Tracker, is there any point?

[The Wino]

Another thing to think about is if someone damages your motorhome breaking in and nicks it do you want it back or would you sooner claim and replace it? Would the money be better spent on visual deterents

 

[DesmoDog]

Would the money be better spent on visual deterents

First thing I purchased for our Van was a bright yellow Disklok.
I've used them on my Land Rovers for years.
I'm sorry to say it simply makes the one parked down the road without a visual deterrent more appealing.

 

[Lenny HB]

First thing I purchased for our Van was a bright yellow Disklok.

Most people keep their blinds drawn to stop the upholstery fading so not a visible deterent.

 

[DesmoDog]

Most people keep their blinds drawn to stop the upholstery fading so not a visible deterent.

Thanks Lenny HB

Lady DD and myself were discussing that when we dropped the van round to the storage yard last weekend.
We had a look round and found that of the many many Motorhomes, Campervans, and Caravans at the site less that 50% of them had blinds or curtains drawn.

WE decided to see how we feel about it later on.

I'm still happier with the disklok on, even if I leave the drivers door blind down a couple of inches so it can be seen by anyone being nosey.

 

[MichaelT]

That’s the beauty of the vanbitz/wattguardz meta non starter!
Other than lifting with a crane or towing they can’t get the van started if you enable it on the app!!
This is what makes my blood boil with insurance companies, I can get a tracker with subscription and when it gets nicked the nice lady at the call centre will tell you where it’s being burned out or stripped out, whereas my non starter would ensure it doesn’t go off my drive in the first place yet they won’t give me any money off my premium!!

Other trackers are available at a lot less that do the same job. I dont have to enable anything but without my phone or the fob it doesn't start and I have to keep going indoors to get my phone

 

[stevewagner]

Not too sure about that , there was a post yesterday about a tracker needing new battery on a Ducato van ,he couldn’t find it to change battery . I found where mine was by chance and messaged him to let him know where mine was , he messaged back this morning that his tracker wasn’t hidden where mines is. Both Ducato PVC .

Edit: it’s the post above this
Maybe you could message him to tell him .

I’m talking about trackers that are hard wired

 

[CV20Bobby]

I’m talking about trackers that are hard wired

So am I

I’m talking about trackers that are hard wired

So am I , takes a couple of seconds to send him a message to help him out .

 

[DesmoDog]

It looks like I'm sorted now CV20Bobby thank you.

I updated the other thread to say that Sargent are able to tell you on an individual Van by Van basis where the Tracker is fitted, but quite rightly you have to negotiate a couple of barriers to get the info.
Oh, and you have to talk to the right person at Sargent, they don't all appear to know it's possible.

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[stevewagner]

So am I

So am I , takes a couple of seconds to send him a message to help him out .

I’d gladly tell him if he dm’s me

 

[GMLS]

Always fascinated me how it is possible? I recall ,years ago, a weighbridge being transported at night under 'oversized load ' permits & parked up during the day ina lay by.When they returned the next night it had gone.

I've no idea if there is a 'detector' but you can buy a 'jammer' that prevents it from being tracked until they do find it.Totally illegal to use but perfectly legal to be sold what is all that about? Why is it that something that is so easy to prevent not sorted by the politicians?

Unfortunately if someone is minded to comment a crime like theft, I doubt banning or making the use of a jammer illegal will worry them at all.

 

[St3v3]

Unfortunately if someone is minded to comment a crime like theft, I doubt banning or making the use of a jammer illegal will worry them at all.

Hi! Alright?

Anywho, if you ban it from sale its surely easier to police than people legally buying and then illegally using.

 

[The Wino]

Unfortunately if someone is minded to comment a crime like theft, I doubt banning or making the use of a jammer illegal will worry them at all.

I think the point was why is it legal to sell and own them.

 

[Tavachaussy]

It is now wattguardz contact AshWattGuardz he can advise you on either
There is no one better at installing alarms and trackers, based in Somerset with a free nights camping with every installation

No free night nowadays! Since Wattguardz the link to the campsite is no more.
They now recommend Tanpits cider farm campsite nearby…..I will be there in 3 weeks time so will see how it goes! Its pretty reasonably priced so worth it for the convenience of being near to the Wattguardz new site.

