How much is used car insurance?

How much is used car insurance?

The average full coverage auto insurance rate for a used car is $2,176 per year for a 2015 model year and $3,037 per year for a 2025 model year, a difference of roughly 40%. The model year of your used car affects the cost of auto insurance, but which car you buy and how you finance it affect your premium more than its age.

Used cars tend to be cheaper to insure than new cars. The chart above shows the average across all models of that year, so it shouldn’t be used to predict how any single vehicle’s premium will climb as it gets older.

You can see what your own vehicle would cost to insure with the estimator below.

Used car insurance estimator

Enter your car’s year, make and model, and your state, to estimate your premium. CarInsurance.com’s estimator covers more than 3,000 used car models.

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Average insurance rates for your used car

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Do you need insurance before you buy a used car?

Yes, you’re required to have car insurance that meets or exceeds your state’s minimum liability coverage before you buy a used car, whether it’s through a dealership or a private seller. 

If you already have a car insurance policy

If you have a car insurance policy with an insurer and are purchasing another car, you typically have a grace period before you have to add the vehicle to your policy. The grace period varies by insurance company, with some offering 7 to 10 days and others extending it to 30 days. 

In most cases, a new car is only covered at your current coverage limits, so it won’t provide full coverage if you only carry liability-only insurance. Before the grace period ends, you’ll need to formally add the car to your policy.

Think of a grace period like roaming on a phone plan: your existing plan follows you for a while, but it doesn’t upgrade itself.

If you do not have any coverage yet

If you don’t already have a car insurance policy, there’s no grace period to fall back on. You must purchase car insurance before you can drive the vehicle.

Car dealerships almost always require proof of insurance before completing a sale, since you’re legally required to have coverage in order to drive off the lot. But if you’re buying from a private seller, there’s typically no insurance verification. It’s your responsibility to insure the car before you take the keys. 

Dealers are required under the FTC’s Used Car Rule to display a Buyers Guide on every used car they sell, spelling out what warranty coverage, if any, comes with it. Private sellers don’t require this.

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How much is full coverage insurance on a used car?

The average full coverage premium for a 2024 used model is $2,961 per year, vs. $1,174 for liability-only insurance with the same limits of 100/300/100. For a used car, the make and model of your vehicle affect the price gap more than the model year does.

A full coverage policy includes liability insurance, plus collision and comprehensive insurance. It pays to repair or replace your vehicle if it is damaged or totaled in an accident or another covered loss, such as a fire, flood, or hailstorm. Because it provides higher coverage, it has a higher premium than liability-only insurance.

Full coverage insurance is available for any used vehicle, regardless of its age. The numbers show that dropping to liability-only insurance on a 2024 used model saves about $1,787 a year, which only makes sense once the car is worth less than a few years of that gap.

Does the type of car change how much you pay?

The body style of your vehicle changes the cost of used car insurance more than the model year does. For 2024 models, a performance car costs around $4,674 per year to insure, while an SUV costs $2,645 per year (about 1.8x as much). 

Liability-only rates are much cheaper for the same cars because the cost doesn’t include collision and comprehensive insurance. For a 2024 performance car, the average minimum coverage rate is $1,111, and for an SUV, $1,155.

Here’s what this means: if you’re choosing between two cars, the body style often has a bigger impact on your premium than which model year you select.  

What does a used EV cost to insure?

The average cost of electric vehicle insurance is $3,607 per year for a 2024 model. It’s the fifth-most expensive vehicle type to insure behind performance cars and SUVs, luxury cars, and sports cars.

The main driver of EV insurance premiums is the cost of the battery. If your car is damaged or totaled and the battery needs to be replaced, your insurance company is on the hook for a significantly higher payout than it would be for a gas vehicle.

How much do the most popular used models cost to insure?

The 12 most-popular used vehicles in the U.S. are mostly trucks and SUVs, and they have similar insurance premiums. Among 2024 models, full coverage rates run from $2,384 for a Toyota RAV4 to $2,882 for a Chevrolet Malibu. That’s less than a $500 difference between the cheapest and the most expensive on the list.

The table below shows the average car insurance premiums from CarInsurance.com for the most popular car models between 2020 and 2025 according to iSeeCars. 

The main takeaway here is the small price difference. You might have assumed that the cost of full coverage car insurance on popular models varies significantly, but in reality, rates are comparable. The choice between a Toyota RAV4 and a Ford Explorer, for example, isn’t really an insurance decision because the average rates are close.

