1080iAddict

OK. Here is how Lo Jack works, as far as I know:

Lo Jack is basically a silent alarm system that has 2 parts. The first part is in the car and when it is triggered, it sends out a radio-frequency signal that is continuous. The second part is in specially equiped police cars. You will know if the police car has Lo Jack by the antenna structure on the roof of the police car. It looks like 4 or 8 separate 12 inch antennas configured in a circle with a diameter of a bicycle tire. This allows the police car to 'track' the Lo Jack signal on a display within the police car . The display shows signal strength and direction, such that the police car can drive toward the signal and see the strength increase as the police car approaches. I believe the display may also show the plate number and/or make and model of car, but I am not sure.

As far as I know, Lo Jack is NOT a gps based system, i.e., the antenna configuration above. But that was several years ago. It seems to me a gps based system would be the better technology now.

OCBen

And the only way it can be triggered is when you yourself report your car stolen, which can be some amount of elapsed time between the theft and your noticing the theft -- a major drawback to the system.

By the way, for those of you outside the US it may not be available where you live, and therefore you may not have known about it.

It's basically touted as a "theft recovery system". And as quite a few here have indicated, they're not interested in recovery a stolen car that has probably been defiled in some way.

boolala

A local Mercedes dealer had a car stolen off their lot. It was tracked using GPS. Vehicle tracking is a service provided for by MBs equivalent of the "on-star" system known as "Tele Aid".

gota911

Works like the "car tracker" scenes you see in the movies when a Cop puts a transender on a car and then they track the location of the car via GPS. Only these don't go dead at the critical moment, like they do in the movies!

munro86

If pros take it and assuming they wouldn't thrash the hell out of it, I think its a good idea.

kurt M

Spot on. A pro is not going to trash the car he is trying to make $ on before he strips it for parts or sells it. The pin head, glue sniffing, joy riders are going to have a real hard time taking you car unless you leave the keys in it. You car will not be stolen by a nitwit with a slide hammer it will be snached by a pro.
Something else to think about. You don't have much of a choice of "wanting it back" or not. If the car is found and not totaled you GET it back regardless unless you want to walk away from it and take a $ loss.
Lojack might get the car back before it is trashed other than having a thug changing your drivers seat presets. It also helps catch the little ****** and just might prevent the theft of the next 911 on his list.

The dealer I work at installs them on all the new P cars. You only pay for it if you want it to work.

Adrian Fuller

Thanks for explaining. - Basically the same as the 'Tracker' system we have hear in the UK. - However this can be enhanced.

The first level is where if the car is moved without the transpoder key being used the tracker staff phone you to advise you the car has moved. - You still have to verify it is stolen but they do alert you to the potential theft.

The second enhancement combines GPS so that once reported stolen the tracker staff can log and report the car's exact location to the police.

OCBen

In Canada, they have a theft recovery/tracking system called Boomerang, which works like LoJack, and was aquired by LoJack last fall. LoJack and Boomerang also make the following respective claims:

GPS systems require line-of-sight access to the orbiting GPS satellite system in order to track a missing vehicle. GPS systems can't penetrate forest cover, parking garages, or other obstructions. By contrast, LoJack uses a special FCC-allocated radio frequency that can penetrate many obstructions. GPS systems also require an external antenna that can be seen and easily broken off by potential thieves. LoJack is the only system used by police to track stolen vehicles.

Unlike GPS and GPS/Cellular systems, the Boomerang device's signal can successfully track stolen vehicles located in underground parking lots and shipping containers.
That's definitely something to think about. I don't think there are insurance riders you can buy that will replace your vehicle with a new one should yours get stolen regardless of whether or not it is recovered.

Here's something else to think about. If LoJack is becoming so prevalent in hi-end cars, and there are no external identifiers on cars so equipped, thieves will have to assume that a hi-end car has it installed, and just walk away.

Reminds me of that placard I've seen on homes that reads something like this: "This home is protected by Smith & Wesson five nights out of the week. You guess which night it's not."

tnunnery

...which can easily be defeated since it relies on the satellite antenna. Lojack is a better option but I'm not sure I would want the car back either.

boolala

Good point.

I would rater have something that doesn't work (or can be defeated) like GPS rather than Lojack.

paul997

Had to install a boomerang to get insurance here in Canada.

OCBen

Why would you pay for something that doesn't work or can be defeated, like GPS? That makes no sense at all.

boolala

Just a little sarcasm.

Of course GPS does more than locate your car when its been stolen. It also guides you to your destination when you're lost!

That's the reason I would get it.

OCBen

Oh, sorry. Guess it went over my head. It was a little late last night and my brain tends to shut down before my fingers do.

Well, from my understanding (and from the above quoted spiels from Boomerang and LoJack) GPS won't help you if your car is in a parking structure or underground, that it needs a direct line-of-sight contact with the GPS satellite. Are you referring to the GPS enabled NAV unit? Don't know if that will help you locate your car unless you have some ancillary equipment for that purpose.

boolala

Yes I would buy it for the nav unit. (Have one in my Benz and am looking to order the module for the 997). When the GPS signal is not available most systems revert to using dead reakoning. [sp?]. I.e., using last known GPS position updated using time, speed and direction of travel obtained from wheel sensors. This is similar to, but less sophisticated, than the inertial guidance system used for navigation in jets for decades before (and since) GPS.

As far as locating a stolen vehicle is conerned the signal (position) is transmitted using the cellular network to a response center. It does not depend on the GPS signal being available. I don't know how well this works in practice in areas of poor GPS coverage as that would depend upon the accuracy of the dead reakoning algorithm.