In Texas the cost to insure an automobile is determined by its rating symbo. The rating symbo is assigned by the state insurance commission. Each insurer determines their exact charge independently, but the rating symbol system means you'll see pretty much the same relationship in the rates for each of your cars from one insurer to another.

My agent (Nationwide) has confirmed the rating symbols frequently don't make a lot of sense. Here's an example. My spouse drives a very pristine 1993 300E sedan. On a good day it's probably worth $10K, but that might be a stretch. It's rating symbol is 22. That translates to $327.50/6 months. I drive a 2001 E320 wagon worth $30K+. It's rating symbol is 18, so I pay $296.50/6 months for the exact same coverage.

Strange, huh? The only thing I can figure is that wagons are ridiculously cheap to insure compared to sedans. My recently sold 1987 diesel wagon had a rating symbol of 16 - it was way cheap to insure. The 1993 sedan replaced an unreliable 1998 E300 turbodiesel about 18 months ago - both were about the same price to insure. That was a surpise, given that we bought the 1993 car with less than half the proceeds from selling the 1998.

- JimY