Trackers

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ivicker

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As the title suggest has anyone got a tracker installed or have one that they would recommend. I'm currently looking at this, I have had the traditional ones in the past but they offer no benefit to the end user other than the peace of mind that your car may be found if stolen.

I would like something I could monitor myself and track previous routes etc.

I am currently looking at GPS Trackers & GPS Tracking which looks pretty good, fairly cheap initial cost and £70 per year, seems to do everything I want it to but wanted to know if anyone has any personal experience.
 
The trafficmaster looks ok provided it transmits a vhf signal as well. Otherwise, once they put the car in a metal container or underground car park it will disappear.
 
Maybe worth Giving them a Call for Full Details, Mind u its not a Cheap unit to Buy and Keep Running, But it covers all Uk/Europe and its install by Them.. With loads of Extras.

The Page wright up in Audi Praised them Highly......
 
They are all best described as reassuringly expensive as is your car. But then, what price do you put on peace of mind? The tagged ones are the best as if your keys are stolen from your home or mugged from you, provided you keep the tag separate from the key, they won't get far.
 
Yes Aggreed Twizzler....Reason I mentioned them not being Cheap was the Price of the Unit ivicker Posted a Link to, Me Personally , I think £750 For a good set up is fine Keeping in Mind u Might have the Car 4+ Years, And the £150 a Year gives u Full internet Access to the Car and Everything else they offer for 24/7-365Days off Security ....But some People Have Family's Ect which Restricts them in There Choices of Cars , Security Ect... Not Implying this case tho...
 
How about the tracker audi fit? Is that no good or over priced?
 
Thanks for the suggestions, think I might investigate this one further before I make the plunge.. I think audi charge a lot more than getting it organised as a retro fit.
 
Surely the purpose of a tracker is that the thief doesn't know the car has one and also doesn't know where it has been placed.

If the car is pre wired for one then doesn't that mean that the location is fairly fixed and so they'd know where to look to rip it out?

John.
 
Would A thief Have the Time to Access it even if he Knew where it was Located, I would Assume Audi has it in Some Location That take's more than 30 Seconds to Rip out .....Unless he Has Gained Access with the Keys he previously Stole from ur House/Person , Only a Thought.......

Audi Price List.

Audi CobraTrak Plus.
Thatcham Category 6 rated tracking device that uses GPS, GSM and GPRS technology
to accurately pinpoint the location of a vehicle across 36 European countries and Russia in the event of the
vehicle’s theft. Price shown includes installation and one year’s subscription to the CobraTrak service
n n n
ZGB000054200A £491.67 £590.00
Web-based upgrade package for Audi CobraTrack Plus.
This enhanced version of Audi CobraTrak Plus
offers the following additional functionality: real-time vehicle location via a simple password-protected
web application, geofence facility where alerts are set relative to vehicle movement in and out of a user
definable area (entering, leaving or both). To avoid generating false alerts, there’s a self-set transport
mode – ideal when travelling by ferry for example – and a garage mode when the vehicle is being serviced.
A fixed annual subscription applies, with no SIM usage charges
n n n
Upgrade to:
ZGB000054200A £39.17 £47.00
 
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I remember when I Got one Fitted to My Evo Many years ago (So it could be Insured) that my Car was gone all day and it was Fitted somewhere Behind the Dash, Taking that long would Suggest the Dash was taken out and placed in a Location not easy to get at without the Dash coming out Again.....

Just Been over Audi's System and with the Web Package and its Very Attractive Package for the Price .
 
A few comments about trackers in the S3 thread. Thought I would paste and copy into here. Just in case people aren't following the thread.

Are trackers even worth it?. I had a friend who had a tracker and his car was stolen. The tracker was disabled with in 10 minutes of being stolen and police never found the car. Just thinking that if someone has gone to the hassle of stealing your car professionally I don't think a tracker will stop them. Also if a tracker is installed and the car recovered do you really want it back?

Anyone got experience of using trackers and what a good tracker is?

At the moment, i use an android app that sits on an old phone, it monitors sound and calls my normal use mobile should it hear something. (The alarm is activated when i leave my car via bluetooth disconnecting, and then disarms when i return)
I also installed a GPS location App on there too, so i could track it online on Google Maps, i hide all this in my glovebox.
I like to think with this i could be quick enough to follow it using all this in another car.

I have had cobratrak fitted wth a previous car. Worked really well, had some nice options to follow the car all the time and this made trips a bit more fun as you could see where you had been online. The system also ha a feature where if the car was moved without correct ignition start it would notify the police and the owner of the car, apparantly, never needed it.

You could log into the website and see the basic information from the car such as the speed, directin, rev counter ad a few other items on the car. If you want a laugh, enable the logging before you hand the car in for a service. You cnat or at least couldnt leave the system always transmitting as you got a limited number of texts from the system, so not something you could leave always on updating the website.

You can check ad-hoc any time you want and enable the logging as you wish, lso it activates if it detects the cars is being stolen.

The dowsides are the really small reduction in the insurance ( for an A5 worth about 37k) really didnt make much difference for my insurance costs. I guess this might depend on the area you live though. There was also an annual subscription to keep the system live.

