Scraping up a payment for pricey Chevrolet Colorado insurance in San Diego can sap your savings account and maybe even restrict other spending. Performing a price comparison is a fast and free way to make ends meet.
Unfortunately, about 70% of customers have purchased from the same company for over three years, and virtually 40% of consumers have never compared rates with other companies. Many drivers in the U.S. can cut their rates by almost $859 a year just by shopping around, but most just don’t grasp the actual amount they would save if they switched.
You have multiple car insurance companies to buy insurance from, and even though it’s nice to have a choice, too many choices makes it more difficult to find a good deal for Chevy Colorado insurance in San Diego.
Our goal in writing this article familiarize you with how auto insurance companies operate. If you have coverage now, you stand a good chance to be able to get lower rates using the concepts covered in this article. But California drivers can benefit from knowing how the larger insurance companies sell online and apply this information to your search.
Companies offering Chevy Colorado insurance in San Diego
The companies shown below can provide price quotes in California. If multiple companies are shown, we recommend you visit several of them to find the most affordable car insurance rates.
| Model | Comp | Collision | Liability | Medical | UM/UIM | Annual Premium | Monthly Premium |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colorado LT 2WD | $134 | $306 | $500 | $30 | $150 | $1,120 | $93 |
| Colorado LT Extended Cab 2WD | $340 | $576 | $578 | $34 | $174 | $1,702 | $142 |
| Colorado LT 4WD | $288 | $464 | $384 | $22 | $114 | $1,272 | $106 |
| Colorado LT Crew Cab 2WD | $158 | $354 | $500 | $30 | $150 | $1,192 | $99 |
| Colorado LT Extended Cab 4WD | $208 | $374 | $394 | $24 | $118 | $1,118 | $93 |
| Colorado LT Crew Cab 4WD | $272 | $534 | $454 | $26 | $136 | $1,422 | $119 |
| Get Your Own Custom Quote Go | |||||||
Data assumes single male driver age 40, no speeding tickets, no at-fault accidents, $500 deductibles, and California minimum liability limits. Discounts applied include multi-policy, claim-free, safe-driver, multi-vehicle, and homeowner. Rate quotes do not factor in garaging location in San Diego which can modify coverage rates noticeably.
Price comparison of only insuring for liability
The information below shows the comparison of Chevrolet Colorado premium costs when comparing full coverage to liability only. Data assumes no claims or driving violations, $250 deductibles, single male driver, and no discounts are factored in.
When to stop buying full coverage
There is no set guideline for dropping comp and collision coverage, but there is a broad guideline. If the yearly cost of full coverage is more than 10% of the vehicle’s replacement cost less your deductible, then it could be time to drop full coverage.
For example, let’s say your Chevrolet Colorado replacement cost is $8,000 and you have $1,000 full coverage deductibles. If your vehicle is totaled, the most your company will settle for is $7,000 after paying your policy deductible. If you are currently paying more than $700 annually for physical damage coverage, then it might be time to consider dropping full coverage.
There are some scenarios where only buying liability is not in your best interest. If you still have a loan on your vehicle, you are required to maintain full coverage to protect the lienholder’s interest in the vehicle. Also, if your savings is not enough to buy a different vehicle if your current one is in an accident, you should not buy liability only.
Lower-cost Chevy Colorado insurance in San Diego
Insuring your fleet can be pricey, but you might be missing out on some discounts to reduce the price significantly. Certain reductions will be credited when you complete an application, but once in a while a discount must be specifically requested prior to receiving the credit. If you’re not getting every credit possible, you are just wasting money.
- Safety Restraint Discount – Using a seat belt and requiring all passengers to buckle up before driving can save up to 15% off the medical payments premium.
- Payment Method – If you pay your entire premium ahead of time as opposed to paying monthly you may reduce your total bill.
- Drivers Ed for Students – Require your teen driver to successfully complete driver’s ed class if it’s offered in school.
- Onboard Data Collection – Drivers who elect to allow driving data collection to study driving habits by installing a telematics device such as Progressive’s Snapshot could possibly reduce rates as long as they are good drivers.
- Drive Less and Save – Keeping the miles down on your Chevy could earn slightly better prices than normal.
- Passive Restraints – Cars that have air bags or motorized seat belts could see savings of 25 to 30%.
- Defensive Driving Course – Taking part in a course in driver safety could save 5% or more depending on where you live.
While discounts sound great, it’s important to understand that most discounts do not apply to your bottom line cost. Some only reduce the price of certain insurance coverages like collision or personal injury protection. So even though they make it sound like adding up those discounts means a free policy, that’s just not realistic.
The best insurance companies and some of the discounts include:
- GEICO may include discounts for federal employee, five-year accident-free, emergency military deployment, good student, multi-vehicle, daytime running lights, and anti-lock brakes.
- Auto-Owners Insurance may offer discounts for safe driver, good student, air bags, teen driver, and paperless.
- American Family offers discounts for mySafetyValet, multi-vehicle, Steer into Savings, TimeAway discount, bundled insurance, and good driver.
- Esurance may have discounts that include paid-in-full, claim free, safety device, defensive driver, good student, Pac-12 alumni, and multi-policy.
- Progressive discounts include multi-vehicle, online quote discount, good student, homeowner, and continuous coverage.
- State Farm has discounts for defensive driving training, good driver, multiple autos, driver’s education, good student, and Drive Safe & Save.
