Ok, not been on for a while, but recently I've been thinking more and more about fitting a tracker to my car! 

 

Is it worth fitting one?  If it is, does anyone have one fitted, are they worth the money and what do I need to look out for?

 

Ste.

I've been thing about a Tracker as well. Have a look here 

 

www.rewiresecurity.co.uk   THey do one that fits into the Orb Socket    www.rewiresecurity.co.uk/db3-odb-gps-tracking-device

 

( I am not Involved with this Company )

 

 

 

Edited 11 September, 20178 yr by Auric Goldfinger

Professional thieves know exactly how to defeat Trackers and similar devices, which IMHO makes them a complete waste of money. In addition you try getting statistics from the companies of how many cars with Tracker are stolen and NOT recovered, they will only telly how many HAVE been recovered - but without knowing both figures you cannot tell if the recovery rate is improved if you have a Tracker fitted.

 

 Professional thieves usual method of stealing a modern car is to either break into your house and steal the keys or if you have KESSY to use a laptop to defeat the system (look for videos on YouTube).

Is there a specific concern that makes you want one? Do you lie awake at night worrying about it being nicked and not being found?

 

Unless you live/work in a high risk area I probably wouldn't bother with one. Thieves  usually target the more desirable stuff if it's stolen to order, rather than an opportune theft; BMW, Audis, Mercedes, Golf Rs, Range Rovers, Porsches etc. Not saying Skodas don't get nicked, but I don't think they're nickable enough to warrant a tracker either. A lot of more desirable stuff is worth having, or requires, a tracker to obtain insurance, or at least a reduction in premium. Again, not really a major benefit here as Skodas aren't generally expensive or difficult to insure.

 

Edited 10 September, 20178 yr by ahenners

^^^ Best just buy firelighters and matches and leave them in the front of the car, if joyriders can pinch your car do you really want the it back, and professionals wanting a Skoda will not be leaving the tracker operating for long.

Auric Goldfinger, I think I saw that website!

 

ahenners, no there's no specific or real concern about my car getting nicked just love my car and Headinawayoffski no I don't think I would want it back! 

12 hours ago, SWBoy said:

Professional thieves know exactly how to defeat Trackers and similar devices, which IMHO makes them a complete waste of money. In addition you try getting statistics from the companies of how many cars with Tracker are stolen and NOT recovered, they will only telly how many HAVE been recovered - but without knowing both figures you cannot tell if the recovery rate is improved if you have a Tracker fitted.

 

 Professional thieves usual method of stealing a modern car is to either break into your house and steal the keys or if you have KESSY to use a laptop to defeat the system (look for videos on YouTube).

 

This is unfortunately true, a tracker jammer can be purchased for around £35 which jams all but the most expensive trackers.

For this reason i decided to go with a cheap ebay tracker and a giffgaff SIM card - it costs around £35 with the credit on the PAYG sim card. To be honest it is really good, even located the car when it was 4 stories underground in a car park using the phone signal (was accurate to about 15 meters)

 

I then put my money into an Autowatch Ghost immobiliser which disables the car even if the thieves have stolen the keys.

The only way they are taking the car is to:

1) force me to enter the code

2) lift the car and take it

3) spend 20-30 mins trying to find the ghost in the loom

A humble advice, buy a one which you can trigger from remote to send coordinates and the rest of the time staying silent.

The devices they have will scan for activities and usually most devices report location on certain period and being caught, before that jammed.

If you want it being somehow effective don't send regular data,just on demand OR very long periods.

 

In any case it's difficult to find place and power source for it and if you want success rate you need 3 or more of them. 

I purchased Jimi JV200, got it of Aliexpress with lifetime subscription for 25 €. Quite happy with it and functionalities it offers.  Combined with a 4€/m data SIM card (1 Gb,1000SMS/m), device is online since I installed it, 4 month ago, without any noticeable failures.

 

I understand all the concerns about how is this even useful tackling professional car thieves and agree this kind of device efficiency on that point of view is probably poor. But...

 

From where I come from, there are also quite some cases of people steeling rims/wheels, not to mention breaking into cars just to steal some valuables from inside the car. And this all usually happens during the night, when cars are parked in-front of peoples homes. What I like about this devices, some of theme also support geo-fence notifications (enter or exit of a virtual zone you define, e.g. home parking, job parking,...), also vibration alert is quite useful (e.g. in case somebody tries to steal your rims). The one I purchased has also remote fuel-cut off functionality if wired properly.

