marksatex

I know the E has an alarm and Tele-Aid,but does anyone use window ( Glass) etching or LO-JACK? Never had a problem with my Lexus SC400 but the Suburban is a sitting duck here in South Texas if I did not have it maxed. I have the windows body panels etched and we use Lo-Jack, Vehicle like the Suburban could disappear and be disassembled in 15 minutes.

What about your E's? Etching the glass?

bmms8

the dealer fit lo-jack for us for i think 500 or 600. we didnt really need it, but you never know. he told us that they put the system in 32 different locations so thieves dont know where it is, and will work at all times, with, or w/o engine on

ctouhey

I'm in Houston. I got the LoJack.

marksatex

ctouhey
>> I'm in Houston. I got the LoJack.


__________________

Etch the glass also? I travel/work in Houston a lot and worry about it in hotel garages etc... Does the Lo-Jack have a identification so a thief knows it is a Lo-Jack and pass on your car? My Sub does.

Hear a lot of ignored alarms late at night in the Galleria hotel area...

Dema

BTW Is it possible to buy only Lo-Jack identification? It could be much cheaper.

ctouhey

Because of a scheduling error at the dealership, LoJack came out to my office and installed the product. I chatted a bit with the installer, but I don't know if his info is policy or opinion.

He said that if you have LoJack, you should not use any decals or leave any papers out with LoJack showing. While there are a number of places they can hide the transmitter, if a thief knows his business and knows to look for the LoJack transmitter, he can usually find it. If not, he can certainly tear up your car looking for it.

While these vehicle are equipped with Tele-Aide, I have heard that some clip the antenna in an effort to disable that mechanism. However, if they can just take the car far enough down in an underground parking garage, Tele-Aide cannot find the car because of their transmission methodology. LoJack uses a different methodology that can track through multiple layers of cement and steel.

Ideally, Tele-Aide would call your cellular at the moment unauthorized entry occurred. Then, you could tell them to track the car as well as call the police and give them the VIN to activate the Lo Jack. Between the two, thieves couldn't really take it anywhere it couldn't be tracked.

For a few hundred bucks, it seemed a reasonable cost for this environment.

Rock72

i don't have lojack but i considered it because the car insurance company usually gives you a little bit of a discount if you have lojack installed. it's usually not enough for lojack to pay for itself but it's there. i think my insurance company said that they would give like $25 off a year. but some people have reported that their insurance companies gave them a lot more (like $100) so it pretty much paid for itself if you keep the car for 5-6 years.

Rock.

Gethen

LoJack site shows that some states have got no coverage. Does anyone know if the service is available in Ohio yet?

marksatex

True- oJackis not in all states and only partial in others. We have it here but only in the major cities.

May decide to wait- We have it in my Suburban but we were located differently before. Now I am not sure what coverage we have after checking on it. I always assumed it was nationwide-- dumb me.

Dema

I saw a post here that steal of MB practically impossible due keys. And even if a car platformed in moved somewhere, then a thief still has problem to make keys for it and should contact a dealer for help. The poster mentioned just few cases when MB was stolen and actual thief had keys, for example valet service.

Otto

mb key has a chip built-in which is not easy to duplicate it and lo-jack can locate your car, etc. but most important thing is part your car in a safe place.

the pro car thief (I should say thieves because usually they are a group)

1. tow your car to their disassembly shop
2. disarm your alarm systems -- e.g. disconnect batteries. so tele-aid, lo-jack or whatever intelligent security systems cannot "communicate" (step 2 may happen before step 1)
3. disassemble car within hours
4. sell parts in us or ship whole disarmed cars to other countries

it difficult to prevent these pro car thieves but you can always park your car in a safe place, e.g. security guards, monitors., where reduces your risk to minimum.

gobenz

I agree with Otto's good advice on parking your car where it is safe. Unfortunately that is often easier said than done...particularly when used for business, or attending concerts, sporting events, etc.

I've installed LoJack. Hopefully it will never be used. I've read too many articles lately that car thieves (groups) are moving into my area from South Florida...and the bottom line is if they want your car they'll take it.

I agree with the notion that LoJack should not be advertised on your car...that only alerts the would be theives to locate and disable the system. For me LoJack provides a little piece of mind...and some insurance relief.

marksatex

Friend of mine parked his Bimmer 745 at a High school football game immediately next to the San antonio Police cruiser and Event Team staging area only to discover the car gone at the end of half time.

A pro can get your car just fast as you park it.

One scam in San Antonio years ago was to have the car theives planted in the parking garages near downtown events that were used by the valet services. Soon as the valet would leave, and a few were indicted on "leaving the key in the door!" the scum would saunter over and have free time to either get in the car or just drive away. Took a big undercover operation to shut that down- but think how easy that scam would be...

Lo-Jack looking better But even in that situation- the car may be gone long long before you know it.. Would Tele-AID go of if a key was used to remove the car? Don't see how it could work.f

I keep parked in well lit areas but the balance sometimes is parking out a bit to avoid dings....

IN our office complex several of us opted to park under covered parking which we had built, but several rows from the building so we could "Keep and eye on the cars" and avoid the dings... Well guess what?

A team of scums drove through the lot running on the back 4 rows smashing the windows grabbing anything inside of value and driving off before anyone could react....

We are considering a high wire fenced lot. Seems absurd.

Otto

thieves do not like mb cars because

1. all mb dealers do not buy the parts from them
2. most of mb customers only maintain or fix their cars in mb dealers

as long as the demand of mb parts is low from non-mb shops, (especially, the body shops), our cars are safe.

marksatex

Good Point Otto

ValueplusClass

MB has TOW protection Alarm in addition to the regular alarm. LoJac or any locating signaler should activate on towing or movement without the engine running also or else its not worth so much.

ValueplusClass

I mean to say automatically signal the monitoring station that something may not be correct.

ctouhey

A standard LoJack installation consists of a transmitter which is shut off. It also has a receiver mechanism. The fact that it emits no signal on an inital electronics sweep should buy some time, even with pros. The trick is, you have to know your car has been stolen and call the police. They have equipment that sends a signal to the receiver in your car and activates the transmitter. As long as it's not ripped out at that point, they have the coordnates of your car within seconds.

Also note that if the battery is disconnected, the device has its own back up power. They tell you at installation to have it checked/serviced every 2 years.

My automobile insurance discounts increased by another 10% with the LoJack installation. Your mileage may vary.