The number of companies that advertise on TV with promises to save drivers from the awful fate of auto breakdowns keeps growing. As a lifelong news junkie by training and experience, I have to tolerate them along with personal injury lawyers and political office seekers. But I do not have to like any of them. It is possible to hear enough misleading statements and outright lies to induce doubt about the character of humanity itself.

I have some observations about those promising to fix broken cars. First, this service is simply insurance. It might be a sensible deal for those who drive vehicles that are no longer under new car warranty. However, there are other solutions.

What bothers me is the erroneous claims. One is that all vehicles will break down in time. Not so. Over the decades of my driving experience,  I have owned about two dozen vehicles. I had to replace an engine in one. Two lasted over 300,000 miles with no issues. Indeed, I still have one and it is going strong. Four were destroyed in wrecks, none of them my fault. Breakdowns are not inevitable.

They claim that the “check engine” light on the instrument panel is a harbinger of deep trouble. If auto owners would just read their owners’ manuals, they would know that this light usually is a reminder to take the vehicle in for routine maintenance – oil and filter change, etc.

There is no need for breakdown insurance for new cars. They are covered by factory warranties for most problems for stated times or mileages. Then, dealers are eager to sell extended warranties at comparable costs as breakdown insurance. Many people trade vehicles before new-car warranties expire. Shrewd buyers know when to “trade up” without paying the peak price for new vehicles.

But what about people who do not trade cars every two or three years? Well, they can just take their chances that their vehicles will not break down. It is possible that the rare such incident will not cost as much as breakdown insurance would over the years. That certainly has been true for me, but maybe I am just fortunate.

Warning, you have to know what to do with “lemons.” There are vehicles that are just plain sorry when they roll off the assembly line. Something goes wrong regularly. I had one of those and traded it for another while it was still under warranty. This taught me to pay close attention to evaluations and recommendations by such sources as Consumer Reports. These have never steered me wrong.

All insurance is an exercise in chance. If you do not buy it (pay premiums) and bad things happen, you will suffer loss, be it great or small. If you do buy it and bad things happen, insurers must hope that it will not happen to many others and their premiums over the years will offset that cost or that you will have invested enough over time to cover the cost. The TV lawyers claim that insurance companies have “plenty of money.” They do not. They have money from premiums paid by the insured and income from conservative investments. Big losses lead to higher costs to customers or more limited coverage. By the way, I have never had any insurance company try to “stiff” me in paying what the policies promised.

One alternative is self-insurance. Find out how much breakdown insurance will cost monthly for your vehicle and set that amount aside without fail in a savings account or similar fund. Do that throughout your ownership of every vehicle. Don’t forget to follow guidance on reliability and recalls. If there is a breakdown, inform those doing the repairs that payment will be by you personally, not by insurance. Yes, that usually makes a difference. The chances are good that when you have driven your last time, there will be money enough in your fixit insurance fund to help pay for your funeral.

A recent come-on by the breakdown insurance crowd is various sorts of roadside assistance. For years, that has been covered by my regular auto insurance. Drivers should check these policies. It is foolish to cover such services twice. Some people obtain these services through the American Automobile Association and other groups.

Roger G. Branch Sr. is professor emeritus of sociology at Georgia Southern University and is a retired pastor.