There are lots of haters out there when it comes to Hummers. And yes, the vehicle does represent a “pole” of sorts; there are humble cars on one end of the spectrum, and Hummers at the other. Hummers are also extremists when it comes to gas mileage per gallon. While the average vehicle gets around 27 miles, the Hummer only gives drivers about 13 and those seem begrudged.
So then Hummers cost a TON to insure, right?
Not so fast. Let’s first remember the four biggest metrics carriers look at when quoting insurance rates for a vehicle: safety ratings, replacement cost of parts, damage susceptibility and likelihood of theft.
The Hummer earns very average safety scores from Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, with the biggest red flag coming from a result of “poor” on rear crash protection results.
Nevertheless, Hummers receive pretty solid safety scores from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, including 3 perfect scores out of 5.
Replacement cost of parts used to be a major concern for Hummer owners (and insurers), and the car used to be something of a micro-brand with very few service centers across the country. But since Hummer was acquired by GM, thereby streamlining its production and boosting its numbers, finding replacement parts for the vehicle is no longer difficult or overly expensive.
In terms of damage susceptibility even the haters have to admit the Hummer is pretty boss; it’s definitely not walking away from an accident in worse shape than the other guy.
Lastly, the Hummer does of course get stolen frequently. It’s a cool, desirous car and that won’t change any time soon.
So in the final analysis Hummers give haters lots of good fodder: they are extremely big and expensive and they suck gas like they have a mandate from the heavens of Saudi Arabia.
But one thing you can’t say about Hummers is that they are extremely pricey to insure, because that is simply not the case. These metrics show that, for once, Hummers blend into the middle of the landscape quite nicely.
