TRACKERS

[steve wilson]

Ive been doing the rounds looking for insurance for the merc and ive put that the car does have a tracker and got a quote then ive changed it to, that it doesnt have one.

To my suprise it made no difference in the price   so whats the point.

[Frau Vesty]

Really?  It made quite a big difference when I've done a similar thing with quotes.  Some insurers (e.g. Direct Line) also insist on a tracker for certain vehicles for the policy to be valid w.r.t theft.  Perhaps your particular type of vehicle isn't statistically more likely to be nicked than any other anyway?  Or perhaps other things are taken into account, like the age, sex or driving history of main driver, and the insurer sees an accident as the main risk rather than theft?  I don't know, just some suggestions...

I guess aside from insurance requirement/reduced premium, the main reason for fitting a tracker would be the increased likelihood of getting your pride and joy back in one piece/quickly/without the hassle of doing a claim in the event of it being nicked...

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

the increased likelihood of getting your pride and joy back in one piece/quickly

That and a chance of seeing the thieving scrote getting nicked  

[mike m]

As a Tracker fitter I can tell you the point, units I have fitted to cars and been recovered undamaged/minamal damage is in excess of 250k with the quickest being 24 minutes with immobilisers / alarms now being of a superior quality to years gone by , theives are now resorting to breaking into your house for the keys, any security you have on there is now bypassed a tracker is still active

Mike

[Richgm]

If a thief really wanted your merc he'd get it.

Read this and you'll see what I mean.

[steve_m]

I asked a couple of the tracker companies to confirm that their products would still work once the car was in a container and they wouldn't, they said it's difficult to tell  

Not difficult to test is it !  I suspect they wouldn't work.

[Frau Vesty]

Tracker say because theirs work on radio waves instead of/as well as satellite technology, it can still be picked up from inside a container.

The more expensive GPS ones, made by Tracker and RAC Trackstar I think, don't just emit a signal that is picked up by the police (apparently, Tracker also have detectors at all ports etc) they also tell the control place exactly where your car is.  If you love your car, the few hundred quid is well worth it, IMHO.

Richgm: true, but I'd bet that *most* thieves wouldn't operate like that, and your car would have to be worth a hell of a lot to make it worth their while.

[Mark B]

Also if anyone on here has a tracker fitted to their car make sure the battery is always on and has plenty of charge in it, the tracker has a backup battery but only lasts for 1-2 days.

Not really an issue on cars in daily use but for a "toy" that doesn't get used very often it's best to get a battery conditioner or similar.

Aguy in the rs owners club a few years ago had a cosworth with a tracker fitted, he came back from his holidays, got his car out of the garage only to stall it, the battery was too weak to start the car so he left it on the drive overnight thinking he'd get a new battery the next day.........the next day the car was gone and the tracker was as much use as a chocolate fireguard!  

[davidgh]

Whether or not they are always effective, they have become a condition of certain insurance  --  just part of the joy (and cost) of motoring.

Our family experience:

Scooby + Direct Line + London - Tracker Certificate  = no quote available  

Scooby + Direct Line + London + Tracker Certificate  = best quote obtained by considerable margin    (all things are, however, relative)

If not needed for insurance  --  it's down to the pleasure of enhancing the chances that the "borrower" of your car may get nicked.

[steve wilson]

As a Tracker fitter I can tell you the point, units I have fitted to cars and been recovered undamaged/minamal damage is in excess of 250k with the quickest being 24 minutes with immobilisers / alarms now being of a superior quality to years gone by , theives are now resorting to breaking into your house for the keys, any security you have on there is now bypassed a tracker is still active

Mike

Mike can you give me some prices of them. Are there loads on the market and do you have to pay an annual subscription.

Cheers

Steve

[mike m]

A few points raised, which i will try to answer, Tracker  retrieve and monitor systems use radio waves for the detection so in theoryunless the container was totaly airtight and lead lined a signal can still be detected in most cases

Tracker are the only system used directly with all 53 police forces in the uk, coverage has now expanded to france and parts of spain to follow

As with all systems they have there plus and some minus points Tracker retrieve and monitor radio systems can be tracked by police equiped vehicle air support and all major entry points in the uk, so the vehicle has to be with in the vicinity of the detection units ( which is quite a large radius depentant on terrain) now with gps based systems like rac trackstar, navtrak etc the can be monitored and pinpointed real time, down side is put it in a container garage concrete car park multi-story etc etc it will dissapear from the system only showing its last point, all gps systems need to see 3 satalites to triangulate its position so its easy to make it dissapear, now Tracker also do a unit called horizon which uses both radio and gps but expensive

clickety click for more info on tracker, dealers and prices

Mike

[windy]

So if tracker can guarantee to recover your vehicle what is the point of paying for the theft bit of an insurance policy?

[Chris Elworthy]

What do you reckon the chances are of a bulk purchase?

Tracker price list