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Toyota Prius - Insurance Costs

Susan of New Hope PA (12/28/04):
With too many vehicles parked in everyone's garage (including our own), and gas prices going through the roof, we decided to buy a Prius, the little hybrid vehicle made by Toyota. We thought at least one of our cars would be less damaging to the environment. After we waited nearly a year, our car came in and we picked up our Prius for about $25K--a bargain in this economy. We promptly added the new car to our ALLSTATE INSURANCE policy.

Toyota Prius • General Complaints • Availability • Battery • Fuel Gauge • Insurance Costs • Service Delays • Tires • Transmission • Happy Hybrid Owners --- Test Drive • Three Lead Feet Meet Little Fuel Sipper --- News • Toyota Plans Prius Plant in Mississippi • Solar Panels to Power Prius Air Conditioning • Unexpected Problems Confront Prius Owners • NHTSA to Hear 'Silent Killer' Complaints • Reports of Prius Price Gouging Rise with Gas Prices • Prius, Porsche Models Top Most-Satisfied Lists • Should You Buy a Second-Hand Prius? • Winter Weather Warning for Prius Drivers • Prius Again Tops Owner Satisfaction Survey • Prius Helps Toyota Knock Off Ford for #2 Spot • Toyota Recalls Floor Mats, NHTSA Warns Prius Owners • Feds Probe Prius Runaway Acceleration • Prius Owners Report More Unintended Acceleration Incidents • Runaway Acceleration Plagues Prians • Toyota Delays Third-Generation Prius • Sales Top 1 Million but Some Owners Find Prius Doesn't Age Well • Prius Owners Losing Ground in Traction Battle • Prius Traction Control Complaints on the Rise • Prius Stalls in Snow; Owners Steamed • Prius Shuts Down in the Snow, Reader Complains • Prius Supplies Increase as Sales Slow • Prius Discounts Popping Up in Showrooms • EPA Finds Prius #1 in Gas Mileage • Prius Owners Question Mileage Claims • Prius Tops Consumer Satisfaction Survey • Hybrids Don't Always Deliver the Expected Fuel Economy

Leave it to ALLSTATE INSURANCE to take away an economic gain by charging us $1,500 per year to insure this car! (We have had absolutely NO insurance claims auto or otherwise for more than 10 years). This is more than we pay to insure our gas-guzzling, expensive Toyota Sienna Van. How can a little Prius cost more to insure than a large van?

Allstate says the parts can be costly to repair/install. Now, it costs Toyota less than $25K to build the whole car; why does ALLSTATE consider it so costly to repair? Personnaly, I think they use whatever excuse they can think of to raise an insurance rate. I give a big THWFFFTTT! to ALLSTATE and plan to shop all of my insurance policies (they are all with ALLSTATE) next year.

Susan is missing something: insurers base their rates partly on the cost to repair the vehicle being insured. As a limited-production, newly designed vehicle, the Prius is expensive to work on and therefore expensive to insure. There's also been limited experience with whether the large battery causes problems in a crash. Insurance companies don't like uncertainty -- ergo, higher rates.

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