[Irish]

Few weeks ago a GTI was taken in the night a few mins from my house. Obviously they are keeping an eye out for them.

I lock the doors as soon as I get into the car out of habit but am wondering is a tracker a good idea. Is it worth the initial outlay for the piece of mind that even if your car is taken, there's little chance of the scum having it for long..

Would an alarm suffice? (I would've specced one from factory if I had of had the choice).

 

[Blue V5]

I've heard a lot of bad reports about Trackers. A lot of the time the company hasn't a clue where the car is.

 

[macdaddy]

Theres a few versions of traker including one which can tell you where the car is including current speed. There well worth the money and know a few cases where people have got the car back quite quick.

 

[DirtyDogIRL]

Few weeks ago a GTI was taken in the night a few mins from my house. Obviously they are keeping an eye out for them.

I lock the doors as soon as I get into the car out of habit but am wondering is a tracker a good idea. Is it worth the initial outlay for the piece of mind that even if your car is taken, there's little chance of the scum having it for long..

Would an alarm suffice? (I would've specced one from factory if I had of had the choice).

It wasnt one in Rathmines was it? if not thats 2 I've heard of - was it alarmed?. I got the factory fit alarm on mine and while it does help me relax a bit, if they want it badly they'll try get into the house or get me while I'm getting out of the car - thats what insurance is for, piece of mind. Forget the tracking system, stick in a decent alarm (I've a friend who does mobile electronics incl alarms if you want a good job at a decent price) and be done with it.

 

[thomask1]

Is the alarm not standard spec in Ireland?! Bad news if not.

The alarm probably isn't going to do much anyhow other than let you or someone else know that the car is being stolen. I doubt there's many people that could get around the immobiliser, they're pretty good nowadays. If someone wants you car they're more likely to want to get hold of the keys, either by breaking into the house or getting you when you get out of the car.

 

[Irish]

Dog - another one I'm afraid. Also know a guy in work who had a MKIV taken during the night a few months ago, also in the area I'm talking about. He had the car two days.

Thomas - no alarm as standard no. It was on the MKIV. More money, less spec... seems weird!

I don't get petrol at night anymore if I can avoid it. You could say it's me being paranoid but the only cars I hear of being taken like this at the moment are new GTIs.

 

[Rotara]

Hold on Hold on Hold on a minute!!! What's happened to the state of the art Thatcham Cat 1 Alarm system that comes with the vehicle?? & what about the immobiliser? I thought that modern cars were virtually impossible to steal!??

 

[Irish]

As already stated above... the ROI cars don't get an alarm as standard.

And immobilisers are all well and good but if some nut has a gun to your head/knife to your throat or is at the end of your bed in the middle of the night he's not leaving again without the keys which blows the immobiliser theory out the window.

At least when they have started your car and driven off for a minute you can 1) shut the engine down or 2) at least get it back when they park it somewhere waiting for the heat to die down before putting it on a ship to the UK.

 

[Rotara]

OK, I get it now, the Irish cars don't get alarms! Why?
Is car crime an unheard of thing over there?
I guess it allows the customer to put in a system of his/her choice! but what a hassle eh? Having a ?22K car sitting on your drive without a bell on it!?
VW I guess offer the factory alarm as an option?

 

[Irish]

Try 25k your money over here...

The reason there's no alarm is due to VRT. They limit the options as standard to keep the crazy tax of 30% of the VAT inclusive price of the car down as low as possible. Means we get a roof instead of climate etc

 

[VW_GTi]

My personal opinion on Tracker is that it is a big waste of time.
Personally, even if it does work, and cars can be retrieved within an
hour of being stolen, if my car is taken I never want to see it again.
Basically it will most probably be taken by joy riders, in which case
either will have been thrashed like no other car within that one hour
or worst crashed somewhere! Either way, I would much rather get my
money from insurance and buy a new one.

 

[Mark V]

My personal opinion on Tracker is that it is a big waste of time. Personally, even if it does work, and cars can be retrieved within an hour of being stolen, if my car is taken I never want to see it again. Basically it will most probably be taken by joy riders, in which case either will have been thrashed like no other car within that one hour or worst crashed somewhere! Either way, I would much rather get my money from insurance and buy a new one.

