DeDivahDeals

Fashion and Fun after Fifty

Posts Tagged ‘State Farm Insurance’

Tracking Teenage Drivers

Hello Friends and Happy Hump Day Wednesday

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As the mother of a teenage driver I am always on pins and needles every time he grabs his keys and leaves the house.  There is just so much they can learn in a classroom setting and even with the mandatory driving hours that are required with a Graduated License, once they are on the road alone it can become a life or death situation.

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Some teenagers are extremely careful and patient drivers, others not so much and unfortunately I have the latter.  I’ve explained to him that driving is a privilege and he should remain ever vigilant when he’s behind the wheel.  There are just too many RIP Markers on the sides of the road and a few of you know that I lost my sister in a car accident on September 14th 1992.

I have argued, nagged and yelled at him to drive slowly and also threatened him with the loss of his car, keys and driving privileges if ever stopped for speeding.

                                                          . yelling mom

It goes in one ear and out the other and so I think the time has come for more drastic measures.  Hubby brought home information from the website Teen Tracking, a plug and play GPS monitoring system and I am seriously considering buying one.

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According to the website The Big Brother GPS Locator/Tracker “allows parents to keep a close eye on their new teen drivers. Notifications on speed and boundary violations. Easy 2-wire installation. Installs under dash for covert operation. PoweredbyGPS® technology.”  The cost is hefty but the piece of mind is priceless and definitely cheaper than the increase to our monthly car insurance rates!

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Has anyone purchased this Teen Tracking monitor or is there another GPS Tracker that you would suggest?

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Car Shopping Is No Longer A Fun Event!

Once upon a time not so long ago car shopping was a fun and exciting adventure, flipping through magazines, reading the classifieds, looking for the perfect car, with the perfect color for the perfectly affordable price.  That was “BK”, “before kids”, now as a parent of 2 sons we are once again in the market for a car, not for me nor hubby but for #1 son.

We were very fortunate the first time when we found a 2002 Hyundai Elantra at a very affordable price but with very high mileage and now, “Miranda” is on her last legs.  She is not going to make it much longer and it’s not worth putting any more money into having her serviced.  She was dutiful in her position and served us well, she valiantly got the  boys back and forth to High School with weekend jaunts to the mall and grocery store.  Now the time has come to find a replacement and it is not a fun event.  The sticker prices are a hard pill to swallow but we must keep in mind that good safety features and good insurance ratings are our number one priorities.

Hubby and I spend a few hours yesterday looking for vehicles that might fit the bill, first stopping at Carman Auto Group in New Castle.  We didn’t see many but there was a 2012 Ford Fiesta, with mileage that wasn’t too high but was a bit out of our price range.

Ford Fiesta

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Our next stop was at Willis Chevrolet in Middletown.  Willis is where I have my Hyundai Sonata serviced and customer satisfaction is their #1 priority so it wasn’t a surprise to find that they had a few vehicles that caught our attention.

A 2011 Ford Fiesta SES, mileage was a bit high for it’s age and a sticker price worth negotiating, the other vehicle was a 2009 Chevy Cobalt Sport, mileage and price more palatable.

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Ford Cobalt

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Now comes the fun part…the research…checking State Farm Insurance, KBB, Carfax, Cars.com, AAA, Costco and any other website to compare prices, and safety features – this is no longer a fun event and I still have to get a hooptie for son #2 – do you know where I can get a 2fer!

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