RAC Trackstar.....bit of a rant!
 

....So the battery on my 03STi is constantly going flat!

As its fairly well known,the Tracker causes a constant drain on the battery:(

Anyway, I'm back in the UK for a week and think 'great' I'll call them out and get it all sorted:)

But,no such luck!!!

RAC Trackstar have never heard of this 'battery drain' problem with any vehicle,let alone Subaru:rolleyes:....''would I like a service engineer to come out?''.... At a cost of £75,yeh right!!

Further more despite registering with them 10 months ago they have not got my name associated with the cars number plate and therefore are not prepared to talk to me,as far as they are concerned it is a problem for me and my Subaru dealer.

ggrrrrrrrr

hi mate

dont the RAC Trackstar systems go onto a different (power saving, for want of a better word) mode after a few hours of the car being stationary reducing the drain on your battery???
That's what they told me:rolleyes:

Since having one installed on my car, the battery runs down if the car has not been run for about 5 days. I have got it on a charger - havent tried getting in touch with trackstar - as although it only happened since trackstar has been fitted - I ain't paying out money for someone to look at it!

Is it not still under warranty? What happens if engineer comes out and declares the unit faulty - do they then charge you for a new unit on top of the call out charge?

At £75 it sounds quite a chunk of a new Tracker?

ive got the trakker on my wr1 and didnt drive or start it for over 2 wks,no problems with at all,i have heard though that it is advisable to drive with side lights on at all times,something to do with the alternator not recognising the battery needs a charge unless being drained whilst driving?:cuckoo: :cuckoo: :cuckoo: needless to say i always drive with sidelights on and no problems!!!give that a go b4 you call out trackstar,they tried to charge me for a new subscription when i bought the car at 3mths old when the first year is included with the wr1.

[QUOTE=Elmer Fudpucker]....So the battery on my 03STi is constantly going flat!

As its fairly well known,the Tracker causes a constant drain on the battery:(
Hi Elmer!

Is your car a SUK car or an import?

CC

the tracker should go into sleep mode when the car has not been moved in 8 hours. thats why they ask you if the car has been moved recently when you phone to have it checked.

I've had this happen twice on my 02STiUK. Each time, Subaru Assistance have come out and the matter sorted quickly and efficiently for no cost, under warranty. Each time the fitter has mentioned the Trackstar.....

But it's a worry, innit :(!

Phil

Elmer, did you get my private message last week?

Hi,the car is UK supplied,tracker fitted from new.

and I always drive around with the sidelights on.If I park the car overnight in the garage then it will struggle to start in the morning with an accompanying chirp from the alarm as it fires up.....however if I leave it outside overnight then it is a dead cert not to start in the morning:(

Scott,will re-pm you:)

FYI, i put my car onto the Ireland ferry.

Car is off, keys out, moving at 22knts west.

No call, no nothing!!

So i called them and they said, get this......

"Cause your car had left the mainland UK, we stopped our service/tracking it"

Huh? That cant be right???

You only get UK cover - its extra for European cover.

Northern Ireland is in the UK last time i checked.

left my car for a week, went to start it this afternoon..... flat as a pancake. Subaru Assist had to come out and jump start me. Its the 3rd time in 2 years. Very annoying.

Dan

03 STi

You mean it's not powered by magic? Damn! What about the clock? Or the alarm? ;) Sorry, jus' messin :D

A 2+ year old OEM battery might be getting towards the end of its life. They're not exactly tip top quality items fitted as standard. If it loses charge, it might just be at the end of its life. Cold weather always is worse on batteries, so this snap might have pushed it over the edge...

Have you got a multimeter?

Check the current draw when everything on the car is off. If it's more than a few milliamps then something's drawing too much.

Either way, I'd try a new decent battery... Trackstar and all trackers (and alarms) have power saving strategies designed into 'em which tend to work very well.

We had trackstar on our impreza...BAD MOVE...never worked properly, they couldn't locate the car when it was sitting on the bloody drive!!!! and as for the speed camera detector....don't make I puke!!!!! :razz: :razz: :razz:

Tracker is better (IMHO)

Tracker, the brand is being discontinued soon-ish. It is an analogue system, with no digital capabilities.

Trackstar is Sat GPS.

Neither do you any fukcing good!

1 police car per area force, might carry Tracker, usually a panda, cause the T5's are for more important work, and are often parked up and out of use due to the fact traffic cops dont use them 24/7.

Nicked cars get parked up, T5's could chase but wouldnt be available quick enough, pandas just turn up and find the "parked up" cars.

Trackstar, RAC, hmmmmm........... Takes then 3 hours to turn up if you breakdown, takes then 5 minutes to explain they dont know where your car has gone, Namibia probably.

Get double glazing, get extra locks, get some mace or get karate lessons, so when they come, your ready.

lol:D

i dont get any problems

:rolleyes:

I would certainly hope for more than two years service life from a car battery.

My point was Trackstar are aware of this problem and the fix is to reduce the time that the unit searches for sattelites to 1 hour.Which at the moment is 7 hours,or so I'm told by Subaru.

Other members have posted on here with similar problems before and replaced with new batteries only for the problem to return a couple of weeks later.

Never had a problem with my 03sti in it's 2yr life.
Dipster

Test it.

Keys out, roll the car down the road 50ft and see if they call you up.

They state they will.

ANY movement without the keys.

A mate at a garage, cant roll car about without telling the company. They have had police out looking for theft.

I phoned them and said can you find my car, they phoned back and gave the road it was parked on! Very cool. 03sti BTW.

Dipster

The OEM battery is cheap and poor. It is definitely specified "to budget"... 3 years seems to be what most OEM batteries are pegged to last for, but admittedly many people get a lot more.

There's an interesting thing about the alternator being "smart" in another thread... And something about a unit being replaced due to RAC changing the design, so it might be worth having another rant at RAC?

Good luck either way :D

Elmer, you need to ring back & ask for the technical department, the 2 guys there definitely know about the problem & the FREE time reduction fix on the ECU as I had a 30 minute discussion with them a couple of months ago!
Steve