OBD 'plug in' on a 991 to get a small insurance discount. Would you do it?
05-23-2018, 09:27 PM
#1
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
OBD 'plug in' on a 991 to get a small insurance discount. Would you do it?
Recently switched from AAA to Nationwide. My competitive rate for 4 cars/ 3 drivers (but one of whom is 17
) is $5950/yr. I can get a 5% discount from Nationwide if I agree to plug a 'Smartride' device into the OBD of all 4 cars for 3 mths. Has anyone else done this? Supposedly it only registers miles and not speeding /GPS info etc. They say 5% discount to do it and up to 15% more if you prove to be a good driver/honest with the miles. I'm suspicious but I wonder what you guys think??
Jim
) is $5950/yr. I can get a 5% discount from Nationwide if I agree to plug a 'Smartride' device into the OBD of all 4 cars for 3 mths. Has anyone else done this? Supposedly it only registers miles and not speeding /GPS info etc. They say 5% discount to do it and up to 15% more if you prove to be a good driver/honest with the miles. I'm suspicious but I wonder what you guys think??Jim
05-23-2018, 09:39 PM
#2
Instructor
ALL the data from an OBD port on 4 of your cars, yup totally smart because it's in the best interests of the Insurance company to LOWER your payments. That's it....totally smart, go for it.
05-23-2018, 09:39 PM
#3
I'd say absolutely not - never ever. That thing likely records everything.
Electric self driving cars around the corner, we might have a last hurrah here, don't give away your freedom.
Electric self driving cars around the corner, we might have a last hurrah here, don't give away your freedom.
05-23-2018, 09:49 PM
#5
Pro
I do it on my cars. Metromile. I am a low mileage driver and moving 4 of my 5 cars to Metromile saved me 65% on my annual insurance expenses. I kept the one on Farmers to keep my umbrella policy.
05-23-2018, 10:20 PM
#6
Nordschleife Master
If it is only for 3 months be on your best behavior forthe 3 months, get your discount, and then remove it and send it back to them and then go crazy. 
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05-23-2018, 10:53 PM
#8
Rennlist Member
Would I be suspicious? YES!!
Would I believe that they only record miles and nothing more? Uhhhh ... NO.
Would I allow them to track my every move for three months? HELL NO!
Remember their motive: PROFIT. It's all about the money. It always has been and it always will be.
That's all you really need to know to understand how they will use the info they collect over three months.
Would I believe that they only record miles and nothing more? Uhhhh ... NO.
Would I allow them to track my every move for three months? HELL NO!
Remember their motive: PROFIT. It's all about the money. It always has been and it always will be.
That's all you really need to know to understand how they will use the info they collect over three months.
05-23-2018, 11:37 PM
#10
The question is, how much is your privacy worthed to you? Customers privacy data is very valuable to insurance companies. I wouldn’t let them have mine with just a small discount. So if I were you, I would tell them to shove that reader back to their ...
PF
PF
05-23-2018, 11:46 PM
#11
Pro
I’ve had the same carrier with the dongle in my cars for 2 years and my monthly and per-mile rates have gone down. On a daily basis I fracture enough driving laws to earn a suspension, so clearly they are not penalizing me for speeding, etc.
Profit motive. Clearly. However, that only works if they keep their customers and in a competitive market there are many options for insurance if you don’t have egregious code violations. If Metromile jacked up my rates because I went to Laguna Seca or fractured the speed law while taking my kids to school... I’d drop them and go to a competing carrier. They know this. But it is also worth highlighting that insurance companies don’t need an OBD-II device to track your movement. They can get that off your smartphone, every one of the insurance company apps access GPS services on installed devices, and once they have your email address they can get that info from 3rd parties if their mobile app isn’t installed on your device.
But let’s talk profit motives. My Farmers bill ran $7k a year, switching to a per-mile carrier dropped me down to $1,500 and I still have to keep one car on my homeowners for the umbrella plus I have another car that has to go through a specialty insurance provider so let’s round it up to $3k per year. That’s $4k of profit I’m depriving Farmers. I’ll take it. I would advise that you - everyone - to be suspicious of all data businesses (which is everyone now), but to quote Freud, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
Profit motive. Clearly. However, that only works if they keep their customers and in a competitive market there are many options for insurance if you don’t have egregious code violations. If Metromile jacked up my rates because I went to Laguna Seca or fractured the speed law while taking my kids to school... I’d drop them and go to a competing carrier. They know this. But it is also worth highlighting that insurance companies don’t need an OBD-II device to track your movement. They can get that off your smartphone, every one of the insurance company apps access GPS services on installed devices, and once they have your email address they can get that info from 3rd parties if their mobile app isn’t installed on your device.
But let’s talk profit motives. My Farmers bill ran $7k a year, switching to a per-mile carrier dropped me down to $1,500 and I still have to keep one car on my homeowners for the umbrella plus I have another car that has to go through a specialty insurance provider so let’s round it up to $3k per year. That’s $4k of profit I’m depriving Farmers. I’ll take it. I would advise that you - everyone - to be suspicious of all data businesses (which is everyone now), but to quote Freud, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
05-24-2018, 12:21 AM
#13
Recently switched from AAA to Nationwide. My competitive rate for 4 cars/ 3 drivers (but one of whom is 17) is $5950/yr. I can get a 5% discount from Nationwide if I agree to plug a 'Smartride' device into the OBD of all 4 cars for 3 mths. Has anyone else done this? Supposedly it only registers miles and not speeding /GPS info etc. They say 5% discount to do it and up to 15% more if you prove to be a good driver/honest with the miles. I'm suspicious but I wonder what you guys think??
Jim
) is $5950/yr. I can get a 5% discount from Nationwide if I agree to plug a 'Smartride' device into the OBD of all 4 cars for 3 mths. Has anyone else done this? Supposedly it only registers miles and not speeding /GPS info etc. They say 5% discount to do it and up to 15% more if you prove to be a good driver/honest with the miles. I'm suspicious but I wonder what you guys think??Jim
05-24-2018, 12:23 AM
#14
Liberty mutual offers a 10% at a minimum. They do not measure speed. They measure total miles driven, the frequency and duration of hard acceleration and braking events. They also measure number of miles/minutes driven between the hours of midnight and 5 am.
Skeptical? I had 3 cars enrolled in the 90 day monitoring period. Results were that I received 29% discount on one vehicle, 26% on the second, and 22% on the 3rd vehicle. The first 2 vehicles were weekend toys with very little mileage, and the last vehicle is driven daily. I honestly don't care what additional data they secretly
collected during that 90 days. The discount supposedly doesn't expire, so unless that changes, I will be staying with them. If rates go up I'll shop.
Of course, the GTS will be participating in the program.
Skeptical? I had 3 cars enrolled in the 90 day monitoring period. Results were that I received 29% discount on one vehicle, 26% on the second, and 22% on the 3rd vehicle. The first 2 vehicles were weekend toys with very little mileage, and the last vehicle is driven daily. I honestly don't care what additional data they secretly
collected during that 90 days. The discount supposedly doesn't expire, so unless that changes, I will be staying with them. If rates go up I'll shop.
Of course, the GTS will be participating in the program.
05-24-2018, 01:06 AM
#15
Rennlist Member
Unless you lend all your cars to a crew of Prius drivers for the entire period, then no. I suspect even a modest number of high speed/hard acceleration events will go on your "permanent record". And that can only be used against you, if not now then later.