I received a $22 discount. When my 6 months renewed, it went up $2 despite my 95% good driving record. I spend more time worrying about trying to drive well for the app by constantly watching my speed that I’m not completely concentrating on what’s going on around me.
Thanks for the review -- I was paranoid about an Insurance company tracking me like "big brother" so after seeing both your review and the comments. I'm sold on NOT using this tracker!
Follow up -- spoke to my agent and told them I'd prefer to NOT use this device and they said I wouldn't save any money anyway because I have a multi-car and home insurance discount already, plus I drive so little it wouldn't matter. Of course, they didn't say that my rates could go UP if they felt I wasn't a safe enough driver... in the trash goes the device!
They've change the app and program quite a bit since you've uploaded this. Such as, you now have the option when setting the app up to not upload driving over cellular, and wait for wifi. They also now rate you 1-5 stars per trip and 1-100% overall. Speeding and cellphone usage apparently don't count towards discounts anymore either. So it seems they just use it towards counting mileage? Terms and conditions were long, what I gathered, they wont raise it due to poor driving, they just charge you the normal premium based off your other shared insurance score that's like a credit report and discount your drive safe and save from there based off 'better driving'. I was skeptical too, I didn't get it at first, then my rate discounts went down by over $300 just for signing up. Then my driving score is normally at a 97% or a 98%, taking off $190 the 6 month premium.
Thank you so much my concern was privacy but now with your information it double down decisions not to do. I never have unlimited for myself why for insurance company is not going to happen. God bless you man.
Thanks for the review I will give it a try..once they grade me with a c or less I'm outie cuz I always drive speed limit, no harsh turns, etc.. will see but thanks for your review
I just set mine up about a month ago, saved me $120 on my bill from the previous months. Similar report card stats, A's, B's and C's. Projected to save roughly the same amount next month too. I also drive carefully as well, not sure why yours would go up like that. Also I've never made a claim on any vehicle since I've been with State Farm 6 years now. Maybe that's why? Not sure. Works great for me though. Data usage is basically the same also. No significant rise at all. Sorry to hear about your experience, that sucks.
I keep mine in the center console and, so far, it is working great. My discount is much better on the car that sits more as opposed to my daily driver but still an added discount. My rates do fluctuate a little every six months but they always have. Do health insurance rates stay the same year after year? Mine certainly do not. I put off getting this device for about a year but it seems to be working for me so far. This video was posted in 2017 so maybe things have improved since then? Not sure.
You can set the app to only report your trips to State Farm when you are on WiFi to save your data plan usage of your phone. The device is not collecting the data, the app is. The device is only a bluetooth beacon to identify when your phone is in your car. Your phone is doing all the sensing and reporting.
That is only a beacon,it does absolutely nothing at all but tell your phone it is in the car.All the recording of information is done by the g-meter and location tracking in your phone.Also you can turn cellular transmission off and do a data dump once you are home or connected to the internet though Wi-fi.
Based on other reviews and what not, it sounds like these things are hit or miss for saving money. Plus if you are unlucky enough that your rates DO go up due to poor grading and you try to switch insurance, wouldn't you still have a high risk rating for the next company?
I've been using this for a couple of years. At first, not much of a discount as my scores were in the lower B's and C's. I took that as an indication that my driving may need to improve, so that's what I did. Now they're in the A's and I'm seeing a $156 savings on my 6-month bill. Weird how that works, huh?
Thanks for reviewing this. I just got one. I'm going to try it out anyway, but I won't get my hopes up. Also, it does look like they added a wifi only in the settings.
Good review. That said. Its a terrible product, even worse app. No way anyone in their right mind would use this for a way to save money on insurance. Its useless even with the best grades. We all know they are not in the business to save customers money. You said it best. Its a gimmick..
a statefarm agent just sent a request to me asking to do this if I want my discount in place, well, if they increase my bill, I just jump to different insurance companies.
The best review yet. Thanks. It wouldn't work for me as I will work out of state, pretty sure it wants it to stay on the city you have the coverage on, besides don't like it, uses my phone for tracking.
Thank you for this review! State Farm is sending me one of these and I downloaded the app. I will now delete the app. I don’t have unlimited data, you just saved me some money.
