Wheens

Anyone put Lojack on their C?

Carsdirect guy pushing it. $650-700.

Good idea? Waste of $?

session

You can get Tele-aid and accomplish the same task and then some.

Lynn

I don't have either, but Lojak is better. It operates all the time, while teleaid only works when the engine is on. Most larger city PD's have their own Lojak receicvers. With teleaid, the teleaid operators must call the PD to tell them the location of the car. The Lojak system is hidden. The teleaid antenna is obvious and easily snapped off. The primary benefits of teleaid are the other services.

mleskovar

I don't believe removing the exterior antenna will cripple Teleaid. Maybe reduce it's effectiveness some. It is only glued to the rear window, no physical electrical connection and no active components. Am I wrong?

levelr123g

i am a police officer in dc. is what i can tell you from lojack is that it does work

IF

you know your car has been stolen. is what i mean is if you park your car in your driveway at 7 pm and it is stolen 10 minutes later then come back to it at 7am the next morning and its not there, the theif has had almost 12 hours to do what they wish. unless you call the lojack system and have them page the transmitter in the car to turn on then you get no signal. you must do this immediately for them to get a local signal. now if the car was driven to fl yes a local officer there would be able to pick up the transmission. but since most cars are stolen and chopped then 12 hours is ore than enough time to hack a car up and sell it. if the car is put in a shipping container to go on a boat then your signal is not going to work. dont get me wrong i do beleive in lojack and would recommend it but it is only good if you know your car has been stolen.

CHATMANR

While I was on a mission, my wife left her mom in a locked car w/o the key, while she went into a store. My mother-in-law got tired of waiting and opened the door. The police showed up less than 10 mins. later because TeleAid recognized an unauthorized entry, tried to notify the occupants [she didn't know the password], and then called the police [theywere 350 miles away from home in a small Central Cali town]. Needless to say, the made my m.i.l. get out of the car and questioned her until my wife showed up. My wife was surprised that TeleAid was capable of doing that! I was too.

Now, 2 years and 1 day later, I still doing really know how works or what it does; but my wife made me renew it earlier this year after we lost a key...

Buellwinkle

I don't get any more of a price break on my insurance so if my insurance company who is most at risk doesn't think it's worth it then why should I? I guess after over 23 years in So Cal and no cars stolen from me, my family or anyone I know I just don't see the point. I don't even know why I pay for theft insurance but I have seen some cars on fire like my parents E class so it must be worth it for that.

Jerry MB230K

your parent's E - class on fire ?

Lynn

The antenna is the GPS antenna. If it is snapped off, the GPS receiver can't receive the C/A signals from the satellites, so it can't compute the location of the car.

MB-BOB

I don't know this for sure, Lynn, but I was told by my service guy that there are several antennas in the car and they work redundently. If you were to have a roll-over accident and come to rest on the roof, antenna sheered off, I was told tele-aid will still uplink to the satellite (etc.) from one of the other antennas. I understand there is one in the rear bumper...

Kal Rubinson

I talked by insurance company into a discount for Tele-Aid. Should just about cover the cost of years 2-3 service.

ElDiabloJoe

Did any of you guys see the Orange County Register today (12/31/02)? In the Local Section, a photograph labeled "Misfiring Mercedes Melts Down."

A guy had his CL500 parked at the Tustin Marketplace, and it burnt down to the twisted frame!

His response to the newspaper staff, "I'm going to miss it,...but I guess that's what insurance is for."

Too bad too, he had great looking chromed 5-spoke wheels! At least they *look* like they used to be chromed,

Hope he's not an mbworld member, poor Ba$stard.

EDJ

Lynn

The teleaid system has at least two cell phone antennae, but only one GPS antenna. It is quite complicated to use more than one GPS antenna with a single receiver. The teleaid would call the service center using an analog cell phone and use the last computed position in the event of an accident. That would be within a few hundred feet of the accident regardless of how fast the car were going.

NO ONE uplinks to the GPS constellation, except the US Air Force Space Command Space Operations Center at Schriever Air Force Base which is east of Colorado Springs.

FrankW

personally, i think Lojack is waste of money. I'm not saying that it won't get stolen, but fat chance.

1. Unless it's professional there is no way a amateur (sp?) can steal a NEW Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, or Jaguar because they all need the matching codes from the key to start the engine. Unless the owner leaves the key in the car, but that's another case.

2. How often do you see a stolen car get recovered without any damage to the car. It's most likely that the car will get stripped down. I don't think most people would want their car back if it's damaged after it's stolen. You never know what the crooks did in your car.

