In Light of Marv's Stolen Car, My security solution and recommendation Options

[Robarabian]

Hi everyone,

Who would have thunk that our cars would become valuable enough to steal in the manner it is happening. If you scroll the FB and other sites, it is happening more and more.

My answer to helping you secure getting it back comes from my LE experience. A Tracker. I use the one I post at the bottom of this paragraph. They are under a hundred bucks, and the air cards 60 bucks a year. I have 3 of them. 2 are hard wired and I keep one as a "floater" to just slap on whatever car I want. I bought these years ago when my kids were new drivers because they would forget to text that they made it to school and it was easy to just live time, dial up the car's location.

You can set parameters to send you a text if the car goes outside of the geofence you select. Ie, travels more than 5 miles from home or wherever. You can set a speed alarm that will send you a text if it exceeds whatever speed you select. So say you think your mechanic is the same guy as the valet from Ferris Bueller's Day off, you will know the car is doing 100 mph...


They are easy to hide, and use cellular and unlike an Air Tag, they don't tell anyone they are there.

My insurance company provides a discount on my daily driver as it is considered a "tracking device" to assist in recovery. I think for the low cost, you get a high peace of mind with these.

I hated reading the story about Marv's car and pray for its recovery. It is like losing a family member after the time, effort and energy we spend nurturing them through life.

Robert




https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07W7YJYSH?psc=1&...product_details

[vitamin914]

Excellent and thank you for the info.

I have an AirTag with a disabled speaker now, but like you said it can still alert the thief that the tag is following them.

Does the unit you have need a subscription plan from the manufacturer (not for the data plan on the SIM)?

[ValcoOscar]

Same here...I use a different tracker but this one seems better.

Thanks Rob!!!! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

O

[jim_hoyland]

Thanks Rob, a hell of a lot better than than the old LoJacks

[Robarabian]

That is the beauty. It is air card only. So you buy through "Speedmoblie" a year plan for 65 bucks, charge it and go. There is a little setup involved but they are very responsive and walk you through the app. Once it is set up, anywhere you have a connection to the internet you can check your stuff.

Buy the longer battery one. On my Tacoma right now, it has been there two weeks on the charge and I am just hitting 20%. I will hardwire that one at a later date.

Excellent and thank you for the info.

I have an AirTag with a disabled speaker now, but like you said it can still alert the thief that the tag is following them.

Does the unit you have need a subscription plan from the manufacturer (not for the data plan on the SIM)?

[StratPlayer]

Bought one, thank you for the tip

[Dion]

Thanks for the info. Will be purchasing one of these.

[kerensky]

Tracking this topic so I can come back to it later, helluva idea.

[eric9144]

Tracking this topic so I can come back to it later, helluva idea.

Same, great suggestion (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[Robarabian]

Figured I would put the SIM card you need here...

https://www.amazon.com/Tracker-Senior-Child...C140&sr=8-6

They are funny to set up, the App and instructions are what you expect from a Chinese product, a bit of broken English and some words that assume what they mean. Bypass all that crap and email the seller through Amazon and they will set it up for you.

I name each tracker either by car, or Tracker 1, 2 3 etc...

[stickyfingers]

Amazing tip - thanks for this.

[FlacaProductions]

@Robarabian - Robert,
I've had this same setup for a couple of years now precisely because you previously suggested it somewhere along the way. It's brilliant and I've pointed a number of friends to it as well Much appreciated.

[Jett]

These are all great ideas, but there is a bit of concern using a centralized system that knows where everyone’s cars are. The centralized system better be safe! I expect that Apple have dedicated folks protecting the Air Tags infrastructure, and am not sure about the Chinese company.

[ClayPerrine]

I use GEGO trackers...

https://www.gego.io/

They work anywhere in the world.

Clay

[Robarabian]

Everything has risk for sure. Yes, they are based out of the country. Yes, they can probably monitor the trackers. Do I think they have time or care where they are? Not really.

I have not yet had the passing band of thieves show up to my GPS locations to take anything. I don't think Apple is as safe as we think it to be, they can watch your FaceTime without you knowing it too, and voluntarily, I already carry my iPhone tracking device everywhere I am. To me, it is not much different.

I don't go anywhere that is so secret and for the low cost investment, it works for me. Just an option for sure.

There are US based tracker companies that you can use as well, they are just more expensive (the tracker alone is over $1500.00 dollars) and then the yearly subscription. At the end of the day, each individual needs to feel comfortable with the security level they want.

Think of it this way, with the tracker we are talking about, the car would already be back in Marv's hands. Worth it to me.

