For my first Take on this site in a while, I figured I'd start with a non-confrontational and gender-neutral subject, so here's my experience with the Snapshot device from Progressive and how it affects your car insurance rates. When I bought my (brand spanking) new car, State Farm tried to charge me almost $400 a month for car insurance, so I switched to Progressive who charged me less than half. In further efforts to save money, I surrendered 5 months of driving privacy in attempt to lower my rates with their Snapshot device. Spoiler alert: I saved money with it
I drive stick, so this review may not be entirely applicable to drivers with automatic transmissions. My car is not equipped with Cruise Control, so I am unaware of how that feature affects driving with this device
What is the Snapshot Device?
Many car insurance companies such as Progressive and State Farm offer the use of devices that plug into your car and monitor your driving in order to help reduce your rates and make you a safer driver. The device hooks into your battery and computer and monitors your rates of acceleration and deceleration, frequency and time, and some devices monitor G-forces (mine did not). When you drive a certain way, it will utter a beep to let you know you're possibly driving recklessly. If you drive safely according to the device's standards, your car insurance rates will decrease at renewal; if you drive recklessly according to the device's standards, you car insurance rates will increase at renewal
First thing's first: I rejoiced in sending my "infernal beeping machine" back once I received my postage-paid box in the mail because this thing beeps a lot, like all the time. When you initially plug the device in (super easy), it beeps to let you know it's connected...but then it continues to beep everytime you start your engine. It beeps when you sit at traffic lights too long and if you lose acceleration while driving uphill; it beeps when you stop too short or start to quickly; worst of all, it beeps for absolutely no reason at all when you're driving a steady pace on a flat surface. So if you're interested in trying one of these devices, prepare yourself for 5-6 months of relentless beeping even if you drive appropriately
But not all beeps are bad nor do they mean your rates will increase. Online you can monitor your progress by checking how many hard stops you log, how many miles and and how much time you drive, how many trips you make per day, and how often you drive during dangerous driving hours (midnight-4AM on weekends). After a month of constant beep-beep-beep!s, I realized that was only a warning, and the device will only log a hard break if it utters one long beeeeeep! So I suggest monitoring your driving online or through the app if you're concerned about your beeps
How to drive "safely"
Now I will admit that I do feel like a safer driver after using my Snapshot device, my gas mileage skyrocketed from 35mpg to 40.5, and I haven't been in an accident since, but what Progressive deems "safe" causes you to alter your driving significantly. People often honked at me and illegally passed me while I drove according to my device because they thought I was driving too slow or impeding traffic (but if they cause an accident in passing you, the Snapshot device can be used in court to back up as driving appropriately at the time). Supposedly its aim is to decrease tailgating with the hard stops and racing with accelerations (but I experienced no problems in tailgating semis for fuel efficiency). I set my radio to the classical station to calm me down while driving because driving angry or upset increases your chances of driving recklessly
Basics
While the device does not report speeding to your insurance company, I recommend driving slower than the speed limit so you have enough time to stop if the light in front of you turns yellow. In my experience, if I drove 45mph (the speed limit) on my way to the high way and the car in front of me stopped short instead of running a yellow light, I would have to eat a hard stop, so I learned to drive 40mph on that road and about 5mph below the speed limit on most roads with stoplights or signs. I rolled stop signs and gunned it through yellow lights to avoid hard stops (why I don't entirely agree with their standards of "safe" driving). Since I drive a stick, I generally took my foot off the gas and downshifted when approaching lights rather than braking when on my normal commute. Since I drive a stick, I experienced little problem with starting to quickly, and focused more on accelerating at a steady pace
Time
People who drive less than 30 miles a day will save money, but those who drive more than 30 miles round-trip to work shouldn't even bother with this device unless they have two cars to alternate mileage. Driving between the hours of midnight and 4AM on Friday and Saturday nights will cause your rates to increase, so I spent 5 months arranging for my friends to pick me up and staying at work until 4AM if my boss asked me to stay until midnight Friday instead of driving during those hours. I ended up driving twice during this time throughout my trial period. The device also monitors how many trips you take and when you normally drive, so consistency and combining trips is ideal. I tried to limit driving to my set work schedule, stopping at the store on the way home, and driving only once on the weekends (during the day)
Hills
Apparently Progressive thinks everyone lives in a cornfield because driving through hills with their Snapshot device is a real pain in the neck. Before receiving the device, I read reviews online of people saying their device beeped everytime they braked at the bottom of a hill with a stop sign, so I made extra sure I braked extra slowly going downhill. Driving uphill also proved a bit of a problem. The highway on-ramp from work is a fairly steep incline, so It took me about two months mastering shifting into 4th gear just as I crested the peak to prevent the device from thinking I accelerated too fast. Driving up and down hills on the highway also caused beeps even with a level foot, so I learned to press the gas pedal while driving uphill and press the brake pedal while driving downhill on the highway. Be wary of hills
Tricking the device
I used my device during the winter months, so I spent several combined hours warming up my car. Now you would think Progressive would reward people for this good driving habit, but they don't. If you let your car sit with the brake on--pedal or emergency--for more than about 3-4 minutes, it will beep. So while I warmed up my car in 4 degree (Fahrenheit) weather or when I sat at a light or in bumper-to-bumper traffic, I learned you can take the brake off and press lightly on the gas every couple minutes to avoid this beep. Supposedly they use this information to gauge the overall danger of driving in your area, so your overall rate can increase with this "sitting in traffic" information. As I said earlier, I rolled stop signs and gunned (not too much) yellow lights to avoid them as well
Why not to use it
Snapshot and other like devices are not for everybody. People who drive angry, tailgate, race, cause accidents, and otherwise drive recklessly shouldn't bother because your rates will go up. While the device does not monitor speeding, since speeding reduces your ability to stop in time, I would also not recommend this for people who speed. Teaching a teenager how to drive is not the time to try this program, so I'd recommend putting it off or using it on a car driven only by an adult or safer driver. Old cars with old or bad batteries can sometimes have problems with this device since it draws power from the battery while your car is turned off (I had no problem with mine); if your battery dies or you disconnect the device, Progressive will make you restart your trial period. Driving in icy conditions was less than ideal for this device, so I'd recommend signing up during the spring or summer months. And people who live in inner cities with many lights, awful drivers, and many sudden stop situations may be better off sucking up their current rates because the sudden stops caused by inner city driving may produce counterproductive results
My results
I saved money! Progressive judged that I am a safe driver in the 5 months I spent with their device in my car, so I saved money at my 6-month renewal. All in all, I saved $214 on car insurance per 6 months (about $430 a year). So while I absolutely loathed the thing and celebrated shipping it off at the post office earlier this month, I do recommend the Snapshot from Progressive and other like devices if you are a safe driver and want to save some extra money on your car insurance
Most Helpful Opinions