help2003

iTrader: (1)

Me think i need to get one, but which one to go for, was just looking at the rac one £399 then £120 per/yr, is this good??

Whats everyone else got, Or a insurance company that does not mind if you dont have one

st3v3

My old car had a Trakbac 3 by Siemens and was good at £150 per year subscription.

If i didnt disarm the tracker they would phone me EVERYTIME and if i didnt answer the security questions the police was informed instantly.

Not bad for £150 a year depends how you look at it.

Marky9074

Tracker technology is flawed....search my posts and you will see the bun fight I had with a company after I proved system could be disabled in seconds...

Some insurance companies still require it 'cos they are in bed with the suppliers...IMHO

Mark

help2003

iTrader: (1)

just had alook at that one £750 to buy and install then £150 a year

HUDDERS1

i have tracker horizon.£400 fitted.£300 lifetime subscription.

corradoboy

Waste of time and money IMHO. Most new units are GSM based and can be disabled without any effort with a device sold on eBay for under £100. Add to that the fact that most decent cars are stolen using the owners keys and what is the point ? One or two proven physical deterrents such as Disklok, Dipol or Barrier Deadlock, and the excellent Clifford Blackjax are my preferred solution.

Marky9074

Quite, but it is much easier to disable the GPS, which can be done with mere kitchen foil....

help2003

iTrader: (1)

so are they a waste of money then

corradoboy

Ask yourself, if it was stolen and driven at extreme speeds with no mechanical sympathy, bumped, wrecked and generally abused, would you want it back ? Any pro-thief will bypass any tracking system in a breath anyway !

Snazy

Its not so much wanting it back, its wanting your money back. As has been said, with some companies, no tracker, no payout.

Personally I like the tracker on mine.
More due to the added features.

Trackstar Plus is about 349 at the mo and £10 a month subscription.
Options are Safe Speed (camera locator) and E&B, Emergency/Breakdown button. Hands free GSM kit fitted, so emergency services or breakdown can locate you.

I had a recent experience using the E&B button and was more than impressed.

Not everyone can and do disable trackers when stealing cars, or they would not still be being recovered, and tracking companies would be heading out of business.

I do however also recommed the use of Blackjax which I also have, valuable system to say the least.

PS RAC Trackstar was or still is the standard fit tracker of choice for Subaru UK.

corradoboy

Surely that's 'No Tracker, no policy' If they insist on it then without it they simply don't cover, not cover then not pay !

HUDDERS1

totally agree mate. but have a look at tracker

Snazy

No mate, if you have a policy and a tracker, then remove or cancel subscription, you insurer will still insure you but NOT for theft of the car.
As I found out when my old tracker started playing up, I called up to ask what to do and was told my theft cover was suspended lol.

Had to send them the new installation certificate to reinstate theft cover.

MikeyTang

iTrader: (4)

Maybe flawed and waste of money but u cant get insured with out it

Snazy

Some insurers apparently will insure without one. Im sure I have read somewhere that people were actually NOT offered any discount for having a tracker.
Other choose not to subscribe, which to me is madness. If you say you have one, you need to keep up to date with it.

As I have said I like the extras on the RAC one, mainly cos as long as the Safe Speed is working, I know the tracker is too Plus it serves a daily purpose, rather than just being in the background.

corradoboy

I didn't have one on my Scoob. Insured with A-Plan, all mods declared and a Leeds (loaded) postcode for £580.

MikeyTang

iTrader: (4)

I've never been able to insure my STI with out it ... but mind u my driving record is not the best

Marky9074

Yes you can....you just have to ask about. Granted most 'online' insurers require it.

Noted the above regarding extras. I have a tracker on the TT, so whilst it is there I will use it. But I personally would not choose to install one at my cost, unless it was an insurance necessity.

Terminator X

iTrader: (7)

Re Post 15, wasn't there a thread here a while back commenting that if you had a Tracker there was no need to subscribe per month as in the event of a theft the Police will request that the tracking co track the car?

TX.

Snazy

Would not think that to be the case tbh mate. Otherwise everyone would not bother to pay subscription and just get the police to demand it was activated if stolen.
The tracking company usually tell the police they have activated the tracker, not the other way round.
At the end of the day its not a legal requirement to have one, and to be fair, if you fail to subscribe and keep it up to date, but tell your insurer you will.... you just saved the police trying to track the car down, AND your insurer 5-30k paying out, cos they wont lol

Terminator X

iTrader: (7)

I'm not saying whether I have one or not, whether subs are paid or not or indeed whether I need one for insurance or not

If you have a Tracker & don't pay the subs then you've still got a Tracker it's just not activated. If car gets nicked then Police want to track car down so activating the Tracker is a no brainer isn't it ... the Police can do anything can't they?!

