Crooks really don't know any bounds to how low they can go. Video aired on Good Morning America showing members of an insurance fraud ring setting up motorists -- mainly women -- for collisions is a demonstration of the depths they are willing to plumb.

The crooks stage accidents that make the victim look to be at fault and then, working with doctors who write up bogus medical reports, they go on to collect big insurance payouts. Video footage of the scammers in action shows just how devious the criminals are and how reckless they are with other people's lives. What's scarier, according to the report, is this type of crime appears to be on the increase.

Kiplinger.com, the website of Kiplinger's Personal Finance, recently published a round-up of ways you can lower your insurance costs. While some are spot-on, others could actually cost you more under certain circumstances. Here's a look at their advice. We've spotlighted five solid tips as well as a couple of additional ones that come with caveats.

Shop around. This is good advice for any type of insurance. If you've had the same policy for years, see if another insurer can match or beat the cost. If you've incurred any new expenses (such as adding a teenage driver or an inground pool), definitely shop around. While you've got that policy out, take a look and see if it still meets your needs. You might discover that you were over-insured.

Ask for discounts. For car insurance in particular, this is a biggie. If you drive fewer than 7,500 miles a year, carpool or are willing to take a defensive driving course, you might be able to net a lower rate. Also, tell Junior to keep his grades up; students who get Bs or better are often eligible for a discount.

My '99 Volkswagen Cabrio is like an expensive mistress -- desirable and easy on the eye but expensive to keep. I know my greedy dealer's mechanics rub their hands every time it comes into the shop -- they jokingly call it "Hitler's Revenge."

Everything under the hood is run by a computer that breaks down as regularly as a needy junkie. I can't help but also wonder if being a woman who knows jack about cars also compels them to hike the price and say things like "It's too complicated to explain, but the solution we recommend is worth every penny." Sure, like when the "Check Engine" light came on the day AFTER I got my car out of the shop.

Depending on the state you live in, your wheels may be more likely to be stolen. In Arizona, the most stolen vehicle is a Dodge Ram Pickup. In Washington, it's a Honda Accord. Based on a study from the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), we take a look at the 10 most stolen vehicles overall, and by state.

Click through our photo gallery and see which cars the thieves in your state fancy most.

Seems like drivers today just can't win.

We've been shamed out of our gas-guzzling Hummers, browbeaten for driving SUVs that flip over if a tire blows and resigned ourselves to sturdy, sensible sedans.

Now, a new study from the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety uncovered some troubling statistics. Those cars you thought were so economically sound in terms of gas mileage and insurance costs compared to their hulking brethren have one huge Achilles' Heel when it comes to their fiscal fitness: They're very expensive to repair if you get into an accident with them, even if it's only a light tap at literally a few miles per hour.

The average amount the Institute found repairs for damage sustained in a low-speed crash was $871. Think that's rough for a little fender-bender? Think again; it also found that prices could climb to nearly $3,000 -- an eye-popping amount -- on some models.

Lost in the gloating over car sales figures tied to the Cash For Clunkers program is the original intention -- to help clean up the environment by purging the roads of exhaust-belching jalopies.

Instead, the legislation has become a handout to the auto industry, or, more accurately, another handout to the auto industry.

The short-term stimulation to the market only demonstrates the most intractable problem facing the auto industry; its cars run are too good, so we don't need as many as it produces. When the vehicles it builds will run for 15 years and 200,000 miles +, how can they convince people to give them up early?

These clunker drivers apparently are willing to drive cars for a long, long time, and now that they have new cars, you can cross them off the customer list until 2025 or so.

If we intend to use such programs to both improve the environment and boost retail sales, perhaps we should spread the wealth around.

Rather than drop another $2 billion gift on the car industry, how about a "Cash for Clunker Refrigerators" program that replaces inefficient, freon-eating monsters with new energy star models?

Or expand the "Cash For Clunkers" program to include motorcycles? Taking two-strokes machines off the trails would be a big improvement to our air quality.

The powerboat industry, the motor home manufacturers and retailers, school bus builders, lawnmower retailers, and many other industries could use the help of such a program, and offer ways to replace polluting products with ones much friendlier to the environment.

Haven't we dumped enough money into the auto industry? There are a lot of other workers around the country that could use a stimulus boost, if the administration is determined to drop another $2 billion into the pool.

I've toyed with the idea of pricing a SMART car, but a recent article in the Amsterdam News has made me think twice about the idea.

Apparently, mischievous youth in the northern European city have found amusement in picking up the mini-cars and depositing them in nearby canals. Shades of the 1960s, when the VW Beetles of high school teachers were routinely carried up to the roofs of the schools by prankster students.

Dumping transportation devices in the canal is not a new or uncommon practice in Amsterdam. Locals claim the canals are made of equal parts water, mud and bicycles.

A local guide told one visitor that 100,000 bikes are stolen there each year, and 18,000 are fished out of the canals every six months.

The SMART car weighs 1,808 pounds, so I'm guessing that it would take a gang of 10 or more muscular teens to toss one. Seeing as any high school football team could form three or four such groups, I think the best strategy for a smart SMART owner is to avoid parking near bodies of water. They might also want to chain their car to a tree.

Or trade it in for a heavy old clunker.