Trying to weigh discount auto rates in California is in the nature of entering a maze. The choices are like a whirlwind, and costs are all over the website–how much your luck strategy. That’s very like picking out an avocado at the grocery store.

Your address determines insurance rates in ways you never suspected. Living in a faraway suburb could be obtaining some quiet advantages, but if you find yourself inside a crowded city, be prepared because those rates may reflect the lively chaos around you.

Your driving records are also big players. Think of your driving record as a report card for the roads. Got a few speeding tickets lurking in there somewhere? They hang around like unwanted house guests, pushing those rates up. The plus side? Keep your record clean and sooner or later, before you know it a lot of those painful reminders will start to fade into the background. Hopefully all that high premium stuff will slide right on behind them.

The car you drive is also a factor. Sure, that sleek sports car may turn heads, but what it’s probably doing instead is sending your insurance bills through the roof. Try going for something more modest–perhaps your grandfather’s old sedan–and you may find yourself back in the world of reasonable rates again. Sometimes it really does pay to play it safe!

Changes to your job status can also change your rates. Sometimes people with certain professions–education or science for example–discover that their unexpected little bonuses from work mining the insurance front.

Think about buncoupling your insurance policies. It’s akin to getting a good deal on a family-style dinner for four. If you have home or other non-car insurances, the round-them-up-and-save-a-bundle approach may help. Certainly worth checking out.

Now, suppose you go for a higher deductible. It might mean a pinch when something goes pear-shaped, but it can also keep your monthly charges down. It’s a crafty game and nobody really knows—just what waters you want to navigate. Nonetheless, this is an angle you might want to explore.

Here’s a quick story to illustrate that point. My buddy Tim added a teenager daughter onto the family policy he was part of and proceeded to save big. Now and again augmenting the number of drivers under one roof can score noticeable savings for them all, making that teenage permit seem just a little bit less alarming.

Of course, shopping around for rates is quite crucial. The deeper you dig, and the better you contrast your choices, the more likely you are to find savings other people just don’t grasp. While it might look overwhelming when you first start out, but with patience and tactics in hand, obtaining discounts that are available only in California is well within reach.