Choose a deductible you could actually pay
One question decides this, and it isn't about the premium.
Raising a deductible is the fastest way to lower an auto premium, which is why it's the lever people reach for first.
It's also the one where the saving is visible immediately and the cost is invisible until the worst possible moment.
The arithmetic half
Take the extra risk you'd carry — the difference between the two deductibles — and divide it by the annual saving. That's how many claim-free years it takes before the change has paid for itself.
If that number is large, the saving is thinner than it looked.
The half that overrides it
Could you pay the higher deductible tomorrow, without borrowing and without touching money earmarked for something else?
If the answer is no, the break-even calculation is irrelevant. A deductible you can't cover turns a covered claim into a crisis, which is the exact thing you bought insurance to avoid.
A reasonable way to decide
Set the deductible at an amount that would be genuinely annoying but not disruptive. Then, if you raise it, move the annual saving into savings rather than absorbing it into spending.
That way the higher deductible is actually funded rather than theoretically survivable.
Remember there's more than one
Collision and comprehensive usually carry separate deductibles, and they don't have to match. Comprehensive claims like hail or theft often have a different risk profile than collision, so it's reasonable to set them differently.
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General information only. A licensed insurance professional can tell you what actually applies to you.
General information only, not insurance advice. Coverage, availability, and terms vary by insurer and by state. Quote My Policy LLC is a licensed insurance producer.