When purchasing a used car, it’s vitally important to be informed. You need to know exactly what you’re looking for in order to ensure that you’re not driving away with a skorokoro. If you’re lucky, you may even find the car of your dreams at a good price. 

When financing any car, though, you'll have to get it insured. So, what’s the difference between the cost of insurance on a new car and the cost on a second-hand car? What are the factors that affect your monthly premium, and why, and how? Most importantly, how can you keep that cost as low as possible? 

The cost of your premiums is determined by a complex system measuring up circumstances and probabilities. When combined, these factors determine how much of a risk you and your vehicle are to insure. Let’s take a closer look.

It’s important to bear in mind that newer, more expensive cars are also expensive to insure. As a general rule, you want to make sure that you’re adequately insured, with the right amount of protection for your car. It might not be brand new, but it’s still new to you. So, it’s better to buy a car you can afford in order to insure it properly, as opposed to buying an expensive car and not being able to afford any insurance at all. 

Older cars, on the other hand, require more attention and maintenance than newer cars. So, depending on what you’ll be using the car for, how often you’ll be using it and so forth, you’ll have to weigh up which will work out more affordable. 

Perhaps, in the long run, a new car might prove the better option for you. Here’s where things get a little more involved. 

You may choose to get a new car and still keep your old car. Dealers, after all, are renowned for low-balling the customer when it comes to trading in an older car as a down payment for a newer one. You may decide to use that old car as a back-up or hand it down to one of your children. Luckily, there are many usage-based or low-mileage affordable insurance options for cars that are seldom driven. New drivers that are planning on purchasing their first car might want to add the car to their parents’ existing policy. In such a case, you’ll have to report that information to the insurer within a certain time window.

There are many things which can and cannot be done in order to keep costs to a minimum. Let’s be realistic. It might be impractical or simply unaffordable for you to move to a low-risk area. Nobody can control the state of traffic, or the behaviour of other drivers on the road, or foresee a sudden accident. 

You can, however, be smart with your choice in vehicle, drive to the best of your ability, maintain your vehicle properly and keep a clean record. 

Choose the right insurer and the right product. You can find the best deals by comparing car insurance quotes online. These can go a long way toward saving you money. Let’s take a look at the factors which influence the cost of your used car insurance.

• (The Value of the Car) The more expensive the car, the higher the cost of insurance.
• (The Cost of Repairs) Older cars aren’t always cheaper to repair than new ones. The availability of car parts might be a problem. If your car is a rare model, or the manufacturer has limited representation in the country, or a particular level of skill is required to fix it, you can expect to pay. Uncommon = Expensive.
• (Performance) A high-performance vehicle inherently carries more risk. It’s driven faster, it’s driven harder, and it’s built for power. Mathematically, it increases the chances of an accident occurring. 
• (Enhancements) Enhancements make your vehicle attractive. Not just to you, but to thieves too. A state-of-the-art sound system, fancy rims, etc. all factor into your risk factor.
• (Safety Features) Most cars from the last two decades have been fitted with anti-lock brakes. Newer systems are even better, with parking assistance, driving assistance, drowsiness and lane departure alerts and so on. Having these systems in place alleviates the risk of an accident. Older cars just don’t have them. On the flipside, once the car is out of warranty, those same systems cost an arm and a leg to repair. On lower-value cars, once the airbag has been deployed and needs replacing, an insurer might consider writing the car off. Even if the actual damage was minor. This is because with such old cars, the cost of replacing the airbag outweighs the value of the entire car.
• (Historical Data) How many accidents has this vehicle been involved in? An insurer will dig deep into the history of that car and model. VW Beetle’s for example, are prone to catching fire. Certain SUV’s have a history of rolling. Uno’s crumple like a soda can in a collision. Certain models, such as the Polo Vivo, are even more favoured by criminals.
• (Frequency of Usage) How often will you be driving your car? How many KM’s will it cover per year? Will it be driven in rush-hour traffic surrounded by other impatient motorists or only over the weekends?
• (You, the Driver) The demographics of the person operating the vehicle plays a much bigger role in determining the cost of insurance than the vehicle itself. Key components include whether or not you live in a high-risk area, your age (the younger the driver the higher the risk), your gender (men are more likely to crash their cars) or your marital status (married couples or parents are more careful in their driving habits).

Insurers also look at your driving history and claims record. The more often you’ve claimed, the riskier you’re perceived.  

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