Best Insurance for a Subaru Legacy in Austin

Are you sick and tired of not being able to afford to pay your auto insurance bill each month? You’re in the same situation as most other people in Texas.

Unthinkable but true, almost 70% of insureds have purchased from the same company for more than four years, and just short of a majority have never shopped around. Most drivers in Texas can save up to $1,800 each year just by comparing rates, but they just assume it takes a lot of time to find cheap rates by getting comparison quotes.

Many insurance companies vie for your business, so it’s not easy to compare every insurance company to get the best rates possible on Subaru Legacy insurance in Austin.

It’s smart to do rate comparisons yearly due to the fact that insurance prices are rarely the same from one policy term to another. Just because you had the lowest quotes on Subaru Legacy insurance in Austin two years ago you can probably find a better rate now. There is too much inaccurate information about Legacy insurance on the web, but in this article, you’re going to get some of the best ways to buy auto insurance cheaper in Austin.

Companies offering affordable Subaru Legacy rate quotes in Austin, TX

The car insurance companies shown below are our best choices to provide free rate quotes in Austin, TX. If more than one company is shown, we recommend you visit as many as you can in order to find the cheapest rates.

Table data assumes single female driver age 30, no speeding tickets, no at-fault accidents, $500 deductibles, and Texas minimum liability limits. Discounts applied include safe-driver, homeowner, multi-vehicle, multi-policy, and claim-free. Table data does not factor in zip code location which can influence coverage rates considerably.

Subaru Legacy liability rates compared to full coverage

The example below illustrates the difference between Subaru Legacy insurance prices when comparing full coverage to liability only. The price estimates are based on no claims or violations, $1,000 deductibles, single male driver, and no policy discounts are applied.

Should you be buying full coverage?

There is no exact formula for dropping physical damage coverage on your policy, but there is a broad guideline. If the annual cost of your full coverage insurance is more than around 10% of the replacement cost minus the deductible, then you might want to think about dropping full coverage.

For example, let’s say your Subaru Legacy settlement value is $7,000 and you have $1,000 policy deductibles. If your vehicle is totaled, the most you would receive is $6,000 after paying your policy deductible. If premiums are more than $600 annually for comprehensive and collision coverage, then you might want to think about dropping full coverage.

There are a few cases where removing full coverage is not advised. If you still owe a portion of the original loan, you must maintain physical damage coverage to protect the lienholder’s interest in the vehicle. Also, if your savings is not enough to buy a different vehicle if your current one is damaged, you should keep full coverage in place.

Higher deductibles lower rates

When shopping for auto insurance, a common question is how high should the physical damage deductibles be. The rates below help summarize the difference in cost when you choose different physical damage deductibles. The first set of rates uses a $100 physical damage deductible and the second data table uses a $1,000 deductible.

Table data represents married male driver age 30, no speeding tickets, no at-fault accidents, and Texas minimum liability limits. Discounts applied include multi-vehicle, claim-free, homeowner, safe-driver, and multi-policy. Price information does not factor in vehicle garaging location which can alter price quotes considerably.

Using the premium rates above, we can conclude that using a $100 deductible would cost the average driver about $43 more each month or $516 every year than selecting the higher $1,000 deductible. Because you would be required to pay $900 more out of your own pocket with a $1,000 deductible as compared to a $100 deductible, if you normally average more than 21 months between claims, you would probably come out ahead going with the higher deductible. Here is an example of how we made this calculation.

One thing to be aware of is that a higher deductible level means you will have to cover more of the damage yourself when you have a physical damage claim. You need to make sure you have enough savings in the event you need to pay the higher deductible.

Deductible analysis

The chart below illustrates how choosing a deductible and can increase or decrease Subaru Legacy insurance costs for different insured age categories. The premiums are based on a married male driver, full physical damage coverage, and no discounts are applied.

Get cheap rates by getting discounts

Buying auto insurance is not cheap, but discounts can save money and there are some available that you may not know about. Many discounts should be triggered at the time of quoting, but some discounts are required to be inquired about in order for you to get them.

