Some of you may know me and some may not but I’m owner of Safe & Sound Vehicle Systems Ltd in Leeds or sasmobile, as some know it. I’m the biggest dealer of the Autowatch Ghost in the North of England and as such I’ve done many installations for members of various forums including this one and I’m also the guy who ran the group buy on VWROC last year.
I was made aware of this thread by a couple of different customers who I have installed ghost for and thought I would come here to try put a few rumours to bed and set the record straight about the ghost and hopefully help people get a better understanding of the product.
I’ve worked with the Ghost since it’s launch back in January 2016 and as such I now have well over 500 installations under my belt with many attempted thefts prevented. The Ghost is a very clever bit but it does work different on various vehicles. The two ways it Immobilises is either what we call Engine Lock, which prevents the engine from starting and running altogether or, Gearbox lock where it will allow the starting of the engine but any attempt to engage gear will be prevented and/or stall the engine.
Most VAG cars other than the late 2017 onwards automatics with the electronic gear selector will all be installed utilising the Engine Lock option.
BMW can be installed with either option, as can Mercedes, Mitsubishi and others.
The video or the RS/S5 where the vehicle starts after a few attempts simply comes down to incorrect installation. To be clear this will happen if the device is not installed to the correct CAN network. I do not have any conclusive evidence but it is believed that the video is the workings of a disgruntled ex Ghost dealer who was struck off by Autowatch due to poor fitment of the device. The comments on the video were turned off shortly after I tried to contact him volunteering to rectify the fault. He also became abusive to Autowatch staff when they contacted him. Now I’m no rocket scientist but had I spent £399.00 on a device to protect my £50,000 car then I’d be going straight back, accepting all the help I could get and have it rectified.
In relation to the bypass on the BMW there are a couple of things. Firstly it could be incorrect fitment of which the installer needs to rectify.
Secondly it could well be staged and or not have been fully tested in the “bypass” for immobilisation. The Ghost arms the moment it is connected to power and will not disarm until the PIN is entered. Let’s say at the very worst that the ghost allows the BMW in question to start, that’s cool. But as soon as drive gear is selected the engine would cut out. Once the ghost is tripped on BMW engine lock activates primarily as oppose to gearbox lock. This can be seen in the BMW M3 demonstration on my YouTube channel.
Basically these so called bypasses are not true, nor have I found any evidence from those who have said and say otherwise. If there was conclusive evidence of work a round on the Ghost then both Autowatch and myself would be aware of it and I would be very busy rectifying the issues for customers.
I’m perplexed as to why a lot of these negative comments about the ghost always appear to be circulating. I can’t help but feel many of them come from dealers who prefer to push other products such as the Clifford Black Jax as that seems to be the nearest rival of the Ghost. I won’t comment on the Clifford system but what I will say is no two customers are the same. Everyone’s thoughts about, and approaches to vehicle security are different so you have to do what you feel is right to protect your vehicle. I always advise customers to go with whatever system helps them sleep at night, there’s no right or wrong product.
There’s a lot of internet hysteria, fabricated stories, tales of “on my mates car” and Chinese whisper type scenarios out there but if you really want to know how a Ghost would work on your car and what the quirks might be then please feel free to call me and I’ll explain what’s what. I’d much prefer to spend 5 minutes on the phone giving you an understanding of the ghost as oppose to letting you base your conclusion on sceptical comments off the internet. I won’t try and push the product on you, as that’s not how I work, if it’s the right product for you then the product will sell its self.
One last thing. The retail price of the Ghost is £399.00 and all dealers are under contract with Autowatch to sell at £399.00 and no less. This is the reason the Group buy I was running on VWROC was closed. Please be sceptical of companies selling it for less. It seems to be a good indication of little experience with the product and attempt to secure the work in order for training.
Installation generally takes between 1 to 2 hours so if a company tells you they need your car for the day or half a day this could well be because they’re using your vehicle to train on. They’ll be trained by Autowatch on it so don’t panic too much but it could also be that that’s just how they run their diary and prefer to not have customers hanging around. Before choosing your installer please look for genuine reviews and speak to people who have used the same company.
The device is only as good as the installer.