Much of this is caused by the gas mileage requirements required by the federal government. The cars are made increasingly lighter every year but still must pass NHSC crash tests. All of the metal is paper thin with honeycomb structure behind the body panels to absorb and disperse impact. Even a minor accident will necessitate all of this structure being torn down and replaced. Alot of labor and alot of new parts $$$$$. Plus all the glass is being made way thinner so people are having to replace windshields more than ever in the past. Idiots think they saving money on gas because it gets good mileage but the cost is just being passed on to other areas like higher insurance premium and deductible costs. So said idiots go off to blame the insurance companies for "ripping them off" when, as usual, the source of the increased cost is government regulation.