Keeping car insurance rate low all starts with the vehicle you have.

Picking the right vehicles for the lowest insurance rates.

None of us like to pay high car insurance rates. What am I talking about? None of us like to pay for car insurance, period. Unfortunately, it is one of those necessary evils that we just can’t (legally) go without.

The next best thing then, is to pay the lowest insurance rates possible and still have good coverage. You can do this by learning which cars are least expensive to insure.

Thanks to research done by the site insure.com, we are able to provide you with a list of the 20 vehicles with the lowest car insurance rates in 2012.

If you notice, most of the vehicles on this list are family vehicles. It is a collection of minivans, SUVs and trucks. There is not a single sports car, small car, luxury car, or even a sedan on here.

What else do all of the vehicles with the lowest car insurance have in common?

First, these vehicles cost less to repair if they do get into a car accident. A good number of these vehicles also retain their value over the years, and are less likely to be declared a total loss after a serious accident. This makes it cheaper for the insurance company, because fixing the vehicle costs them less than paying the total value of the car.

Second, the people driving these types of vehicles usually have families. They are also not thrill seekers, so they drive safer and get into fewer accidents.

Note: The rates on the above charts are a nationwide average and may not reflect what you are paying if your vehicle is on the list. Your own car insurance rate may be higher or lower than what is showing on the chart.

Flo from Progressive and her team train for competition against their insurance competitors.

Summary

Commercial opens with Flo and two fellow Progressive guys walking into a room, Flo suddenly stops. In front of them are two other men, who we assume are from another insurance company.

Flo gives the “I’ve got my eyes on you” sign with her fingers to the other two men. The men respond by whipping off their professional clothes and have scary, singlet’s on underneath. Flo and her guys jump back with shock and amusement.

Both sides go through ridiculous motions of training for a competition between insurance companies. The training methods of the other insurance company are, of course, more ridiculous than the Progressive team.

Announcer: Whether it’s showing competitors rates, or striving to be number one; we’re always up for a little competition.

Training scene ends with the progressive team celebrating. Some of the guys dump a cooler of liquid on the robot Flo to celebrate and she shorts out.

Announcer: Now that’s Progressive.

Point of Commercial

Flo from Progressive and her team are being used as a visual example of Progressive being up for any challenge the other insurance companies can throw at them. They are saying that at Progressive they are always “training” to be the best in the insurance field and do better than what the other insurance companies are doing.

What They Want You to Do

I guess they want you to think that Progressive is always doing something new to be the best. There is really no other point being made in the commercial. Progressive’s contact information is showing on the bottom, but there is no request to contact them.

In fact, they don’t ask you to contact them, get a quote, or tell you that they can save you money on car insurance. They don’t really tell you how they could benefit you at all. Thinking about it, what are they trying to be number 1 in?

My Opinion

Of all the progressive commercials I have seen, this one is pretty bad. Sadly, though, it is not the worst. It feels like they are trying too hard to be funny with this one. It has none of the endearing qualities that the other commercials with Flo from Progressive.

It also feels too much like a challenge to the other insurance companies that Progressive is going to stay competitive with them. I just don’t like that it feels more like the current presidential campaign instead of telling their potential clients how they stay competitive and are the best.

Without any doubt, giving this Flo with Progressive commercial two thumbs down.

The 2012 Toyota RAV4 is the new model of SUV, with a better safety rating.

2012 Toyota RAV4

The 2012 Toyota RAV4 is now going into its second year with its newly redesigned structure. Even with the redesign, the 2012 Toyota RAV4 has continued to receive high marks for safety. The only difference is that the vehicle looks much better than previous models.

2012 Toyota RAV4 IIHS Testing

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has given the 2012 Toyota RAV4 an overall “good” rating. “Good”, is the highest rating that the IIHS gives. Even though the vehicle raked high, it was not chosen as an IIHS Top Safety Pick as it did not rank high in all categories.

The downfall of the 2012 Toyota RAV4 is the strength of its roof. In the roof strength test, the vehicle was only given an “acceptable” rating. This still makes the roof safe, it is just not as good as other safer models.

However, the front and side impact tests earned the 2012 Toyota RAV4 a “good” rating in both tests. I guess that you just need to try your best to keep that RAV4 from ending up on its roof.

Insurance Premiums for the 2012 Toyota RAV4

The insurance premiums for the 2012 Toyota RAV4 are about the same as a sedan.

How do I know this? Because I am a proud RAV4 owner and I switched to one from a sedan. Previous to owning our RAV4 we had a Toyota Corolla Sport. When we made the switch, our insurance premiums actually decreased.