I just used it and after 6 months, it saved me 14.7 % on my insurance bill for my 3 cars, so it is worth it. That is driving as normal. $300 saved per 6 months.
Thanks so much for making this video! You make great points I didn't even think about! Also they told me it couldn't hurt me (as in make my rates go up) that it could only help me...but other reviews said the same thing happened to them and their rates went up.
thank you sir. I had just downloaded the app and was about to pair this devise when I realized it have State Farm accest to your location ect. and you added the fact that it will drain my highspeed data. Man, the heck with this thing They can have it!!!!!
Insurance companies are using devices and apps to track clients driving habits. Once you use it, they get to know you by the collected data and man, you might be tagged as a risky driver for their stock holders. Do not expect any good out of it, except a driving rate tag, unless you drive slow as a granny. For the most part I drive safely, but not slow, and that will tag me increasing my rates for a long time.
Completely agree, this is a bait with a trap! This box has no cameras or eyes to fully evaluate your driving style. But it will only provide data such GPS location, speed, braking and maybe lateral G-force from the sensors inside of this box, which can give the driver the wrong tag.
Thanks for the video. Currently been using for less than 6 months and wondering how what the discount is going to be. For the data on your phone, you can change the setting to upload data when connected to wifi. Though I'm the only driver, I'm curious if it can provide the score for each driver.
First of app doesn't "drain" all of your data. Data usage is approximately 5 mbps per month and for people who cant afford that, there is an option to transfer data using wifi when you connect to it. Secondly, this is a good way to save money for people who are a good driver. Bacon doesn't keep track of anything and all data is gathered from your phones accelerometer and gyroscope. For people who are idiots and use their phone while driving, hate this money saving opportunity as they have no respect nor consideration for safety of others. Thirdly, this is a free discount program that rewards people who are a safe driver. Isn't always a discount unless you are a safe driver. Terrible drivers dont get a break on insurance rates and they must cover their portion of risk. I have been using this for years since gen 1 of this program and have saved significant amount of money!
Good luck getting anything higher than a C on corners. I live in outer-city Orlando. Corners are C- for both, Acceleration is a C+, my braking went up last month from a C+ to a B, my speed has always been A+ (only goes down if you pass 80mph), and my time of day dropped from A+ to an A because I was out late one night and left my phone's bluetooth on, so it reported I was out. Whoops. Bright side is I am saving 11 dollars a month, but my grades barely move, and I'm the guy my friends trust to drive the Uhaul trucks when we move furniture because of all the hours I have in driving simulators. I wish the app had a live monitor to see where our imperfections lie because being given a grade without the solution and only hints isn't really teaching anyone anything.
Thanks for the review. What if i use it just home to work which is about 2 miles one side and when i go out of town, i turn off bluetooth so they dont keep track of me
I've been using this for two months after I had a couple of stupid accidents three months apart (single car, backing into things) and my premiums went up as a result. Upon my policy renewal, my agent suggested I give this a shot. My monthly payments went from approximately $160 a month ($140 a month prior to the accidents) to about $88 a month just for signing up. I got A+ scores during the two month period for all categories (even better than my agent's scores!) and I'm a very low mileage per year driver, which I suspect helped. (It probably also helped that I've been with State Farm for nearly 40 years.) I chalk up a mere 2500 to 3500 per year miles and State Farm considers anything under 7500 miles to be low. If you got burned after you started using this, it's very possible you were on a low-mileage discount and the app informed State Farm that you drove more miles than they originally assumed. Also, DO take advantage of the wifi only feature, so that your data usage doesn't climb. Your trip report will update within an hour or so once you connect to wifi. Anyway, read the FAQ before you take advantage of this app to make sure it's right for you.
I agree completely! We’ve been using the app and our ratings are ridiculous it’s not accurate at all. We were going to try the beacon but after seeing a several videos on here it seems like a joke. Thanks for the info!
I’ve had mine for a month I only get a $4 discount which is ridiculous. A Toyota Camry barely drive only to work and local and all my trips are 5 stars for everything. It seems like a gimmick but hey I saved $4 a month at least lol
Just what I want, BIG BROTHER watching every move I make. I just got my letter today inviting me to participate because " There should me more safe drivers like you". If they already know I'm that great, just give me the 5% discount and call it done. Not to worry though, I still have a flip phone, so none of that crap for me!!!!
