Insurance and Trackers

[graeme]

Plenty ways to build your own tracker (based on something like Arduino) for not much dosh. Battery pack, charged from the car's 12v supply, with gps and gsm modules.... maybe £75? No subscription, just keep a PAYG sim card topped up.

Ready-made pet/car/child trackers on ebay start about £20.

OK, hardly Thatcham approved, but it's an option between nothing at all and a full-on annual contract which costs more than it saves you.

[graeme]

The reason cars in drives or in garages are getting dearer is due to carjacking when they break into your house and steal the keys.
If it is on the street, they don't know who's house to break into to steal the keys.

Driveway is cheaper than garage too, so I don't think that's the reason.

[Doc883]

Plenty ways to build your own tracker (based on something like Arduino) for not much dosh. Battery pack, charged from the car's 12v supply, with gps and gsm modules.... maybe £75? No subscription, just keep a PAYG sim card topped up.
Ready-made pet/car/child trackers on ebay start about £20. OK, hardly Thatcham approved, but it's an option between nothing at all and a full-on annual contract which costs more than it saves you.

Presumably reliant upon Mobile Coverage for GPRS or 3G so won't work in all areas.

[graeme]

Quite right. Better add another £15 for a radio emitter.

EDIT: Plus a bit more for a direction finder. Could add a motion sensor too for a few quid.

[sendmyusername]

If I had a ferrari i'd have it on, and permanently linked to my phone so if it moved it would automatically alert me
That's just so I could sleep at night though

[Doc883]

Plenty ways to build your own tracker (based on something like Arduino) for not much dosh. Battery pack, charged from the car's 12v supply, with gps and gsm modules.... maybe £75? No subscription, just keep a PAYG sim card topped up. Ready-made pet/car/child trackers on ebay start about £20.
OK, hardly Thatcham approved, but it's an option between nothing at all and a full-on annual contract which costs more than it saves you.

Misses the point slightly with regards to a Tracker as either the car or you tell the tracker company it has been stolen and the Police then track/trace the vehicle. If you DIY it then you might have to hire a car to track your own stolen one then deal with the criminal element yourself

[graeme]

Well, you can always invent a problem for every solution. Just call the police and give them the lat/long, or hand them a mobile phone which gets update and let them go find it.

(or keep quite because you don't want the car back... that's not an option with an insurance-approved tracker!)

Like I said,

OK, hardly Thatcham approved, but it's an option between nothing at all and a full-on annual contract which costs more than it saves you.

[sendmyusername]

Re: drive/garage that's what the woman at my insurance company told me.
Said it was cheaper on the street. It was her that suggested adding my dad.
If you chat away friendly to the insurance dudes, and ask their opinion they tend to find you some extra savings or ideas not necesserily on their advice sheets.... Probably makes a change from people just moaning at them.
I usually buy online, but change cars/bikes quite a lot so have to call with ammendments.

[neil]

The reason cars in drives or in garages are getting dearer is due to carjacking when they break into your house and steal the keys.
If it is on the street, they don't know who's house to break into to steal the keys.

Driveway is cheaper than garage too, so I don't think that's the reason.

I think garaged is more expensive because the car can be worked on out of sight. No point in a tracker unless insurance insist on it IMHO.

[BiggestNizzy]

Plenty ways to build your own tracker (based on something like Arduino) for not much dosh. Battery pack, charged from the car's 12v supply, with gps and gsm modules.... maybe £75? No subscription, just keep a PAYG sim card topped up. Ready-made pet/car/child trackers on ebay start about £20.
OK, hardly Thatcham approved, but it's an option between nothing at all and a full-on annual contract which costs more than it saves you.

Misses the point slightly with regards to a Tracker as either the car or you tell the tracker company it has been stolen and the Police then track/trace the vehicle. If you DIY it then you might have to hire a car to track your own stolen one then deal with the criminal element yourself

If it's a hgh value car and it's not been stolen by joyriders it will be parked up for a few days to ensure it doesn't have a tracker.

[Mikie711]

Plenty ways to build your own tracker (based on something like Arduino) for not much dosh. Battery pack, charged from the car's 12v supply, with gps and gsm modules.... maybe £75? No subscription, just keep a PAYG sim card topped up. Ready-made pet/car/child trackers on ebay start about £20.
OK, hardly Thatcham approved, but it's an option between nothing at all and a full-on annual contract which costs more than it saves you.

Misses the point slightly with regards to a Tracker as either the car or you tell the tracker company it has been stolen and the Police then track/trace the vehicle. If you DIY it then you might have to hire a car to track your own stolen one then deal with the criminal element yourself

If it's a hgh value car and it's not been stolen by joyriders it will be parked up for a few days to ensure it doesn't have a tracker.

Even the joy riding mob do that these days to see if it has a tracker fitted. As I said 2 of our cars have them and they are active. I do see the point in a tracker rather than an alarm. Alarm is fine if the car is at your house but useless anywhere else.

[sendmyusername]

Re: home made tracker.
If you find the vehicle yourself it causes all sorts of problems with the insurance company.
I had my first bike nicked, police told me which field it would probably end up turning up in.
Went along and brought it back myself, was investigated by the insurance company ...