Not so sure Lojak system is that great

[nene]

My car was not stolen. A friend's car (an S4) that has Lojak was stolen, and he told me about this story. I've had Lojak in my last 2 cars, and never had to use it. However, it makes me think that the service is not that great after all, once I heard his story.

When you get Lojak, you are given a car with the following information: Vin number, Lojak number, and installed date.

If your car is stolen, YOU HAVE to report the car stolen to the police station in the city that it was stolen. Until you PHYSICALLY do so, the police won't do this over the phone, the police will not track the car to see where it is at, thus the Lojak system won't be enabled.

If for example you happen to be 60 miles away from the location your car was stolen, in case you have multiple cars, and you happen to know it was stolen, you must drive to the police station in the city where the car was stolen, about 60 miles away, and fill out the stolen car report. Until you do so, you are shitte-out-of-luck!!!

Going to the city where you are presently in won't do a thing. The police will tell you to go to the city where it was stolen, and fill out the paperwork.

One solution would be to have family member or friend represent you physically at the police station and fill out report.
I suppose you could also lie to the police in the wrong city so they can turn on the system, but I probably would not do that!!! Obvious reasons I guess.

Please be aware of this if you have Lojak. The system is not as great as it sounds, as police officers won't give a rats-arse about your stolen property, and just give you the run around. What a bunch of mofos!!!!

If you have any similar stories please post.

[sturs6]

I thought about getting it because they just started advertising it here but I said who cares with telematics it does the same thing it is just not a direct signal to the police. All that assumes the back up battery is not dead on the OnStar and they unplug the main battery. :D :hihi: :hihi:

[rs6_newyork]

onstar is useless for theft recovery, every thief who would worry about that just snaps off the sharks fin.

[sturs6]

Originally posted by rs6_newyork
onstar is useless for theft recovery, every thief who would worry about that just snaps off the sharks fin.
It seems to me that the creators of these systems would not make such an obvious mounting of the antenna because of the reason you stated.
I just found this...
Does anyone believe it?
"Q. If my antenna is stolen, can OnStar still find me?
A. OnStar uses a full 3.0-watt cellular system as opposed to the typical 0.6 watt portable cell phone. Assuming there is still power for the system, if the antenna is removed from outside the vehicle, it is still possible to make the cellular connection although the range is diminished."

[rs6_newyork]

onstar uses cellular? i thought it used satellite? no wonder the freaking thing doesn't work upstate in new york where there is no cell phone service!

anyway if I were to steal a car with onstar I'd probably not just rip off the sharks fin but run 120volts down the exposed cables as well via an inverter plugged into the lighter socket. that should fry the system good and proper.

I only found out today the onstar "virtual advisor" thingie uses your cellphone minutes as well! so much for that. After my 30 mins are out, I'm not paying a buck a minute to hear CNN news and traffic incidents for roads 20 miles away!!

[gjg]

the other system has independent battery as backup in case main power is gone, antenna is discreet.

In general, you can get cell jamer over the counter these days so anything cellular based is (outside of coverage problems) pretty much useless ....

[TheBrit]

Originally posted by nene
If your car is stolen, YOU HAVE to report the car stolen to the police station in the city that it was stolen. Until you PHYSICALLY do so, the police won't do this over the phone, the police will not track the car to see where it is at, thus the Lojak system won't be enabled.
That really sucks! Over here, one of the big brands is Tracker. There are three options;

1. You notice your car is gone and ring the police and Tracker, who activate the system remotely, then if your car goes past a Tracker equipped police vehicle or shipping port, they get a signal and trace it. They can sometimes get a rough triangulation based on signal strength and direction at multiple receiving stations.
2. Your car notifies tracker it has been moved without the ignition being switched on, Tracker ring you to see if you know about it. If not, they activate it remotely and it's tracked as above.
3. As above, but with a GPS receiver, so the car tells Tracker where it is, and they tell the police, who then dispatch a suitably equipped vehicle to track it down.

The communication uses a long wire arial that can be routed several ways to various places in the car (headlining, front or rear bumper, interior door panel, under the dashboard etc), and the unit itself can be hidden in one of several places. This means that with the 3rd option, the chances of the unit being disabled before the car is found are quite slim.

I know the system works, a colleague had his car taken on a flatbed to the dealer after a cambelt slip, and Tracker were on the phone within a couple of minutes to say where the car was and which direction it was going.

[gjg]

Tracker works basically the same way as Lojack, Secar or other systems.