TX.

[Edit - I do agree, of course, if it's an insurance requirement then not paying the subs is a recipe for disaster!]

Snazy

Sadly it does not quite work like that. Tracker companies are a business not a charity. Unless human life was at risk or something else serious, a tracker company would not "donate" their services on police say so.
Same way police can force entry to a house IF there is someone/thing at risk of harm. But otherwise they have to ask, and can be refused.

Like I say, if that were the case, no one would pay their fees

Besides, if I dont pay my fees, I dont get my safespeed and E&B

The other part to remember of course, is while its not being paid for and monitored it "could" become non functional. And you would not know. Either way, im pretty sure somewhere in the fine print, insurance documents say it has to be an active tracker.

Terminator X

iTrader: (7)

If the Police ask them to activate the unit in order to assist catching a crook, how can they refuse Isn't that illegal itself? I appreciate what you're saying about the added extras, perhaps that's why they added them in

On the non-functioning bit, I've heard that this can happen even when you pay the fee ie doesn't work in event car is nicked!

TX.

Snazy

The police can ask, but like I say the service works the other way around.
Your tracking company asks for the assistance of the police in tracking their customers car following the report of the theft.

Looking for a car which the owner has chosen not to keep their tracker subscription up to date is just another stolen car the police dont have to entertain until it pings up on ANPR or gets reported as dumped or on fire.

Most cars are usually tracked and located stationary, being parked and left to cool off. Unless its a joyrider, in which case as most have said, they would not want their car back lol.

As for the extras, I believe its only Trackstar who offer those services.

Trackers becoming unusable, yup certainly does happen. Some being disabled by the theif, other units failing to function. Technology is great eh! But thats where your subscription alone should cover you, and between the insurer and the tracker they SHOULD agree that the car was covered and payout is made.

lordretsudo

I have an 05 STI with RAC trackstar fitted as standard. I always wondered how the safespeed option works - could anyone give some details as to whether it's worthwhile an how/when it alerts you? TIA :-)

Snazy

Safe speed is an audio alert system.
As you approach any fixed site of a speed camera Gasto/Truvelo/SPECS it gives a short audiable burst (3 beeps) to say you X00' metres away.
As you get closer, if your speed is below the posted limit, it will do another pulse of beeps to say almost there. If you are above the posted limit, the beeps will continue until the GPS speed drops below the posted limit.

With SPECS its slightly different, and will again give a warning to say you are entering a SPECS area. Then if you speed rises above the limit during the time in the area it will again remind you with beeps. (SPECS beeps are slower so you can identify the camera type) It will also give you a burst of beeps when the zone ends, giving you about half a mile before everyone else sees the END signs lol (People think you are thick as you begin to accelerate )

Long and the short of it....

Excellent for when driving in unknown areas, and waking you up when you become complacent with your tired early morning drive, and forget cameras are there.

However some would see it as annoying when you are doing 33mph in a 30 and "know" it wont flash, but the Safe Speed will still beep at you.
Again some consider it annoying when you pass a camera in the middle of the road which can face either way, and its facing the other way. It will beep anyway.
It does however know the difference between single direction and either direction facing cameras.

To me, I like it.
Keeps me on my toes, makes me behave, helps preserve my licence, and lets me know my tracker is actually working.
It updates via a GSM system built in, so is normally on the ball with new cameras etc. No need to update it yourself.

I also love the E&B option, but thats another matter

Hope that all helps mate

Marky9074

But safe speed is a subscription service in itself isnt it? In the space of a year you could have bought yourself a nice Tom Tom and therefore SatNav as well....

Snazy

Yup and some days you forget it, some day you might leave it in the car, choose not to use it cos you know where you are going etc.
It is indeed a subscription service, but I dont think it would cover the cost of a Tom Tom in a year. But granted not far off it.

For me its convinience. Its in the car, its ALWAYS on, and if its not working, I know my tracker has a problem too. No need to update it etc either, does it all itself.

I have Satnav built into the headunit already anyway lol. Which is great for GPS speed.

Many fors and againsts about the system really, but unlike satnav based systems, you are unlikely NOT to hear it warning you if you have the music up loud either

bmac800

Bell (part of Admiral) insurance do not require a Tracker to be fitted but it did cost a bit little more but still loads cheaper than fitting/running a Tracker.You can do an online quote and see the price difference and has been said who would want their car back after some ned has thrashed the **** off it.For my car Bell were the cheapest anyway.

Snazy

Bell were cheap for my Golf a few years back, but when I made a claim, I found out why it was cheap! lol
All in all a good company though

As has been said, you can find insurance without tracker, and most definatly if its been stolen and thrashed, WOULD you want it back.