• Discounts for New Vehicles – Buying a new car model can be considerably cheaper because newer vehicles have to meet stringent safety requirements.
• Driving Data Discount – People who choose to allow their insurance company to monitor where and when they drive by installing a telematics device such as Drivewise from Allstate or Snapshot from Progressive may see discounts if their driving habits are good.
• Auto/Home Discount – If you insure your home and vehicles and insure them with the same company you will save nearly 15% which can help you find low cost Subaru Legacy insurance.
• Austin Homeowners Pay Less – Just owning your own home can earn you a little savings since home ownership is proof that your finances are in order.
• Waiver for an Accident – This one isn’t a discount, but certain companies permit an accident before your rates go up so long as you are claim-free for a certain period of time.
• Driver Training Discounts – Taking time to complete a course in safe driver may get you a small discount if you qualify.
• Paperwork-free – Some of the larger companies will give a small break just for signing your application online.
• Pay Upfront and Save – By paying your policy upfront instead of monthly or quarterly installments you can avoid monthly service charges.
• Drive Safe and Save – Drivers who avoid accidents can save as much as half off their rates compared to rates paid by drivers with frequent claims.
• Military Rewards – Being on active deployment in the military could trigger a small discount.

A quick disclaimer, most discounts do not apply to the whole policy. Some only reduce specific coverage prices like comprehensive or collision. Just because you may think you could get a free auto insurance policy, you aren’t that lucky.

The best auto insurance companies and a partial list of their discounts are:

• Farm Bureau offers premium reductions for multi-policy, youthful driver, driver training, multi-vehicle, safe driver, 55 and retired, and renewal discount.
• MetLife may include discounts for multi-policy, claim-free, accident-free, defensive driver, and good driver.
• Progressive may have discounts that include online signing, homeowner, continuous coverage, online quote discount, and multi-vehicle.
• AAA offers discounts for good student, pay-in-full, AAA membership discount, anti-theft, multi-car, and good driver.
• American Family discounts include air bags, Steer into Savings, multi-vehicle, accident-free, and bundled insurance.
• GEICO has savings for good student, defensive driver, military active duty, driver training, anti-lock brakes, and membership and employees.
• State Farm has discounts for anti-theft, multiple policy, Drive Safe & Save, student away at school, and Steer Clear safe driver discount.

It’s a good idea to ask all the companies how many discounts you can get. Savings might not be offered in your area. To see auto insurance companies that offer the discounts shown above in Texas, click here.

Components of Your Subaru Legacy Insurance Prices

Multiple criteria are used when pricing auto insurance. Some of the criteria are obvious like your driving record, but others are not quite as obvious like your vehicle usage and annual miles driven. Part of the car insurance buying process is learning a few of the rating criteria that come into play when calculating your premiums. If you know what influences your rates, this allows you to make good choices that could result in lower car insurance prices.

• How’s your driving record? – Having a clean driving record has a huge affect on how much you pay. Getting just one citation can increase rates twenty percent or more. Drivers with clean records tend to pay less for car insurance than their less careful counterparts. People who have serious tickets such as DWI, reckless driving or hit and run convictions may face state-mandated requirements to complete a SR-22 with their state in order to continue driving.
• Get better rates if married – Walking down the aisle may cut your premiums on your car insurance bill. Having a significant other translates into being more mature than a single person and it’s proven that married drivers get in fewer accidents.
• Men tend to take more risk – Statistics have proven women are more cautious behind the wheel. However, don’t assume that males are worse at driving than females. Both genders are in accidents in similar percentages, but males have costlier accidents. They also receive more major tickets such as reckless driving. Young males cause the most accidents and therefore pay the highest rates.
• Premiums can change based on your address – Being located in less populated areas of the country can be a good thing when shopping for auto insurance. City drivers have to deal with more aggressive driving styles and longer commute times. Fewer drivers on the road means a lower chance of having an accident in addition to fewer liability claims.
• Do safer cars cost less to insure? – Safer cars are cheaper to insure. These vehicles reduce occupant injuries and better occupant protection means less money paid by your insurance company which can result in lower premiums. If your Subaru Legacy earned at least an “acceptable” rating on the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety website you may qualify for a discount.
• Subaru Legacy claim data – Insurers study historical loss data to help determine rates. Models that historically have increased losses will cost more for coverage. The next table illustrates the insurance loss data for Subaru Legacy vehicles.

  For each coverage category, the claim probability for all vehicles averaged together is considered to be 100. Values that are under 100 suggest a positive loss record, while percentage numbers above 100 point to more frequent losses or a tendency for losses to be larger than average.

