I just got a new Volvo S60R to replace my 1987 BMW 325. For now, both cars are on my insurance. When I got the new car, my rates went down. I'm actually paying less by getting a new car.

One possible explanation might be related to how often they need to pay claims on Volvos versus BMWs. Insurance people play all kinds of statistical games to determine how likely you (married? with children? how old?) are to wreck your car (what kind? how often wrecked?) given where you live and what wrecks tend to cost there.

Of course, the actuarial tables they use are proprietary, and if there's a bug in there, it's not like they're going to let you challenge it. Your only recourse is to buy insurance from somebody else. In wfaulk's case, it looks like he wins because they see his car as a Volvo (safe, boring) rather than a balls-to-the-walls extreme sportscar (to which I can personally attest... thanks Bitt!). I know that, back when I spent some time on one of the BMW chat boards, a common thread was that somebody moved to BMW from a cheaper Japanese sportscar and observed their rates drop. BMW drivers, one might infer, tend to wreck their cars less often than owners of cheap Japanese sportscars.