Overall I think it works, but it didnt reduce my insurance by nearly eneough to justfy the extra cost, even the annual subscription was more than the reduced costs. Dont know if this as also because I have the car locked in a garage and live in an area thats pretty low risk. Touch wood etc etc

I never stuck the stickers on the car advertising it was fitted, some would say its a deterent, others would say it lets people know they need to fnd the device (which isnt supposed to be easy) and disable it.

Had a couple of cars with trackers (cobra trak actually - fitted on delivery at Audi dealer) - my conclusion - utter waste of money unless you own something very special or very expensive. Just get GAP insurance and be done with it. I had a car stolen a few years back and frankly I wouldn't want to see it again after some scroat has knicked it. I had GAP return to invoice and basically got the insurance payout and the rest off GAP. Hence, I got back £32k in total on a car that was two years old, 35k on the clock and the insurance co paid out just £15k of that. Almost worth having the car stolen actually, almost - since that was a very traumatic experience as they lifted the keys from my house whilst we were asleep upstairs...
 
Interesting Reading, The Audi one Seems ok, And at £600 over say 4 years Ownership is not a Great deal when I paid 37k for it.... Am going On Holiday later this Year and will be Leaving my S4 in the Hand of these Secure Parking People , And to be Honest after seeing some Utube Uploads when Cars are left for Servicing/Airport parking, Am not keen, But Having the Audi System might give me Piece of Mind on how its been Treated Using the Web Based Information, And at Worse Evidence For a Small courts Claim if its Been ill treated whilst in there Care so to Speak...
 
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Twizzler said:
They are all best described as reassuringly expensive as is your car. But then, what price do you put on peace of mind? The tagged ones are the best as if your keys are stolen from your home or mugged from you, provided you keep the tag separate from the key, they won't get far.
Click to expand...
what do you mean by 'tagged'?
 
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I have read somewhere that some trackers are not affected by these scrambler devices or going into metal containers etc.

But I defo will be getting a new disklok.. Always used one on my decent cars.
 
To be honest if someone stole my car there's no way I would want it back.... especially not knowing what they've done with it.
I would claim my insurance and GAP insurance to get the full value back.
 
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Nawaid said:
I have read somewhere that some trackers are not affected by these scrambler devices or going into metal containers etc.
Click to expand...

Would you take the risk that the scumbags haven't found a way round that tho'

Like you Nawaid, visible deterrent like a Disklok has got to be better :thumbs up:

Liquidfusion-S3 said:
To be honest if someone stole my car there's no way I would want it back.... especially not knowing what they've done with it.
I would claim my insurance and GAP insurance to get the full value back.
Click to expand...

Agreed :thumbs up:

I wouldn't want my car back either, so sort of defeats a tracker in the first place for me TBH
 
Here's a thought... is there anything you can get that looks like a disklok, but isn't? So it acts as a deterrent, but doesn't actually lock or do anything? Can imagine the diskloks being a pain to use every time you get in or out the car so something that is much easier to fit but looks the same could work well.
 
When it comes to vehicle security, I think the money should be spent making it harder to steal in the first place, rather than recovering it when it has been stolen. And as has been said above, I would not want my car back if some scrote joyrided it around half the country and/or smashed it up, rendering a tracker useless to me.

And if your car was stolen and you were able to track where it was, what then? Pull on a pair of jeans and hot tail it after them? Yeah right, thats going to end well. Give the information to the police? Dunno about the police where you guys come from but I wouldnt hold much hope for that either...
 
audi upgrades
It's funny mentioning about trackers because I can't get insurance on the S3 via Liverpool Victoria... haha guess they don't want to pay out incase it ever got stolen.
 
I have transferred my skytag unit from my Land Rover into my Audi s4, found a suitable place to hide it and powered via a permanent live, subscription is about £7.00 a month for basic tracking once given a police crime number, or an extra £6 a month to have access to the live tracker/car location via the Internet.

initial price for me was around £80 through a Land Rover club, but to buy one without the discount I think they are around £270-£300.
 
The chances are that if your car is stolen it's been stolen to order = pro job, so the tracker will probably be disabled soon after the car goes missing, then within a few hours the car will be on a container on it's way far far away!

Best just to pay out for some decent GAP insurance, I just had a quote for £20k cover above and beyond what the insurance would pay if the car was to be stolen/non recovered or just a right off, that came in at£157 for 3 years worth of cover...deferred until after the first year of ownership...remember the car insurance will cover new for old in the first 12 month (Check your policy first).

Would you really want it back if it had been stolen??? A mate of mine had his Type-R stolen years back, it was his pride and joy but after he got it back he said it just never felt the same...he sold it within a few months.
 
Thought I would give this one a bump in light of all the new car orders for March! There is a lot of debate on the pros and cons of trackers, but there is an excellent new product with an additional security feature. Not the cheapest, but for some, might be something people would like to be aware of for consideration:-
http://www.trackerfit.co.uk/stolen-vehicle-trackers/trackstar-advance.html

I have posted this in another discussion, but it probably belongs here.
 
Don't criminals rip them out after 10 15 mins after stealing your car.
 