 

Yes, I my sleeping quality is now a bit better. Not saying that I was deprived of sleep before, because of previously described threats...

 

I would not waste your money on a tracker, working in the thin blue line - trackers rarely lead to concrete results. Fitting a tracker will not deter any scroats and only assist in a recovery of it.  If your worried, I would invest in a dislok if your concerned and this will deter most. As some have pointed, most cars are stolen with keys. Bottom line if deters them at the point of your car being scouted it reduces of the chances of them looking at your house.

I remember watching an episode of Traffic Cops (I think it was). Some guy had his BMW taken. Had a tracker, got it back. But, the interior was totally f**ked due to the thieves tearing it apart trying to find the tracker. So yeah great the car was back but it was still wrecked. 

1 hour ago, SC03OTT said:

I remember watching an episode of Traffic Cops (I think it was). Some guy had his BMW taken. Had a tracker, got it back. But, the interior was totally f**ked due to the thieves tearing it apart trying to find the tracker. So yeah great the car was back but it was still wrecked. 

 

BMW M3 if it was the same one I watched. Found in a housing estate or flat complex, parked up, out of sight. They ditch them for a few days to see if they have trackers, if not they come back. They had totally stripped nearly every bit of trim inside trying to find the tracker - along the door sills, under glovebox area, all the trim in the boot etc.

 

There is a company in my local town which does vehicle tracking system - extremely nice offices and some extremely nice cars parked outside (and they do no fitting on site so you can guess who actually owns them). Someone is making a buck somewhere along the line.

 

 

Had this discussion years ago about motorbikes. Personally I find it kind of pointless for what I need. If my car is stolen (or bike in the previous case), and Im making a claim based on that incident, there is no way I want that car back with a hugely depreciated value and untold amounts of damage/heartache. For what its worth get hold of some stickers that imply a tracker is fitted and a good steering lock. We always made it more attractive to go for the next easier target rather than relying on the protection at hand.

 

Similarly aftermarket immobilisers were oftwn troublesome and left some of us by the roadside more than once with an unfathomable fault due to a hacked wiring loom. 

 

However, its your car and your money and people do buy these things. If you think you need it and would like to get the car back then you may be lucky.

Get some similar, but irrelevant, keys and leave them where they can be found relatively easily if scrotes break in. Keep the real ones somewhere safer.

 

The wrong keys obviously won't work and will delay them, increasing the chances of them being seen, or could be enough to make them do one having lost their nerve.

 

Another option is to hide a cheap phone with a tracking app/feature in the car somewhere, with a hardwired charger.

13 hours ago, pist0nbr0ke said:

Get some similar, but irrelevant, keys and leave them where they can be found relatively easily if scrotes break in. Keep the real ones somewhere safer.

 

The wrong keys obviously won't work and will delay them, increasing the chances of them being seen, or could be enough to make them do one having lost their nerve.

 

Or it could make them come and wake you up, and threaten with violence for you hand over the actual keys. If they are determined to leave with my car, I'd rather they took the keys without threatening me or my family and got on with it. Will claim from my insurance. As much as I love my car, it can be replaced and that's what I pay insurance for.

Hi, 

Just to let you know that the majority of our insurance schemes do still offer premium discounts for the fitment of a tracker system.

Regards,

Dan.

 

On 15/09/2017 at 23:17, pist0nbr0ke said:

Get some similar, but irrelevant, keys and leave them where they can be found relatively easily if scrotes break in. Keep the real ones somewhere safer.

 

The wrong keys obviously won't work and will delay them, increasing the chances of them being seen, or could be enough to make them do one having lost their nerve.

 

Another option is to hide a cheap phone with a tracking app/feature in the car somewhere, with a hardwired charger.

 

That's a great idea! My house was broken into 2 weeks ago for the keys to my Audi A4 3.0 which I watched them drive off in, now if I had done that and had the real keys on me to deadlock the doors that would have been hilarious But as @ahenners says, I wouldn't take the risk, not worth it

 

I was considering a tracker for my new Octavia but I think the money is better spent on house security, better locks etc

Edited 19 September, 20178 yr by Dave77