These are all great ideas, but there is a bit of concern using a centralized system that knows where everyone’s cars are. The centralized system better be safe! I expect that Apple have dedicated folks protecting the Air Tags infrastructure, and am not sure about the Chinese company.

[vitamin914]

Using an offshore tracking company could be a concern to some. I had an alarm company that shut its doors (iSmartAlarm) making their web based alarm for the home a pile of scrap electronics. Same could happen here with the chinese GPS trackers.

Apple AirTags or Chipolo trackers all report their presence to avoid being used by stalkers. Not a great solution to alert the car's thief the car has a tracker onboard.

Another idea is to get a cheap used or old iPhone, flick the silent switch, get a $5 data only SIM card and use the FindMy network (not sure if Android has something similar - they would be cheaper than old iPhones).

I probably have an old 4G capable iPhone in the back of a desk somewhere. My idea was to see if there is 12v available under the passenger seat (in that mess called the seatbelt interlock) to charge the old iPhone and leave it there under the seat. This would not alert the thief like the AirTag would. Apple isn't going to disappear before any of those "no name" tracker companies.

Of course using a purely dedicated car tracker has many positives too (like tracking history and Geo-fencing).

[narino]

@Robarabian Thanks for heads up on this separate topic.

I'll repost what I wrote in Marv's topic in case someone wants to see other options.

"I've been considering something similar for my cars. I'm looking at the GV50MA at Optimustracker.com . It reports every 30 seconds and on corners. Looks to be slightly more expensive monthly than the GeGo. But seems to be another good option."

How would you hard wire your option? Using a transformer to 5V to USB? I wonder what the draw would be in comparison to a true hard wire option. I personally would prefer a hard wired option. I'd be the idiot who has their car stolen only to realize I'd forgotten to charge the tracker.

Stay safe y'all!

[Robarabian]

THanks. The reason I like these is they are flexible. Geofence. Speed Alarm. Battery alarm. The hardwire option is cool. Once it is at 100 percent it stops draining and charging. So it just keeps it topped at 100 percent and if it ever gets disconnected it'll still last 2-3 weeks. You can set it for sleep mode, or every 30 seconds as well and other adjustments.

Anything to keep the cars safe, I hate when this stuff happens.

Best to you,

Robert

@Robarabian Thanks for heads up on this separate topic.

I'll repost what I wrote in Marv's topic in case someone wants to see other options.

"I've been considering something similar for my cars. I'm looking at the GV50MA at Optimustracker.com . It reports every 30 seconds and on corners. Looks to be slightly more expensive monthly than the GeGo. But seems to be another good option."

How would you hard wire your option? Using a transformer to 5V to USB? I wonder what the draw would be in comparison to a true hard wire option. I personally would prefer a hard wired option. I'd be the idiot who has their car stolen only to realize I'd forgotten to charge the tracker.

Stay safe y'all!

[mrp400]

We have used the Gold Star trackers at our car lot with good success. This is a hard wired unit so you do not have to worry about battery life. This has real time positioning and is able to disable the vehicle. Thanks, Tom

[Jett]

Everything has risk for sure. Yes, they are based out of the country. Yes, they can probably monitor the trackers. Do I think they have time or care where they are? Not really.

I have not yet had the passing band of thieves show up to my GPS locations to take anything. I don't think Apple is as safe as we think it to be, they can watch your FaceTime without you knowing it too, and voluntarily, I already carry my iPhone tracking device everywhere I am. To me, it is not much different.

I don't go anywhere that is so secret and for the low cost investment, it works for me. Just an option for sure.

There are US based tracker companies that you can use as well, they are just more expensive (the tracker alone is over $1500.00 dollars) and then the yearly subscription. At the end of the day, each individual needs to feel comfortable with the security level they want.

Think of it this way, with the tracker we are talking about, the car would already be back in Marv's hands. Worth it to me.

These are all great ideas, but there is a bit of concern using a centralized system that knows where everyone’s cars are. The centralized system better be safe! I expect that Apple have dedicated folks protecting the Air Tags infrastructure, and am not sure about the Chinese company.

Peace… eyes open are good things (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

That said, I am very cautious of any business that has a lot of information on expensive or sought after things, as they tend to be more attractive to malicious folk. The business needs to invest in the protection of customer data, and in this case a database of valuable cars and their exact location… a menu.

Btw. There are devices on Amazon that detect “signal” and not to hard buy for the average low-life stealing $200k cars. https://www.amazon.com/PocketHound-Enforcem...s/dp/B06XX2WYHF

… growing up car thieves used tow trucks.