I Just Sold My Kia Soul To the Kia Dealer, Because My Little State Farm Beacon Buddy, Tracks Everything That I Do In My New Kia Sorento

500 dollars a month for insurance? Wow. She must have a terrible driving record. Maybe the beacon buddy will get her to drive better.

have had this beacon for three years --- state farm insurance costs me $26.50 per month for full coverage !!

Insurance companies need to fkcu all the way off. They keep increasing rates for imaginary coverage. When people don't use their Insurance they should get a refund!

State Farm will issue these to policy holders directly for a similar discount. I tried it but the thing is unrealistic. For example, properly using highway on-ramp or exit-ramps caused negative scores. You are supposed to use the on ramp to match highway speed so yes you accellerate like you are leaving an aircraft carrier. Likewise, the exit ramp is meant for you to slow down ON the ramp, not a mile before while you are still on a 70MPH highway. Trying to drive to keep the thing happy was putting me in danger from everybody else. When last seen, my little gadget was stuck inside a bag of garbage headed to a landfill.

The savings on my policy with, or without the device, was only about $15 a month. Changing insurance companies saved me a lot more money.

If you can't afford the payment without compromising on insurance costs, you're overextended and shouldn't be buying that car.

AAA does the same thing. Any discount is worth it. You also become more aware of your driving habits.

Used root ins for a few years. Rate ended up high enough I just went back to state farm. No more tracking for me, they will raise your rates no matter how safe a driver you are.

This isn't news the insurance companies have had these options available for years, in fact there's some insurance companies that just use your phone and it doesn't use a Bluetooth beacon like Root for example. Progressive has an option to just use your phone as well I did the same thing with them. However you should never use an insurance discount to be able to afford your vehicle because at any moment that insurance discount can disappear and then all the sudden you can't afford your vehicle and your lifestyle anymore, you should do the smart thing and reevaluate your lifestyle so that you can afford the vehicle even if the insurance discount isn't there.

When you start trading your freedoms and privacy for security, you'll end up with neither.

She "didn't have a choice"? Of course she did! She could have bought a used car with a lower payment AND lower insurance! This victim mentality bullshit is absolute garbage and exhausting.

That's sad, $500@ month? My 24 GMC Sierra 2500 HD only runs $252.

Why does the title say she sold her KIA Soul back to the dealership, but the story says she kept it, and is referring to her eternal soul in the quote?

If you can't afford the insurance, maybe you shouldn't be buying that car. Doesn't seem like a very good financial decision lol.

Looooong-time State Farm customer here. Last year I got a new car and State Farm sent me one of these things (which I did not ask for) and I promptly returned it to my local office. We already live in a tracking dystopia, so why make it worse? The savings on insurance wasn't nearly enough to make me consider this device. Also, she was going to have to pay 500 bucks a month for insurance??? What did she do, run over the Pope and his dog?!?

The Drive Safe & Save is a discount program, and gives you 10% off immediately. But, you need to make sure you link it up on the app. If not, it's removed. I tell my customers, monitor the app. Open it up once a week and it will tell you what you should improve on. At your renewal, you can get up to 30% at your renewal. I have never seen anyone get the 30%. I work for a State Farm agent. Don't believe what the dealership is telling you, they are NOT LICENSED. They allow people to drive of the lots, without insurance. They only care about the sale.

Initially it will cost you less, but when it misinterprets you hitting the brakes because some fool cuts you off or thinks your in a work zone that actually was removed you suddenly are paying through the nose anyways. Meanwhile they're selling your data on where you go to eat, shop, work and whether you are embroiled in a mad fling with pizza delivery driver. I get the reasons she made the decision, just a good chance she will come to regret it eventually

I do with the State farm and had the same experience, wasn't that I could look forward to higher insurance I thought it would be better with the discount so I tried it,
And let me tell you, after 6 months I drop State farm and found another carrier because of that beacon.
It was so stressful, I felt like I was riding with my mother!
Let's be honest who thinks State farm is going to use that information to lower your rates? Lol

I already had State Farm insurance when I bought my new 2024 Nissan Rogue but decided I needed to cut costs in other ways to justify my purchase. With insurance costs so high i needed to keep costs under control. I actually ended up with a lower insurance premium after all my discounts: safe driver, multi car/home discount, drive and save discount, and my car itself qualified for some discount because of all its safety features it has installed. A couple months after, I got an added discount for my drive safe and save program because they had actual data to analyze.
So far it has been worth it. I can have it removed at anytime. Im not in any contract. Also state farm was fabulous when I did need to file a claim for an accident. I first claimed no injury but about a week later had to claim an injury because it was more than temporary soreness. It was not a problem. I have nothing negative to say about the process and pay out.

I ripped mine out after week one. Found out I'm a horrible driver🤣🤣🤣

What roderiqua said is correct. Ask a State Farm auto insurance agent and that agent will tell you what information the State Farm Beacon collects. Information the beacon collects us useful in predicting accidents. No, I am not a State Farm agent, nor do I have anything to do with State Farm other than have my homeowners and auto insurance with them.

I had progressive snapshot
These things are absolute BS. Striking a speed bump at 15mph is considered a hard brake.

According to the State Farm app, you dont really get dinged for speed unless you're going 8 mph over the speed limit. Yes, you need to avoid fast turns and hard braking. Racing to the next red light is inefficient AF anyway, both for fuel and maintenance.

The missed call? You don't have to wait for them to call back "when it's cool". YOU can call back when it's cool.

It saves you $82, I know that $82 can make or break a budget, But I feel like I would cheap on something else or let go of something until I could afford it more easily (not get my nails done or something).. I would hate the feeling of running late and have to be in accordance with the insurance block - although maybe we should all have it and there would be less accidents 🤔

Still too much, you got ripped off still. My insurance is only $32 a month full coverage and nobody's tracking how I drive. I could save State Farm money too, if they went thru me, instead of the beacon. Whatever the price beacon charge State Farm, I knock off 50% of what beacon

I've had State Farm for 20 years. I also have the beacon in mine and my husband's vehicles. He drives like a turtle, great. Me however I drive 10 mph over the speed limit always. Our rates haven't changed, never had increased. My other driving habbits are good though, no jack rabbit starts, corner slowly and have enough room between cars so that I don't slam on breaks.
Overall good experience with State Farm.

To lower my insurance rate which was suppose to be lower than what I was paying before turning in my 2022 Traverse (for a 2025) with the device didnt turn out that way. I made my first payment and almost chucked the device out the window. If I get a higher payment again, I might end the program. The Chevy app does the same thing as well as Life 360. My insurance offered the program to me.

I had this for a while and got rid of it when my insurance went sky high.

It's NOT a requirement and yes you save $$ but this is also how your premium could go up or how SF will NOT pay your claim. Brake hard to avoid an accident and they may just think you're a tailgater. You don't get this with no strings attached.

Why was the dealer selling her insurance? And why was her insurance $500 a month? I have 2 vehicles on mine with full coverage and it’s only $196 a month. (It was $178 but apparently went up recently) but I also don’t have State Farm.,,

I have the same beacon on my 2017 Nissan Frontier. I got it because my insurance kept.going up significantly the state farm agent said this will bring my insurance down. It did reduce it by 50 dollars but since then my insurance keeps going up and up every year again and even though they say the program is saving me money and I have a great driving record they say all premiums and rates are going up due to cost of living and fraud. We should not be penalized for this as I have been with the. For over 25 years.