The car-buying public may want to think twice about buying a new hybrid-electric vehicle after reading the Mitchell International’s Industry Trends Report. According to The Car Connection, hybrid cars such as the popular Toyota Prius costs on average $182 more to fix than regular vehicles if they’re involved in an accident.
Now insurance companies have started raising insurance rates for the higher repair costs. In fact the insurance costs for hybrid vehicles are predicted to go up at a quicker rate than overall insurance premiums.
It’s estimated that hybrid sales make up about three percent car sales in America these days and a more diverse group of people are now buying them. When hybrids first hit the streets, most owners drove them pretty conservatively and didn’t get involved in many accidents. This of course meant very few insurance claims which resulted in relatively low premiums.
However, the cars are now more popular and there are quite a few more of them on the road as more and more manufacturers are producing them.
And the main reason they cost more to fix is that there are less used hybrid car parts on the market. So when a vehicle has to be repaired, there’s a good chance brand new parts are used to replace damaged parts. When new parts are needed owners generally get them from a dealer instead of a regular repair shop and results in higher labor costs.
While hybrids may be good for the environment and get pretty good mileage, you may want to figure in the cost of insurance and repairs when budgeting for a new car.
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