Tracker systems

Luke · Post by **Luke** » Thu Feb 26, 2004 9:46 am

I plan to keep my car for many a year, and living in London I appreciate that someone else may also want to drive it without asking me.

I have a thatcham cat 1 alarm but was contemplating a Tracker. Has anyone had one fitted to thier car? 625gbp seems quite good for "duration of ownership" cover inc fitting, considering my car's a long term purchase.

cubist · Post by **cubist** » Thu Feb 26, 2004 10:27 am

Fantastic units.

We have one on our G-classe BUT... recently tried to get a Horizon Tracker system fitted to 'my dearests' SL and they sent an untrained chimp (sorry all chimps) to fit it who thought a classic car was anything prior to a '51 type plate. Was about to set about the motor with various sharp implements before we abruptly sent him back to his mum! To be fair to Tracker, he was new to the job (and rational thought) and they gave us a full refund/grovelling apologies instantly...

Check the Erikson system as well before you buy the Tracker though. They have a level similar to Horizon which just falls short of armed-response units dropping daisy-cutters on the thieving bastids with your motor

Luke · Post by **Luke** » Thu Feb 26, 2004 10:38 am

thanks cubist, I can't seem to find the Erikson system on the web, do you have a link?

I'm also considering the RAC Trackstar product, which seems to be quite good value

cubist · Post by **cubist** » Thu Feb 26, 2004 11:30 am

Luke,

Because i'm such a lovely bloke, i've just had a conversation with a chap called Paul Taylor (ptaylor@navtrak.com) about fitting the NavTrak system to Porsches and Mercs. My only problem with the Tracker system is that it works fine if you have the keys... if some toerag gets them, you're basically stuffed until the GSM unit/operator reports unnatural usage which could be anything up to 12days!!!
The NavTrak system works independently of the ignition and will immediately contact the owner if the required security card isn't present when the car is mobile. Tracking is via GSM phone technology and satnav.
You do need to run the car for a minimum of 20mins per week to keep the battery charged (or keep it on a trickle charge when garaged for longer periods).

Sounds pretty good to me AND i've arranged that if you mention DDK they'll knock an extra £50 off the price...

www.navtrak.com

Luke · Post by **Luke** » Thu Feb 26, 2004 11:37 am

thanks cubist, I'll certainly be looking into this! :D

crafti · Post by **crafti** » Thu Feb 26, 2004 2:41 pm

I'm curious, what happens if your car, when stolen, is put into a container? GPS has trouble even with dense clouds let alone steel, and GSM can easily be blocked with a simple device readily available.

In my opinion, this may be a good safeguard against the opportunist but the "professional" thieving gits will have this covered easily. As for the opportunists, one would hope they are unlikely to have the know-how to get past the Cat1 anyway, otherwise that too is pointless.

I'm not knocking the systems, I'm just asking the questions and I would be delighted to be wrong.

cheers

Post by **Bootsy** » Thu Feb 26, 2004 2:51 pm

I've always found removing the rotor arm on your dizzy quite effective

FraserMurray · Post by **FraserMurray** » Thu Feb 26, 2004 3:10 pm

Has anyone ever fitted one of those battery cut off switches that Frost sell?

cubist · Post by **cubist** » Thu Feb 26, 2004 3:17 pm

what happens if your car, when stolen, is put into a container?

Crafti, you may be right. I'm going to speak to NavTrak and see what happens then...

I've always found removing the rotor arm on your dizzy quite effective

once nabbed, removing the arm of the toerag would be quite effective (and very satisfying...) too.

I've always wondered exactly how much enjoyment i'd get if left in a room alone with the nonce that half-inched my stuff. Untold amounts i'd imagine...

:twisted:

Post by **Miggs** » Thu Feb 26, 2004 3:35 pm

well i used to have one of these on my impreza and i can tell you i didnt put the key on the deactivator and within 45 secs my mobile was ringing it was navtrak saying we have your car travelling down blah blah have you authorised this if not we will despacth local police onto there route

so basically they would be caught before they got to the container

shambly · Post by **shambly** » Thu Feb 26, 2004 3:45 pm

Fraser,

On my 356 replica, i'm fitting an additional key switch in the engine bay that disables the CDi ignition system as a precaution against my car being hot wired (as even a 5 year old could rip the wires off the back of the iginition switch); The engine will then turn over but never start.

To get to the brain then involves removing the rear seats etc.....

crafti · Post by **crafti** » Thu Feb 26, 2004 3:49 pm

Miggs wrote:well i used to have one of these on my impreza and i can tell you i didnt put the key on the deactivator and within 45 secs my mobile was ringing it was navtrak saying we have your car travelling down blah blah have you authorised this if not we will despacth local police onto there route

so basically they would be caught before they got to the container

Miggs,

pertinent point regarding Navtrack's service perhaps but one would have to have an interesting faith in the response time of the bobbies to match. A friend of mine was on the phone to the "authorities" himself while his car was being driven away right in front of his house, while he watched through the window. He didn't have a tracker but it wasn't disguised within a container. Even with the reg and the description of the car and the direction it was travelling, late at night, no traffic, the goodies failed to catch them or even appear within a reasonable time. It would take moments to load a car.

cubist · Post by **cubist** » Thu Feb 26, 2004 3:51 pm

I wonder if plod's response time is in proportion to the value of the motor?

crafti · Post by **crafti** » Thu Feb 26, 2004 3:56 pm

cubist wrote:I wonder plod's response time is in proportion to the value of the motor?

Are they on commission?

g3ngs · Post by **g3ngs** » Sat Dec 31, 2005 2:03 am

long time no post, been busy and all that so many apos-

new car touches down on wednesday- monster x5 4.4 with every bm fitted option possible (bar the heated steering wheel)

anyway cocks at quote me very un bloddy happy offered us £1400 a year and direct line said £660 with an aprroved tracker.

from their list the best of the bunch looks like the rac trackstar, cos (and getting back to the point) if the car moves more than 20yds without the key being in it goes off. only report of it not informing was when a car got nicked and put in a container before it could grass the thieving scum up. luckily it uses gsm and gps, afore mentioned container gets opened up in africa 3 months later, gps goes where am i and contacts the powers that be.

will be on phone to them asap begging / negotiating (whichever one works) a discount