But, with how safe this vehicle is, it is really no surprise that the insurance premiums would be decent. The vehicle protects its occupants, while at the same time it is not a huge vehicle that can cause a lot of damage to another vehicle.

No, it does not rank as one of the cheapest vehicles to insure. It does rank as a cheaper vehicle to insure, though.

2012 Toyota RAV4 Recalls

At this time, the only RAV4 vehicles that have a recall on them are for the model years of 2011 and earlier. There are no recalls on any 2012 Toyota RAV4 vehicles at this time.

If a recall is decided on for the 2012 models, you will be sent a letter from Toyota explaining what you need to do. Currently there is a recall out for a major suspension problem for earlier models, but the 2012 Toyota RAV4 has not been named as one of the models affected.

Insurance advertising gives insurance companies a chance to convince you that they are the best.

Like it or not, you may have paid for part of that terrible insurance advertising commercial you just watched.

In many states, it is said that there are two seasons: winter and road construction. With road construction season in full swing right now you may have seen the signs that pop up on the side of the road. The signs that give you the details of the project, and then includes the phrase “Your Tax Dollars at Work”.

You can see the very same message with insurance companies; they just don’t broadcast it as plainly. But each time you see an insurance commercial, that’s your insurance premium dollars at work.

Insurance Advertising Over Time

Car insurance companies have been around since the late 1800s. The very first insurance company to sell insurance was Travelers Insurance Company in 1897. Back then there was little competition in the car insurance field though, for two reasons.

First, there were very few drivers on the road at that time, so there weren’t all that many car insurance companies anyway. Second, drivers weren’t forced to purchase car insurance until 1927 and many didn’t.

Today, the car insurance scene is much different. Now, we have insurance companies practically tripping over each other in the race to get your business. They rely heavily on insurance advertising to convince you that they are better than the other insurance company and hope that you will believe them.

Then once they have you as a client; they take part of your insurance premium and pay for more insurance advertising to try and convince more drivers to buy insurance from them.

Who Spends the Most on Car Insurance Advertising?

GEICO, by far, spends more on car insurance advertising than any other company out there. Per SNL Financial, GEICO spent 993.8 million dollars on advertising in 2011. This is an increase of 10% over the 902.7 million that was spent in 2012.

Compared to the other insurance companies, GEICO alone spends 1 out of every 6 dollars spent in the insurance industry on advertising (onlineautoinsurance.com). With how frequently GEICO churns out new commercials the amount they spend is not surprising.

Does the Insurance Advertising Make a Difference?

For some companies it does and for others it doesn’t. GEICO is the top insurance company on the Fortune 500 list, and they are also the insurance company that spends the most in insurance advertising.

On the other hand, some insurance companies can spend millions on insurance advertising and see very little increase in business. For example, $45 million was spent on advertising for Esurance in just the first quarter of 2012. When the growth numbers came out, there was barely a difference between this year with the large advertising push, and the same time the year before (SNL Financial).

Leave us a comment and tell us if your insurance company is putting your premium to good work or not on their insurance advertising.

21st Century Insurance lets the puppies show you which insurance company to pick.

Summary

Announcer: Car insurance customer service reps, how can you tell whose are the nicest?

The commercial has started with the 21st Century guy standing in the middle of the screen between two crates. On either side of the crate is a lady in blue representing GEICO on his right and a lady in red representing 21st Century on his left. The 21st Century guy lifts the gates on the crates and puppies run out to the lady closest to them.

Announcer: Ah ha! Well, our competitors seems friendly and at 21st Century so does ours. See puppies don’t lie. But, drivers who switch from GEICO to 21st Century save an average of 508 dollars a year.

Puppies run from the GEICO lady over to the 21st Century lady.

Announcer: Smart puppies. 21st Century insurance, the same great coverage for less.

Singers: Digi digi digi digi digi digi digi digi 21st.

Puppy: bark

Screen changes to red with “21st” and “SAME GREAT COVERAGE FOR LESS”

Point of Commercial

21st Century plays up big on the cute factor here, but that is not the point of the commercial. The point of the commercial is like so many others in that they can save you more money than the other guy.

21st Century just happens to make their point by showing you that even cute puppies can make the right decision of which insurance company to go with.

What They Want You to Do

They want you to say, “Awwww, that’s so cute.” They want you to feel good, and then they want you to contact them and see if you can save money with them also.

The whole commercial they have both their phone number and their website on the bottom of the screen. You may have not noticed though because of the cute puppies.

My Opinion

Playing up on the puppies is a good idea. Aside from the adage “sex sells”, cuteness sells also.

I like this commercial as a consumer and I was also taken in by the cuteness. But there were two things that were really missing that could hurt them with this commercial.