, you might be wondering—what does actually matter when calculating my car policy price? 

Basically, car insurance premiums are based on a lot of factors. A main point of interest is not the color of your vehicle, but rather its make, model, and year. Certain car models can be linked with higher insurance costs, like a Tesla Model S (though at Lemonade Car you can get an EV discount). 

Your insurance provider can also flag various aspects about your car and driving habits and up your premium accordingly. These could be things like—you have a vehicle type with advanced safety features that are expensive to repair, or your car is at higher risk for theft in the area that you’re regularly driving or parking, or you have a lengthy history of car insurance claims.

Lemonade Car puts an emphasis on your actual driving behavior, driving record history, and the number of miles you drive when determining how much you pay for your auto insurance. If you’re red-y to look under the hood of what goes into an auto insurance premium, you can learn all about how Lemonade Car prices policies. 

Am I more likely to get pulled over if I drive a red car?  

Also no. On the one hand, we’re happy to put your mind at ease—there isn’t conclusive evidence to back up the myth that you have a higher chance of getting pulled over based on the color of your car. But if you’re still skeptical and think that you’re more likely to be targeted for driving a red car, several sources— like the National Motorists Association and Forbes—suggest that actually white cars get pulled over the most.

On the other hand, we don’t condone speeding or blowing through a stop sign, no matter the car color. If you’re worried that you’ll get caught red-handed on a traffic violation, the safest bet is to focus more on your driving behavior and less on the paint job.

Are there any exceptions when the color of my ride could impact my car insurance rates?

While the base color of your car alone won’t be calculated into your auto insurance premium, a custom paint job or adding custom parts could. These additions give extra value to your car and would increase the cost of future repairs, so you might end up with higher rates for your insurance coverage. Think about it—if your car gets a nasty scratch from some parking garage vandalism, repairs to a standard red coat will be way more common than a limited-edition candy apple red, with a price tag to match. 

Paint the town red…

Contrary to popular belief—you won’t be punished by your car insurance for driving a red car. Feel free to hit the road with ease, on your best behavior of course, no matter the color of your car.

But, before you start loudly revving the engine on that little souped-up crimson sports coupe, think twice—it’d be a shame to give red car drivers a bad rep they don’t deserve.

And whether your ride is red, emerald green, or something in between, why not check out what Lemonade Car can do for you? Click the button below to get started.

Does car color affect insurance? Many variables go into calculating an auto insurance premium, but car color isn’t one of them. This doesn’t mean that car color can’t indirectly impact auto insurance, though. There are situations, such as higher demand and lower supply for a specific color, that can increase the cost of a car and thereby increase its premiums.

We asked insurance expert Laura Adams how car color plays into auto insurance premiums and she said, “The color of your vehicle is never a factor in your car insurance rate.” However, she added a caveat: “A red car could indeed cost more to purchase if it’s in high demand, or a dealer must pay extra to special-order it.” 

So, is insurance more expensive for red cars? That depends. Below we dive deeper into how car color and auto insurance interact.

Top car colors

Cars can change in price based on several factors, but nothing ranks higher than supply and demand. When looking at car insurance, the market for vehicles can play a significant role. The popularity of a given car color can ultimately influence how expensive that car is and, as a result, how much it costs to insure. Axalta, a coating company, performed a study on the most popular car colors in 2019. Here are their results for North America.

Most popular car colors in North America in 2019

• White 29%
• Black 19%
• Gray 17%
• Silver 11%
• Blue 10%
• Red 9%
• Brown/Beige 2%
• Green 1%
• Yellow/Gold 1%
• Others 1%

Car color and auto insurance

Does the color of your car affect your insurance rate? It can, but not directly. Auto insurance companies will not use the color of your vehicle in their calculations for your insurance premiums. They will, however, factor in the cost of the car and the cost of any repairs to that car model and color. Depending on the vehicle and on the availability, this can have a significant impact.

Custom paint jobs, for instance, will almost certainly increase the value of your car and, therefore, the cost of repairs. This, in turn, will result in the insurance company charging more to cover your vehicle. So, do you need red car insurance? Not likely. As we saw in the Axalta study, red cars aren’t in particularly high demand.

What about other factors? According to Adams, “Red vehicles may attract more attention, even from the police. If you get a ticket for speeding, having a moving violation on your driving record can undoubtedly cause your auto insurance rate to rise.”

So while insurance may be more expensive for red cars in some situations, it isn’t directly due to the car color. Your auto insurance company is just one system that relies on numerous other systems for its data and functionality. When these different systems (like market demand) cause a price increase linked to car color, this value hike can be reflected in auto insurance.

The exception: when color does matter

We’ve discussed some situations where car color can impact auto insurance rates but let’s explore a few more. While most situations will increase your insurance premiums based on the color of your car there is one exception – when your car color is one of the least likely to be targeted for theft it can lower your premium based solely on the color of your car.

For starters, if the paint used for your vehicle is particularly expensive to purchase or apply, then you will see a spike in the car’s value. Any increase in value can lead to a corresponding increase in that vehicle’s auto insurance costs.

Custom parts are another way that color can impact your car’s value and premiums. Some custom paint jobs will require custom parts that have to be specifically designed and produced for that job. This generally comes with a high cost that can end up being partially reflected in the car’s insurance rates.

Factors that do affect your auto insurance rates

So, if car color doesn’t affect auto insurance rates directly, what does? Insurance companies use numerous factors to determine car insurance premiums. Laura Adams reports, “The key factors in how much you pay for an auto policy are your age, years of driving experience, gender, driving history, make and model of vehicle, mileage and credit (in most states).”

Each of these variables can increase or decrease the rates on your auto insurance. While some, like age, are outside of our control, others like vehicle type and driving record are well within our grasp.

The takeaway

• Auto insurance companies do not factor car color into the cost of your premium.
• Car color can affect car value.
• Supply and demand of colors impacts car value.
• Expensive paint jobs and custom parts increase car value.
• Car value is factored into auto insurance premiums.

While car color can end up indirectly affecting auto insurance premiums, it isn’t factored in directly by the insurer. Instead, color only affects rates when it has already changed the vehicle’s value. Custom paint jobs, extra labor, custom equipment and parts can all increase a vehicle’s insurance premium, but rarely by much. In the end, the market value and probability of incidents are going to determine which physical parts of your car the auto insurers are interested in.