vehicle trackers (1 Viewer)

[bluecoolcath]

We have been told we need to get a tracker for our fifth wheel as part of the insurance renewal. Does anyone have any recommendations for which make is good value for both installation and running costs needs to have European cover.

 

[johnp10]

Isnt there an outfit called "Phantom" who deal with caravan alarms, trackers, etc?
Dont know where they are, but maybe worth a look.
www.phantom.uk.net

 

[rainbow chasers]

Scorpiontrac £299 - are the best system in my opinion, for the following reasons:

1. Tracking fees cheapest in the industry £135pa or £350 for life - covering the whole of europe!

2. You can track your own vehicles, as well as the tracking company - this means that you can check your own vehicle whilst you are away from it - such as in storage etc.

3. Highest Thatcham approval (Aviva recommend them too!)

You can find out more on their website if your search.

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[joncris]

I as looking at one a few months ago for about £300 which included the facility, through your mobile, to cut the engine The only thing I think against it is the base station is your computer & your phone. This I think means that it isn't Thatcham approved

 

[bigfoot]

Cobra track are also worth looking at.

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[jhorsf]

You can always ring Link Removed eddie will give you free advice

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[niggle]

phamtom are the best,,,total eu coverage as some are not ?? and the cost after fitting is £ 8.00 per month ,,, had no probs with mine in manny years .

 

[Landy lover]

May I suggest you speak with your insurers and find out which one they want - knowing how fickle some insurers are these days they may well use the excuse ' its not one we approve' in the case of a claim and get it in writing - it is probably in the small print well hidden somewhere.

 

[rainbow chasers]

I as looking at one a few months ago for about £300 which included the facility, through your mobile, to cut the engine The only thing I think against it is the base station is your computer & your phone. This I think means that it isn't Thatcham approved

It needs to be tracked by a tracking company as well to be thatcham approved, and meet anti-blocking standards. This usually involves dualling the signal.


Phantom have been a mainstay of the caravan industry for many years - only downside is, you cannnot access it, or even know if it has been fitted. Wouldn't be the first story I have heard.

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[journeyman]

Worth resurrecting, just to see how useful the Tracker is. I do notice when you go onto this particular tracking companies website, that their stats refer to theft of vehicles involving the Keys. So keeping your keys safe means that they can't drive new style vehicles away.

[ame]https://twitter.com/trackerpolliais/status/352786312635498498[/ame]

This company appears to have a healthy recovery rate, evidenced in their tweets to police forces, thanking them for recovering the actual vehicle, including my own force here in N. Wales.

 

[ourcampersbeentrashed]

You can always ring Link Removed eddie will give you free advice

Beat me to it

Eddie at Van Bitz will give you honest advice and has some great deals - along with regular funster discounts too

 

[sdc77]

Tracker are good in my experience.. But they provide some police forces with tracking hardware for their rf signal.. So good advertising.
Gps is obviously very good but easy to jam
Gsm is a little more awkward..

Key security is the key tbh

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[journeyman]

Beat me to it

Eddie at Van Bitz will give you honest advice and has some great deals - along with regular funster discounts too

I wasn't pushing any company. But when you look through the twitter feed, it gives you a picture of the amount of keys that are being stolen, which results in the car being nicked. Eddie has made loads of good points on this subject and he is just one of many suppliers. Thanks

 

[bigfoot]

I had a Phantom fitted to my Hymer when I ordered it,my last van had a Cobra.On the Phantom, I also have the 'wobulator' that detects the van being lifted onto a tow dolly or truck-it works! There is an isolating switch to disable it when driving and the times I have forgot to switch it off,I have had a phone call from them. This doesn't switch off the unit so if taken it can still be tracked.

 

[G8WVW]

My insurance company do not specify either in the contract or website what type of tracker; clearly states the alarm/immobiliser needs to be a Thatcham device which it is but not the tracker.

I bought a 'TK103A' device off eBay for ~£45. Small GPS/GSM device that takes about an hour to fit. Put a Giff-Gaff SIM card into it which has cost less then £5 in the last year.

I can 'call' the Giff-Gaff SIM number at anytime, the phone rings three times then goes dead so that bit is free. Within a minute the tracker sends a text back showing vehicle status including speed, direction, battery volts plus a Google Maps link taking me straight to a map page showing the vehicle location.

When leaving the vehicle for more than a few hours I text 'move123456 200' to the Giff-Gaff SIM and if the vehicle then moves more than 200m, the tracker automatically sends the same message as above every 30s until I send a 'nomove' text.

It's brilliant. I am in control and the charges are only the Giff-Gaff text messages charges at a few pence at time.

I am absolutely confident that if somebody took my van, I'd find it.

Also have the pocket version that lives under the seat of my very expensive bicycle ... ooops should I have said that?