- AAA has savings for good driver, good student, multi-policy, education and occupation, and anti-theft.
Check with every company which discounts you may be entitled to. A few discounts may not be offered in San Diego. To choose companies with significant discounts in San Diego, click here.
Why Your Insurance Rates might be higher
Many things are part of the equation when quoting car insurance. A few of the factors are predictable like an MVR report, although others are less apparent such as your credit history and annual miles driven.
- Do thieves like your car? – Choosing to buy a car with advanced anti-theft systems can get you a discount on your auto insurance. Anti-theft features like OnStar found on GM vehicles, advanced tracking like LoJack, and vehicle immobilization systems help track and prevent auto theft and help lower rates.
- Save money by eliminating extra coverages – Insurance policies have a lot of additional coverages that you can buy if you don’t pay attention. Coverage for things like roadside assistance, towing, and motor club memberships could be just wasting money. These may sound like a good investment when deciding what coverages you need, but your money might be better spent on other coverage so remove them from your policy.
- Teenage driver insurance premiums – Older people are more responsible, cost insurance companies less in claims, and are generally more financially stable.Teen drivers are statistically shown to get distracted easily in a vehicle therefore auto insurance rates are much higher.
- Urban residents pay more – Residing in a small town can save you money when shopping for auto insurance. Lower population translates into fewer accident claims as well as less vandalism and auto theft. Drivers in populated California areas tend to have more auto accidents and longer commutes to work. More time commuting can result in more accidents.
- Loss statistics for a Chevy Colorado – Insurance companies use data from past claims to determine a price that will be profitable for them. Vehicles that the statistics show to have a trend towards higher claim severity or frequency will have higher rates for specific coverages.
The next table shows the actual insurance loss data for Chevy Colorado vehicles. For each policy coverage, the claim probability for all vehicles combined as an average is set at 100. Percentage numbers below 100 indicate better than average losses, while percentage numbers above 100 point to more frequent losses or an increased likelihood of larger losses.
Chevrolet Colorado Insurance Claim Statistics
Make and Model Collision Property Damage Comp Personal Injury Medical Payment Bodily Injury Chevrolet Colorado Crew Cab 2WD 73 57 64 Chevrolet Colorado Crew Cab 4WD 90 89 86 67 Chevrolet Colorado Ext Cab 2WD 55 Chevrolet Colorado Ext Cab 4WD 67 Empty fields indicate not enough data collected
Statistics Source: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety for 2013-2015 Model Years
How do I know if I need professional advice?
When selecting a policy, there really isn’t a “best” method to buy coverage. Coverage needs to be tailored to your specific needs and your policy should reflect that.
For example, these questions could help you determine whether you might need professional guidance.
- Should I bundle my homeowners policy with my auto?
- What is PIP insurance?
- Do I need more liability coverage?
- Am I covered when delivering products for my home-based business?
- Should I put collision coverage on all my vehicles?
- Am I covered when renting a car or should I buy coverage from the car rental agency?
- Can my babysitter drive my car?
- Should I drop comprehensive coverage on older vehicles?
If you can’t answer these questions but one or more may apply to you, you might consider talking to a licensed insurance agent. If you don’t have a local agent, complete this form or you can go here for a list of companies in your area.
What if I want to buy from local San Diego insurance agencies?
Many drivers would prefer to buy from a licensed agent and doing that can be a smart decision The best thing about comparing rate quotes online is that you can obtain the lowest rates and still buy from a local agent. Buying insurance from small agencies is definitely important in San Diego.
To help locate an agent, after submitting this form (opens in new window), your insurance coverage information is submitted to local insurance agents that can give you free San Diego car insurance quotes to get your business. You won’t even need to contact any insurance agencies because quoted prices will be sent to the email address you provide. You can find lower rates without requiring a lot of work. If you have a need to quote rates from a specific insurance company, you just need to go to their quote page and fill out the quote form the provide.
Finding a good insurer needs to be determined by more than just the quoted price. Agents should be asked these questions:
- How long has their agency been open in San Diego?
- How much experience to they have in personal lines coverages?
- Is insurance their full-time profession?
- Do they offer rental car reimbursement?
- Do they regularly work with personal auto policies in San Diego?
- Do the coverages you’re quoting properly cover your vehicle?
Affordable rates are available
You just read a lot of information how to get a better price on Chevy Colorado insurance in San Diego. The key concept to understand is the more times you quote, the better your chances of lowering your premium rates. Drivers may even discover the lowest priced car insurance comes from some of the lesser-known companies. These smaller insurers may cover specific market segments cheaper as compared to the big name companies such as State Farm or Progressive.
When you buy San Diego car insurance online, it’s not a good idea to skimp on coverage in order to save money. There have been many cases where an accident victim reduced collision coverage and found out when filing a claim that it was a big mistake. Your focus should be to purchase a proper amount of coverage at the best price and still be able to protect your assets.
To learn more, take a look at the resources below:
- Prom Night Tips for Teen Drivers (State Farm)
- Who Has the Cheapest San Diego Car Insurance for High Risk Drivers? (FAQ)
- Who Has the Cheapest Auto Insurance Rates for High Mileage Drivers in San Diego? (FAQ)
- Who Has Cheap Car Insurance Quotes for Drivers Over Age 60 in San Diego? (FAQ)
- Smart Auto Insurance Tips (Insurance Information Institute)
- Preventing Carjacking and Theft (Insurance Information Institute)