I was thinking of getting this... My rates are awesome, but I thought I could save even more. I pay $126/month for a 2013 M3 Coupe. Thanks for the honest review. Just curious do you still have the E39 M5.
The device provided by State Farm is a trap, I just travel for about 460 miles trip (230 one way) to the mountains in Arizona. My wife was using her phone playing games, giving me directions to some places, etc., etc... At the end of my way up I checked my phone about the trip and the State Farm app reported me 14 incidents of Phone distraction and 2 incidents of speeding. I never touched the phone on the entire trip but still showing 14 incidents in different spots. About the speeding was going downhill which was ok until I corrected. The application indicated I was a poor driver. I was so furious and sick of it and asked my wife to uninstall the State Farm Drive Safe & Save and I did the same on my phone. This makes me believe my insurance premium will definitely go up because the app said poor driver. Several times happen also for accelerating and endless phone distraction. My opinion is: they save you $20.00 at starting of policy but who knows how much $$$ at renewal time because the app said Poor Driver. The major complain is PRIVACY (locations, time, where, etc., etc.) and data used on your phone. It's your decision. I cancelled the Drive Safe & Save policy.
I've had mine for about a year and I don't mind it at all. I'm saving around $40 on one vehicle. That's about 15%. It's not a lot, but for an app that's free, it's good enough for me. I have to disagree w/ the data drain comment though. That's a really simple fix. The app has a settings button and if you go in, you can change the settings to Wifi only. So I drive and when I get home to wifi, it dumps the data onto the app. I will say that I had a battery drain problem, but that was on a 2 yr old phone. Doesn't seem to bother my new phone at all. To each his own, I guess.
I have that in my car also. I kind of figured from the start its a trap, a way for your insurance to increase. I bet they are driving just like we are or worse. All the unnecessary acceleration and hard breaking ir ridiculous. I don't control the traffic and if someone all of a sudden stop in front of you or change lanes all of a sudden, i would think breaking hard is better than an accident . And i saw where someone else had a problem with distracted driver. Well i was in the passenger seat giving directions. I have until September and if my policy increase it's a done deal for me. I drive to my doctor appointments church and grocery store. Maybe to Auburn occasionally. Im paying 155.49 but im already searching for cheaper rates. Guess they don't consider the fact that when you out there especially on highway 431 and 165 you gotta drive for you and everyone else out there.
Can you cancel the drive safe and save? Will it add more money onto your insurance if you cancel it? I. Seeing a lot of bad reviews and I don't think i want it anymore. I have not gotten mines in the mail yet.
Great video, I just switched mine insurance to Statefarm and waiting for them to send me the beacons, I got two vehicles, but after viewing your video, I’m going to opt out this ridiculous, non-sense. Do I have the option to opt out?
Its a battery drainer too, my phones don't even last half day of usage and they are on the charge more often then we started using this device, I like the discount but it comes at a poor user experience.
It works for me, every dollar I can save, it’s something. No insurance will give you a great discount, they take only a few dollar off, tried with progressive and they are the same or worse.
I don't know how you drive. but the new app shows every trip details and I already hit 3 renewals. price already dropped close to 25%. They don't rate A B or C these days, they watch cornering, braking, accelerations and speed[80mph
I quit after a month. I had a 99% rating and only saw a discount of 4 dollars. I got nailed 4 tmes for heavy braking. I discovered on a heavy vehicle you set it off while stopping for a red light when going the speed limit. A lighter a car takes less braking and would not set it off. They should have different beacons for heavier cars. It is just physics. Also I got dropped a notch due to phone use which is not supposed to happen. This is not ready for prime time.
Thank you for sharing this info. I just recv’d one of these nonsense mobile tracker devices from State Farm & I’m not taking the bait. I really don’t see how any of these devices can be accurate unless a rep. is actually in the car with you PERIOD..!!!!! 😠😡
It said I used the phone when I was not...I was docked for braking, accelerating, turning, phone use....crazy! I'm a good driver. We have to react to the other bad drivers! My grade was down 88% after 50 trips... Could have saved me $9/ month, but it stressed me out. I uninstalled the app.
my insuance was 36 and I agreed to this I have not set it up yet but they gave me a 26 dollar policy, with state farm its best to go thru the state farm online and not an agent , with my agent it kept going up , I been with state farm for twenty years and no issues and or fines , accidents exceder Stqy away from the agents if you can. help it. But like I say it went down a few dollars and I have not even used this yet.
