GM's "free car insurance" offer has biggest bang for Corvette buyers

By Barbara Marquand, Insure.com

General Motors is sweetening car deals in Washington and Oregon by offering a free year of car insurance through MetLife Auto & Home to buyers of its new vehicles.

We wondered which GM vehicles would give buyers the biggest “free insurance” deal. On the flip side, these vehicles will also pack the hardest insurance-rate punch after the “free” year is over.

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GM is offering the insurance deal for new 2010, 2011 and 2012 Chevrolet, Buick, GMC or Cadillac car, truck or crossover models.

Insure.com has compared car insurance rates for more than 2,000 vehicle models for 2011 based on quotes for a single, 40-year-old man with a good driving record. See our car insurance comparison: The least and most expensive 2011 vehicles to insure.

Mercedes, BMW, Porsche, Aston Martin and Jaguar models dominate the top 50 most expensive cars for insurance, with the Mercedes SL65 AMG winning the dubious title of most painful insurance rates at an average annual bill of $3,544.

The most expensive-to-insure GM car is the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, the 53rd most expensive for insurance among all 2011 models. The average annual premium for the two-door coupe is $1,799 in Oregon and $2,708 in Washington. The next priciest GM vehicles for insurance based on a nationwide average are the:

• GMC Yukon Denali, a four-wheel drive, four-door hybrid SUV. Average annual premium: $1,868 in Oregon and $2,169 in Washington.
• Chevrolet Corvette Z06 two-door couple, $1,494 in Oregon and $2,041 in Washington
• Buick Regal CXL four-door sedan, $1,796 in Oregon and $1,721 in Washington
• Cadillac CTS V four-door coupe, $1,651 in Oregon and $1,942 in Washington.

Going for cheap car insurance

On the other end of the spectrum is the Chevrolet Equinox LT, a two-door, two-wheel drive crossover SUV, the best bargain for insurance among GM vehicles. Among all vehicles analyzed by Insure.com, it comes in at No. 22 for the cheapest insurance rates nationally. The national average premium for the Equinox is $1,171, about 7 percent more than the average annual premium for the cheapest-to-insure vehicle from any automaker -- the Chrysler Town & Country LX minivan, with an average premium of $1,092. In Oregon, the average premium for the Equinox LT is $1,009 per year and in Washington, $1,331.

The other least expensive-to-insure GM vehicles based on a nationwide average are the:

• Chevrolet Silverado 1500 work pickup, with an average annual premium of $1,126 in Oregon and $1,346 in Washington
• Chevrolet Express G2500 van, $1,017 in Oregon and $1,367 in Washington
• Chevrolet Traverse LS crossover SUV, $1,048 in Oregon and $1,371 in Washington
• Chevrolet Colorado Work Truck, $1,057 in Oregon and $1,348 in Washington

The free insurance offer will run through through Sept. 6 to all Washington and Oregon residents who are licensed drivers; the vehicles must be titled in those states.

Coverage includes liability, personal injury protection, uninsured/underinsured motorist, collision and comprehensive insurance. The package also comes with MetLife's car-replacement feature, which pays for a brand-new vehicle if the car is totaled in the first year or first 15,000 miles, whichever comes first.

Standard auto insurance policies typically pay only the actual cash value for a totaled vehicle, which takes into account depreciation. Because a new car loses value as soon as it's driven off the lot, you can be out hundreds or thousands of dollars if your car is damaged beyond repair in those early months.

Customers who take advantage of the GM deal can apply for car insurance through another carrier or apply through MetLife after the year of free coverage expires.

The GM deal is unusual but not groundbreaking. Volkswagen partnered with Nationwide Insurance to pilot a similar program in Illinois and Wisconsin in 2005, but the automaker didn't continue the offer after the three-month trial.

GM and MetLife will evaluate the program in Oregon and Washington after it ends Sept. 6 and decide whether to expand it

More from Barbara Marquand here

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