What's the most important factor to you when shopping for a car? If you consider the overall purchase price and the make/model of the vehicle to be the most important traits in making your decision, you are similar to 77 percent of car buyers, according to an online study conducted by the Progressive Group of Insurance Companies.

Not too shocking. But what about the other factors that can directly affect the cost of a car? Though most buyers walk into a dealer with researched opinions on the cars they want, many fail to adequately research the cost of insurance for that shiny new late model. In fact, the study cited insurance costs as one of the least important factors that buyers contemplate when shopping for a car. Thirty-three percent spend no time at all researching insurance rates, even though an overwhelming majority agrees that this cost should be an important factor in deciding which vehicle to purchase.

Where you live also can affect your tendencies. The survey found car shoppers in the Northeast were twice as likely (46 percent) as those in the Mountain States (24 percent) to admit to never researching the cost of insurance when purchasing a new car.

So what is important to buyers beside the price and make/model? The survey notes that 35 percent contemplate the reliability of the car for more than a week. Thirty percent consider the monthly payment for just as long. Eight percent responded that they spent more than a week just deciding on a color.

“It's interesting to see what's most important to people when they're shopping for a new car,” said Robin Harbage, product development manager for Progressive. “Our results show that even the savviest shoppers are concerned with the economics of buying a car but not what it costs them to actually use it. We want people to realize that insurance can have a big influence on how much they pay to operate their car over the long haul, and that the type of vehicle they buy makes a difference when it comes to the cost of insurance.”

Notably, even though fuel costs were averaging $2.54 a gallon in many states at the time the survey was conducted, fuel economy ranked just as low in importance as the cost of those new insurance premiums.

Special Reports /

Car Insurance Costs Unimportant

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