Insuring an Acura

Acura, Honda's luxury car division, was founded in 1986 and quickly became one of the most popular luxury vehicle manufacturers in the United States. The automaker's popularity slumped during the mid-1990s, but it shot back up again during the early 2000s. If you're thinking about buying an Acura, you should make sure to take the cost of insuring one into consideration. Three main things come into play when it comes to the average cost of insuring an Acura vehicle: theft rates, safety ratings and price. See how these things impact the cost of insuring an Acura below.

Average Theft Rates Keep Rates Reasonable

One model, the Acura Integra, appears frequently on top-ten vehicle theft lists that are published by the National Insurance Crime Bureau or NICB. This compact car, which was also sold under the Honda name, was discontinued in 2006. No other Acura models appear on lists that are maintained by the NICB or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration or NHTSA, which indicates that newer models are less appealing to car thieves for one reason or another. The average vehicle theft rate for most Acura models helps to keep the cost of insuring one relatively reasonable.

Exceptional Safety Ratings Help Too

Acura vehicles generally include several state-of-the-art safety features, and the manufacturer is known for adopting new safety features long before many other automakers do. For example, airbags were offered on the Acura Legend coupe 11 years before they were made mandatory, and they became standard features just two years later. Popular models like the MDX SUV have high marks from the NHTSA and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety or IIHS. The average annual cost to insure an Acura is $1,543.12, and it ranks 21st on a list of 36 vehicles, so it is squarely in the middle.

High MSRPs Drive Up Insurance Prices

Because they are luxury vehicles, Acura models tend to come with high MSRPs. For example, the 2012 Acura RL full-size sedan has a starting MSRP of $47,700. The 2012 Acura MDX SUV has a starting MSRP of $42,930. When it comes to insurance costs, more expensive cars are generally most expensive to insure. After all, it costs more to repair vehicles that are more expensive in the first place. This is largely why, despite their exceptional safety ratings and relatively low rates of theft, Acura models fall in the middle of the spectrum in terms of insurance cost. Most people who are willing to pay higher prices for luxury vehicles are also willing to spend more on insurance.

Below are a few of the most popular Acura models and the average cost to insure them:

• MDX - $1,364.00
• RDX - $1,287.00
• TSX (6 cyl) - $1,508.00
• RL Tech - $1,653.00

The prices above clearly demonstrate that more expensive vehicles tend to cost more to insure. The RL Tech has the highest MSRP on the list, and it has the highest average premium.

Keep in mind that the average premiums highlighted above may be higher or lower than the rate that you'll actually pay. Shopping around for car insurance for your Acura could save you a lot of money, so it's worth your while to do a little comparison shopping. By arming yourself with this information, you should be able to make the most informed decision possible when shopping for a new Acura.