Even though you’re older and your family has probably flown the nest, you can still lower your rates by choosing what insurance companies think of as “family cars.” Minivans, station wagons and family-sized sedans tend to be driven more carefully because they’re often transporting kids and other family members. That lowers the statistics for all drivers of these kinds of cars and saves you money, kids or not.

Watch for these new car rate raisers:

Flash Takes Cash

High-performance cars, sporty models that might attract thieves and very expensive cars that cost a small fortune to repair can put your insurance rates into overdrive. Companies assume you’ve bought all that power and flash for a reason: you want to show it off, give that baby her head and see what she’ll do. And that makes you more of a risk.

New Car Shopping: Bigger Is Not Necessarily Better

Don’t try to be a road warrior. If high gas prices haven’t put you off the idea of buying an SUV or large truck, maybe higher insurance rates will. Maybe you like the extra safety of size, but all that extra weight means when you’re involved in an accident, you’ll probably cause more damage. And that sends your liability coverage rates soaring. So leave the warrior wagons on the lot.

If you want to go new car shopping and find cheap car insurance rates, check out our list of the least expensive cars to insure. And the most expensive ones to avoid.