Scorpion Tracker

[travellingvocalist]

Buying a new motorhome. Dealer is recommending Scorpion Tracker (S5) - One Year Subscription for £604. Is this a good price?

 

[Brains]

Buying a new motorhome. Dealer is recommending Scorpion Tracker (S5) - One Year Subscription for £604. Is this a good price?

No.

Whatever the dealer is offering will be under specced and over priced.
Also your insurance company will probably insist on a Thatcham level alarm and immobiliser as well as a tracker.

What most people do is arrange to get top of the range, a motorhome specific designed alarm/tracker/immobiliser, fitted by VanBitz.
They are based in Taunton.
Even if your dealer is in Scotland, it does not matter, you drive your brand new vehicle straight from the dealers forecourt to VanBitz, they have a campsite next door and and fit all you need in a day (Including solar panels, battery master, WiFi, gaslow systems etc etc.)

 

[Russ N Tracey]

I've got a scorpion tracker fitted to the van, I went with a lifetime subscription which I think is good value, if I change vans they'll remove it and fit it into the new van.
I've got nothing but praise for them, last year we took the ferry from Mallaig to Skye, during the crossing I got a call from scorpion asking if I was aware that the van was moving with out the ignition being on, I'd forgot to put it into transport mode on the app.
I can also check the battery status when the van is parked up in the compound.
Also a British company they get 5 stars from me.

 

[Hettie's Crew]

If you have to have a specific make of tracker for insurance then you need to buy something like the Scorpion or whatever they require, though definitely not at that price.
If you don’t need a particular make/model to satisfy your insurance company and just want it for your own peace of mind have a look at the Monimoto 9, sold primarily as a motorcycle tracker but can be used on any vehicle.

Motorcycle anti-theft solution - Monimoto UK

 

[PlacidoD]

You most definitely need to ensure that you marry up your choice of tracker with your insurance company's requirements.
Caravan Guard (insurers) helpfully have a list of approve devices on their website which will provide food for thought and allow you to consider alternatives:

Will my motorhome insurance be cheaper if I install a tracking device?

We offer a large insurance discount of 25% for approved motorhome tracking devices. To see which devices we approve click here. This discount is offered

www.caravanguard.co.uk

Often insurers will give you a period of grace to get security devices fitted. And there are mobile fitters that will come to your door to do the job.

I do agree that dealers load the price of extras like this and the deal you are being offered is not a good buy.

P.S. You will have to ring around for insurance. Comparison websites do not work for motor homes.

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[Pausim]

No.

Whatever the dealer is offering will be under specced and over priced.
Also your insurance company will probably insist on a Thatcham level alarm and immobiliser as well as a tracker.

The Scorpion is Thatcham S5 or S5+ and is acceptable to insurance companies. I have an S5+ and it is costing me the equivalent of £105.80 per annum because I took out the 5 year option. Very pleased with it and it was convenient having it installed before I picked up the van.

 

[Bramidan]

I’ve got a Scorpion, I was impressed with them when it was dealer supplied.
I rather naively thought the dealer had paid the subscription for at least one year.
When I phoned Scorpion to check they suggested I wait a couple of days and then they could confirm if it had been paid, no point paying twice they said.
Surprise, surprise it hadn’t, as I said I was quite naive then.
Secondly, some months later got a call from Scorpion to inform me the battery had been disconnected. The vehicle was in the garage, I didn’t realise there was a setting to cover this eventuality.
I probably should have known but like most things now no manual and I was suffering from excitement, nerves and feeling swamped at getting a motorhome.
I now spend time looking back at my trips and checking status of my battery etc.
This is interspersed with looking at Motorhomefun!

 

[MichaelT]

No.

Whatever the dealer is offering will be under specced and over priced.
Also your insurance company will probably insist on a Thatcham level alarm and immobiliser as well as a tracker.

What most people do is arrange to get top of the range, a motorhome specific designed alarm/tracker/immobiliser, fitted by VanBitz.
They are based in Taunton.
Even if your dealer is in Scotland, it does not matter, you drive your brand new vehicle straight from the dealers forecourt to VanBitz, they have a campsite next door and and fit all you need in a day (Including solar panels, battery master, WiFi, gaslow systems etc etc.)

Scorpion are not under specced and are Thatcham approved. They are as good as anything out there we have S5+ so remote immobiliser etc. And you don't seem to get issues and from experience customer service is great.

