Hi all,

I just posted this on the Canadian forum, but thought that I should try to find other opinions as well. My friends Honda Prelude was recently stolen. It had an aftermarket alarm system and engine immobilizer key chip. Apparently these are useless when the thief can easily disconnect your battery and tow away the vehicle . It was found a week later...completely gutted ie. engine, hood, intake, exhaust, bumpers etc. After hearing about this terrible incident, I want to look into GPS tracking systems used in the Toronto area. I have a few questions that I hope members can help answer:

1. What are popular systems used?
2. Do they have its own battery? are the chips easy to hide and hard for the thief to find? One post mentioned that thieves have devices to find the chips within the car...anyone else have any input on this?
3. How much do these systems approx. cost? monthly fees?

Thanks in advance for your input.

Cheers,
Alan

 

1. I know that there are a few companies out there; there's lojack which is non-GPS based, and a few other GPS/celluar based tracking companies. I can't remember the names off-hand.
2. Yes they typically have their own battery. They are hidden within the car by the installer. If the installer does a good job they are very hard to find.
Technically they could find it if they had the right equipment, but they have to be extremely well equiped. Most theives would be lucky to have a tow truck and a chop shop. Additionally it takes a lot of extra time to find the unit and remove it (all while its tracking them) compared to just hitching it to a tow truck. Because of this many theives will just move on to another car rather than try to take on the massive risk associated with stealing a car with a tracking system.

3. Cost varies on the system but it can run over $1000; monthly fees vary from ~$15 to $30 us depending on what you package into the system. Lojack is $800 no monthly fee.