Tracking device to locate your car

[ACUDANUT]

  Why don't they sell these at wal-mart, so we can lock up more thieves.  Get our car back, and say "gotcha".
Hey...Thanks a Job idea.

[69bronzeT5]

You'd think they would sell em at Walmart. Hell, they sell ATVs and dirt bikes there!

[Troy]

Been thinking of making one myself. Electronics are so tiny now and the price for GPS units is actually cheap.

Troy

[Ghoste]

Isn't that what a Lo-jack is for?

[Troy]

Isn't that what a Lo-jack is for?

Why, yes it is. I understand that Lojack is a complete system as well and it ties directly to the police. Ideally, the device is smart enough to know when it's stolen instead of having someone notice that the car is missing and activate the Lojack - mine are 24 miles away and I don't get there every day. Lojack does have an Early Warning System which does something similar. I'd still like to make my own just for fun but only because it relates to what I'm doing at work. I'd like to build an EFI system one day too but with my limited time I'm lucky to be able to make dinner once or twice a week.

Troy

[RD]

Isn't that what a Lo-jack is for?

...with my limited time I'm lucky to be able to make dinner once or twice a week.

Troy

you need a good russian woman named helga to take care of that for you 

[ACUDANUT]

  What a lojacks ??  If I can market something like this cheap, would anyone be interested in buying one ?

[Ghoste]

I don't know exactly but as I understand it, Lojack is an electronic tracking device that you can have installed in your car and then you pay a service to monitor it.  The car goes missing, you call the service and they tell you where your tracking device is.  I don't know the costs or reliability involved though.

[Spike]

http://www.lojack.com/

http://www.microtrakgps.com/

[BigBlackDodge]

A local contractor here in town had troubles with people coming in at night and stealing the a/c unit on his job trailers. He bought some sort of locating device (unsure of the name.....but is fairly cheap considering) and placed them within the a/c unit. Sure enough it was stolen a few days later and they tracked them down and found cache of stolen items!

The good thing about this is that he is able to remove the device and place it in/on other things.........heavily machinery, equipment, vehicles...etc.

BBD

[ACUDANUT]

   Glad they caught them.  I hear there on all HD construction equipment, including skid loaders.  Man, I wish I had invented these 10 years ago.    I am just surprised they are not advertised more.

[nakita7]

So where would you get these devices? looking at something like this for my cars. Lojack is cool, but not available here in Canada, and, because it's regulated, there will be some kind of costs somewhere. I'm looking for something I can install myself and locate myself.

[Ghoste]

Do any of the home monitoring alarm and security places offer it? 

[rrockchrger]

Hello all.  From what I understand lojack isn't like the GPS systems that locate by satellite.  Instead It sends out a radio signal that is picked up by police cars close by that are equiped with a lojack receiver.  The problem is very few police cars are equiped with them and if you don't drive near one, they won't get a signal.  I think GPS is a much better antitheft system. 

[4cruzin]

Troy . . make me a couple too please!   

[Todd Wilson]

A local contractor here in town had troubles with people coming in at night and stealing the a/c unit on his job trailers. He bought some sort of locating device (unsure of the name.....but is fairly cheap considering) and placed them within the a/c unit. Sure enough it was stolen a few days later and they tracked them down and found cache of stolen items!

The good thing about this is that he is able to remove the device and place it in/on other things.........heavily machinery, equipment, vehicles...etc.

BBD

Last I knew DeWalt has a locating deal you can buy for use in construction stuff. I dont see why you could use it on a car.


Todd

[ChargerRT440]

I remember an article on the internet about an idea where you took an old cell phone and put it on something like pay as you go or whatever as long as it included gps tracking services and placed that somewhere hidden out of the way in the vehicle. Other then that do a google search theres lots on there.

[SeattleCharger]

 

[RECHRGD]

I was asking about these things a few years ago for the Charger.  From what I was told, they would not sell them to individuals.  They had to be either the LoJack thing tied to law enforcement or be tied to an approved traking company.  Reason being that if the criminal element has easy access to something like that, think of the fun they could have.  Pick a victim and put the device on their car or person and Booom, you know where they live.   Bob

[Ghoste]

Does OnStar have a tracking capability?

[ACUDANUT]

Yes, On star does have that and I have that in my wifes New (06) Chevy Uplander, but that is a factory install and it has a dead give-a-way by the black antenna on the roof.  I wish they did a better job of trying to hide it.

[nakita7]

I was asking about these things a few years ago for the Charger.  From what I was told, they would not sell them to individuals.  They had to be either the LoJack thing tied to law enforcement or be tied to an approved traking company.  Reason being that if the criminal element has easy access to something like that, think of the fun they could have.  Pick a victim and put the device on their car or person and Booom, you know where they live.   Bob

So, that's makes sense why everyone I talked to was so vague about where to get such a thing. Looks like I;ll have to get one made for myself then.

[Ghoste]

Well, it seems to me that if a service like OnStar can track a vehicle independant of the police, then an alarm service could do the same.  Even though Onstar may be a factory install, the technology exists and the aftermarket could hard wire it into the vehicle like a remote starter module. 

[Brock Samson]

Somewhat related:

  Hughes is Parnering with Chrysler to install On Star type systems in Chrysler products..

http://www.autoblog.com/2007/12/03/new-system-combines-features-of-onstar-and-sync-coming-to-chrys/

[Ghoste]

Good idea and about time.  I'd sooner have that than the satellite radio they try to push on you.