However, that changes slightly when looking at liability-only insurance. For instance, the average liability-only premium for a 2024 Chevrolet Malibu is $1,254, vs. $1,110 for a Toyota Tacoma. Sedans and trucks carry the highest liability-only rates of any body style, which is important to know when you’re choosing a vehicle type.

Safe used cars under $20,000 and what they cost to insure

The safest and cheapest used cars to purchase aren’t necessarily the cheapest to insure.

Of the 29 used vehicles the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and Consumer Reports name as “Best Choices” under $20,000, five rank among the 10 cheapest 2024 models to insure. This includes the Subaru Forester ($2,253), Subaru Outback ($2,293), Volkswagen Tiguan ($2,296), Mazda CX-5 ($2,319) and Chevrolet TrailBlazer ($2,341).

However, seven of the vehicles on the same list are EVs or plug-in hybrids, including the Subaru Crosstrek Plug-in Hybrid, Hyundai Ioniq 5, Hyundai Ioniq 6, Subaru Solterra, Audi Q4 e-tron, Audi Q4 Sportback e-tron and Kia EV6. Electric vehicles are the fifth most-expensive body style for full-coverage rates on a 2024 model, with an average rate of $3,607 per year.

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Do you need gap insurance on a used car?

Gap insurance, or Guaranteed Auto Protection coverage, is designed to bridge the gap between the value of your vehicle and what you owe on the car. Gap insurance for used cars isn’t typically required because used cars don’t depreciate as quickly as new cars, but you might need it in certain situations.

When is gap insurance worth it on a used car?

Gap insurance is beneficial if you owe more than the car is worth, which typically happens if you have a down payment under 20%, a loan term longer than 60 months, negative equity rolled over from a trade-in, or the vehicle depreciates quickly.

To put things into perspective, the average used-car loan is currently around 67.7 months, according to Experian, and nearly one-third of used loans exceed six years. Additionally, Edmunds’ Q2 2026 data found that 29.6% of trade-ins carried negative equity, averaging about $6,884. The caveat is that Edmunds counts trade-ins toward new-vehicle purchases, not used ones, so it’s not an apples-to-apples comparison.

Many car buyers assume that gap insurance is only available on brand-new cars, but that’s not true. You can purchase gap insurance for a used car, but the eligibility rules vary by age, mileage and insurance company.

Where to buy gap coverage for a used car

The two places you can purchase gap insurance are through your car insurance company or from a car dealership. Insurers typically sell gap coverage as an endorsement to your car insurance policy, which is cheaper than getting it from a dealer. 

Before you purchase gap insurance, it’s worth getting a price quote from your insurance company and the dealership to see which is the cheaper option.

Should you keep full coverage on an older used car?

It’s usually recommended to keep full coverage if your car still holds significant value or would be expensive to repair after an accident. But you don’t always get the choice. 

If your used car is financed or leased

If you lease or finance your vehicle, most lenders require full coverage with collision and comprehensive insurance until the car is paid off. That’s because the lender technically owns the vehicle and wants to recoup its money if your car were totaled or stolen. 

If you own the car outright

If you own the car outright, full coverage isn’t required. But you’ll have to weigh the cost of your full coverage policy against the vehicle’s actual cash value (ACV), which is the vehicle’s value today minus depreciation, less your deductible.

Divide the extra yearly cost of full coverage by that number. The smaller the ratio, the harder it is to justify dropping to liability-only. The closer that ratio is to what a single claim would pay out, the more the math favors dropping full coverage, assuming you could afford to replace the car yourself if it were totaled.

When deciding whether to keep full coverage, remember that nearly all of the premium is for collision and comprehensive coverage. Liability insurance makes up a much smaller portion of the price. 

Used car insurance rates by state

Your location impacts used car insurance rates more than you might expect. To get a better idea of how much rates vary, we analyzed data for the 2024 model year to see which state has the lowest and highest rates for used-car insurance.

Louisiana is the most expensive state for used-car insurance across every model year from 2015 through 2025, and Hawaii is the cheapest. The average full-coverage rate in Louisiana is $5,091 per year, compared to $1,774 per year in Hawaii. 

A 2024 used car costs nearly three times as much to insure in Louisiana as in Hawaii. The coverage is the same, but the location is different. Your state matters because insurers weigh local weather, crime rates, population density, and claim history when setting rates. Even local laws can push premiums higher or lower.

Louisiana tops the list as the most expensive state for car insurance, largely due to a high theft rate and numerous lawsuits. The state has severe weather events that can cause widespread damage, leading to more claims. Hawaii’s advantage is that auto insurers aren’t allowed to factor in your credit score, which keeps rates down.

