Should You Include Insurance When Comparing Cars?

Insurance is one of the most variable costs in car ownership — the same car can carry very different premiums depending on the provider, coverage type, your driving history and how the vehicle is used. Because of that, this calculator lets you switch insurance on or off when comparing cars, rather than forcing one assumption on everyone.

When to leave it off

If you're early in deciding between cars and haven't gotten insurance quotes yet, comparing without insurance isolates the costs that are more predictable — fuel, maintenance and government charges — so you're not comparing two guesses against each other.

When to turn it on

Once you have a real quote, or want a fuller picture of monthly cost, including insurance gives you a more complete comparison — just remember the insurance figure is itself an estimate unless you've entered your own quoted amount.

Try both ways on the Compare Cars page and see how much it changes the ranking — sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't.