Sti_Lad

Well I had a fun evening last night...
Come out my house around midnight and found battery was flat ! was my fault really so cant complain too much..

Managed to bump the car to start... happy days I thought!

So I drop my mate Tom home and leave his house which is about 15 mins from where I live... Im poodling along the road when this Police Mondeo flys past me and turns round lights blaring and tails me flashing me over..

I pull over and then three other cars appear out of no where! Boxing me in!
"Keys out of ignition and get out of Car sir!"
I thought all this for my scooby number plate!
I do as requested and hear the Essex police chopper above!

Little did I know the RAC Trackstar unit had been activated and the police had been tracking me for 15 mins! (hmm what speeds were I doing??!)

This car has been reported stolen sir, are you the owner...
"Errm yes" I reply, showing him some ID

"We have 2 other cars looking for you and us here and the Police helicopter in case you run!"

I explained I bump started the car as it had a flat battery and feel a bit of a prune, but I am VERY Impressed with the attitude of the Police, RAC and the Speed and accuracy of my interception! OK I know its a false alarm but this system does what its supposed to and last night proved it. Happily pay my £130 next year for renewal!

The police were even impressed I didnt break 31 mph! (so was I in fact) and with the accuracy of the system, he commented on the need for boosters and stuff for just a Tracker....

After a couple of minutes of talk and away I go, bit shocked but also happy knowing it works.... and would have found my car in 15 mins

So sorry for the call out essex police and RAC I will remember to take my mobile with me next time so when RACTrackstar calls I can say yes yes I had a flat battery!



Note to all really as well..... Make sure you check with RACTrackstar if your battery does go flat! Obviously too many incidents like this will make the Police less helpful in pursuing a report of stolen car.

tuscan57

great way to check tho......

SirFozzalot

D'oh!

Nice to see the local plod were on the ball though!

pbee

thank good you dont live in brum, it wouldnt of been are you the owner of this motor vehicle sir, you would of just been battoned round the face so you cant speak and given the pasting a car thief deserves.

allegedly :-).

Did trackstar not try to contact you first ? Mobile home number ect ?. i thought that was the routine contact the owner and try to confirm possesion.

Iwan

That'll be a first then!

Sti_Lad

They did try to contact me, I had left phone on the Kitchen side indoors so they couldnt actually get a response! They called three times...
Still would rather be pulled over than not have it pulled when it actually IS stolen!

Abdabz

Hmmm I have said device in mine - had battery changed y'day - no phone calls and no police chases... Ive been here before with the faulty kit.... Here we go again!
P

alwong

I can't believe you can't check whether the system is working or not when you want? (Without a flat battery)

Sti_Lad

You can, you can request a system check.

Make sure the car has been used in the last 4 hours, phone them and they will check and tell you where its located.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Sounds like when the silent alarm tripped off at work (and ADT fecked up with the phone number )

I was walking to the car when two cars turn up and 2 vans laden with 4 plod each...all of which jump out and run straight at me to arrest me...

Also teh chopper did a fly-by-too

And there's me thinking...****! I gonna get rugby tackled here Daft thing was it may have needed 4 of them as almost all of them were only as tall as my shoulders, and I'm not very tall either

Wurzel

iTrader: (1)

I don't understand how these trackers work! do you need permission to drive your car or summat??? why was the tracker activated ? who activated it and why??? seriously confused by this.

Iwan

In theory, the RAC Trackstar detects if the car's moving (using GPS) without the ignition being on and then phones the control centre (via an inbuilt mobile) to say 'i'm being stolen'. They then give the owner a call and say 'are you aware you're car's moving sir' etc. If they can't get hold of you they alert the plod and can track it realtime. It's supposed to keep sending up GPS location reports regularly via the built-in mobile phone thingy.

In theory. In recent times they've proven to be less than 100% reliable. At least 2 P1's and a Type 25 disappeared in 4th quarter last year without trace and without alerting the control centre.

Wurzel

iTrader: (1)

Ok but the ignition was on because the owner was driving it when he was stopped! also if someone steels it then again the ignition will be on as they will be driving it. going on your explanation the only time it should be activated is if someone tows it away.!!!

Iwan

Dunno mate, maybe something to do with the car battery going flat then him bump starting the car? RAC Trackstar has it's own backup battery, so maybe it thought the car battery had been disconnected as part of some sort of alarm circumvention effort and decided it was being stolen?

As far as i'm concerned I'd never have another one unless I absolutely needed one to get insurance, they're just a huge waste of money IMO. Better off spending the money on stopping the car getting nicked in the first place. Decent disk lock for steering, driveway post, CCTV etc.

I've had a car nicked before, once the ****** had nicked/damaged/raced/crashed it i didn't want it back. Fortunately it was written off.

Sti_Lad

Im guessing the period where the battery was flat, and I bumped it must have triggered the sytem, I even put it in valet mode..

On other comments its a waste of time.... I feel most thieves know they come standard fit on these and the opportunist prob wouldnt bother.... End of day if they want your car they WILL have it one way or another... Im not saying all rush out and get one, but its an extra step.... Yes disckloc etc are a good idea too!