What Car Insurance is Cheapest for a Nissan Sentra in Sacramento?

Buying cheaper coverage for a Nissan Sentra depends on a fairly complex equation with a lot of factors such as whether you use your Sentra for business use, where you live, and driving violations. Drivers in California pay approximately $1,559 per year for Sentra insurance, but that cost is an approximation using a 50-year-old single male driver with full comprehensive and collision coverage and $100 deductibles.

When projecting a rate like this, the problem is that you are not 50 years old and maybe not even male, married instead of single, or maybe you prefer to not insure for full coverage. Even a slight change in the criteria used to calculate rates can make a big difference in the price of a policy.

Auto insurance is unique to each driver, so the only real way to find affordable rates for your Nissan is to compare as many rates as you can.

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Vehicle trim level impacts the insurance rate, so the price you will pay to insure a Sentra 2 trim level will be $294 less than the price to insure the fancier Sentra SE-R SPEC V version, as shown in the chart below.


Nissan Sentra Insurance Rates in Sacramento, CA
Model Comp Collision Liability Medical UM/UIM Annual Premium Monthly Premium
Sentra 2 $284 $708 $500 $30 $150 $1,672 $139
Sentra 2.0 S $284 $834 $500 $30 $150 $1,798 $150
Sentra 2.0 SR $284 $834 $500 $30 $150 $1,798 $150
Sentra 2.0 SL $326 $834 $500 $30 $150 $1,840 $153
Sentra SE-R $326 $834 $500 $30 $150 $1,840 $153
Sentra SE-R SPEC V $326 $960 $500 $30 $150 $1,966 $164
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Prices above based on single male driver age 50, no speeding tickets, no at-fault accidents, $100 deductibles, and California minimum liability limits. Discounts applied include multi-vehicle, safe-driver, homeowner, multi-policy, and claim-free. Rates do not factor in specific location which can lower or raise prices greatly.

Finding out which insurers offer the cheapest insurance rates for a Nissan Sentra requires more time than just comparing a company or two.

Each insurer has their own unique process to determine rates, so let’s rank the most competitive insurance companies in California. It’s important to understand that California insurance rates are influenced by many factors that will increase or decrease the price you have to pay. Simply improving your credit, getting divorced, or getting into an accident may generate price changes resulting in some rates now being cheaper than competitors.

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Rankings for the cheapest California auto insurance companies
Rank Company Cost Per Year
1 USAA $1,143
2 Wawanesa $1,181
3 Century National $1,190
4 CSAA $1,234
5 Nationwide $1,263
6 21st Century $1,366
7 Grange $1,433
8 Mercury $1,503
9 Allstate $1,513
10 GEICO $1,513
11 Progressive $1,542
12 Allied $1,603
13 MetLife $1,606
14 The Hartford $1,623
15 Unitrin $1,733
16 Esurance $1,739
17 State Farm $1,750
18 Travelers $1,806
19 Bristol West $1,831
20 Farmers $2,026
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USAA may have some of the cheapest car insurance rates in Sacramento at around $1,143 per year. This is $508 less than the average rate paid by California drivers of $1,651. Wawanesa, Century National, CSAA, and Nationwide also qualify as some of the more affordable Sacramento, CA car insurance companies.

As illustrated above, if you currently have coverage with CSAA and switched to USAA, you may see a yearly price reduction of in the neighborhood of $91. Drivers with Nationwide may save as much as $120 a year, and 21st Century insureds might see rate reductions of $223 a year.

It’s important to note that these prices are averaged for all drivers and vehicles and and are not calculated with an exact location for a Nissan Sentra. So the auto insurance company that has the lowest price for you may not even be in the top 24 companies shown above. That’s why you need to get auto insurance quotes using your own specific driver information and vehicle.

Impact of careless driving on insurance rates

The ideal way to obtain the most affordable insurance prices for a Sentra is to drive attentively and avoid getting tickets or having accidents. The example below highlights how speeding tickets and at-fault collisions can affect car insurance costs for each different age group. The data is based on a married male driver, comp and collision included, $1,000 deductibles, and no other discounts are factored in.

The data charted above shows the average cost of car insurance in California per year with no accidents and a clean driving record is $1,958. Factor in one speeding ticket and the average cost jumps to $2,254, an increase of $296 each year. Next add two accidents along with the one speeding ticket and the yearly cost of insurance for a Nissan Sentra increases to an average of $5,002. That’s an increase of $3,044, or $254 per month, just for being a less-than-perfect driver!

Low rates today, overpriced tomorrow

California insurance rates are influenced by many factors that may substantially change the price you have to pay for coverage. Simply having a birthday, increasing liability limits, or getting a reckless driving citation can trigger changes in premium that can make some companies more affordable than the competition. Not only may things change on your end, but companies file new California car insurance rates every year in order to maintain liquidity for claims. An extended period of higher than normal claims may cause high rates, while less frequent claims may result in cheaper Sentra insurance rates.

To help illustrate this point, the bar chart below shows the companies that have the cheapest car insurance in Sacramento, CA for a 30-year-old male driver with no violations or accidents, and a high credit rating. If we estimate rates based on his personal profile, USAA may have the best car insurance rates in Sacramento at $1,424 each year. This is $227 less than the average price paid by California drivers of $1,651. Wawanesa, CSAA, Century National, and Nationwide are also on the list of the cheapest Sacramento, CA auto insurance companies.

Now let’s give the driver in the first chart a claim, poor credit, and an imperfect driving record. Since every car insurance company has a different formula for determining rates in each state, analyzing rate quotes may result in a different ranking of the cheapest companies as shown below.

Grange now has the best auto insurance rate in Sacramento with Mercury, Allstate, Allied, and Progressive also being competitive. This example illustrates why consumers need to take the time to perform a complete rate comparison when trying to find cheap insurance rates for a Nissan Sentra. Car insurance prices are influenced by many risk factors and change dramatically, so the lowest-price company six months ago may now be quite expensive.