How Much Does Insurance Cost for a Kia Optima in New Mexico?

When the topic is auto insurance, the words “cheap” or “affordable” shouldn’t be used anywhere in the article as a descriptor for car insurance rates. It’s just a fact that cheap car insurance for a Kia Optima can be hard to find. But don’t despair, because we will tell you how you can quote and buy coverage that is easy on your budget.

The odds of finding affordable insurance for a Kia Optima in New Mexico is contingent on a complex rating formula that takes into consideration things such as how many years you have been driving, if you are a frequent claim filer, and if you have a clean driving record. New Mexico drivers on average pay approximately $890 annually to buy insurance for a Kia Optima, but that figure is a ballpark figure calculated using a 50-year-old married male driver that included full coverage and $100 policy deductibles.

There is a really good chance that you aren’t exactly 50 years old or even a male, maybe you are single instead of married, or maybe your driving record has a blemish or two. Have just a small change in policy rating criteria or coverages can induce significant differences in the coverage rate.

Auto insurance is unique to every driver, so the way we recommend to find the cheapest coverage for your Kia is to get into the habit of shopping around regularly.

Compare Kia Optima Insurance Rates

Your Kia’s trim level has an effect on the cost of insurance, so the price to insure a Optima LX will be $104 cheaper than the cost to insure the more costly Optima SX version, as shown by the rates below.

Cost estimates assume married male driver age 50, no speeding tickets, no at-fault accidents, $100 deductibles, and New Mexico minimum liability limits. Discounts applied include homeowner, multi-vehicle, claim-free, multi-policy, and safe-driver. Premium amounts do not factor in vehicle location which can lower or raise coverage rates significantly.

Finding reliable, low-priced auto insurance is not easy, and deciding which company quotes the cheapest insurance rates for a Kia Optima may require a little more work.

Each company has a different process for establishing rates, so let’s take a look at the most competitive insurance companies in New Mexico. It’s important that readers know that New Mexico insurance rates are impacted by many factors that may substantially change the cost of having a policy. Events like turning one year older, increasing deductibles, or getting a speeding ticket can produce rate changes resulting in some rates now being less affordable than competitors.

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USAA may have some of the best car insurance rates in New Mexico at around $657 a year. Allied, Safeco, Farm Bureau Mutual, and Farmers also make the cut as some of the cheaper New Mexico car insurance companies.

In the rate table above, if you are currently insured with Farm Bureau Mutual and switched to USAA, you could earn yearly savings of in the vicinity of $521. Drivers with Farmers may save as much as $606 a year, and The Hartford insureds might see rate reductions of $655 a year.

Be aware that those estimates are averaged across all drivers and vehicles in New Mexico and do not factor in a specific rate value for a Kia Optima. So the company that has the cheapest price for you may not even be featured in the above list. That affirms the importance of why you need to get car insurance quotes using your own specific driver and vehicle information.

The illustration below shows how choosing a deductible can impact insurance prices when trying to find cheap insurance for a Kia Optima. The premiums are based on a married female driver, full coverage, and no discounts are applied.

The data above shows that a 30-year-old driver could save $306 a year by changing their physical damage coverage from a $100 deductible to a $500 deductible, or save $462 by choosing a $1,000 deductible. Even younger insureds, like the Age 20 category, have the ability to save up to $652 or more by selecting a higher deductible.

When choosing a higher deductible, it will now be necessary to have additional funds in a savings account to allow you to pay the extra out-of-pocket expense. This is the primary disadvantage of choosing high deductibles.

Cost difference between full coverage and liability

Finding cheap insurance for a Kia Optima in New Mexico should be important to the majority of people, and one good way to pay less for insurance is to not buy full coverage. The example below illustrates the difference between insurance costs when comparing full coverage to liability only. The data is based on no tickets, no at-fault accidents, $250 deductibles, marital status is single, and no other discounts are factored in.

As an average for all age groups, comp and collision coverage costs an additional $2,301 per year over and above liability only. At some point, about every driver wonders if full coverage is worth the money. There is no clear-cut formula to stop paying for full coverage on your policy, but there is a broad guideline. If the yearly cost of full coverage is more than around 10% of the settlement you would receive from your company, then you may want to consider only buying liability coverage.

For example, let’s pretend your vehicle’s settlement value is $11,500 and you have $1,000 deductibles. If your vehicle is destroyed, the most your company will settle for is $10,500 after paying the physical damage deductible. If it’s costing you more than $1,050 annually for full coverage, then you may want to consider only buying liability coverage.

There are a few cases where dropping physical damage coverage is not recommended. If you have an outstanding loan on your vehicle, you have to maintain full coverage in order to satisfy the requirements of the loan. Also, if your finances do not allow you to purchase a different vehicle if your current one is totaled, you should not opt for liability only.

How to find more affordable car insurance for a Kia Optima

It’s not impossible to find cheaper rates, and here are many penny-pinching solutions that can help New Mexico drivers buy more affordable car insurance.

• Good credit can help you save money
• Safer vehicles generally have cheaper insurance rates
• Earn a discount by not filing claims
• Save money by obeying traffic laws and keeping a clean driving record
• Drive attentively and avoid accidents
• Shop around for cheaper prices

The last tip is extraordinarily critical, as was affirmed in this write-up. Car insurance rates can change significantly in a year, so drivers shouldn’t be reluctant to switch to a new company if you find a better deal. We understand brand loyalty, but we do not recommend it if that loyalty ends up costing major coinage every year. Now is a great time to compare prices to find cheaper insurance for a Kia Optima.

Who has the cheapest Kia Optima insurance quotes?

Drivers have many ways to compare insurance prices in New Mexico, but the most common methods are through a captive (or exclusive) agency like Allstate or Auto-Owners, an independent insurance agent, or from a direct company like Progressive.

They all follow the same basic process, but buyers should know the differences in how they work.

Independent insurance agents can place your business with multiple companies and can get rate quotes from all of them. These agents are not required to write business for one company and can give you more rate choices, which can give you a better chance of saving money. If cheaper coverage is found, it’s easy for the agent to move the policy and you don’t have to find a new agent.

Exclusive agents are restricted to quoting rates for one insurance company like an Allstate or Liberty Mutual agent. Exclusive agencies are unable to give you multiple price quotes, so unless you get quotes from other companies, you cannot determine which is cheapest.

If you choose to buy insurance direct, you do not use the middleman (the agent) and instead shop from a direct company like Esurance. This option may be a decent choice consumers who have little risk and have knowledge of what coverages they need.

Which method is best to find cheap insurance for a Kia Optima in New Mexico? The obvious answer would be buying from a direct company results in the best prices because you bypass the middleman, but unfortunately, it’s not that cut and dried. It could also be said an independent agent results in the best rates since they can provide multiple quotes, but that assumption is also not necessarily accurate. And sometimes, exclusive agents may have very competitive prices that other insurance companies cannot touch.

Because there are so many factors that make up insurance rates, really the only way to get the cheapest rates is to get quotes and compare the rates. If you have the time, get prices from all three to have the best selection of rates to choose from. For a list of insurance companies with low rates, click here to view.