Does car color affect insurance rates?

If insurance folklore exists, one of its most prevailing tales is that the color of your car affects how much you pay for insurance. Those zipping around town in a bright red ride are far more likely to drive recklessly than those in, say, a gray minivan, right?

Wrong.

There’s never been a study that conclusively correlates car color to any risk factors that could drive up insurance premiums. Our latest #AskTheZebraAnything video tapped in-house insurance pros to put this myth to bed once and for all.

There are many other risk factors that actually do matter when insurance companies calculate your rates. Not just relevant stats about your car, like vehicle age, mileage or even type of engine, but information about you – your age, where you live, your driving record. Cramming color into the equation just doesn’t add up.

So, don’t be concerned about your premiums going up because your ride is, say, bright orange with a hot pink racing stripe. In that case, you might just want to worry about your eye for design.