I'm curious about something re the State Farm Safe and Save system: A few days ago the system failed to record a number of my trips. I took about 5 trips that day, but only one of the trips was recorded. I would take a trip, then stop at a market, taking my smartphone with me, then return to the car and take another trip. I did this about 5 times, but only one of the trips was saved/recorded. I wonder what could cause this. I didn't make any changes to my phone settings. Also... 1] Is there some way for me to test and see if a trip is being recorded? 2] What triggers the end of a trip? Is it when your smartphone leaves the car, or when the car stops moving for a long period, or something else? Thanks.
I am going to try these on 2 driver 2 car setup. But based on what I read, I think you need to have your phone setup so that you allow the app to use your location at all times. iPhone has option use location while using the app or to use all the time even in the background. Normally these type of apps find a trip when you start moving at a normal car speed and when you stop moving at car speed for a certain period of time, it will end the trip.
Thank you for sharing this, I just installed this I haven't even used it yet and already hate it. I feel like its violating my privacy. I'm thinking this thing tracks you.
@@kym0515 - Kimmie Lou I just finished my first full six-month cycle with it and saved over $50 as a result. Also drove to Florida shortly after connecting it and during the drive there and back I hit 130 mph once and over 100 mph two other times. My average speed was about 12-15 mph over the speed limit. I thought I would receive NO discount as a result and I received a greater discount than the 5% they claim is possible. My agent told me all it would log regarding speed would be the number of times that you exceed 80mph and he assured me it has no way of knowing the speed limits of the roads you are on at any given time. He said it can only reduce the amount of discount you receive but cannot be used to increase your rates.
I got three of these in the mail today and I’m not going to use them. I’m not going to allow StateFarm to use my driving data against me to raise rates or possibly deny any claims.
Anonymous User this program cannot hurt you. No matter how bad you drive, you are guaranteed at least a 1% discount. Trust me. I am a guy that would know the facts ;)
I've used this for over a year, I just found out I'm saving only $4.34 per 6 months. I drive over 17000 miles a year and all my grades are As Bs and Cs. It's not worth it, especially if you drive regularly .
Where do you see your grades? I have used it for six months and saved over $50. But the app on my Galaxy S7 Edge does not show any grades . . ? ibb.co/cC2VoA
That's because you drive too many miles per year. You driving all those miles greatly Increases your chances of being in a wreck. At least that's how insurance companies see it.
Every driver has a different experience as it is based on their driving habits and usage. Feel free to let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
KinGizzard Hi. I haven’t been affected yet. I got my first car insurance bill and there was no discount/increase. I’m sure it’s hooked up correctly because I get a motivation every day. I don’t know how this works lol
I actually saved $136 on my 6 month premium. I don't drive more than 8,000 miles per year and I work close to my house but I do attend college which is a little far. If you don't drive super far and you don't have to brake hard you should see a discount.
Does anyone have any F-ing idea why this device would be installed on the wall of my office cubical? How does the device work? What does the button do on it when pressed? Can this thing be repurposed for something else? Thanks.
Aaron Arizmendi we were given 5% when we started. I honestly don’t know how everything is calculated. With our driving score ranging from 88-95%, an extra $2 discount was not a motivator for us. I’m guessing that one has to have a near perfect rating to get the 30% discount that’s advertised.