There are trackers, and then there are trackers.

Not all trackers are the same, nor offer the same protection.

A caveat about choosing a tracker device and company.


Not all brands offer the VHF Radio feature (able to work from inside metal containers and underground car parks), not all brands offer the detection devices fitted into police cars. Some brands only offer a call centre tracking via GPS/GSM etc.

You should read and research carefully which tracker device/product/service you want installed in your car.

"Tracker"s statistics speak for themselves.

They have a success rate (recovery) of over 95%.

That's 9 out of 10 cars stolen cars recovered.
http://www.tracker.co.uk/for-your-vehicle/how-tracker-works/

The product offered by Audi Accessories is "CobraTrak" http://www.cobravehiclesecurity.co.uk/stolen-vehicle-tracking.aspx

Both companies offer different methods and product and services, so choose carefully which one suits your needs.


I have no associations with either company.
 
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An example of choosing your tracker product carefully:


Assuming you buy the appropriate system, there's a device in your car. In addition, you have an electronic card, which you keep in your wallet.

As long as you have the card in your wallet or handbag when you move the car, the system won't activate. If the car moves with or without ignition away from your card, it alerts the control centre and you.

You'll get a call from Tracker within a few minutes saying that your car is moving, but the card is in a different location. At this point you can say false alarm (I left my wallet at home), or say that you've not moved the car, so it's a theft.

Police are alerted, the homing device in your car is activated. The homing signal will immediately show up on the detection devices fitted to the Police patrol cars and helicopters in the area (supported by every UK force, fitted in over 1700 patrol cars and 30 helicopters).

It's VHF radio technology, so will work from underground car parks, and metal containers.

All UK ports are also fitted with VHF receivers so they won't get out via a UK port.

It obviously works to a greater extent, as the recovery success rate is over 95%. In 86% of these cases the car is recovered within 24 hours.
 
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The good thing about the Trackstar Advance is the fact that unless the driver tag is present, the car will not start even if they have stolen your keys, or even cloned them. This is why I thought it stood out, compared to just a tracker which doesn't actually have any theft prevention mechanisms.
 
veeeight said:
There are trackers, and then there are trackers.

Not all trackers are the same, nor offer the same protection.

A caveat about choosing a tracker device and company.


Not all brands offer the VHF Radio feature (able to work from inside metal containers and underground car parks), not all brands offer the detection devices fitted into police cars. Some brands only offer a call centre tracking via GPS/GSM etc.

You should read and research carefully which tracker device/product/service you want installed in your car.

"Tracker"s statistics speak for themselves.

They have a success rate (recovery) of over 95%.

That's 9 out of 10 cars stolen cars recovered.
http://www.tracker.co.uk/for-your-vehicle/how-tracker-works/

The product offered by Audi Accessories is "CobraTrak" http://www.cobravehiclesecurity.co.uk/stolen-vehicle-tracking.aspx

Both companies offer different methods and product and services, so choose carefully which one suits your needs.


I have no associations with either company.
Click to expand...
veeeight said:
An example of choosing your tracker product carefully:


Assuming you buy the appropriate system, there's a device in your car. In addition, you have an electronic card, which you keep in your wallet.

As long as you have the card in your wallet or handbag when you move the car, the system won't activate. If the car moves with or without ignition away from your card, it alerts the control centre and you.

You'll get a call from Tracker within a few minutes saying that your car is moving, but the card is in a different location. At this point you can say false alarm (I left my wallet at home), or say that you've not moved the car, so it's a theft.

Police are alerted, the homing device in your car is activated. The homing signal will immediately show up on the detection devices fitted to the Police patrol cars and helicopters in the area (supported by every UK force, fitted in over 1700 patrol cars and 30 helicopters).

It's VHF radio technology, so will work from underground car parks, and metal containers.

All UK ports are also fitted with VHF receivers so they won't get out via a UK port.

It obviously works to a greater extent, as the recovery success rate is over 95%. In 86% of these cases the car is recovered within 24 hours.
Click to expand...
@veeeight - Sounds like great posts for a FAQ entry V8! ;) :thumbs up:
 
I appreciate the success rate are quite high for the recovery of your pride and joy with a tracker fitted

BUT would you want it back after the scumbags have ragged it from elbow to a**ehole. Not for getting your car will be recorded as a stolen/recovered

I have also seen some recovered stolen vehicles that have used hypodermic needles pushed into the seat bases and backs of seats. Why? I don't know. 'Tis a strange world we live it, sometimes ...

Personally I'll be getting GAP over a tracker. If they want my car they can have it. Just don't bring it back once you've stolen it!
 
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I can vouch for Cobra, got it in the 991 and it's very good. Went to the shops and within 45 seconds the call came through telling me I'd forgotten the tag. A bit annoying remembering to take it with you every time however.
 
I took would get GAP over a tracker if it's car being stolen that's a concern to you. If it's to lower insurance premiums then get GAP and the cheapest tracker you can find!
 
audi upgrades
I'd think if pros want to steal your car and ship it out they could manage to make a container with a Faraday cage in it, thus defeating any tracker.
 
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