Why do I have to pay so much for insurance?

I'm 18, and I bought a car. A 1999 Ford Taurus. I'm only driving about 2 miles a day, to and from work. I have to Pay around 200 dollars a month for insurance. This infuriates me because my sister, who is 20 and is a terrible driver, is paying 100 dollars a month, and is driving around 20-30 miles a day. It doesn't seem fair. Is this price expected, or am I being ripped off?

It's unfortunate, but insurance companies consider you to be the highest risk because you're a teenage male. There's really nothing you can do about it. The only thing I can suggest is to shop around and see if you can get something a little cheaper.

As others have pointed out, your age and gender play a role. As a group, drivers 18-25 are statistically the highest risk for insurance companies, and that gets more interesting when broken down by gender, as males are statistically worse drivers than female drivers, within the same age range.

Having said that, you're not including certain information that would help any of us provide a more specific (and therefore useful) answer. Does your sister, who you describe as a "terrible driver," have just liability on her car? What levels of coverage does she have on her car? If they're lower than yours, she'd naturally pay less. What about certain other things, such as theft protection? Insurance companies discount for such things.

What about YOUR policy? Do you have full coverage (liability AND comprehensive and collision) on a fifteen-year-old car? (If so, WHY?)

Try shopping around for lower rates, and take advantage of discounts insurers offer.

Insurance rates are dropped at set circumstances. Once you fall into one of them your rates go down.

Once you have a good driving record for more then 2 years, you turn 30, you get married or your vehicle is not considered a sports car are some of them. Woman get charged lower rates because they are considered a lower risk as they tend to not take as many chances while driving.

Also where you live makes a difference if it's a high crime rate for car theft. If you let them know you drive to work your rate goes up too.

If you stop driving to work and let them know your rate will go down.

Other then falling into one of those categories there's not much you can do, at your age your considered a high risk.

Try UK rates!
At your age with your car they would be looking at $800 per month.
You think it is expensive in the US. We pay about $8 per gallon for gas here as well.

My husband pays over $500 a month on a similar car and is much older than you. Unfortunately we live in the city where it's one of the highest car insurance rates in Canada because of all the people which means lots of accidents though both our driving records are clean lol. Consider yourself lucky!

Because you are an 18 year old male you are in the highest price insurance cost bracket. There's nothing you can do about it except have a good driving record. If you do, the cost will eventually be reduced. Secondly, $200 a month is quite reasonable. There are other 18 year old males out there paying more than $300 a month for basic coverage.

You should tell your Insurance Agent about how short your commute is. He can likely get you a (5%?) discount on some parts of your insurance. Otherwise: yes; car insurance is cheaper for women than men.