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Tracker System

H

hanhams81

New member
Hi,
In the light of the increased lawlessness here and in Europe I am thinking of fitting a Tracker Locate system to my 1995 993 C2 Tip. This Tracker meets my needs of UK and full Western European coverage. The cheaper Monitor model does not cover the European countries I most frequently visit! Murphy's Law. Tracker Locate aint cheap at £462 all in and the annual fee of £174 is not inexpensive. My insurer quotes a £15.90 premium reduction if one is fitted. Hardly generous in the light of potential savings to them. However, a benefit would be the likelyhood of my vehicle recovery in the event of theft. Having invested unstintingly in its care and maintenance, it is a nice one to keep. I would not wish to go through the process again. I am inclined to order the Tracker but would welcome any positive or negative experiences before I make the final decision. The car is already fitted with standard Porsche immobiliser and a Clifford alarm system which in itself seems reasonably sophisticated. It goes off with the minimum of provocation!
Cheers,
Hanhams81
 
It depends on whether you want your car back after it is nicked. I guess if it is in its original condition then you would want it back but say there was body damage, would you want it back? If you plan to keep your car for at least a few years can you pay a single sum for the duration your ownership as it can work out cheaper. Of course if you sell it before the X years is up you will lose a little.
 
Should u consider a cobra system i believe u can have it linked with the Porsche Bloc system and still get ur Thatcham 1 certificate.........FWIW i had so many probs with Tracker some years ago they gave me subscription element free for life ...........Cobra is nt free but far more helpful to deal with if it does go off on track days , servicing, whatever
 
When I bought my 993 Targa, 97, about 12 years ago, it had a tracker fitted, but when I looked into the cost of the annual fee (over £300 at the time) I could just not see that it was justified: As you said only about £10 to £15 insurance reduction did not seem reasonable, and a previous point that was made, would you want it back (irrelevant of damage, that niggling feeling of some criminal having been in a prize possession).
A recent experience was that a friend of ours had a horse lorry stolen that had a tracker installed. They were aware of it being stolen within about an hour of the theft and informed the tracker company but they could not locate it! The police found it about a week later with some damage both internally and externally, and to a previous point, they did not particularly want it back after that experience. No reason was ever given by the tracking company as to why it could not be located, so, all in all, a total waste of money. I am sure this incident is in the minority, but to quote your expression, remember "Murphy's Law"!
A friend of mine uses a tracker with a sim card, which you can buy for as little as £40 (no annual fee) on eBay. The principle is that if the car goes missing (or you forgot where you left it!), you simply ring the sim phone no. and it will feed back the location co-ordinates, which you can then feed into a google map, or satnav. It can be portable, or hard wired, there are quite a few of these, but here is an example: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180646432064&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT#ht_3631wt_905
 
FWIW my experience of Tracker (the company and kit) was such that I would never go back to them - completely disorganized to the extent that I would expect the above horse lorry example to be common (purely through the reputation that created in my mind from them moment I thought about buying - should have realized then and walked away).

I replaced it with a competitor system. Like the OP I spent a lot of time finding a 993 that was exactly what I wanted and I would prefer to get it back rather than start that process again!
 
Something not often considered in the economics or indeed the marketing of these devices is that even if you get your car back, it is then classified as "stolen and recovered" with, as I understand it, a sizeable impact on its resale value. Anybody have any experience of that?
 
I think (hope) "Stolen and Recovered" (Cat D) insurance write off only applies if the insurance company pays out because the recovery happens after it processed the claim. Insurance company then sells the car on for whatever it can get.

Like you say, be interesting to hear of someone with experience of this.
 
i had a tracker monitor fitted for my own peace of mind,
if it got taken it would be activated straight away.
& i wouldnt want to go through looking to find another good one !
 
Thanks everyone for your comments. Unsurprisingly I now have my doubts! It is nice to get behind the marketing bullshit and have a reality check.
Hanhams81
 
TRACKER used to drive me potty, & I mean completely and utterly. They do not always contact you as and when your unit is moving without the engine being on. I was not convinced the system worked all of the time and I had mine checked every so often for peace of mind.

I am also looking for a replacement solution, nothing has sprung up so far though.
 

ORIGINAL: davepaul993

which tracker do you have ?
Click to expand...
If that's a question to anyone I'll use it as another excuse to complain about the poor organisation skills of the company whose name is on the topic subject. Had one of their's for 12 months, never again. I've now had an i-mob TT4 for four years and their service is excellent although they seem very small.

Only problem I've had is that it has a "crash detector" (where the monitoring service calls out the emergency services for you if it detects a crash) - and the spinning fun[:)] I had on the kick-plate at the Porsche Experience Center kept causing them to think I'd crashed - but they do call your mobile first to see if you answer - so no blue light embarrassment.

 
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