Trackers

[Lawro]

Following this weekends antics I am seriously considering purchasing a tracker. Before anyone says it, I know this isn't going to prevent the car being stolen but it's another safety precaution that could potentially assist in the car being returned in one piece.

Now, I have done a fair bit of research over the last couple of days but there seem to be a handful of manufactures selling similar products.

Does anybody have any experience with trackers or have any information that would help me decide?

I'm currently looking at the Tracker Monitor or RAC Trakstar.

 

[cat171]

I'd invest in a steering lock too.

Despite having one I don't know that much about them. With a tracker the lifetime cover thing only applies when you own the car, so if you sell it the new buyer will have to pay.

 

[Darius]

Make sure you put the tracker in a discreet place, like make sure it takes you ages to put it in and hidden so well that thieves wouldn't think there was there! Otherwise they will rip it out like an RS4 recently.

When leaving the car, leave it in gear, steering lock engaged and handbrake on as that can make it harder to move.

Dummy CCTVs are a good deterrent or you could fit a proper system?

An advanced alarm such as a COBRA system might be something you want to look into.

Standard things like steering locks, wheel
Clamps etc might be something you want to look into?

 

[cat171]

His car will have a cat 1 alarm on it anyway, unless it's an import ?

 

[JamesBryan]

An advanced alarm such as a COBRA system might be something you want to look into.

His 182 will already have one, they come with them as standard. Albeit it's probably not the most advanced Cobra system.

 

[Lawro]

Yeah the car already has a Cat1 alarm as standard but I doubt it would be as good as some of the aftermarket ones available these days. In my experience however, most people don't even pay attention to alarms so I don't think I would be too worried about upgrading it at this stage.

Tracker and RAC Trakstar include nationwide installation by a specialist auto electrician so I'm sure it would be well hidden in the car. I have just noticed Camellion who are a Tracker agent are doing the Tracker Monitor for £130 plus subscription which is discounted from £361.

 

[Lawro]

On the steering wheel clamp side of things, can you recommend one guys?

 

[Amos91]

I'd just get the tracker. Steering clamp isn't going to stop them dragging/lifting it again.

 

[cat171]

I'd just get the tracker. Steering clamp isn't going to stop them dragging/lifting it again.

True, but the chances are they'll see it & move on. Unless of course they really want it, in which case nothing is safe.

 

[cat171]

On the steering wheel clamp side of things, can you recommend one guys?

Disklok if it fits over the steering wheel. I'm not sure if it will on an airbag car.

 

[botfch]

A cheap way would be to use an old mobile with gps wired to the battery on pay as you go.

Although I think the best deterrent is to put it in a garage or somewhere it's hard to get machinery to it.

 

[Lawro]

I'd just get the tracker. Steering clamp isn't going to stop them dragging/lifting it again.

I agree, for the sake of £40-£50 it's still a deterant eitherway.

I'm not sure if it's worth paying the extra £100 and £25 a year in subscription charges to get the 'Tracker Locate' so it can be tracked by myself using GPRS and GSM..

 

[Rob]

Buy an iPhone 3GS and a PAYG sim with £50 credit or whatever, enable find my iphone, run a charger from the cigarette lighter to wherever you want to hide the phone. Sorted.

 

[Lawro]

A cheap way would be to use an old mobile with gps wired to the battery on pay as you go.

Although I think the best deterrent is to put it in a garage or somewhere it's hard to get machinery to it.

A Garage would be my ideal solution but unfortunately finding one local is extremely difficult. I have been looking for months and I am on various waiting lists but it's not looking good and I need a short term solution.

 

[Lawro]

Buy an iPhone 3GS and a PAYG sim with £50 credit or whatever, enable find my iphone, run a charger from the cigarette lighter to wherever you want to hide the phone. Sorted.

I have seen this mentioned a few times, what if there is no signal though? I'm assuming it would be useless?

 

[botfch]

I have seen this mentioned a few times, what if there is no signal though? I'm assuming it would be useless?

I think they use GPS so in theory it should be in the same boat as a tracker.

 

[Rob]

Indeed they do. If you picked the network with the best UK coverage, you'd struggle to have no signal.

It's a great method TBH.

 

[Tunst]

Indeed they do. If you picked the network with the best UK coverage, you'd struggle to have no signal.

It's a great method TBH.

and its one im currently using! Works wonders!

 

[brisa4984]

ive gone with tracker monitor from cameleon. Not massively expensive denct service and the installer that came to my house was professional and quick. remember that a tracker is only as good as its fitter. Criminals do look for trackers in known places. Having a charger linked up to a phone is so easy to chuck out.

 

[1812lsd]

http://www.fancycost.com/android-mi...evice-locator-black-p-83932.html#.UlwrPxCPbe4

http://www.fancycost.com/android-mi...evice-locator-black-p-83932.html#.UlwrPxCPbe4

http://www.buysku.com/wholesale/tk1...currency=GBP&gclid=CNCd98TulroCFTPItAodNHkADw

That's just a few of the cheap ones.

Have a look on youtube for GPS Vehicle Trackers.

 

[Tunst]

ive gone with tracker monitor from cameleon. Not massively expensive denct service and the installer that came to my house was professional and quick. remember that a tracker is only as good as its fitter. Criminals do look for trackers in known places. Having a charger linked up to a phone is so easy to chuck out.

Have to be good at hiding

 

[Lawro]

I think they use GPS so in theory it should be in the same boat as a tracker.

The tracker also uses VHF, GSM and GPS so should technically be traceable in every instance. You also get the benefit of the power off service that would record its last actively even if it was to be found in the car.

