GPS Tracker

[VinylFan]

Has anyone any experience and recomendations for GPS trackers?

Preferably the type where you buy them and dont need to pay a subscription

Maybe its something the Club could look into and possibly sort a deal out considering the vehicles

Kind regards

Si

[mike020150]

I have tried a small cheap tracker and found two issues. One is the battery drain on top of the usual modern car drain problems. In other words, it simply makes the usual problem of battery drainage even worse (applies to a greater or lesser extent to all trackers). The second is the ease with which the signal to the hidden unit is blocked by poor reception, parking inside a garage etc.

In contrast, the standard system in my modern Jaguar was good enough to provoke a call to me from the call centre because I'd turned off the alarm sensors to travel on a ferry. The unalarmed car perceived itself as moving without an engine in operation thus causing the car to signal a possible theft despite the signal being shielded in the bowels of a steel hulled ship.


You pay your money ... Mike.

[mikeanson]

Interesting topic. My XK8 was fitted with a tracker by the first owner. Obviously the subscription has lapsed now, but I never thought about the extra drain on the battery. I suppose I could disable it, but I have no idea where it is located!! I suppose if someone pinched the car I could re-activate the subscription?

[VinylFan]

Hi

Many thanks for your replies it is very much appreciated. I imagine I am not the only person who is looking into this or has indeed already done it.

Losing signal is concerning and the battery drain is also a problem, especially on my x100 whère battery power is such an issue. Although if Mike has it on his xk8 and it doesn't seem to cause any problems maybe it's not such an issue.

My car is a daily driver , ( salt ,rain mud snow ) so would charge up everyday, however I am unsure how much of a drain it would be where the vehicle is garaged a lot, unless of course if it was connected to a smart charger

Has anyone experienced even an aftermarket subscription unit as I am sure I am not the only person interested.

Many thanks

Si

[RichardSEL]

Amongst the valid calls from Tracker to us at Metcall were far too many that turned out to be giving wrong location co-ordinates. This was back some seven - eight years though so technology might've moved on since.

Then vehicles had a two-part unit installed: the track unit and the higher powered transmitter that could be turned on by Tracker Control when they were sure vehicle was not where owner said it should've been.

Those wrong locations, even when the locating transmitter had been switched on, could be wildly wrong -- causing alerts to be sent out to other county forces when the vehicle was nowhere near that indicated. Eventually we were instructed to only log all Tracker calls and forward on to other forces for action those that had got two confirms of location from Tracker seperated by 20 mins minimum. Often the two locations from Tracker were physically too far apart from each other to have been travelled in that time.

OTOH, some real time accurate collections of high value stolen vehicles were achieved thru Tracker location. And some good collars done too. Only for the Courts to give bail to the scroats who immediately dissapeared back to the country from where they'd come
https://www.tracker.co.uk

[DaveNeedham]

I have a Rewire Security 303 fitted to my TR6 and it works really well I pay a PAYG small fee for a data only 2g SIM card (Lycamobile) it’s permantly on in the car and not having used it since last September it still showing battery 100% it also has a back up battery that will last about 12 hours. If the car moves I get a text message I can see the route and how long it’s been parked all in all I’m pleased with it. Peace of mind especially after seeing the cctv footage of some scrotes wheeling away someones MGB!
I intend to get one for my XKR

[VinylFan]

Hi

Many thanks for both of your replies. 2 very differing options.

It may be me as i havent managed to contact Tracker yet as to what the subscription is per year, however being Thatcham and all it involves is a great help.

The rewire is very interesting as well and will need a bit more looking into but appears to be a great little product.

I will have to double check with both but anything that dosent interfere with the electrics on my XK is a great help and stops the scrotes in the process. However as you both say, they get off and dissapear into the wilderness.

I wonder if there is one where the doors can be remotely locked and a belt restrains any occupant.

many thanks again for your help

Kind regards

Si

[DaveNeedham]

Funnily enough my XKR I have just picked up today has a tracker fitted by the p.o. Looking though the paperwork there is a discount to be had for the car insurance so I contacted tracker.co.uk to enquire.
£30 to reactivate it IIRC £30 per month (it may have been more... can’t remember)
£499 for 3 years.
Don’t know what the insurance discount may be but I bet it’s far short of that!

[FrankC]

Hi guys,

A thought for you. I have fitted a tracker to my XKR. Works really well. I do have to pay to top up the sim card every couple of months or so just to keep it live and a yearly subscription fee for the webservice to track the car on Google. Last time I paid it was £12.

When I last renewed my insurance I asked about discount for having one. Ten mins of talk here is the summary. You do NOT get any discount on your insurance policy BUT if you say you have a tracker and someone nicks your car and for what ever reason it was not on etc you may not be covered by the insurance. So if they ask.............. say no.

As for making your battery go flat the answer is dead obvious. Connect it to a switched circuit. In simple terms a wire that is only live when the ignition is on.

Besides helping you if, heaven forbid, you get your car stolen you have all sorts of other uses. I get my car picked up from home to have work done on it. I can see how fast the driver is going. When they put it inside on the ramp. When they take it for a test drive, if they take it for another test drive its obvious they did not solve the problem the first time. You can tell if the mechanic has took the car home to impress his girlfriend etc. Finally I can be standing on the drive as he turns the corner to bring it back to me. He thinks I have a sixth sense.

Here is a typical photo of my tracker in action. What you cannot see from the photo is the speed graph beneath it. It shows the speed at points over the journey. The photo is AFTER a trip of mine but you can see a moving tracker when you watch live. Anything from 20 seconds to an hour apart.