Vehicle Insurance Discounts (Tracking Device)

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gathermewool

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Tracking device =$2.35/month insurance savings (for BOTH cars)... I can't think of any way to make this work, but I figured I'd share what USAA is offering for a discount, at least here where I live. Can any of your think of a way to make this work?

Background:

The only additional discount that my insurance offers is for a vehicle tracking device. Very little information is provided online about what kind of tracking device is acceptable and if it needs to be professionally installed, so I inquired via online chat. The quote from the adjuster when I asked this question was as follows:

Originally Posted By: adjuster
As long as it is a small electronic unit installed in a vehicle that sends a signal so the police can track your vehicle. But the savings if you had it on both vehicles would be $2.35 per month.


We have pretty much zero risk of car theft where I live, but we do visit major cities relatively often and leave our car at the airport during longer-distance travel, too. I doubt my vehicle would be stolen from the airport long-term lot and I don't think Subarus are high up on any thieving lists, but a discount is a discount, so long as I'm not paying for it. Brings me back to the above question - is there any way to make this work? Seems impossible, since any service that would report to the police would cost way more than the savings just for the monitoring service.
 
The amount seems so little why bother? $28.00/year and someone is going to mess with your car and install something electrical-really doesn't seem worth it.
 
Originally Posted By: CKN
The amount seems so little why bother? $28.00/year and someone is going to mess with your car and install something electrical-really doesn't seem worth it.


Right - I'm 99.9% sure there's no way to make it work; my post was more to show how little the discount was.

However, I'm curious to see if there are any creative solutions out there. It doesn't appear that something very expensive or invasive is required to meet USAA requirements. Nothing on USAA.com describes the device, nor how it needs to be installed, and the online chat didn't provide much more guidance. It appears that a simple tracking device may suffice.
 
What I have seen in customers' cars is a little ODB2 dongle plugged in to the diag port. These have mostly been State Farm customers. It looks similar to one of the bluetooth scan tool adapters.
 
Rereading the OP it looks like we may be talking about different things, if you are talking about recovering a stolen vehicle. The device I am talking about is too easy to unplug and toss out of the window.
 
Originally Posted By: AVB
Rereading the OP it looks like we may be talking about different things, if you are talking about recovering a stolen vehicle. The device I am talking about is too easy to unplug and toss out of the window.


I've seen those, too. USAA doesn't offer them, but you can buy them online pretty cheaply...except that they require a monthly fee.
 
We had that same offer through our insurance outfit (Liberty Mutual). We put it in the wife's car and drove it all of about 100 miles in 90 days. The rest of the time we used my truck. Got 30% knocked off, so it was worth it giving them nothing by driving too and from Walmart. I pulled the unit out of her car at the end of the 90 days and took an acetylene torch to it . . .

cheers3.gif
 
Originally Posted By: HouseTiger
We had that same offer through our insurance outfit (Liberty Mutual). We put it in the wife's car and drove it all of about 100 miles in 90 days. The rest of the time we used my truck. Got 30% knocked off, so it was worth it giving them nothing by driving too and from Walmart. I pulled the unit out of her car at the end of the 90 days and took an acetylene torch to it . . .

cheers3.gif



I wish USAA was the same. I'd gladly install a monitoring device for 90 days, since most of my driving is simply to and from work - we take the Forester for longer trips.
 
I have Traveler's insurance and I get a discount for using the tracking devices. They're just little things you plug into the OBD2 port. I'm not narcissistic enough to be worried about anyone spying on me.
 
My boss tried that with Progressive...got hit with a SURCHARGE instead of a discount because he supposedly did 2 brake pedal applications that exceeded their "normal" limits and they judged him reckless in some fashion.

This is a variation on the thing going on with my employer-provided health insurance...first year there were discounts for good bloodwork results and keeping weight off, 2nd year that was the "norm" and bad bloodwork or too heavy led to surcharges.
 
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I worked for an auto insurance company. These devices are not to give you discounts as they claim. Sure, they might fool you into thinking your rates will go down, and they might for a year, but now the insurance company has all sorts of info on your driving habits. If one company does, then they all will, due to info sharing between the companies. They might not do much with your specific data, but will use the data to get a better idea of the driving risk in your area, which may cause rates to go up for the area you drive in.

Trust me, the less your insurance company knows about your driving, the better. In the case of an accident they will use anything possible to deny a claim. The purpose of these devices is to identify the risk based on different geographical locations, and raise premiums accordingly.
 
I've had a little blue dongle type thing plugged into the diagnostic port of one of one of our Allstate covered vehicles for 3+ years now. When I first started the policy, they offered a discount for agreeing to use one. You then could be eligible for further discounts depending on your driving habits. Long story short, other than what ever the initial discount is, we've never saved a penny. Darling bride generally fails on instances of "hard braking" and using the vehicle during times of the day that are deemed "less safe". Which is most of the day. LOL.

What amazes me is, how do these little things transmit data? What receives the data?
 
The new State Farm device no longer plugs into your OBD port; it uses the GPS on your phone. You have to use a smartphone to get the discount, but pretty much everybody has one nowadays. It saves me 20 something dollars per car over a six month period, which is worth it to me. Maybe I'm too trustworthy, but i don't buy into the paranoia about these devices. I'm a truck driver so I even drive my high performance cars very cautiously and sanely on the street. I've seen too much carnage over the years to do the same stuff I see others doing.
 
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I was going to do this when switching to Progressive but did some research and sent them back. A better use of your time is shop some other companies. They want your business and will give you a deal like the cell phone and tv dish companies. I assumed I was getting a fair deal but was delighted to save over $1100 on car and home owners insurance for a year. A year later I switched because that Co raised rates and saved $600 vs. staying with them. Didn't have to change this year due to no rate hike.
 
I know that I want my insurer to know where, when and how I drive.
I also know that they'll need to pay me more than $2.35 a month for that information.
Interestingly, the older Forester, which came on V rated tires, is governed to a hair under 100 mph while the newer one which came on H rated tires isn't. And you all thought that I always drove like the aging grandpa that I am.
How would I know this and why might this be information I'd not care to share with our insurer?
I doubt that they'd ask me to explain that I did these deeds on clear, dry and lightly trafficked interstates, as any sensible person would do.
They'd instead label me a reckless speed freak who should either pay very high rates despite my lack of accident history or they'd simply non-renew me.
The hassle of having someone always looking over your shoulder for every mile that you drive doesn't justify the savings.
 
I would only do this if I'm a bad driver and they are only willing to sell me insurance if I agree to install this on my car, like those insurance companies who will only insure an alcoholic with a breath analyzer.

Or if I'm buying a cost per mile driven insurance on a car that I just parked, and it is cheaper than my current insurance by a lot.

$2.35 a month, I'd skip a couple soda and ask them to leave me alone.
 
Originally Posted By: Aichiguy
I was going to do this when switching to Progressive but did some research and sent them back. A better use of your time is shop some other companies. They want your business and will give you a deal like the cell phone and tv dish companies.


I had Progressive for 15 years then dumped them when they figured I was complacent and started raising my rates. They were flattering me, calling me "Platinum" etc.

Then, due to the equifax thing, I pulled my credit. Progressive has been checking up on me, like few others.

They want me back.
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