I had same experience with service on mainland - S6 on tow truck and within one minute they called me that the car is being taken away, and second time when I had rs6 in shop and forgot to leave the key in - they called when the car was half way up. If I had not answered the phone the service organization automatically notifies police of theft in progress.

What really sucks is the laziness of cops in States - I do not believe they would actually refuse to deal with you when you will come in to report stolen car ....

[Nordschleife]

There is another viewpoint -

If anybody steals your car - no way do you want it back, who knows what has been done to it.

So, any thief who wants my car, please, please, if you must take it, don't loose it!

Do you really want your car back after some pond life has trashed it?

If somebody is going to "Drive it like you stole it", it better be me, otherwise ta-ta!

R+C

[nene]

I certainly agree with you, up to a point Nord.

But the point I was making is that it seems like a waste of money getting this system that you think is so great in theory, when in practice it seems a bit too hard to make it all work.

To answer your point however, I am sure that not many people like to get their car back after it's been stolen. The issue is that more often then not the car is found, and by then it has been trashed over and over again. And it is not always a total loss, which is a bummer. Furthermore, the culprits don't always get caught.
So, that being the case, even if someone is going to joy-ride my beast, or any other car, it would be nice to catch them in the act, or catch them before the car has a lot more damage. I figured the system would help in that regard, but given the fact that it is clearly a PIA to get it all working, with police making it extremely hard to enable the Lojak, it's hardly worth my hard earned cash!

[Hy Octane]

If anybody steals your car - no way do you want it back, who knows what has been done to it.

Yeah, but the only problem with that is that here in the US anyway, you cant get another one to replace it! :cry:

[TheBrit]

Originally posted by Nordschleife
Do you really want your car back after some pond life has trashed it?
Not really, but as already stated, would you want to get it back after it had been thrashed around for far longer, and then abandoned somewhere with the interior trashed? It's becoing increasingly common for joyriders to trash the car after they get bored of it, and insurers are less likely to write off a more expensive car unless it's been badly crashed.

A bigger risk to the RS 6 IMHO, is an organised theft. Given the immobilisers, you'd hope the average joyriding scrotum wouldn't have the knowledge or skill to disable without making a hash of it. However, a flat bed lorry with a crane arm and some lifting straps are a likely way to make an expensive car vanish overnight.

At least with a GPS-enabled unit, if a joyrider took it, they'd get tracked down quickly before too much damage gets done, and if it's on a flatbed, it should get located before it can be taken to a garage to be dismantled to remove the immobiliser.

That's the theory - I hope I never find out in practice.

[Nordschleife]

Obviously, cheap insurance companies will try and palm off trashed cars on their original owners, perhaps this is why insurance in Germany tends to be so expensive. Nobody in Germany wants a tracking device on their car if the car is a premium model.
Also any tracking device is completely useless in the face of professional car thieves. They use booster trucks and shielded warehouses. The cars cannot be detected, whatever transmitting device is completely blocked. Any communications link is completely blocked. They can even stop you locking your car when you walk away from it, and remember in environmentally friendly Germany, you are not allowed to use aural signals when you lock your car.
Unfortunately, there are some very professional car theft gangs at work in mainland Europe. At one stage, and it may still apply, Russia gave good title to the knowing purchasers of stolen cars, no wonder its such a good business.

german joke - "Why do Russians always steal 2 Mercedes?"; "Because they have to take them through Poland"!

R+C

[chewy496]

Originally posted by Nordschleife


german joke - "Why do Russians always steal 2 Mercedes?"; "Because they have to take them through Poland"!



I don't get it :confused:

[rs6_newyork]

i guess poland is considered more lawless than even mother russia.

[gjg]

they will loose one on the way through PL .....

[TheBrit]

Originally posted by Nordschleife
Also any tracking device is completely useless in the face of professional car thieves. They use booster trucks and shielded warehouses.
Yup, I guess that's inevitable, the battle between criminals and car/alarm/tracking manufacturers will continue to escalate, both sides always trying to outdo the other. Such is life.

I suppose you can't let it worry you too much, otherwise you'd end up living in a cave with no material possesions worth stealing.

[Aronis]

Um, good question.

It's 2:00 am in Boston, and Nene calls the cops to activate Lojak.....let's see, eat more donuts or tract that RICH GUYS CAR, um...tough choice...Boston Police.....EAT THE DONUTS, TO HELL WITH THE CAR, it's probably already in Roxbury being stripped. LOL..

Lojak is lame. It depends too much on the police having the time and inclination to go find the car.

If the car is stolen, let it go, I'd rather have mine stolen and never recovered, than to simply have it get damaged.

Mike