Common thread: The most popular cars are also the cheapest to insure

Picture: iStock

There's no denying ownership fees such as car insurance are an unavoidable expense for most Australians who need a vehicle for their daily commute.

Although insurance policy pricing is dependent on several factors including a driver’s history, the rising cost of spare parts and labour, coupled with more complex repairs, has led some drivers to feel the financial pinch.

Though it might be tempting to buy an exotic car, depending on the model and your driving history, the insurance bill could quickly rack up.

Industry experts said those who opted for popular models from legacy brands generally found cheaper insurance policies compared with those who bought more niche, 'dream' cars.

According to Youi Insurance’s 2025 data, SUVs were the most popular cars to be insured with the company, with SUVs accounting for 44 per cent of all Youi car insurance quotes last year, up 2 per cent in comparison to 2024.

Popular medium SUVs including Mazda’s best selling CX-5 (22,742 sales in 2025), Mitsubishi’s sales leader in the Outlander (22,459) and Nissan’s hottest model in the X-Trail (15,708), made up 40 per cent of Youi’s entire 2025 car insurance claims.

Additionally, sought-after mid-sized SUVs from Toyota – Australia’s best-selling brand for 24 consecutive years – such as the LandCruiser and the RAV4 (the Japanese marque’s best-selling model by volume in 2025) – were featured on Youi’s list of most insured cars.

Meanwhile, Subaru’s best-selling model in the mid-sized Forester SUV (15,179 sales between January and December 2025) was among the most popular models that were insured with Youi.

Disclaimer: The models listed above are not listed by volume and serve as a general guide. Data courtesy of Youi Insurance.

Compare the Market spokesperson Henry Man said popular cars generally commanded lower premiums due to the healthy stock of replacement parts.

“Generally, popular cars could have lower insurance premiums. This is because their ubiquity may mean a greater supply of replacement parts available locally, resulting in cheaper insurance costs. [Additionally], there is more data for insurers to calculate risk factors,” Man told Drive.

However, high-volume models can also have the adverse effect of increasing insurance rates.

“If one popular model has a consistently high number of claims, it could potentially drive up premiums, so it depends on a variety of factors,” he added.

Finder personal finance and insurance specialist Taylor Blackburn said other factors like theft-prone models can also lead to a higher policy.

“A popular car can cost less to insure because parts and repairs are often cheaper, but some of these cars have higher rates of theft and accidents, leading to higher rates of claims,” Blackburn told Drive.

In Victoria – where car thefts were the highest in the country – sought-after cars from Toyota such as the LandCruiser, RAV4, HiLux and Prado were the most stolen models in the state last year.

Though SUVs may be the king of Australian roads, high-volume passenger cars such as sedans and hatches were also among the cheapest to insure in the country.

A spokesperson for Compare the Market told Drive in July 2025 that high-volume cars from established car makers like Toyota were generally cheaper to insure due to the availability of spare parts.

“Some of the country’s most common car models – such as the Toyota Corolla, Toyota Camry and Mazda 3 – are well known on our roads, but a lesser-known advantage is that they could sometimes be cheaper to insure as well,” the spokesperson said at the time.

They said vehicles that had a safe history on Australian roads also tended to have lower premiums.

“Vehicles with a good track record of being safe on our roads with lower repair costs will likely see cheaper quoted insurance premiums.”

Ethan Cardinal graduated with a Journalism degree in 2020 from La Trobe University and has been working in the fashion industry as a freelance writer prior to joining Drive in 2023. Ethan greatly enjoys investigating and reporting on the cross sections between automotive, lifestyle and culture. Ethan relishes the opportunity to explore how deep cars are intertwined within different industries and how they could affect both casual readers and car enthusiasts.

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