Ohio, New Hampshire and Maine consistently rank among the cheapest states for used car coverage, along with Vermont, Indiana and Idaho. These states are primarily rural and have low crime rates, so insurers assume less risk.

New Hampshire is often assumed to be a pricing outlier since it’s the only state that doesn’t require car insurance. But for 2024 models, it actually ranks 49th out of 51 for full coverage at $1,887, making it the third-cheapest state.

Cheapest car insurance companies for used cars

The cheapest companies for used cars are Travelers, State Farm, GEICO, Nationwide and Progressive. In the 10 years from 2015 to 2025, Nationwide’s rates increased the least – 17.8%, followed by Travelers (23.9%) and Progressive (34.4%). 

The table below shows rates from major U.S. insurers from 2016 to 2024, as well as the 10-year percentage increase.

*USAA is only available for military community members and their families.

How to insure a used car

Most major insurance companies make it easy to purchase a policy online, the most common way to buy coverage for your used car. Here’s what to do:

1. Choose your desired vehicle: Look at the options for the car you want to buy. To price insurance, you should know the details about the car you want to purchase and get quotes for each of your top three vehicles from three insurers.
2. Get vehicle information: Once you’ve decided on the vehicle, confirm your intent to buy the car with the dealer and get details like the make, model, vehicle identification number (VIN), and vehicle history report, which will affect your overall insurance rate. 
3. Determine which kind of insurance you want: The cost of used car insurance could be less expensive than that of a new car, but it depends on the vehicle you want to buy. If you’re financing the car, you’ll have to purchase collision and comprehensive coverage in addition to the minimum liability required by your state. If you have an existing car insurance policy, most insurers allow you to transfer coverage from your previous car to your newly purchased used vehicle, so you’ll just need to provide the new car’s VIN, mileage, and purchase date.
4. Decide on a deductible: The deductible is the amount you’d pay out-of-pocket if you had a covered claim, before the insurance company started paying. The higher the deductible, the cheaper your used car insurance will be. But make sure to choose a deductible that you could afford if you had an immediate claim.
5. Purchase the policy: Once you complete the application and see your final rate, you can purchase a policy through the online checkout. All the information you provide is kept confidential throughout this process. After you submit the insurance binder and proof of coverage to the dealership, you can safely drive away with your car.

Check the title status before you insure

Salvage and rebuilt titles impact both insurability and eligibility, and rebuilt-title rules vary by state. Check with your state’s department of motor vehicles (DMV) or department of insurance to learn how to insure a salvage or rebuilt title car and how a rebuilt title impacts value. 

What the VIN and history report tell your insurer

A vehicle history report shows the car’s title status, past insurance losses, and salvage history, all of which affect your rate. It’s worth checking the car’s current CarFax or AutoCheck report yourself to get a better idea of the car’s history. A single CarFax report costs $49.99 (with multi-report discounts available) and a one-time AutoCheck report runs $29.99.

Mechanical breakdown insurance vs. an extended warranty

Mechanical breakdown insurance and an extended warranty both cover repairs, but they differ in a few ways. Mechanical breakdown insurance is sold by insurers, regulated as insurance, and is usually limited to newer, lower-mileage vehicles. An extended warranty (technically a vehicle service contract), is sold by dealers and third party companies. Neither one covers routine maintenance or wear items, like brakes.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) states directly that, “an auto service contract or extended warranty is not a warranty as defined by federal law, because you buy it separately; it’s not included when you buy a car.” Service contracts are optional, sold by manufacturers, dealers or independent companies, and vary widely in price and coverage.

Neither product covers routine maintenance or wear parts. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) confirms that extended warranties and vehicle service contracts typically exclude things like oil changes and new tires. You also have the right to cancel a service contract at any time.

Mechanical breakdown insurance is usually restricted by vehicle age and mileage, so an older, high-mileage used car may not qualify. Regulation varies by state, though. New York, for example, permits insurers to write mechanical breakdown insurance only as motor vehicle or all-risk insurance under its insurance law. Check with your own state’s insurance department, since the rules differ.

For a high-mileage, older vehicle, mechanical breakdown insurance isn’t usually worth it. The eligibility criteria get stricter as the car ages, and a cheap, poorly regulated extended warranty can cost more in disputed claims than it saves in repairs.

Is it cheaper to insure a newer car or an older used car?

When you compare car insurance quotes for a new vs. used model, the older version is almost always cheaper to insure. 

Here’s an example: a 2016 Ford F-150 costs $2,027 per year on average for full coverage vs. $2,640 for the same 2024 model, a difference of about 30%. A 2016 Toyota RAV4 averages $1,981 vs. $2,384 for a 2024 model, which is about 20% less.

