What are the Cheapest Cars to Insure for Teenagers?

The Subaru Outback, Honda CR-V and Mazda CX-5 are the cheapest cars to insure for a teen driver. They all cost around $440 per month to insure for full coverage when sharing a parent's policy.

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ValuePenguin gathered rates for 24 cars that cost around $30,000 or less with high safety ratings.

Older cars are also cheaper to insure. A seven-year-old car is about 13% cheaper to insure than a new model.

The most expensive cars to insure for a teen are a Volkswagen Jetta or Nissan Sentra.

Best cars for teens

The cheapest cars to insure for teens are all midsize crossovers: The Subaru Outback, Honda CR-V and Mazda CX-5.

These cars all let you sit higher and get a better view of the road, have advanced safety features and starting prices of $30,000 or less.

1. Subaru Outback

• Retail price: $28,895
• Cost to insure new : $435/month
• Cost to insure used : $377/month

• NHTSA safety rating:

2. Honda CR-V

• Retail price: $29,500
• Cost to insure new : $438/month
• Cost to insure used : $376/month

• NHTSA safety rating:

3. Mazda CX-5

• Retail price: $29,300
• Cost to insure new : $439/month
• Cost to insure used : $381/month

• NHTSA safety rating:

The cheapest cars to insure for a teenage driver

Most expensive cars to insure for teens

The most expensive cars to insure for teens are the Volkswagen Jetta, Nissan Sentra and Toyota Prius, among the vehicles included. They all cost at least $530 per month to insure, or about 22% more than the cheapest model.

This may be because they're more likely to sustain damage in a crash with a larger car, give the driver a worse view of the road or lack certain safety features that reduce the risk of a crash. However, all of the most expensive cars have 5-star safety ratings from the NHTSA.

Besides popular car choices for teens, there are other models that would likely be even more expensive for a teen driver — such as a Corvette sports car, or a luxury car like a BMW.

What makes a car cheap to insure?

Insurance companies set rates based on how likely a car is to be involved in a claim, and how expensive that claim will be. So, cars that are less likely to be crashed or stolen, and those that are cheaper to repair or replace, are generally cheaper to insure.

Unfortunately, car insurance for a teenager is almost always expensive, no matter what car they drive. The two best ways to reduce the price of car insurance for a teen are to share a policy with parents, and to look at lots of companies to find the best price — at least five.

Methodology

To find the cheapest cars to insure for a teen driver, ValuePenguin editors collected quotes for 24 of the most popular vehicles for teens, focusing on those with a starting MSRP of around $30,000 or less and NHTSA overall safety rating of 4 or 5 stars.

For each vehicle, editors collected a quote with one 18-year-old and a 45-year-old parent, each with their own car. Then they subtracted the rate the parent would pay for a solo-driver policy to find the net price to add the teen.

Sharing a policy with a relative is the single best way a teen can keep their insurance rates low; a teen driver who has their own car insurance will pay substantially more.

All quotes are statewide average prices for a full-coverage policy in Illinois, with comprehensive and collision coverage, along with higher liability limits than required.