 

[Land Yachties]

We also have a Scorpion system fitted which has worked well for the last 4 years. As mentioned in an earlier comment we had a phone call while crossing the channel to say the van was moving without the engine running. Took out a 5 year subscription which worked out at about £75 per year.
Very helpful experienced staff on the odd occasion I have called them.
The ability to look at previous trips is also beneficial

 

[Wanders from Glos]

We have a Scorpion tracker and pay an annual subscription. They have been very good, a couple of times we have moved the motorhome when the fob battery was low and they have been on the phone to us within yards checking it is not being stolen.

It is Thatcham rated and it is on insurance companies list of approved suppliers. VanBitz (and others) are very good. We took the view that we wanted all mods done by the supplier that way any problems fall back on them and there is no risk to warranty issues. No doubt there will be arguments on here about whether or not that is the case, it just seemed simpler. That said it was no where near as expensive as you have been quoted and included the first year’s subscription.

Trackers do take some charge from the vehicle battery so you will need some form of solar or plugging in.

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[Pausim]

I’ve got a Scorpion, I was impressed with them when it was dealer supplied.
I rather naively thought the dealer had paid the subscription for at least one year.
When I phoned Scorpion to check they suggested I wait a couple of days and then they could confirm if it had been paid, no point paying twice they said.
Surprise, surprise it hadn’t, as I said I was quite naive then.
Secondly, some months later got a call from Scorpion to inform me the battery had been disconnected. The vehicle was in the garage, I didn’t realise there was a setting to cover this eventuality.
I probably should have known but like most things now no manual and I was suffering from excitement, nerves and feeling swamped at getting a motorhome.
I now spend time looking back at my trips and checking status of my battery etc.
This is interspersed with looking at Motorhomefun!

Manual here.

https://scorpiontrack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/ScorpionTrack-User-Guide-REV5-01.24.pdf?srsltid=AfmBOoqPaUEyj1u-5dOmhHKILYbNl95FANOwnSyX91LvoyzEj-bG748a

 

[edgewood175]

We had our Scorpion S5 VTS tracker fitted in January by Advanced In-Car Technologies (Poole) and am very happy with it. Insurance company approved it. Some cowboy fitters out there so do your research.

 

[AdrianChen]

The Scorpion is Thatcham S5 or S5+ and is acceptable to insurance companies. I have an S5+ and it is costing me the equivalent of £105.80 per annum because I took out the 5 year option. Very pleased with it and it was convenient having it installed before I picked up the van.

We have the same, found Scorpion to be very helpful. I have checked the tracking on numerous occasions and found there are no gaps etc. Had Metatrak before with similar results......

 

[Neilh]

We’re looking an S5 tracker, thinking of Meta Trak or Scorpion S5+
Any advice or experience of service of these would be appreciated.
Also I’ve been warned that any immobiliser that works on the canbus will or could invalidate the manufacturer warranty, anyone got any experience of this?
Thx N

 

[MichaelT]

We have a scorpion s5+. Excellent service from them, I've asked a few questions and they got back straight away. You can use your phone as the fob and set immobiliser but I just leave it as automatic. Good app with some nice touches and tracking. Not set it off yet so can't comment on them contacting you to see if it's a false alarm or actually a theft.

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[MichaelT]

As for warranty no that's crap.

 

[Neilh]

As for warranty no that's crap.

thanks Michael, got confirmation that Meta Trac doesn’t interfere with the CANbus system.
Decided to go with their system.

 

[MrPeteUK]

Buying a new motorhome. Dealer is recommending Scorpion Tracker (S5) - One Year Subscription for £604. Is this a good price?

We have a Scorpion S5+ on our Comanche as Caravan Guard would not insure the vehicle without it. I like the fact that it comes with 2 fobs but it also allows mobile phones to activate the tracker in case the fob is lost or damaged. Very happy with the service from Scorpiontrack too. I think I paid about £485 for 3 years.

 

[clonkel]

Scorpion is fine for us.

Bramidan on the App you can disable the 'battery is disconnected' alarm for a specified time. I did this when the van was with OffGrid.

 

[Run to the Sun]

Scorpion from my experince has always been top notch. Here is a link to the products: https://scorpiontrack.com/alarms-and-immobilisers/

They have approved dealers/fitters all over the UK. The S5+ is the best product, as well as all the standard features you have vehicle battery disconnection alert, unauthorised driver (via tags) and vehicle movement alerts.

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[Bramidan]

Scorpion is fine for us.

Bramidan on the App you can disable the 'battery is disconnected' alarm for a specified time. I did this when the van was with OffGrid.

Yes I found that when I finally looked!
As I said at the time I had no idea

 

[GMLS]

Just had the Scorpion S5+ fitted to my new MAN TGE. Purchased and installation arranged via Infiniti who were excellent all the way through the process.