However, the exception is luxury and performance cars, where a used model can still cost more than a new economy car. Insurance companies consider a variety of factors when setting rates, and the cost of repairs and the value of the vehicle are major ones.

How do you find the cheapest insurance for used cars?

Shopping for used car insurance with at least five insurers typically has the biggest impact on price, since insurers weigh the same vehicle very differently. Here are a few tips to help keep your used car insurance premium affordable:

• Shop your coverage: Insurers rate risk differently, which can result in dramatic differences in premium quotes. Shop your coverage on a yearly basis and gather quotes from at least five insurance companies.
• Discounts: Discounts are a great way to save money on car insurance for used car models. Insurers typically offer discounts for students who live away from home, telematics usage, low mileage, safe driving and military service.
• Consider the car: Insurers also factor in the vehicle you’re driving; high-end models will always cost more to insure than a family sedan or minivan. Luxury and sports cars are more expensive to repair and have a higher starting price, and they’re often loaded with high-end trims and pricey technology.
• Opt for a higher deductible: Raising your deductible will lower your premium. If you can afford to double your deductible, you should see a significant drop in your premium. Always choose a deductible you can easily afford in case you have to make a claim on your policy.

Frequently Asked Questions: Used car insurance

How do you get used car insurance if you already have a policy?

Contact your current insurer and tell them you’re adding a newly purchased vehicle. They’ll ask for the car’s details and let you know if your premium changes. Keep your existing vehicle on the policy unless you’re selling it. In that case, your agent can remove it once the sale is final.

Is insurance cheaper for older used cars?

Usually, yes. Used cars generally cost less to repair or replace than new ones, so collision and comprehensive premiums tend to be cheaper. Model year matters less than you’d think, though. The make, model and body style you choose typically affect your rate more than the vehicle’s age does.

What type of insurance do I need for a used car?

At a minimum, you need liability coverage that meets your state’s requirements. If you’re financing the vehicle, your lender will also require collision and comprehensive coverage. For an older, lower-value car you own outright, liability-only may be enough if you could afford to replace the car yourself.

What happens if I buy a used car without insurance?

Driving without insurance is illegal in nearly every state. If you’re caught, you risk fines, license suspension or vehicle impoundment, and an uninsured driving record can raise your premiums for years afterward. In New Hampshire, the one state without a mandatory insurance law, you’re still financially liable for any accident you cause.

Can I insure a used car I don’t drive every day?

Yes. If you only drive occasionally, a usage-based or pay-per-mile policy tracks your actual mileage and can lower your rate compared to a standard policy priced for daily driving.

Resources & Methodology

Methodology

CarInsurance.com’s rate analysis is based on proprietary rate data, licensed through Quadrant Information Services, for four sample coverages: full coverage and liability-only, each at 100/300/100 limits and at state-minimum limits.

The study spans 4,071 make-model-year combinations across the 2015 to 2025 model years, with roughly 342 to 394 make-models represented in any single model year (not every model exists in every year.).

Tables that compare across model years use one of two structures. Coverage-level comparisons use five bands: 2015-2018, 2019-2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025. Vehicle-type, popular-model, and company comparisons use three years: 2016, 2020 and 2024. State and cheapest/most expensive comparisons use a single year (2024).

Three outside sources supplement CarInsurance.com’s own rate data. iSeeCars supplied the popular-model list (“The Most Popular Used Cars in 2025”); IIHS and Consumer Reports supplied the safety picks (“Best Choices — used, under $20,000”); and Black Book supplied the prices attached to those safety picks. Vehicle lists, prices, and safety ratings in this guide are not CarInsurance.com’s own assessments.

CarInsurance.com doesn’t require contact information to generate an estimate, and nothing you provide through our tools is sold to third parties unless you specifically request a quote. If you connect with one of our insurance partners to get a quote or purchase a policy, we may earn a commission. 

Sources

• iSeeCars. “The Most Popular Used Cars in 2025.” Accessed October 2026.
• Experian. “New Experian Automotive report shows nearly one-third of automotive loan terms are longer than six years.” Accessed October 2026
• Edmunds. “Q2 New-Vehicle Purchases with Negative Equity Trade-Ins Hit Record Monthly Payments and Interest Costs, Edmunds Reports.” Accessed October 2026
• Federal Trade Commission. “Auto Warranties and Auto Service Contracts.” Accessed October 2026
• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. “What is an extended warranty or vehicle service contract?” Accessed October 2026.