I still think it's a decent cheaper alternative to a tracker though.

For the sake of £120 and £129 a year I think I might invest in one as all the responses I have seen from Camellion have been decent.

 

[Lawro]

ive gone with tracker monitor from cameleon. Not massively expensive denct service and the installer that came to my house was professional and quick. remember that a tracker is only as good as its fitter. Criminals do look for trackers in known places. Having a charger linked up to a phone is so easy to chuck out.

Thanks for the response, good to hear! I think I will give them a ring tomorrow and have a chat.

http://www.fancycost.com/android-mi...evice-locator-black-p-83932.html#.UlwrPxCPbe4

http://www.fancycost.com/android-mi...evice-locator-black-p-83932.html#.UlwrPxCPbe4

http://www.buysku.com/wholesale/tk1...currency=GBP&gclid=CNCd98TulroCFTPItAodNHkADw

That's just a few of the cheap ones.

Have a look on youtube for GPS Vehicle Trackers.

Thanks mate, some of those look decent for the money!

 

[VikkiB]

Another option is having something like an Iphone that's hard wired into perm 12v, inside the dash. You can then use find my iPhone to track it.

 

[Rob]

That's pretty much what I was saying. Take a 12v from under the cigarette lighter to under the dash top. Put iPhone behind the fuse box or similar over the side of the dash.

 

[Lawro]

Thanks for all the help, I have something to think about now.

 

[botfch]

Just thinking my mate has his M3 insured on one of those low mileage schemes and the insurer gave him a free tracker to monitor the mileage, might be worth it if your not doing massive miles.

 

[Lawro]

Just thinking my mate has his M3 insured on one of those low mileage schemes and the insurer gave him a free tracker to monitor the mileage, might be worth it if your not doing massive miles.

Oh really? Might be worth having a look into that. I only do about circa 4,000 miles a year.

 

[msremmert]

Sorry to bump this.
Bugger the iPhone route, that's expensive as holy hell.
Get a cheap Android phone, register it with your Gmail account or whatever and use Android Device Manager.
It's a shame they don't publicise this more as it's a brilliant feature from Google and it's totally free and so simple to set up. It allows you to track/erase/ring your phone from your PC with little to no effort.

Also in terms of running it, 3 might be your cheapest option for data.

Pay & Go
£10 = 100 minutes, 5000 texts, 500mb of data
£15 = 300 minutes, 5000 texts, unlimited data

Could also consider a 1 month rolling sim contract as your data use on locations will be very low.

For those of you with Android phones, check this badboy out:
https://www.google.com/android/devicemanager

I was and still am seriously considering doing this after reading about yours getting pinched.

 

[1812lsd]

http://www.instructables.com/id/Ath...stem/?&sort=ACTIVE&limit=40&offset=40#DISCUSS

 

[AlexW]

Tracker (the company) have a exclusive deal with the police, so they can be tracked by the coppers with the things in their cars. They are also a brilliant company to deal with, and they ring you when the car moves without ignition, which can be funny sometimes.

Plus, as already said, Tracker uses VHF aswell as GPS and GSM, so even if its put into a sealed metal container, should be able to be located. Most ports have readers to check for stolen cars too.

I fit them for a living, so know all about them.

 

[Sunglasses_Ron]

I love playing the 'tracker' game at work.

Tracker always send me a thank you letter and a badge if I find a missing car.

 

[Lawro]

I had a Tracker Locate fitted about a month ago now, brilliant bit of kit!

 

[Sunglasses_Ron]

I had a Tracker Locate fitted about a month ago now, brilliant bit of kit!

Is that the GPS one?

 

[McGherkin]

Tracker always send me a thank you letter and a badge if I find a missing car.

Pics of your collection?

 

[Martin.]

I had a Tracker Locate fitted about a month ago now, brilliant bit of kit!

More info on your kit? What you get with it etc..

Interested to know as I wouldn't mind one myself.

 

[Mistercorn]

I have bought one of these in for evaluation:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B003XDN58K/?tag=cliospnet01-21

It certainly seems to work, but there are elements of the internal construction which I'm not happy with, nothing that 5 minutes, a soldering iron, and a tube of non-corrosive silicone sealant won't fix though. It certainly seems to work as described. Give it a call and it texts back the GPS location with a link to a map straight away.

MC

 

[brisa4984]

More info on your kit? What you get with it etc..

Interested to know as I wouldn't mind one myself.

you basically get to log on to a website and locate your car. because its via the web, you can check whilst your on holiday. you have unlimited checks as well not like some others. It is a nice thing to have but i think its just a gimmick.

more expensive than the tracker monitor tho which is just a high frequency thing without the above ability.

 

[Martin.]

Sounds good. Would like to be ablle to quickly see where it is. Any links?

 

[Lawro]

Is that the GPS one?

More info on your kit? What you get with it etc..

Interested to know as I wouldn't mind one myself.

Mine is the Tracker Locate which is the best model Tracker supply. It uses dual signal technology so is traceable via VHF, GSM and GPS signals which stops thieves from using signal jammers and also means the car is traceable even underground or in metal shipping containers.

The tracker features motion detection so if the car is moved without being switched on it will trigger and text you or the Tracker helpdesk will call you to inform. It is fully traceable online via the MyTracker website which allows you to view the cars history and shows live plotting and security alerts.

Tracker are the only company with nationwide support from all UK police forces as Ron said so makes it a pretty decent system for the recovery of your car.

I purchased mine through Chameleon and paid £185 for the unit which included fitting and registration at my home address and then an additional £174 for 12 months of subscription.