 

[roadwarrior]

i do get tired of the silly names names like dragon and ,, frostbite Oh Please!, i am tryin to work out what each of the silly names actually does - i see prices, god i see prices but little in expanation - is it me ??
i want a tracker and i want to be able to track/find my van on my phone, (the latter will be damn sight be more useful in a huge french supermarket carpark) but i digress, they dont say what they do, does it have a battery, how much each year, who does it connect to and when ? does it have a user app or straight to someone at a desk. you know .. USEFUL information. I currently have a standard fit sargent tracker, but it lapses the moment you sell/buy it -none transferable so i in effect i dont, but you know what i mean. so its speak to sargent ( who also struggle to explain things )- or do i get an iceberg or a god of thunder somthing or other ?

Im well aware of the need for identifiable names that separate a product from another but frostbite for instance tells me nothing about the product or its capabilities, any chance ?. Im thinking of marketing something and im going to call it dogsbollocks no details whatsoever but i want 500 quid for it - any takers ?

 

[stewartwebr]

Unfortunately, I just see it as an additional insurance premium. Insurer insists on an S5 Tracker and Thatcham approved immobiliser as terms of cover. If it were not for this requirement I wouldn’t bother to be honest.
Current Motorhome is with Meta Trak with subscription due to be renewed 18th November. New van expected to be delivered May 26 and it shall need the same tracker. Spoke with Meta Trak who suggested I transfer the device from the old van to the new one and the subscription shall transfer across. The price to transfer is about the same as a new unit install and I would prefer a new unit and the warranty. Called Meta Trak who have agreed in writing to transfer subscription to the new device. So I shall opt for the 3 year deal at £499 rather than the 1 year at £199. Bit of a result and may be useful for others who use Meta Trak.

 

[rod_vw]

How's this for a anomaly of trackers and insurance companies!

I renewed the insurance with Adrian Flux on our MAN TGE this week after ringing around a couple in search of a better deal.

Comfort underwritten by Highway Insurance Company would not touch it without a professionally installed and monitored tracker.

NFU @ Selby were about £200 more expensive than the Adrian Flux renewal offer.

Adrian Flux underwritten by Highway Insurance Company happily renew with the customer (me) installed tracker which the underwriter supplies at a cost of just over £90 per year.

Yes you have read it correctly, Comfort tell me that the tracker must be professionally installed to satisfy Highway but Adrian Flux can do exactly the same with a customer installed tracker to Highway's satisfaction. It's been like that for the last two years.

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[offagen]

Ours has a MetaTrak S5 tracker fixed as an insurance requirement. We opted for the S5 Deadlock version, the Deadlock immobiliser being app controlled remotely to reduce the chances of the MH even being taken away.

An issue with 24 hour monitored trackers is that if your MH is stolen and you notify the monitoring company, they then liaise with the police and turn off your remote access to the tracker. You then have absolutely no idea where your MH is. That's their intention, as they don't want you trying to tackle the thieves. I'd prefer to know where it is so I have installed a second basic unmonitored tracker in a well hidden and hard to access location.

To be honest, the greatest benefit of the tracker to us is to show us the way back to the MH after we've gone off on a long cycle ride and got completely lost

 

[offagen]

Duplicate post

 

[WESTY66]

I believe you can turn the Metatrak non starter into a monitored tracker therefore insurance friendly, AshWattGuardz can you confirm this? Also ash do you know the costs, and lastly do you lose the self shutdown of the ignition system function?

 

[stewartwebr]

Ours has a MetaTrak S5 tracker fixed as an insurance requirement. We opted for the S5 Deadlock version, the Deadlock immobiliser being app controlled remotely to reduce the chances of the MH even being taken away.

An issue with 24 hour monitored trackers is that if your MH is stolen and you notify the monitoring company, they then liaise with the police and turn off your remote access to the tracker. You then have absolutely no idea where your MH is. That's their intention, as they don't want you trying to tackle the thieves. I'd prefer to know where it is so I have installed a second basic unmonitored tracker in a well hidden and hard to access location.

