The redesigned Ford Mustang is likely to see lower insurance rates due to design changes that make it cheaper to repair, according to a published report Tuesday.

USA Today reported that the design changes include stronger bumpers and headlights which are slightly behind the front grill, which should save the lights from damage in the case of low-speed fender benders.

The nation's No. 2 automaker is also using the same lock mechanisms, handles and other door pieces on the Mustang that are used on the popular Mazda6. The parts makes the cars more difficut to steal, the paper reported.

USA Today said Ford worked with State Farm, the largest auto insurer, which runs a vehicle research facility working on reducing insurance claim costs, as well as Hartford Insurance to design the more insurance-friendly version of the Mustang.

"Other (automakers) have listened to information we've provided and may have made smaller efforts in individual areas of the car, but (the Mustang) may well be the most comprehensive we've seen," State Farm research administrate Steven Schmidt told the paper. He cited Volkswagen, Mitsubishi and Honda as automakers making some changes in their vehicle designs after input from the insurer.

Schmidt told the paper the insurer isn't sure yet whether Mustang insurance rates will fall, or by how much, but the outlook is good.

According to the Insurance Information Institute, repair costs are rising at nearly double the overall rate of inflation. the paper reports. The average family will spend $870 this year on auto insurance, up 1.5 percent from 2004, the paper reports, citing the institute.

 

Nice find Brad
Pretty interesting stuff... hopefully they do drop before I get a Mustang

 

Does this mean i should shop around for insurance again? Im paying 1200/6mo for full coverage on my v6 with a clean record since i got my license 6 years ago.

 

:bang: Yes for sure, I'm not even paying that, and I have a speeding ticket on mine.

 

Yikes... I don't even pay that for an entire year on my GT. Definitely get a second (or third, fourth, fifth...) opinion

 

Your age has a large impact on insurance rates for this car, especially if it is a GT. See if you can lower your deductable.
Yes, check out large insurance agencies and small ones. I found the larger ones cost the most.

 

It's high for us younger guys. Brand new sports car and not being on a family plan deal. I'll be paying 2700 for the year on my V6. It'll go down to 2100 in May when my ticket comes off. Still hurts though. Any drop in insurance would be nice.

P.S. this was quoted 4 months ago, so who knows, maybe it will go down.

 

Im also in one of the highest rated insurance zipcodes in the country, so that doesnt help. But ya, maybe ill start shoppin around for insurance, see if its gone down at all.

 

Freakin crap, i found some as cheap as $798 from geico, and not even 7 months ago, they were $1400 for 6 months, whast the deal with that? I need to start makin some phone calls tomorrow

 

That's awesome.. hopefully my heavily inflated canadian insurance rates will drop in time

 

I couldn't believe how low my premium was when I finally got the official policy. Insuring both cars cost just a little more than just one because the Mustang is so low.

 

I'm with State Farm....I wonder if this will have an immediate effect for my 05 GT though it didn't undergo the new changes?

 

everyone is expensive except geico... i wonder why. maybe they dont hate as much with me bein only 22.

 

Insurance rates in Nj are nuts. I have a perfect record, I'm 22, and I'm paying around $3600 a year. It's absolute gouge-city in Jersey.

Now they check your credit rating if you have a perfect driving record as an excuse to up your rates. Not that I have bad rates or anything (I got a 5.9% for my Mustang), when I was being quoted, everyone was using Transunion as their only source of credit reports, and I was having problems proving to Transunion that I existed because my father is a Senior and I'm a Junior. So I have a score of nearly 800 on Experian and Equifax and I had a NO HISTORY rating from Transunion. Now I have 667 on Transunion and it's slowly but surely going up, the little bastards.

As a result of this legal fight (and me almost punching a Transunion rep in the face when they accused me of identity theft even after I showed him my ORIGINAL birth certificate), I wound up with an insurance rate 1k higher than it should have been.

I really HATE Credit Reporting Agencies. Think about it. They take YOUR INFORMATION and make money off of it. It's your history and they make money from reporting it to whoever asks, regardless of whether they're right or wrong. I think CRAs should have to PAY to use OUR information for THEIR benefit. Do you have any idea how many lives these CRAs have completely RUINED? Tens of thousands,a nd they don't care. They only care about making money off of YOUR personal information. Seriously, if there are any CRA workers out there, I've got a fist with your name on it. I hope someone accidently confuses your SSN with an escaped convict's.

In my hunt for a semi-reasonable insurance rate, I finally got one of the agents to admit to me that using one's credit rating was just another way to up the rates of people like me with perfect to nearly perfect driving records. It all comes down to making more money off of you.

Insurance is almost worthless in NJ, anyway. I think they should release the madantory sancations for insurance, because you wind up PAYING FOR YOUR ACCIDENT ANYWAY. Think about it. Say you pay 3k a year. After three years (9k), you get into a fender bender. You make a claim for 2k in damages, you only get 1.5k after your deductable. Then they up your rates .8k for three years even though the accident wasn't your fault. So for that 1.5k, you pay an extra 2.4k!!!!! Who wins out there?? Not to mention the fact that you've THROWN AWAY over 10k on the insurance company in a measley three years. How cute.

heck, most of my friends don't make claims anyway. They just pay out of pocket so their rates won't go up. It's at times like that you ask yourself - really, what's the purpose of insurance companies? It's just a State-sponsored gouge fee to drive in NJ, that's all it is.

 

ROFLMAO!! CHEAP!? They quoted me nearly 9k a YEAR!!!! In NJ, at least, they're FAR from cheap!

 

it was in reference to me :P progressive is $432 a month for the same coverage + $30 a day for rental car. thats nearly 3x as much as geico.
i have mercury insurance right now, but if all goes well tomorrow, i wont

 

Geico wanted $6,000 a year for me. I haven't had a ticket in over 10 years and I've never filed an insurance claim.

I have Liberty Mutual and now I pay $2000 a year for my V6. I have a 1000 ded.


NJ is crazy. I don't think a GT is much more than the V6 here.

 

When i quoted originally the GT was almost 2400 for 6mo, now its 872 tahts the only reason i didnt buy one. only like $12 more a month for a gt, but ya i know New jersey is one of the few places higher than phoenix, its crazy outthere, and some places in new york, and FL

 

The article is refering to the 05 Mustang. The insurance friendliness was built into the 05. It says that it will take a couple of years before the insurance companies get enough data collected on the 05s to verify that the design is cheaper to insure. Basically what I am saying is that if you have an 05 then if the design pans out like planned you should see a break in 07. They aren't changeing the 06-07s to be more insurance friendly than the 05s.

 

Do most companies lower rates automatically if something like this comes out and indicates a lower repair cost, or should I call and see what they say?
FYI I have Country Insurance and pay a little less than 700 for 6months for full coverage on my 05 GT (500 deductable) and liability on my 96 tbird combined. (im 31)