Car trackers

[BristolMike]

I’m looking for a bit of help. I’ve just bought a car and I’ve been told by my insurance I need a tracker fitted for it to be covered for theft. I know that BMW have an internal tracker in them, but I don’t know if they will help if the cars stolen. Other than that, do any of you have experience with trackers? There seems to be so many around, just need to know what to avoid. I would ideally like the subscription to be as low as possible too.

Thanks

 

[CliveW]

I had a Tracker fitted to my BMW when it was new. Luckily I never had the experience to find out how well it worked, but it seems to be the system which Police monitor from their traffic cars.

https://www.tracker.co.uk/solutions...HbCxxOpxs8blIruXkDFzMfSgXPOYVIeQaAjXvEALw_wcB

 

[Bunkermagnet]

Friend of mine had to have one fitted to the Range Rover he bought as the insurance company wouldnt insure it without one being fitted. As far as I am aware, he doesn't pay anything monthly, he just paid £500 for it's fitting and thats it...tracked and done.

 

[Old Skier]

Might depend on how the police respond in your area. Mate had a tracker on his motor home and unfortunately had it stolen. Police ignored his request to sort it even when he gave them its location.

 

[pool888]

Depends on the model, mine has a tracker of sorts in the BMW app where you can locate the vehicle but I believe you can switch this off in the idrive though so doubt it would be suitable for insurance purposes. It depends on the model and the version of idrive you have. Join Bimmerpost forum if you have not already done so, lots of good info on there. I do recall threads where they said that BMW was slow in giving police location information due to privacy laws. Google Operation Cundall. Also if it is a desirable car have a look of Autowatch Ghost which gets well recommended on there, it's an immobiliser where you set a "Pin Code" using the steering wheel buttons, car wont start until the correct sequence of buttons has been inputted.

 

[USER1999]

Would a tracker work from the inside of a container?

 

[CliveW]

Would a tracker work from the inside of a container?

The Tracker tracker does. https://www.tracker.co.uk/solutions/individuals

 

[JollyRedDevil]

I had a similar request from the insurance company when I bought my Range Rover.
You can buy trackers on-line for a couple of hundred quid but insurance companies do not accept those. It has to be a Thatchem approved tracker fitted and monitored by an approved supplier. Most of them charge an initial upfront fee plus annual subscriptions which I thought were extortionate.
The one I went for, was a company called GolbalTelemetrics and the system installed was SmartTrack. The come and fit the device for a one off fee, around £400 I think, and that's it. This will then be valid as long as you own the vehicle.

 

[BristolMike]

I had a similar request from the insurance company when I bought my Range Rover.
You can buy trackers on-line for a couple of hundred quid but insurance companies do not accept those. It has to be a Thatchem approved tracker fitted and monitored by an approved supplier. Most of them charge an initial upfront fee plus annual subscriptions which I thought were extortionate.
The one I went for, was a company called GolbalTelemetrics and the system installed was SmartTrack. The come and fit the device for a one off fee, around £400 I think, and that's it. This will then be valid as long as you own the vehicle.

That sounds perfect, I will have a look into it. Thanks

 

[BristolMike]

Depends on the model, mine has a tracker of sorts in the BMW app where you can locate the vehicle but I believe you can switch this off in the idrive though so doubt it would be suitable for insurance purposes. It depends on the model and the version of idrive you have. Join Bimmerpost forum if you have not already done so, lots of good info on there. I do recall threads where they said that BMW was slow in giving police location information due to privacy laws. Google Operation Cundall. Also if it is a desirable car have a look of Autowatch Ghost which gets well recommended on there, it's an immobiliser where you set a "Pin Code" using the steering wheel buttons, car wont start until the correct sequence of buttons has been inputted.

It’s an X4M Competition. I was surprised it needed one tbh, I’ve got an m4 comp now and they didn’t need it for that. I will check with Bmw today to see the situation with the internal one

 

[BristolMike]

Friend of mine had to have one fitted to the Range Rover he bought as the insurance company wouldnt insure it without one being fitted. As far as I am aware, he doesn't pay anything monthly, he just paid £500 for it's fitting and thats it...tracked and done.

Would you be able to ask which one it is? Any help appreciated

 

[pool888]

I think if you want a BMW Thatcham one you will need to look into something like this https://www.halliwelljones.co.uk/bmw/trackstar Some brilliant PCP offers on X3M and x4M comps just now, several have ordered on the Bimmerpost forums although none of those have mentioning a tracker being required for insurance. Maybe look elsewhere even if the premium is more expensive it could work out cheaper in the long run.