There are lot to talk about this beacon device. I am using in two cars. In one of My car, 6 months premium dropped to 1/3 after using Safe drive for some time. That's why I decided to continue, question is who gives you that much of a discount just by using the little skinny tablet. If you want discount then participate if not pay the full premium there is no obligation or it is not mandatory. I do agree that phone drains battery fast when you keep Bluetooth and location on together . So does when you play games and keep bluetooth and headset on.Phone battery also drains when you surf internet and watch movies online. I compromise phone usage on a different angle, . I turn off or close all applications while driving . Also I turn off my mobile data altogether, only keep my wifi on to access internet from my phone. I also download offline maps for free which is valid for a month. So I keep uploading offline maps every month, which helps me get directions on the road if at all while driving without accessing mobile data. These days most restaurant or store has free wifi so the state farm trip info transmission can happen all the time if you keep wifi on free of cost while shopping or dining or at home. Once I reach home or office my phone wifi connects and transmits data to state farm. I barely use any mobile data from my mobile plan. Recently I noticed state farm added lot of extra things such as phone usage, speeding etc.. to collect data while driving. I am not happy to see where State farm is going by tracking my phone usage.But according to them it will not impact my discount. Oh yeah. But dodging all the Cons I still find it is worth to sacrifice few things to get huge amount of discount. I can train myself to be more mindful and watchful while driving(taking turns gently, braking and accelerating etc..) to earn more discounts. Don't you guys mindful to collect coupons and keep it in a safe place to get price off of groceries ? why not here. I am selling State farms product but expressing my attitude towards saving some money in every 6 months. At the end you can't win the war over these corporations because they won both parties[evils] Demagogues and repunk-lie-cons. AND CORPORATIONS RULE OUR COUNTRY.
I took this thing to the track and a couple autocross events and they gave me a $60 discount. Thinking about driving on the wrong side of the road going 90 and that should be good for another hundred bucks.
Just switched to state farm this week. My agent signed this up for me, what would happened if I just don't install it? She said it won't affect me if I stay under 80mph and such, but I'm thinking that's lie now.
Thanks for posting the review. With that being said, a lot of your information is wrong. I have this device on my car. My rates didn’t go up, they went down 5%, which they advertise. I’ve had the device for 8 months and my discount went up to 9%. I usually drive 5-10 over the speed limit, depending on if it’s highways or side streets and I have a ‘B’ in speed. I have a hard time believing that a guy with the username E39M5SPEED doesn’t speed and only drives 60 on the highways. Also, the only change I noticed with my phone is that it uses my battery a little more than before. But it’s hard to tell because I have a charger in my car, at work and at home so I never have a drained battery. This app uses Bluetooth to connect to the device. So it only uses your battery. Bluetooth DOES NOT have an effect on your data. Google it. With all that being said, I do agree that the app needs work, it was kind of a pain getting logged on to start. Also, I have used other insurance companies in the past, and this is not a gimmick. Every insurance company has a version of this product. There is even a new company that came out that bases your rates on you using a similar device. It’s not going away. That’s what insurance companies are moving towards.
im glad it worked for you. Its true. I always drive in the right lane and usually go just under the speed limit. I find it relaxing . My wife hates it and always tells me, if everyone goes 10mph over the limit why don't you ?!
Also, I noticed he drives a stick shift (BMW M5 ?). The only ones with a manual trans. in the USA these days are driving enthusiasts. His rate likely went up because he understated his miles driven per year.
If you use adaptive cruise control on your car and use it this device will put your scores in the crapper, it does not like the way adaptive cruise control drives your car.
So... What exactly happens if you simply don't use them/throw them away/or set them up and just leave them in your garage? Is there a way to beat this? I just switched to SF and these just showed up in my mailbox without ANY mention of them when I signed up. Have I been swindled into thinking I'm getting a good rate when it relies on this BS?
I have the same problem with inaccurate reporting. Reporting speeding off and on even though I'm going the same speeds through the same sections of highway. Slower than the rest of the traffic. Among a number of other inaccuracies being reported inconsistently. I also wish I never got it. On a side note, in the app's settings, you can choose to use WiFi only so it will store the trip data in your device until it connects to WiFi (like at home, or at work). Saves on data usage. Otherwise I'd never get the damn thing working. Still, fuck this thing. I don't think it's worth the 16 dollars a month I am saving.
My last bill before drive safe and save was added was $300. Six months later and a 95% or better (driver) according to the app now says I saved $53... Whahoo..... My insurance bill this time was $325... What? Where was my $53 dollar savings. What a SCAM..... State Farm will probably raise my next premium by $53. Do not do this DS&S you will screw yourself over.....
There’s already enough data collected on us to determine how much of a driving risk we are or how high our credit scores should be ect. Millions of data points are collected about people and sold all the time and this is a step closer to those data points being used to control our lives. But this is a device that we are agreeing to let be used against us imagine in 20 years where this will be