Cheers.

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[journeyman]

My insurance company do not specify either in the contract or website what type of tracker; clearly states the alarm/immobiliser needs to be a Thatcham device which it is but not the tracker.

I bought a 'TK103A' device off eBay for ~£45. Small GPS/GSM device that takes about an hour to fit. Put a Giff-Gaff SIM card into it which has cost less then £5 in the last year.

I can 'call' the Giff-Gaff SIM number at anytime, the phone rings three times then goes dead so that bit is free. Within a minute the tracker sends a text back showing vehicle status including speed, direction, battery volts plus a Google Maps link taking me straight to a map page showing the vehicle location.

When leaving the vehicle for more than a few hours I text 'move123456 200' to the Giff-Gaff SIM and if the vehicle then moves more than 200m, the tracker automatically sends the same message as above every 30s until I send a 'nomove' text.

It's brilliant. I am in control and the charges are only the Giff-Gaff text messages charges at a few pence at time.

I have a similar set up. Backed up with a low(ish) cost cobra alarm.

 

[sdc77]

How keys are stolen.

If you own a modern vehicle with coded keys then your vehicle will almost always require a key to be stolen.
There have been scams where keys have been provided my dealers.. But they are rare.

Most likely your keys will be stolen from the obvious place you leave them at home.. In the hall or kitchen on a table or little key hangar.
This will be during a burglary.. Entry may be via your (not correctly locked) upvc door or a straight forward break in.
Another place vehicles are stolen is at petrol stations when the keys are left in the ignition.
Then there are the icy mornings when victims leave their vehicles running whilst they defrost the vehicle on the drive or in the street.

Conceal your keys.. Dont leave your vehicle unattended with the keys in it and a massive amount of vehicle thefts will be prevented.
Physical security such as gates and bollards are great. And there is a huge amount of crime prevention advice available.
Cctv.. Alarms etc are all good as are good neighbours.
If you do get cctv.. Make sure it works at night and takes pictures good enough to recognise people. An alarm that does zones is also a good idea.
Dont live in a prison... But take sensible precautions and the chances of becoming a victim are drastically reduced.
I hate thieves and anything to make their job harder has to be worth it and increase the chances of them being caught.

 

[journeyman]

How keys are stolen.

If you own a modern vehicle with coded keys then your vehicle will almost always require a key to be stolen.
There have been scams where keys have been provided my dealers.. But they are rare.

Most likely your keys will be stolen from the obvious place you leave them at home.. In the hall or kitchen on a table or little key hangar.
This will be during a burglary.. Entry may be via your (not correctly locked) upvc door or a straight forward break in.
Another place vehicles are stolen is at petrol stations when the keys are left in the ignition.
Then there are the icy mornings when victims leave their vehicles running whilst they defrost the vehicle on the drive or in the street.

Conceal your keys.. Dont leave your vehicle unattended with the keys in it and a massive amount of vehicle thefts will be prevented.
Physical security such as gates and bollards are great. And there is a huge amount of crime prevention advice available.
Cctv.. Alarms etc are all good as are good neighbours.
If you do get cctv.. Make sure it works at night and takes pictures good enough to recognise people. An alarm that does zones is also a good idea.
Dont live in a prison... But take sensible precautions and the chances of becoming a victim are drastically reduced.
I hate thieves and anything to make their job harder has to be worth it and increase the chances of them being caught.

Additionally "Hook & Cane" Where the offenders obtain the keys hanging in the hallway ect, via the letterbox using a cane with a hook on the end.

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[Bollard]

AppelloGEO tracking system

Hi, very informative thread! We've been using the AppelloGEO (or Appello as it was known a few years ago) for about 6 years. We really spent a long time looking into tracking systems when we bought and found that the vast majority (proactive alerts, helpdesk, alarm siren etc) were actually rarely effective in the event of theft as they use GPS signals. GPS can't penetrate buildings and garages where these sorts of things are taken when stolen. It doesn't need wiring in (as thieves can detect power drain on wires and doesn't flatten my batteries!) and no aerial. I won't tell you exactly were we put it, but it's very well hidden.

Since we bought it, Sold Secure have approved them to Diamond Standard (think they are the only one, or at least one of only two to achieve this) and just recently the Camping and Caravanning Club has chosen them to be their tracker of choice after testing the market.

A bunch of insurance companies offer up to 25% on your caravan (for some reason all only give 10% on your motorhome...) insurance from Towergate to Shield etc..

The thing that really swung it for us was that they actually have a team of investigators that physically go and find your caravan/motorhome. If you're a C&CC member you also get free European recovery which sadly we missed out on having already bought it... oh:

Check it out: http://appellogeo.com/caravan

It's not the cheapest, but I'd be interested if anyone has seen anything better, let me know.