[bamadukefan02]

I am very familiar with tracking systems for car and especially the microtrak system mentioned above.  I worked for a short time for a small company that has the contract to market the MICROTRAK system to antique car owners, we called it CLASSICTRAK,  this system works all over North America, it has all kind of features where if your car leaves an area that you restrict it to (as small as 10ft) your cell phone is called immediately, also if someone borrows your car and they drive it faster than the preset limit you decide it calls you.  It can even tell if they are speeding on a major road where the system knows the speed limit.  I can promise you this if I ever get a Charger and when I get done restoring the Corvette I already own this system will be on them.  The Lojack system only works in a small percentage of the U.S.  and not outside the cities.  The number for the office where CLASSICTRAK is sold is 256-547-3700. 

There is also a small portable unit that will fit in your pocket for tracking kids

[Steve P.]

http://www.microtrakgps.com/

[FPD031]

With reguards to Lojack, we did training with these a few years back and they send out a signal and any PD car that is equiped with the receiver and if it's close enough (within a couple of miles),will pick it up. The receiver acts like a homing device telling you signal strength and direction it is from you. It works fairly well but again not many departments have the receiver.

[ACUDANUT]

THE BIG QUESTION....How much per car or kid. 

[FastbackJon]

Would be nice. I always hate dropping my car off somewhere to be worked on if I can't be there, like getting the windshield replaced or something. I swore one time my car had like a mile more on the odometer once than when I dropped it off but I couldn't prove it.

[bamadukefan02]

To be honest I don't know the price for the devices.  I left the company and went back to my old job before prices were finalized.  You would have to call them or check the website.  I do remember that the prices being discussed per car weren't bad and it was well worth it for a kid.  The small unit that will fit in a pocket was being adapted to work on motorcycles and ATV's but I don't know if its ready yet or not.  If I have time over the next few days I will stop by the office and see what I can find out.

[Steve P.]

I am doing some research on this. A buddy was installing these in his BUY HERE/PAY HERE cars. I will ask him about price and satisfaction. I know he traced one car to Georgia from Florida and repo'd it..

I have heard of $500 per unit to own it and $180 per year for real time tracking.  This is more for the business owner or the (I don't trust my kid), car.  It tells you if they are out of YOUR set boundary. Or speeding. Or just plain where the hell he/she is now that he/she is late. (AGAIN)....    That's when you sneak over to where the car is and pull the fuel pump fuse....   

))))RING-RING((((  Dad, my car won't start. That's why I am late.. Yeah, well maybe it's got something to do with you being in the wrong neighborhood too!!!!!    That's when you flash your headlights from a few cars back... HELLLLLLLLOOOOOOOO.......     

[ACUDANUT]

Steve, I did e-mail and call  that micro tracking co.  Still have not heard back.  500 per car is not bad.  Hopefully it will last 20 years.  What about service fee's.

[Steve P.]

I have not received the package from them as of yet. The system we were working on/testing, with another company was junk. This is the company we plan to try next. I want to try to get the price down to affordable. Besides here, I know some used car guys that want to be able to track down dead beat buyers. This has been the testing grounds so far. 1 out of 5 failed to do the job. In my book that sucks... What if that (1) was your pride and joy?

The past few weeks have been hell around here for me with my PC up and down and my back playing tricks on me.. I am hoping to get together with this company and see about some facts and bottom line figures. Also want to TRY to get a few insurance companies to talk with me about a break on rates once these are installed. 

I ran into some brick walls with the last company, so don't get your hopes too high... Maybe Troy will put something together in all his spare time and we can be his guinea pigs.. Hahaha...   

[ACUDANUT]

10-4 good buddy

[steadfastent]

Hey Guys !! I have the perfect solution to all your tracking needs, from cars, fleet, cycles and even your children.  Steadfast Ent. is the distributer for Microtrak in the Classic car area.  We sell other products to fit your needs as well.  Please come visit us at www.steadfastent.com to view a list of our products.  Our prices are very competetive with the other products in the market and I will tell you we haven't had a complaint with how the product works.  If you have any immediate questions you would like to ask please email me at    jennifer@steadfastent.com   or just give me a call.  256-547-3781.

Hope all this helps and we hear from you soon!!!

Jennifer
Steadfast Enterprises

[RECHRGD]

I wonder how these things work if there is no visual access to the sky.  What if your car gets immediatley put in an enclosed trailer or container when ripped-off?   Bob

[ChgrSteve67]

$500 for unit.
$50 to activate.
$220 a year for monitoring service.
Obviously some are going to think this is pricey and others are going to think this is reasonable.

Would be nice to see a car with the product installed to see how discrete it is and more information on how it works (technically).

No system is going to be perfect.
If a pro wants your car and they know what you have installed they will get around it and you will never see your car again.
But for the rest of the idiot car thief's any type of tracking system will catch them sooner than later.
Remember these are theft recover systems not theft prevention.
You don't advertise that you have a tracking system installed.

Steve (going to install something before reinstalling my interior)

[bamadukefan02]

Steve,

As far as how they work on the technical side, the best info is on the website.  I know that it uses the GPS to know where your car is and if it does something you don't want, move, speed, drive to a certain area, the computer recognizes the problem and you are notified within about three minutes.  As far as how discreet the entire unit is a little small than a VHS tape and the antenna can be concealed under your dash or package tray, as long as there isn't solid metal above it.  Keep in mind that I don't have all the answers but I did stop by the local office and informed Jennifer y'all had questions. She posted her email and the website above and that is the best way to get answers

Holt