Tracker

[Frenchie]

Do many people have trackers on their cars and how do they get on with them.What sort of monthly/yearly charges do you pay?

[555_Si]

Had one that came with my old Scoob, I am sure they have got better but I wasn't overly confident in the company (think it was traffic master) who ran mine. When they first activated it, it took them a while to track my car to test it.

Newer ones are probably better, but also would you want your car back after it's been on a joy ride? Didn't make any difference on my insurance either.

[Frenchie]

Do you remember if it was an after market one or Subaru original. I have the option to have one with my new car, its the only item that is none standard.In France car crime theft is very low so cars don't normally have alarms or trackers.Not sure to take the option or not. Price is 900e(£700) and monthly charge is 16.5e(£13).

[NL03Scooby]

I found the same as Si, the insurance wasn't affected either positively or negatively, and for the activation charge and subscription charge Trackstar wanted with mine it wasn't worth it.

I also had to pull my car apart to find the battery pack that ran the tracker as I think it was past it and was sucking the life out of my car battery. This of course is only an issue with old systems, so won't be problematic with a new installation.

900e seems a lot in my opinion for something you don't feel you really need in France, famous last words of course!

[Frenchie]

Thanks NLO3Scooby, that's kind of what I was thinking.

[Steve_PPP]

Originally Posted by NL03Scooby

I also had to pull my car apart to find the battery pack that ran the tracker as I think it was past it and was sucking the life out of my car battery.

Can you PM me the details of where you found it? I have the same problem with my OEM tracker.

[Red Baron]

Ditto what Rob said, also explains why my battery struggles to last over a week. There was about 9 months subscription left on mine from the previous owner but they wouldn't transfer it to me, wanted me to pay a transfer fee and a new 12 month subscription.

[Lucky]

Amazing that a tracker is now optional whereas it was standard on late blobs and Hawks. Personally I wouldn't bother terry. Mine always drained the battery and to be honest if someone knicked it and the ragged it about I'm not sure I'd want it back anyway. GAP insurance is probably a better bet for a brand new car. At least that way you are guaranteed a new car of something happens .

[Frenchie]

Thanks everyone, that's no to a tracker.

[Bigtel]

You could go for a 'for Pay as you Go' tracker option. One off £20 - £40 on eBay and then just add a SIM card.

if you're not very good with electrics you can just Connect Red & Black to power (newer Scoobs can even get one that just plugs into the OBD2 port) you text it and it texts you back a Google map of where it is.
If you're handy with the tools you can use it as a GSM dialler (if car alarm is activated) and also as a remote (by text) engine cut.