Luxury Cars: Safer to Drive; Cheaper to Insure

By Melissa | IMG IIHS via YouTube

WHEN we think of luxury cars, our minds go in two directions. There are the multi-million-dollar exotics like Ferrari and Bugatti that cost almost as much to insure as they do to own, and then there are the luxury cars for the rest of us.

With names like BMW, Acura, Volvo, Audi and Cadillac, these cars have the elite cachet that points to an owner imbued with style and class. As consumers, we buy them because we want the precision steering of German engineering, the cushy seats of an American legend, the purr of a finely-tuned Japanese motor. The last thing on our minds is accident statistics.

These luxury cars are more than just pretty shells wrapped around finely honed technology. In 2005, for example, both BMW and Audi received accolades from Consumer Reports for their safety ratings; they were listed among the safest cars on the road.

For the BMW 330i, the significant features included a panic button alarm, child-safety door locks, and side guard door beams, as well as its complement of airbags, and anti-theft protection devices, while the Audi A4′s safety selling points included a dual-stage, dual threshold airbag system, and an advanced braking system making the car easier to control on rain-slick pavement.

Today, BMW and Audi are still among the top-ranked luxury cars when it comes to the crash test results posted each year by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), but they’re not alone. The top scorers in the luxury car classes were:

Midsize Luxury Cars:

o 2009 Acura TSX & TL
o 2009 Audi A4
o 2009 Saab 9-3
o 2009 Mercedes C-Class
o 2009 BMW 3-series
o 2010 Lincoln MKZ

Large Luxury Cars:

o 2009 Cadillac CTS
o 2009 Lincoln MKS
o 2009 Acura RL
o 2009 Volvo S80
o 2009 Audi A6
o 2009 Hyundai Genesis

Midsize Luxury SUVs:

o 2009 Acura MDX
o 2009 BMW X5
o 2009 Infiniti EX35
o 2010 Lexus RX
o 2009 BMW X3
o 2009 Mercedes M-class
o 2009 Volvo XC90
o 2009 Audi Q5
o 2009 Acura RDX
o 2009 Lincoln MKX

Aside from their across-the-board rating of “good” in front, side and rear crash tests, these vehicles all had two other things in common. One is that they all come with some kind of side airbags, which were used for the tests – additional airbags are optional on most of these models. The other is that every vehicle includes electronic stability control (ESC) systems as a standard feature.

How Do These Ratings Impact Insurance?

Any time a car gets a good crash test rating from the IIHS, insurers look upon it favorably. Those crash results, when added to other onboard safety features, such as antilock brakes, special headlights for certain weather conditions, airbags, and even anti-theft devices, add up to make your car cost less to insure. This is because the safer a car is to drive the less likely it is to be involved in an accident that ends up in the car being totaled. The average car insurance company would rather pay repairs than a total loss.

In English, this means that Luxury cars with a good array of safety features and excellent crash test ratings, such as those listed above, cost less to insure. Even better, because luxury car owners tend to be upstanding citizens, who have good credit, own their own homes, have good driving records, and have a significant amount of experience behind the wheel, they can qualify for discounts on top of the lower pricing their cars already garner.

Does this mean all luxury cars are safer to drive? Not at all. According the IIHS tables, the 2009 Cadillac SRX, for example, scored poorly in rear-impact crash tests, and the 2009 BMW 5-series received a rating of “Marginal” for side-impact crashes.

As a consumer, when you are shopping for a new car, consider all the data, not just how a car takes corners, or how comfortable the back seat is, but also what the crash test results say. By choosing your next vehicle based on all the facts, you can find a car that is safe to drive, inexpensive to insure, and still incredibly stylish, comfortable, and classy.