Insuring a Rolls-Royce

For many, Rolls-Royce vehicles are the creme-de-la-creme of the luxury car world. With opulent features, exquisite designs and exceptional performance, these cars are undeniably posh, exclusive and second to none. You won't find one that costs less than six figures, and you're about as likely to see one driving around town as you are to see an elephant in the fast food drive-through lane. With that being said, there actually are people out there who can afford to buy these cars. They are mostly celebrities and royalty, but they do exist. Surprisingly, these cars are not the most expensive cars to insure. That dubious honor goes to Aston Martin. However, with an average annual insurance cost of $2,734.20, Rolls-Royce vehicles are ranked second on a list of 36 brands. They cost a pretty penny to insure, but you should be able to afford it with ease if you can afford to buy one of these luxurious cars.

The Elaborate History of Rolls-Royce

The brand's name comes from the names of its two founders: Charles Stewart Rolls and Frederick Henry Royce. The two men founded their company, Rolls-Royce Ltd., in Britain in 1906. The brand's first vehicle, the Silver Ghost, debuted that same year. Its 6-cylinder engine and exceptional engineering earned it the title of "best car in the world." Due to popular demand, a factory was opened in Massachusetts during the 1920s. In the 1940s, the brand's famous Crewe factory also opened for business. After nearly filing for bankruptcy in the 1970s, the automaker was nationalized by the UK government. In the 1990s, it was purchased by Volkswagen, who gave the name to BMW in 2003.

Not Many Thefts on the Record

The National Insurance Crime Bureau maintains lists of the most-stolen cars in the United States. It should come as no surprise that there's nary a single Rolls-Royce on the list. If someone was able to abscond with one, it wouldn't take long for the cops to track it down again. After all, there are very few of them on the road. In some instances, low theft rates make a car's insurance rates drop. These cars are so insanely expensive, however, that the fact that they're rarely stolen does little or nothing to help.

High-Tech Safety Features don't Help Much Either

Insurers give safe vehicles lower premiums. Crash tests aren't performed on Rolls-Royce cars because they are so prohibitively expensive. Therefore, safety ratings aren't available. However, these cars are generally equipped with some of today's best safety features. Whenever a new, cutting-edge safety feature is developed, you're sure to find it on their new cars in the near future. Despite all of that, you're still going to pay a ton of money to insure the auto manufacturer's typical vehicle.

Exceptionally High Prices Cause Drastically Inflated Rates

The main reason that you have to pay high insurance premiums for these vehicles is because of its exorbitant price tag. These vehicles are not cheap. The Rolls-Royce Ghost sedan, for example, has a starting price of around $250,000. You'll have to fork over at least $410,000 to drive a Rolls-Royce Phantom coupe home. These just aren't the kinds of cars that the average Joe can afford to buy, and those who do buy them should be prepared to deal with extremely high premiums.