Who Has Cheap Insurance for a Kia Optima in New Jersey?

Our editors keep telling us that when writing about auto insurance, the word affordable shouldn’t be used anywhere to describe car insurance rates. Please forgive the oxymoron, but cheap car insurance for a Kia Optima is pretty hard to find. Don’t let that discourage you, because we will tell you how you can find and buy insurance that is more budget-friendly.

The chances that you’ll find cheaper insurance for a Kia Optima in New Jersey is contingent on a pretty complex algorithm that uses a lot of factors like when you were born, the performance level of your vehicle, and citations on your driving record. New Jersey drivers pay on average $1,430 a year to insure a Kia Optima, but that cost is a valuation that uses a 30-year-old single male driver with full comprehensive and collision coverage and $500 policy deductibles.

It’s highly likely that you may not be 30 years old (or even male), maybe you are married instead of single, and maybe you want different deductibles. Different coverage needs are the reason why your best shot at finding the cheapest insurance price for your Kia is to comparison shop your policy at every renewal or at least every couple of years.

View Kia Optima Insurance Rates

The specific trim level impacts the yearly cost, so the price you will be charged to insure a Optima LX will be $134 less expensive the insurance cost for the higher-end Optima SX trim level, as demonstrated by the prices below.

Price data assumes single male driver age 30, no speeding tickets, no at-fault accidents, $500 deductibles, and New Jersey minimum liability limits. Discounts applied include homeowner, multi-vehicle, claim-free, multi-policy, and safe-driver. Table data does not factor in your specific New Jersey location which can affect auto insurance rates significantly.

Finding decent, low-priced insurance is not the easiest thing to do, and determining which companies offer the most affordable auto insurance rates for a Kia Optima may require even more rate comparisons. Each insurance company has their own guidelines for setting prices, so we need to take a look at the lowest cost auto insurance companies in New Jersey.

Best Cheap Insurance Rates for Your Optima

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21st Century may have some of the cheapest car insurance rates in New Jersey at around $1,100 each year. Travelers, New Jersey Manufacturers, Penn National, and Palisades also qualify as some of the cheapest New Jersey insurance companies.

As shown above, if you are a policyholder with New Jersey Manufacturers and switched to 21st Century, you might realize an annual premium reduction of in the vicinity of $171. New Jersey drivers with Penn National could save as much as $238 a year, and Palisades insureds might reduce prices by as much as $254 a year.

Be aware that those estimates are averages for all drivers and vehicles and and are not figured with a specific rate factor for a Kia Optima. So the auto insurance company that fits you best may not even be shown in the rate chart shown above. That helps illustrate why you need to compare as many prices as possible using your own individual information.

Liability only or full coverage

Finding cheap insurance for a Kia Optima in New Jersey is probably important to most drivers, and a great way to pay lower rates for insurance is to only buy liability insurance. The chart below illustrates the comparison of insurance prices with liability coverage only compared to full coverage. The prices are based on no accidents or driving violations, $250 deductibles, single marital status, and no discounts are applied to the premium.

Averaged out for all age groups, comprehensive and collision coverage on your policy costs an extra $3,421 per year over and above liability only. At some point, every insured wonders when is it safe to stop buying full coverage. There is no written rule that works best for making the decision to drop physical damage coverage on your policy, but there is a guideline you can use. If the annual cost of coverage is about 10% or more of the replacement cost of your vehicle minus the policy deductible, then you may want to consider only buying liability coverage.

For example, let’s pretend your vehicle’s settlement value is $6,500 and you have $1,000 policy deductibles. If your vehicle is totaled in an accident, you would only receive $5,500 after the deductible is paid. If you are paying over $550 annually for comprehensive and collision coverage, then you may want to consider only buying liability coverage.

The diagram below shows how choosing a deductible can influence insurance costs when getting quotes for cheap insurance for a Kia Optima. The prices are based on a married male driver, comprehensive and collision coverage, and no discounts are applied.

The chart above illustrates that a 30-year-old driver could cut expenses by $516 a year by switching the physical damage coverage from a $100 deductible up to a $500 deductible, or save $778 by changing to a $1,000 deductible. Even younger drivers, like the age 20 example, can cut as much as $1,562 annually by using higher deductibles when buying full coverage. If you do raise deductibles, it is a good idea to have additional funds squirreled away to cover the extra out-of-pocket expense, which is the main drawback of higher deductibles.

Find cheap insurance for a Kia Optima in New Jersey

Here are some of the better thrifty suggestions that can help New Jersey drivers buy the cheapest car insurance.

• Raise comprehensive and collision coverage deductibles
• Remain accident-free and save
• Better credit rating means better rates
• Do not insure for full coverage
• Drive vehicles with five-star safety ratings
• You will pay more if you get tickets or have at-fault accidents
• Comparison shop frequently

The final tip is notably valuable, as was stressed in this write-up. Car insurance rates can be adjusted at any time, so drivers shouldn’t be resistant to switch companies if a cheaper price is available.

Many drivers tend to have loyalty to a certain company, but it’s not a great idea if that faithfulness ends up costing you major coinage every year. In just a few minutes you could compare prices and find cheaper car insurance for a Kia Optima.

Best cheap Kia Optima insurance quotes

Thanks to the internet, there are a lot of ways to find cheap auto insurance in New Jersey, but the most frequently used methods are using a non-exclusive or independent agent, an exclusive insurance agent like Liberty Mutual or Allstate, or buying direct from a company like Geico or Progressive.

All three ways are similar, but they differ in how they give price quotes.

Independent agents are appointed by several companies and can get policy pricing from every one. Independent agents are usually affiliated with several companies and can get prices from more than one company, which can help you get the best shot at cutting your rates. If cheaper coverage is found, your agent can just switch to a different company and you can remain with the same agent.

Exclusive agents are able to place business with one insurance company, two examples are Liberty Mutual and Allstate agents. Exclusive agents are unable to provide a range of price quotes, so if rates are not competitive, they cannot shop around.

The third way to buy auto insurance is direct which means you do not use a local agent and instead buy direct either online or via phone. This auto insurance option can be a good choice for people who have fewer assets and know more than average about what is covered and what is not.

So which of the methods works best for finding cheap insurance for a Kia Optima in New Jersey? Our initial answer would be buying from a direct car insurance company results in the cheapest rates because you bypass the agent, but unfortunately, that is not the case. A valid argument could also be made that buying from an independent agent can save the most money due to more options, but that is not accurate either. In some circumstances, the exclusive agents have price quotes that are the cheapest.

Since auto insurance companies use so many rating factors, the best way to not overpay for auto insurance is to compare lots of quotes. The ideal approach is to get quotes from all three to have enough rates to compare. We compiled a list of companies with some of the cheapest online rates that you can click here to view.