With my new car on the horizon, I'm thinking about LoJack.

I know generally how it works, but I don't know anyone who has it.

I'm soliciting any and all comments, opinions, stories about it.

Anyone ever had it? Have it now? Who installed it? About how much was it?

Is it worth it?

Anything else I should know about it?

 

My dealer had Lo-Jack installed for me at time of purchase. I paid $500 initially and just recently paid $99 to have my warranty extended for life. It is guaranteed recovery in 24 hours and I have heard that in my home (Dekalb County Georgia) the average recovery time is 2 hours. You need to ensure that your local police have the ability to track Lo-Jack or it will be worthless.

 

Lo-Jack is okay, but picture this, you go to the train station for work everday- you're gone for 8 hours, (or even movies for 2 hours)you get back and find your car missing. I don't know about you I can be in Canada in 8 hours. See where I'm going with this Lo-Jack is a great concept and I hate to be the one to poo-poo on your security system, unless you notice your car is stolen within 2 hours you aren't getting it back. That's the fundamental flaw with Lo-Jack, (unless they've changed it) you have to activate it. THere are some SVLU (stolen vehicle locator units) available that actually notify you when your alarm is tripped, and you can begin tracking the car immediately. One of them ( I have) is PageTrack2 http://www.elitelog.com . This thing can start your car, unlock your doors and using the DOD GPS satellites track your car to within 100ft (even how fast and which direction its going) All done by 2way pager, cell phone or web. The annual monitoring fee is comparable to any home alarm system $15-20 per month. You can even call up or look on the web yourself to monitor the vehicle. Its pretty cool $h1t.

 

kaygee,

Thanks for the info on the LoJack. Sure sounds like it's a good investment.


Johnny Mo,

The PageTrack sounds similar to the ONStar system. Is it?

In addition the the ~$200/yr how much was the installation and who did it? I couldn't find a list of dealers on the web site.

One thing about LoJack is that it's well established and will be around.

From their web site Elite Logistics looks like a start-up. How did you find out about them? Did they give any guarantees about how long you'll be able to use the system? Not knocking the company, just concerned about putting in $$ in a system and not having a company behind it -- and trying to get more info.

 

Its very similar to OnStar, except it is aftermarket. New Lexus will be available with their version of OnStar soon (Lexus Link) I think they're calling it. Actually from a security system standpoint it is relatively new, it originally started as a bank/credit repo tool. In the sub-prime auto credit business people would default on loans all the time- good luck trying to get the car back. So this tracking system was a mandatory add-on to the car if you were sub-prime- the only features that worked though were the starter disable (even a transponder chip key won' t start with this activated) and the remote tracking. When a customer defaulted, the bank had the car disabled, located and repo'd. This is just a foray into a new market (ie if Lo-Jack is so popular this will be a good competitor).

Back to your point about OnStar, I forgot to mention there is a button in the car you can press to summon Lexus Roadside Assistance, or any one of 3 phone numbers you provide. No driving directions though. I think they are a subsidiary of SkyTel, because they use the skytel satellites for communication from the vehicle to central station.

My dealer did the install for me, but there were some software issues at first and the sub-contractor the dealer hired subsequently opted to pass on their distributorship of the product. If you call Elite Logistics, they can definitely get you the name of a dealer/distributor that can do the job. As far as price goes, it is more expensive than Lo-Jack, but I justify that by saying its more than just Lo_Jack, roadside assist works off the paging satellites, so if your cell phone is dead chances are the satellite will still work, its got remote start, starter disable and GPS tracking down to 100ft, all with a person on the other end of the phone when you call the central station. Its about 100 bucks per year for the monitoring (I looked at my contract after I posted yesterday). My understanding of Lo-Jack is that the cops have to be within a couple mile radius to begin tracking (correct me if I am wrong, I haven't really looked at it in a year or so). So thats why I went with PT2.

 

Thanks for all the info guys. I really appreciate it.

 

The auto nav business who demo'd at our SF Bay Area meet also carries PageTrack2. Take a look at the product section at the site;

http://www.autonav2000.com

If any of you are interested, email me at c4yuen@home.com, and let me see what I can do for you.

I agree with what JM said, the lag between the time your car was stolen and the time you report it is critical.