Tracker

[bertie]

What do we think of Trackers?
I'm sure they work very effectively and I can see why the insurance companies like them.

But would you realy want your car back after some oike has thrapped 7 shades of you know what out of it being chased by a Police Volvo?

I think I'd be happy to see the back of it and get a new one thanks.

Robert

[plotloss]

I'm currently looking at the Skamp system that is a two way system. They can kill the engine remotely at a convenient time apparently, such as outside a police station.

I had the same concern with Tracker which prompted me to look at this.

Matt.

[sixspeed]

Well, my mate's BMW was stolen just last week from outside his house, using one of those lifter's you get for removing clamped cars in the city. He had a Tracker fitted and so the police traced it and found the truck. They sent an undercover car to follow it, and were led back to a compound where they found several other cars being kept.

He got his car back within four hours of it being stolen.


-andy-

[marki]

quote:
I think I'd be happy to see the back of it and get a new one thanks.

Robert

Im with you on this Robert , had a car nicked and stripped a few years back (XR4x4) it was a very sad day when the insurance peps said they would repair it , the car was never the same , the slightest rattle or noise would have you thinking and worring about things , i should have left it on the pikey site for a couple more hours until the kids torched it , instead i sent the dealer round to pick it up

[beano1197]

quote:
Well, my mate's BMW was stolen ........

.....so the police traced it and found the truck. They sent an undercover car to follow it, and were led back to a compound where they found several other cars being kept.

He got his car back within four hours of it being stolen.


-andy-

A BIG factor has to be to tell the filthy scum that their unwanted interest in our prized possessions is not wanted

[yum]

We may not want the cars back after they have been trashed, but it does give the police a fair chance of catching the thieves. that has to be progress.

R

[AndrewHolden]

If you have got a Tracker fitted I would recommend 'triggering' it once a year just to check it is working. You can do this by rolling the car a few metres without the keys in the ignition (careful of that steering lock though!).

I have the 24 hour monitor one on my car - I was a bit dismayed when Tracker didn't phone me when the car was carted off to Swindon on the back of the recovery truck.

Turned out the Tracker battery was dead, the unit wasn't working and the installation was, according to Tracker, apalling

Oh, and the reason the car was being recovered? The knackered Tracker was drawing sufficient current from the battery to flatten it completely in 3-4 days. And when the first 'Emergency Service' man came out, he cocked up the jump start procedure and blew the immobiliser

The final straw? Damaged alloy wheel when the car was returned to me - the straps on the recovery truck had taken a load of paint off. BMW have agreed to replace the wheel with a new one, but the whole episode was bloody annoying

If I was fitting a new Trackery type thing now I would go for the GPS based systems - has to be easier for the Police if the security company phone them with the precise address of the stolen vehicle, rather than rely on the Police picking up a radio signal from the vehicle itself..

[shamus1972]

I have recently had "tracker monitor" fitted by Track-star. It works by GPS, so you don't need a specially equipped police car to find it. I understand what people are saying about not wanting their cars back after some idiot has thrashed it round the country, but if it helps catch thieves, then it lowers the chance of you buying a car that has been stolen and tharshed round the country! It's a vicious circle really - unless you buy new, you don't know what you are buying. The more car thieves that are caught by any means (trackers being the most effective) the better.

Obviously, once they're caught they'll get 8 hours community service or detention in a "secure unit" where they'll enjoy foreign holidays, room and full board and all the luxuries that guarantee them their human rights! - But that's another topic!

[blackmonday]

Check out NavTrack's gps set up...

www.navtrack.co.uk/

[sixspeed]

GPS is all well and good...

Until they go under a tunnel... or put your car in a garage... or in a container.

GPS needs line of site to the satellites to work. At least the radio waves still work in these situations. There are systems that have both (Tracker Horizon, and one of the RAC systems does). I was told that the extra the system cost to have both wasn't worth it though - and this was by the Tracker salesman!


-andy-

[ninja_eli]

For anyone interested there is a comparison of recent models with web links for manufacturers.

www.ktfinlay.freeserve.co.uk/tracks/

regards