In an ideal world, we could simply tell you the single best company that has the most affordable insurance in California. It’s not that easy, however, as there are a whole bunch of unknown factors such as when you were born, whether you are married or single, the number of miles you drive each year, and where you live, that all impact the cost of your policy. We are going to cover the different scenarios that increase car insurance cost and will hopefully give you a good start to your coverage search.
One of the more important things that help determine insurance cost is where you normally keep your vehicle in Oakland. Areas with high crime rates or more dense population tend to pay more, whereas areas with fewer weather claims and lower vehicle theft rates benefit from having to pay less for coverage.
The illustration below ranks the most costly cities in California for high mileage drivers in which to buy car insurance. Oakland shows up at #5 with an annual cost of $1,687 for car insurance, which is approximately $141 each month.
| Rank | City | Annual Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Los Angeles | $2,168 |
| 2 | Glendale | $2,079 |
| 3 | San Francisco | $1,763 |
| 4 | Sacramento | $1,703 |
| 5 | Oakland | $1,687 |
| 6 | San Bernardino | $1,580 |
| 7 | Long Beach | $1,578 |
| 8 | Moreno Valley | $1,551 |
| 9 | Santa Clarita | $1,548 |
| 10 | Riverside | $1,542 |
| 11 | Stockton | $1,541 |
| 12 | Fontana | $1,519 |
| 13 | Garden Grove | $1,508 |
| 14 | Modesto | $1,502 |
| 15 | Santa Ana | $1,497 |
| 16 | Fresno | $1,472 |
| 17 | Anaheim | $1,444 |
| 18 | Huntington Beach | $1,416 |
| 19 | San Jose | $1,395 |
| 20 | Bakersfield | $1,394 |
| Find Cheaper Rates Go | ||
Rate information is comparative as the vehicle garaging location can decrease or increase premium rates noticeably.
Finding decent, reasonably-priced car insurance is not most people’s favorite thing to do, and finding out which companies have the best auto insurance rates for high mileage drivers will involve even more rate comparisons.
Each auto insurance company uses slightly different criteria to set policy rates, so we’ll go over the auto insurance companies with the overall best prices in Oakland, CA.
Compare Cheap Insurance Quotes in California
| Rank | Company | Cost Per Year |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | USAA | $1,155 |
| 2 | Century National | $1,178 |
| 3 | Wawanesa | $1,192 |
| 4 | CSAA | $1,222 |
| 5 | Nationwide | $1,250 |
| 6 | 21st Century | $1,366 |
| 7 | Grange | $1,447 |
| 8 | GEICO | $1,513 |
| 9 | Progressive | $1,542 |
| 10 | Mercury | $1,548 |
| 11 | Allied | $1,556 |
| 12 | Allstate | $1,559 |
| 13 | The Hartford | $1,623 |
| 14 | MetLife | $1,638 |
| 15 | Unitrin | $1,682 |
| 16 | Esurance | $1,688 |
| 17 | State Farm | $1,733 |
| 18 | Bristol West | $1,795 |
| 19 | Travelers | $1,806 |
| 20 | Farmers | $1,966 |
| Find Cheaper Rates Go | ||
USAA has some of the lowest car insurance rates in Oakland at around $1,155 each year. Century National, Wawanesa, CSAA, and Nationwide would also make the list of some of the best Oakland, CA car insurance companies.
In the above example, if you are a customer of Century National and switched to USAA, you may see annual savings of in the neighborhood of $23. California drivers with Wawanesa might save as much as $37 a year, and CSAA customers might lower prices by $67 a year.
To see if your current coverage is too expensive, click here to start your custom quote or quote rates from the companies below.
Bear in mind that those prices are averaged across all insureds and vehicles and do not take into consideration a vehicle location for high mileage drivers. So the auto insurance company that is best for you may not even be in the top 24 companies in the list above. That underscores the importance of why you need to get quotes using your own driver information and specific vehicle type.
The car, truck, or SUV driven is one of the largest considerations when comparing quotes for the best cheap auto insurance for high mileage drivers. Vehicles with limited top-end speed, excellent safety ratings, or a track record of few liability claims will cost quite a bit less to insure than high performance models. The list below outlines auto insurance premiums for the cheaper vehicles to buy coverage for.
| Vehicle | Estimated Cost for Full Coverage |
|---|---|
| Volkswagen Jetta S 2.5 Station Wagon | $1,430 |
| Toyota Prius | $1,458 |
| Ford Escape XLS 4WD | $1,484 |
| Chevrolet Impala LS | $1,526 |
| Honda CR-V EX 4WD | $1,531 |
| Jeep Wrangler Sport 4WD 2-Dr | $1,554 |
| Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo 2WD | $1,557 |
| Toyota RAV4 Limited 4WD | $1,565 |
| Dodge Grand Caravan Crew | $1,585 |
| Toyota Tacoma 4WD | $1,608 |
| Ford F-150 STX Regular Cab 2WD | $1,634 |
| Honda Civic DX 4-Dr Sedan | $1,670 |
| Nissan Rogue S AWD | $1,678 |
| Hyundai Sonata GLS 4-Dr Sedan | $1,670 |
| Ford Edge Limited 2WD | $1,676 |
| Compare Rates Now Go | |
Data variables include single male driver age 50, no speeding tickets, no at-fault accidents, $1,000 deductibles, and California minimum liability limits. Discounts applied include multi-vehicle, claim-free, safe-driver, multi-policy, and homeowner. Rate quotes do not factor in your specific Oakland, CA location which can affect premium rates substantially.