  Subaru Legacy Insurance Loss Statistics

  Vehicle Make and Model	Collision	Property Damage	Comp	Personal Injury	Medical Payment	Bodily Injury
  Subaru Legacy 4WD	74	64	115	83	80	76
  Subaru Legacy with Eyesight 4WD	71	52	122	71

  BETTER

  AVERAGE

  WORSE

  Empty fields indicate not enough data collected
  Statistics from IIHS.org for 2013-2015 Model Years

Local Austin auto insurance agents

Some people just want to sit down and talk to an agent and that is recommended in a lot of cases A good thing about getting online price quotes is that you can find the lowest rates and still buy from a local agent. Buying from and supporting small agencies is important particularly in Austin.

For easy comparison, once you complete this form (opens in new window), the quote information is transmitted to local insurance agents in Austin who will give you bids for your insurance coverage. It’s much easier because you don’t need to contact any agents since rate quotes are delivered to you directly. You can get cheaper insurance rates without a big time investment. If you wish to get a price quote from a particular provider, feel free to find their quoting web page and fill out their quote form.

If you want a good Austin insurance agent, it helps to know the two types of agencies that you can choose from. Insurance agencies are classified as either independent agents or exclusive agents.

Independent Insurance Agencies

Independent agents are normally appointed by many insurers so they can write business with lots of companies and possibly get better coverage at lower prices. If premiums increase, they simply move your policy to a different company which requires no work on your part.

When comparing insurance rates, we highly recommend that you include a couple of independent agencies to have the best price comparison.

Shown below is a small list of independent insurance agencies in Austin who may provide pricing information.

More Austin agents

Exclusive Insurance Agents

Exclusive insurance agents work for only one company like AAA, Allstate, and State Farm. Exclusive agents are unable to give you multiple price quotes so they have no alternatives for high prices. These agents are trained well on their company’s products which helps overcome the inability to quote other rates.

The following are Austin exclusive agents willing to provide comparison quotes.

More Austin agents

Selecting a car insurance agent needs to be determined by more than just a cheap quote. Any agent in Austin should have no problem answering these questions:

• Do they write coverage based solely on cost?
• Does the agency have a positive business rating?
• What company holds the largest book of business for them?
• Will the agent help in case of a claim?
• Is the agent and/or agency licensed to do business in Texas?
• Is there a local claims center in Austin?

After you get positive feedback to any questions you may have and locked in a price quote, it’s a good possibility that you have found a car insurance agent that can be relied on to properly insure your vehicles.

Do drivers who switch really save $390 a year?

Big name companies like Progressive, GEICO, Allstate and State Farm continually stream ads in print and on television. They all have a common claim that drivers will save a bundle if you get a free Austin auto insurance quote and switch to them. How does every company sell you cheaper insurance coverage? It’s all in the words they use.

Many companies quote their best rates for the right customer that makes them money. One example of a desirable risk might be described as over the age of 50, has a clean driving record, and drives less than 7,500 miles a year. Any person that fits those parameters will get low rates and will probably save quite a bit of money when switching.

Drivers who don’t qualify for those standards may be required to pay higher premium rates and business going elsewhere. If you listen closely, the ads state “drivers that switch” not “everyone who quotes” save money. This is how insurance companies can advertise the way they do.

This really drives home the point why it is so important to compare as many free Austin auto insurance quotes as you can. It’s impossible to know which insurance companies will have the best prices at this point in time.

Quote. Compare. Save.

We just covered a lot of tips how to compare Subaru Legacy insurance prices in Austin. It’s most important to understand that the more providers you compare, the better likelihood of getting cheaper Austin auto insurance quotes. Consumers could even find that the lowest prices are with some of the smallest insurance companies. Regional companies may have significantly lower rates on certain market segments than the large multi-state companies such as Progressive or GEICO.

As you go through the steps to switch your coverage, it’s very important that you do not reduce coverage to reduce premium. There are many occasions where an insured cut liability limits or collision coverage only to find out they didn’t have enough coverage. The ultimate goal is to get the best coverage possible for the lowest cost, but don’t skip important coverages to save money.

To learn more, feel free to visit the following helpful articles:

• Booster Seat Ratings (iihs.org)
• Who Has the Cheapest Austin Auto Insurance with Multiple Speeding Tickets? (FAQ)
• Who Has Affordable Austin Auto Insurance for Drivers Requiring a SR22? (FAQ)
• Who Has Affordable Car Insurance Rates for a Nissan Altima in Austin? (FAQ)
• Side airbags reduce rollover fatalities (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety)
• No-Fault Auto Insurance Statistics (Insurance Information Institute)
• Protecting Teens from Drunk Driving (Insurance Information Institute)