3. the Lojack slogan pisses me off. "if you don't get your car back we'll pay you back for the cost of Lojack" What good is that gonna do for us after our car is gone.

there is one plus side for the Lojack though. It can lower the rate of the insurance. The insurance company will give discount in the policy if the car has Lojack.

Wheens

Thought I'd revisit this subject and see if anyone has any further comments

Carsdirect guy is bugging me about purchasing it. He says that the "upgraded" system can tell you (phone, e-mail, etc) if your car has been moved and the key is not in it. The upgraded system is about $950.

Still not sure if there is universal coverage in US, or only in major population areas.

BenzC240

lo jack is better than tele aid, tele functions like a cell phone for the most part and if it goes into a building with a lot of interference the tele aid is useless. so the lo jack is better in that sense. but honestly if my car is stolen i dont want it back. just imagine the thought of the car being abused in a car chase, joy ride, stripped apart, etc..., nope dont want it, just use the insurance money and buy a new one. plus benz is not high theft, parts are not in demand as american and japaneese parts are

Guest0001

i have LoJack on my car. i got it for peace of mind, i doubt anyone could steal a car like this though

BenzC240

true, just go rent the movie "GONE IN 60 SECONDS" it makes benz to be the most theft proof car in the world unless ofcourse an inside job from the dealer helps, but ill stop here wont wanna ruin it for anyone who hasnt seen the movie

kenyee

Not sure how it works where you are, but in MA, it only gets you a slight discount on comprehensive insurance which is only 40% of the total bill (the liability junk sucks up most of the cost). I calculated it'd take me about 8 yrs to pay off the cost of the Lojack. The insurance company accepted TeleAid for the same Lojack discount so that made the decision even easier ;-)

BTW, while I called around different shops to see if it was worth it, I found the installer for the alarms for the MA state police. He said Lojack is not worth it on MBs because MBs are hard to steal w/o the key (they'd have to flatbed it). According to him, thieves around here know about Lojack, so they drive the car to a "safe" area for a while and leave it alone to see if it has Lojack. Or they just drive it 1hr across the border. Plus you have to have your Lojack inspected every year for some fee.

FrankW

don't ask me about all that insurance crap...lol...i don't know anything bout'em. I'm still under the family plan driving the "minivan"....

I only knows that it can get you discount, but lojack is worthless to me as what i said before...

levelr123g

ok let me set the record straight. there is alot of misinformation on this forum about lojack. i will tell you how it works.

a lojack installer installs a transmitter in your car (fm).
the transmitter has a specific code asigned to it that transmits if your car has been stolen, and if you have reported it to the police.
your car is then entered into the NCIC computer as stolen.
the lojack computer is linked with NCIC and recognizes when your VIN# is reported as stolen.
when the lojack computer recognizes the VIN, it sends out a page if you will that turns on the transmitter.
the transmitter then sends a signal out every 15 seconds. the LOJACK transmitter is hooked to your car battery, but also has a backup of its own.
when a LOJACK tracker as in my police car gets a HIT there is a 5 digit code that is displayed on my tracker. i then give this code to the dispatcher and they enter it into their computer.
once this is entered, there is another signal that is then sent out and the transmitter will then send out a signal every second for tracking purposes, but will only stay in this mode for 30 minutes.
after 30 minutes the transmitter will automatically go back to one every 15 seconds
if the car is in a parking garage or buried in a shop somewhere, the signal may not be able to be tracked, or may be very weak. basically if your fm radio works and you can receive a signal then the LOJACK will transmit and the tracker will pick it up.

i hope this helps to dspael, or answer some of the LOJACK questions.

mleskovar

"1. Unless it's professional there is no way a amateur (sp?) can steal a NEW Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, or Jaguar because they all need the matching codes from the key to start the engine. Unless the owner leaves the key in the car, but that's another case."

I cannot verify but there was an article in the paper about people getting the VIN number (anyone can just look through the windshield and get it) and making up a story to the dealer (MB, BMW etc.) to get a replacement key. Hopefully MB has increased their key replacement security after initial reports of this ruse was reported.

levelr123g

anyamatuer can steal it with a tow truck

J.R.

I don't think that it has been mentioned but many dealerships will try to really push for LoJack in an effort to pad their profits, such as with rust proofing, extended warranties, floor mats and life insurance policies. I am sure that it is a very worthwhile product, (& could save your life depending on the circumstances) .

However car jackings are quite rare in the areas I travel so we decided to save some money and let a boa constrictor live inside the car.

Guest0001

unless he breaks in and and presses that one button, the flatbed bed truck is the only way