Car insurance rates are like airline ticket prices, but with far less transparency — they're based on a range of variables that include driving record, driver age, miles driven, location, coverage limits, and type of vehicle. In compiling this list of cheapest sedans to insure, we looked first at the most popular compact, midsize, and fullsize vehicles, selecting the top trim levels to maximize on standard safety equipment. Then we focused on vehicles awarded with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s (IIHS) coveted Top Safety Pick+ award.
We used esurance.com’s online rate quote system to run the numbers on a 35-year old woman with an excellent record against dozens of vehicles in order to create a list of the 10 least expensive sedans to insure.