Based upon these rates, you can figure that vehicles like the Volkswagen Jetta, Toyota Prius, Ford Escape, and Chevrolet Impala are most likely to be a few of the less-costly vehicles to insure for high mileage drivers.
Full coverage versus liability only rates
Finding cheaper auto insurance is important to most vehicle owners, and one of the easiest ways to find cheaper insurance for high mileage drivers is to not insure for full coverage. The illustration below compares auto insurance costs with full coverage and liability only. The premiums assume no accidents, no driving violations, $250 deductibles, drivers are not married, and no discounts are taken into consideration.
As an average, comprehensive and collision coverage on your policy costs an extra $3,093 per year over liability only. At some point, almost every driver questions when is it safe to stop buying full coverage. There is no definitive formula to exclude full coverage on your policy, but there is a general guideline you can use. If the annual cost of your full coverage insurance is about 10% or more of the replacement cost minus the deductible, then you may need to consider dropping full coverage.
Selecting a good quality insurer can be rather challenging considering how many different insurance companies sell coverage in California. The ranking information displayed below may help you decide which companies you want to consider purchasing a policy from.
These ratings are only made up of large insurance companies, so smaller companies are not taken into consideration for this list. To get price quotes from these companies and more, simply click here.
| Company | Value | Customer Service | Claims | Customer Satisfaction | A.M Best Rating | Overall Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USAA | 98 | 100 | 100 | 94% | A++ | 98.6 |
| American Family | 98 | 89 | 100 | 86% | A | 95.4 |
| AAA of Southern California | 91 | 94 | 97 | 92% | A+ | 94.1 |
| State Farm | 88 | 93 | 96 | 90% | A++ | 92.4 |
| The Hartford | 94 | 92 | 90 | 89% | A+ | 91.7 |
| AAA Insurance | 88 | 89 | 95 | 91% | A | 91.2 |
| GEICO | 84 | 93 | 93 | 89% | A++ | 90.3 |
| The General | 89 | 91 | 89 | 88% | A- | 90 |
| Titan Insurance | 90 | 87 | 91 | 95% | A+ | 89.6 |
| Progressive | 84 | 91 | 93 | 87% | A+ | 89.5 |
| Mercury Insurance | 88 | 91 | 90 | 85% | A+ | 89.4 |
| Allstate | 85 | 90 | 92 | 88% | A+ | 89.3 |
| Nationwide | 87 | 88 | 84 | 90% | A+ | 88.7 |
| Liberty Mutual | 84 | 87 | 93 | 88% | A | 88.5 |
| 21st Century | 85 | 86 | 87 | 88% | A | 86.7 |
| Compare Rates Now Go | ||||||
Data Source: Insure.com Best Car Insurance Companies
Oakland car insurance rates
California auto insurance rates are based on many factors that will increase or decrease the cost of having a policy. Improving your credit rating, having a teenage driver, or getting a speeding ticket can trigger price changes that can now make some companies more affordable than the competition. Not only that, but car insurance companies change prices at least once a year in order to remain profitable. Larger than normal claims may cause more expensive prices, while a better claims history may produce cheaper Oakland car insurance rates.
To illustrate this point, the data below analyzes the cheapest car insurance in Oakland, CA for a 30-year-old female driver with no violations or accidents, and a good credit rating. If we estimate prices based on her current risk profile, USAA quotes the cheapest car insurance rates in Oakland at $1,434 a year. This is $217 less than the average premium paid by California drivers of $1,651. Wawanesa, CSAA, Century National, and Nationwide are also included in the most affordable Oakland, CA auto insurance companies.
The chart below compares rates after we give the driver from the first example a couple of claims, poor credit, and a traffic citation. Because every insurance company has their own unique process for establishing rates, comparing rates most likely will result in a completely different list of the cheapest car insurance companies in Oakland as shown below.
Grange now has the lowest price on auto insurance in Oakland, CA with Mercury, GEICO, Progressive, and Allied now rounding out the top five. This shows why Oakland drivers need to compare lots of rates when trying to find the most budget-friendly car insurance quotes for high mileage drivers. Prices are impacted by many factors and change substantially, so the best company when you bought your policy may now not even be in the top five.
How to find the cheapest car insurance for high mileage drivers
The list below details some of the better penny-pinching ideas that can help California drivers buy cheap coverage.
- Avoid filing small claims
- Do not get into accidents that are your fault
- Serious violations like DUI or careless driving can make car insurance unaffordable
- Full coverage is expensive so only insure older vehicles for liability only
- Raise your physical damage coverage deductibles
- Compare price quotes at least once a year
That last idea is extraordinarily necessary, as we pointed out in this piece. Insurance rates can change significantly in a year, so don’t be unwilling to buy a different policy if a lower-cost policy is available.
Loyalty to a specific company is fine, but it’s not a great idea if that loyalty ends up costing a wad of cash every year. It takes less than five minutes to compare rates and find cheaper car insurance for high mileage drivers in Oakland.
If you would rather get some professional input when shopping for cheaper insurance for high mileage drivers, the insurance agencies below can most likely aid you in deciding which car insurance policy is best.
To find an agent in your neighborhood, click the button at the bottom of the list.
- Farmers Insurance: Man Kin Lau
638 Webster St #200a – Oakland, CA 94607 – (510) 282-7996 - Ruth Stroup Insurance Agency
3560 Grand Ave – Oakland, CA 94610 – (510) 874-5700 - Kristen Law – State Farm Insurance Agent
3940 High St c – Oakland, CA 94619 – (510) 530-3200 - Susan Bernosky – Strahan Ins Services Inc
5940 College Ave a – Oakland, CA 94618 – (510) 450-9051