To be honest, the greatest benefit of the tracker to us is to show us the way back to the MH after we've gone off on a long cycle ride and got completely lost

We had to opt for the Deadlock Plus because the underwriter insisted on S5 tracker and Thatcham approved immobiliser. The vehicle does have a Mercedes immobiliser as standard but Thatcham stopped approving HGV immobilisers a few years back. The compromise was the fitting of the Deadlock Plus which provides immobilisation automatically if the fobs are not present and the activation of deadlock from the app which immobilises regardless if fobs are present or not. It also locks the ODB port to prevent access to the electronic system in relation to reprogramming.
You are correct about them removing access to track. We had an activation whilst away from the van. We were told the van was moving without the engine running. It was in secure storage so I immediately went to check it was still there, the app came up as locked. It turned out to be high winds rocking the van which set it off, but seems strange that at the exact time you want to be able to observe location they remove the function. The best feature for me is the remote cab battery level reading. I like to monitor it still has power when in storage. It’s a great system and for the price I think it’s not bad value. New unit is going to cost me £434 fully fitted and now comes with lifetime warranty. The 3 year subscription is £499 which you just have to suck up.

 

[MichaelT]

To be honest, the greatest benefit of the tracker to us is to show us the way back to the MH after we've gone off on a long cycle ride and got completely lost

Yes we do the same

 

[Tantalus]

Hi everyone. A very basic question. Is there any point in having a monitored tracker? After reading the article about the woman packing to go skiing and having her van taken its made me think about the point of trackers. In this case the Police were not interested. In my case, even if I knew where my van was I wouldn't feel able to get it back myself. So how does a tracker help me?

I have a Safetag on mine. It does have a subscription but its not expensive.

 

[SandyMac]

It is now wattguardz contact AshWattGuardz he can advise you on either
There is no one better at installing alarms and trackers, based in Somerset with a free nights camping with every installation

Unfortunately there is no longer a free night as WattGuardz have now moved into Taunton. That shouldn't put anyone off, though, as I recently had a solar system fitted by them and not only was the price very competitive but the service was second to none. I will be back next year for a lithium upgrade.

 

[SmithsInFrance]

Immobiliser saved my son’s MH from being stolen from storage during lockdown. The thieves tried really hard to disable the immobiliser and left this mess, but it was soon fixed
I did start s thread about it at the time

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[sb1957]

We have AXA Motorhome insurance through Performance Direct. They provide a tracker free of charge. It’s a small battery powered “Nano Tracker” that needs hiding anywhere in the van. Luckily I don’t know how effective it is apart from ringing them once to check it had been fitted properly and was working. They were able to tell me very accurately where we were.

 

[DesmoDog]

When we first purchased our pre-loved V-Line a couple of months ago the Sargent tracker fitted as standard was intermittent, and Myautotrail couldn't connect to it.
It's a stipulation on our insurance, and actually I like having it as the Van isn't stored at home.
I can of course also remotely monitor the battery voltages etc.

I ended up purchasing an updated version from Sargent and swapped it out myself after I'd filled in the security questions so they'd tell me where the old one was fitted. It was only @£175, and from what I could gather I'll get my money back with cheaper insurance in a little over a year. possibly less.

We did get a free test of the system.
Once I'd swapped out the 'black box' I had to call Sargent to get them to deactivate the old one and activate the new one.

During the process I had a call from the monitoring team telling me there was a security alert as the old one had been deactivated.
They notified me quicker than the other guy at Sargent could swap the details out on their system!

 

[Dave and Di 🌞]

We are insured with NFU they don't require a tracker so I removed our S5 tracker couldn't believe how easy it was. The Mercedes me app has a built-in tracker/locator but it's not insurance approved.

 

[Dave and Di 🌞]

If I had to fit one to comply with insurance requirements I would fit one of these.

MagTrack device and full Annual Subscription * (£79.95 + £99)

Test

camc.matrixiq.com

 

[Greeners]

If I had to fit one to comply with insurance requirements I would fit one of these.

MagTrack device and full Annual Subscription * (£79.95 + £99)

Test

camc.matrixiq.com

Magtrak.....agree....we have 2.
Have had them for 3 years. Now have the updated version, supplied free of charge when the original unit was superceded
One on the campervan and one on my Tiger 850.
Very pleased with the coverage and support to date.
Hope i never need to use it, but Magtrak have a "we will get it back for you" facility if stolen....or so they say.
Cheers
Mark

 

[Jon Stewart]

That sounds worth having. Is that monitored? Subscription? Which Vanbitz is it?

Now Wattguardz. Chat to AshWattGuardz .