State Farm In-Drive monitoring device
 

Anyone have any experience with State Farm's In-Drive? I signed up for it because the FR-S is my daily driver, but I hardly use it to begin with. Realistically the car is driven approximately 6-8 thousand miles per year and is left parked for up to 20+ day intervals each month, which they claim can lower my $70 insurance policy by "up to 50%". Obviously, the insurance company will look at the low usage of the car favorably.

There's a problem however...I just broke in the FR-S after 2 months of ownership :party0030: . After returning from work, I have a tendency to get into the far left lane and cruise at 85-90 MPH with all the other fast drivers. On occasion, I do brake hard and play with the car when deemed in a safe surrounding. I know the built in accelerometer in the device provides information back to the insurance company.

Anyone else have experience with these devices? Honestly, I see a privacy issue with this device and I'm tempted to cancel the free service but I'm curious if my rate can significantly decrease...or increase?

If they see that u are an issue
It will increase ur premium

My wife is not an aggressive driver and she didn't get a rate reduction when she tried one of those things. Different company but still.

Its a marketing strategy to get you to think that your rates will be lower while you give them all the telemetry your OBDII port will give them. $70 for full coverage is really pretty good actually.

Eric G

Had the Progressive doodad. What it considered to be aggressive braking was comical. Keeping it happy required driving in a way that infuriated me, but I did get a discount out of it. I will NOT put one of those in the FR-S.

Inside
 

I work for a competitor(not to be mentioned). We don't INCREASE your rate only decrease by less. The 50% is a, practically, unattainable amount because it relies on distance travelled being at or less then 12000 miles per year. Hard braking and other such activities SHOULD be available for you to monitor on the web. Check with your agent. We set it up so our policyholders can see instant updates almost in real time, it updates after you stop and turn off the vehicle. Being that the trial period is 3-5 months, I'd tough it out as the discount stays for the life of your vehicle and there's no do overs...hope this helps.

(Note: check with your insurer to be sure they don't increase rates. We issue it as a discount only, so it can't hurt you.)

I would never put one of these spy devices in my car. How I drive my car is my goddamned business.

Amen brotha'....Amen.

get one of these and go to trackday/auto cross:lol:

Feel free to put one on the family van or truck, but why bother putting one of these on a car most people bought for fun?

I installed the progressive ones in my FRS and pickup(DD). After a month of having them in there they emailed me and gave me a whopping 2% discount on my truck which accounted for $8 over a 6 month period. I got 30% on the FRS because I drive it very little. Saved me a little over $100 on it.

I sent the one in my truck back because I absolutely hated having it in there. You rack up "hard brakes" if a light catches you or you get cut off or something. Then the device beeps at you. Trying to avoid hard stops actually creates bad driving habits like blowing through red lights and such. Also, hearing the device beep would incite road rage and cursing fits. One other aggravating thing about the hard stops is you can rack up multiple ones during one stop. I was cruzing some podunk country highway, caught a light turning red and got 4 on just that one stop.

I averaged just under 1 hard stop a day and my avg mileage was just over 50 a day. I've gotten 3 total off one stop in the FRS in the six weeks its been in there.

Oh, one other thing. I have read reports that the devices can interfere with your vehicle in various ways. One time in my truck when taking off from a red light it started misfiring hard core. It was hardly running when i yanked the device from the obd port. As soon as i did the truck ran fine....I cant say for sure it was the device but its never done that in the 8 years i've had it and hasn't since.

This. In fact, i'll pay extra just so they don't monitor my driving habits.

This is good for grandmas with corollas who take 3mph turns out of parking lots not frs brz owners lol

I am shocked and amazed that anyone who owns a FR-S would even consider one of these devices. Our cars are for driving enjoyment and not for merely A to B transportation. One would need to drive in a very tame (and neutered) fashion to get any tangible benefit. The black box in newer cars nowadays is more than enough for me.