Do red cars cost more to insure?

The cost of automobile insurance is dependent upon a large number of factors including car model and age, driver age and record, miles driven, geographic location and (usually) credit history. Missing from this list: car color.

Red is associated with sport cars, high speeds and more reckless driving. But there are no reliable statistics to back up the claim that red cars get into more accidents than any other color of vehicle. Monash University in Australia investigated the relationship between car color and crash risk in 2007. Their conclusion was that white cars are the safest due to their higher visibility. They found, for example, that crash risk was 47% greater for black cars (versus white) at dawn or dusk.

The red-car myth is so prevalent that major insurance companies such as Progressive and esurance specifically dispel it on their websites. In fact, it is impossible for car color to affect your rate, since none of these companies even ask for the color of your car when you apply for insurance.

Bonus Fact: Car thieves are more likely to steal older cars than newer ones, because the older models are generally easier to steal, and they’re more valuable in the used-parts market.