Automatic or stick-shift, what’s cheaper to insure?

Insurance premiums for cars with automatic transmission are higher because the repairs are more expensive and more frequently required than repairs on cars with manual transmissions. The insurance company pays higher compensation on claims involving automatic vehicles, and pass these higher costs onto drivers of automatic cars.

The variance in premium is not significant. Depending on the Insurance Provider the difference may range between 4% and 6%. Insurance company looks at hundreds of other factors to provide a premium rate. Car’s make, model, and type play a more significant role in the price of the insurance.

Factors that will have a more significant effect on the premium rate include:

• The age of the vehicle
• Drivers’ driving record and incident history
• The area you live in
• The make and model of vehicle
• The value of the vehicle
• The type of insurance purchased (basic liability, comprehensive, collision, etc.)
• Deductible

Urban Legend
The manual gearbox drivers are better drivers, while automatic transmission drivers get into accidents more frequently.

In general, there’s no meaningful difference in accident statistics between manual and stick-shift cars. Otherwise, insurance companies would charge significantly different rates to drivers of either type of vehicle. The difference in insurance prices between an automatic and manual vehicle is only about 5%, but the difference in insurance prices between a driver with a clean driving record and a bad driving record can be up to 100%.

Did you know that you can’t buy a new Ferrari with a manual transmission?

Less than 3% of cars sold in the U.S. today have a manual transmission. A stick-shift is no longer available in vehicles like Ferrari, Lamborghini, Mercedes-Benz, Alfa Romeo, Volvo, Lexus, Chrysler or Buick.

Back in 2006, 47% of all new models offered in the U.S. were available with both automatic and manual transmissions. By 2011, that number had dropped to 37% and today to 27%.

The actual sales figures are even lower. Fewer than 3% of current U.S. car sales are manual vehicles – compared with 80% in some European countries.

Ultimately, automatic cars are slightly more expensive to insure than manual cars, but as manual vehicles are declining in popularity, fewer drivers debate whether to buy a stick-shift and save on insurance.

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