High value new (ish) cars are not usually stolen by 'joyriders'. They are stolen to sell on abroad, often to order. Thats one reason they need to steal the keys too, apart from the fact that without the keys it is very difficult indeed to drive away a modern car. In this instance the cars are usually not thrashed or damaged.

 

[MAT7]

I'm also not a fan of Tracker and have read many negative reports on them.

If my car was stolen I'm not sure I would actually want her back, especially if she has been trashed. Much better to invest in gap insurance. This way you can get a brand new car, even if your car was 3 years old!

Matt

 

[dogzilla]

My friend of mine installed something called an i mob into his new Porsche Cayenne.

Its a GPS tracker but it does alot more stuff!

- you get a panic button that links to a silent operator

- you can totally disable your car whenever you leave it from your mobile

- you can get it to alert you via mobile whenver it moves/ if its hit

- if your car gets jacked you just call up the number and as soon as it stops the engine dies.

- if you have a crash it automatically contacts the operator and they can call the emergency services!

Not sure how much he paid but i think its well worth it if your worried!

 

[Rotara]

I think you're right Mark V, New cars are usually stolen to order & shipped off abroad..
I saw a documentary on it some time ago. favourite destinations for 4x4 or SUV's are the Middle East, Turkey, Pakistan..
German Saloon & Hot Hatches go to the numerous countries that made up the former USSR.
Using tracker technology they followed a container ship all the way to the Ukraine & interpol busted a few chaps over there.
I understand folks not wanting their pride & joy back after such a trauma, but weighing up the cost of Gap insurance & any if modifications done to vehicle + the excess, surely a new vehicle will still leave a much more bitter taste in the mouth? Then there's the premium hike the following year! Tracker sounds great even if it just serves in bringing the toe-rags to justice..
But Trackers aren't without their problems either..
I remember a TopGear episode where Clarkson was explaining how the tracker company called him up every 10 mins to tell him his car had been stolen, when he in fact was the one driving it! & never reported it stolen!
This went on for quite a while.
Tell me have the tracker company the ability to cut out the engine remotely?

 

[golfturbo]

One word of advice...

The whole point of trackers is that they are covert and the theif doesn't know he is being tracked, with this in mind if anyone does decide to fit one don't post it on here! Otherwise someone who is determined will look for it when they still the car.

Just my opinion!

 

[Mike Roberts]

There's one I've heard of called RAC Trackstar - it's GPS & radio signal, so it can still be found even if they hide it in containers/underground. It alerts them if it's moved without the key (i.e. towed, bumped etc..) and they boast an average recovery time of 1 hr.

There's a really big problem in South Manchester at the minute with jacking, most being used a few days later for robberys or ram-raiding - not so much of a problem with the shipping abroad/joy-riders, so most people are getting them back undamaged and uncatagorised as a stolen & recoved car which affects the resale value.

It's around ?350 fitted and ?10 per month - when you think of what you save on your insurance each year, it'll pay for itself at some point and with a bit of luck, send down the scum who've whipped your wheels.

 

[Irish]

The tracker Dogzilla describes is one I have heard of available in Ireland... seems to be the best one out there.

I also highly doubt joyriders will take cars like this. They're too much work and they just want a quick fix of a spin.

Anytime I've encountered joyriders on the road they were in old banger Civics etc

 

[Spin 150PD]

I used to have a tracker on my 150PD the registration is either ?100+ per year or @ ?300 for lifetime ownership, quite expensive I thought and wouldn't choose to have it but it came on the car (ex-demo). I would just invest in a good alarm system probably one with an audible 'beep' in case you are being observed. I would rather rely on my insurance that get the car back after some scrot' had abused it. Really gets me mad that we all work so hard to have the 'good things' in life and some low life makes you a little paranoid[]

If I come across someone with a gun or a knife demanding the keys I would probably offer them some petrol money too []

 

[Rotara]

All the insurance companies I checked DO NOT offer a discount if a tracker is fitted.. So guess what.. I ain't gonna fit one!.. instead i'll spend the cash on GAP insurance for the first 3 years then takes me chances there after!