What's the concensus?

Do you really want your car back after it's stolen and maybe trashed or wrecked or would you rather get a settlement from your insurance co. and replace it? Among potential issues is "diminished value" if repairs are required, especially if it's a lease.

 

Diminished value should be covered by insurance if you bring it up.

Many people on here have modified their cars extensively, and I doubt most of those mods are insured. That's probably $3,000 out the window. I'd want my car back ASAP, and anything that's broken/abused, I'd want repaired.

 

5 hours from Mexico? Do you honestly think you'll ever see that car again?

 

I got the Lojack with Early Warning System option. Supposedly I will get an automated phone call within a maximum of 30 minutes of my car being moved. They give you a key fob that you must have with you if you are driving the car, to prevent a "false alarm" phone call.

I paid more for this version of Lojack for the automatic notification, on the theory that there might be a fighting chance of recovering the car before it got chopped up or damaged. I typically keep my cars 10+ years, and it would really suck to have to buy a new car again after having paid off the car loan.

 

I opted not to get the lo-jack because I don't think I want it back after it's been stolen. Insurance will cover it.

 

No... jack

 

ditto..

its probably messed up by now.. broken ignition, dents, broken steering column..etc.. the list goes on.


and honestly.. all they have to do is tow the damn thing to mexico which is about 3 hours away from where i live and your car will never be found. simple as that.

also for everyone with tech package, you need your FOB key to start it so it is very difficult for them to just drive off with your car.

 

like others said - I would rather collect the insurance and buy a new car.

This is a good spot to recommend that if you financed your car, make sure you have GAP insurance. This covers the difference between what you owe on your car and the value of your car if it's totaled or stolen.

One benefit to LoJack is that it may lower your insurance rates.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by MD-DRIVER

One benefit to LoJack is that it may lower your insurance rates.

at the cost of $3,000 lol..

it wont be lowered by that much tho.. probably 100-200 every half a year.

if you do the calculations, you dont save any money at all

 

I had lojack in my other car. Cost me $800 to install. The installer from lojack says they have to come out every 3-4 years to check to see if the battery in the device was working. That was an additional $150....WTF. I sold that car last year.

 

one of my good friends had LoJack on his 2010 TL. it was stolen while we were at a concert in L.A. he got a phone call saying his car was stopped 12 miles away by the police. no dents or scratches just broken ignition. he swears by it

 

^ imo the car always feels violated, i wouldnt want it back ... hence no lo jack

 

This is more or less my point in opening the discussion. LoJac is $695 installed and up to $1000 if you take the bait to buy the extras (ext'd warranty & early warning system)

My opinion, if you paid cash or financed less than 50% of the deal you can maybe afford to take the hit of a depreciation loss. The insurance company will only pay you the car's wholesale book value, not what it'd actually cost you to replace it. If you still owe $$ on it you might be a lot better off getting it back.

GAP insurance should be required on any financed purchase where the buyer has less than 20% net equity in the car. It should also be required on any Lease. It's simply a good idea and it's cheap insurance.

On the other hand LoJack is only viable in the mainstream of the culture (major cities) where the local PD is equipped to track a LoJack transponder. Much beyond 100 miles out from a major city, consider the car gone.

Worth the $695? As much as I don't want to have my car stolen in the first place, I take no comfort at the mental image I have of it being brought back dangling from an improperly attached wrecker, with the back seat full of chicken bones, smelling of gunpowder or weed or cigarettes or with jheri-curl smeared all over the headrests. Call us strange but we don't "glop-up" our cars or eat in them. Even back when our kids were little, neither we nor they ever ate or drank sodas in the car. Want to go to MacDonalds? Fine , but we're getting a table and eating inside. People today think we're weird.

Any insurance discount for having LoJack would apply only to the "comprehensive" portion of the policy which is already comparatively inexpensive. Translation: Not worth it.

Now then, what I would consider buying if it was available, is On-Star. Better than Lo-Jack, On-Star can immediately locate your vehicle anywhere (when it's outside) and when in contact w/the police & with the PD having visual sighting, the On-Star operator can even stop the car (disable the ignition).

Give the programmers a little more time, there'll be an app for that...

 

Ditto!

 

I had wondered about that. Can anyone else verify this is true? I would think a determined thief looking for a specific car (Ever seen "Gone in Sixty Seconds"?) would have all that worked out. Auto theft is a huge business, but mainly for chop shops. They don't want the car, they want the parts.

 

My dealer threw it in for free else I probably would not get it.

 

You took the words right out of my mouth.

 

As long as the car has an alarm and you don't leave your keys in it you should be fine. Car thefts are way down compared to years ago and that is what insurance is for.
With the thechnology cars have today it's much harder for car theives and if they really want it,their going to try and steal it. It's not like the old days. My first Mustang was stolen and the found it a week later in MA. Not much damage. My father had his Falcon stolen, found it a few days later and not much damage.
My sister had her Mustang stolen twice first time no big deal second time totally trashed.
Moved to the suburbs and some guys tried to steal my 89 GMC Jimmy, but got caught by the cops.
I have not had anything touched in years and I would say I have a LOT of experience with stolen cars.

 

I would think the theft rate of 4G's are probably really low. It's just not a in demand car. The parts won't fit onto anything else. They barely move off dealer lots as it is. If your paranoid about it, a kill switch perhaps, would be a better way to spend the money, and gap insurance as others mentioned.

 

OK, you guys convinced me not to buy the Lojack. I just purchased my vehicle and apparantly they are pushing "upsells" at the end of the month. Final offer from them was $795 for advance warning system and $495 for basic system - down from $995 & $695 - plus 7 year (Lojack) warranty.

 

No, could have got it for $149 - lifetime on the the TL-S which to me because of the external features and the popularity of the 3G is possibly the most likely to be stolen. Just in reality sad but true you don't want it back. I saw a guy fight with and insurance company on a BMW X5 of what was damaged after being stolen. The hidden damage can be significant.You can age a transmission 30,000 miles easy in a evening of joy riding. Besides does the whole event not show up on car fax.

 

People who know believe or not use the club. I know a lot of people who know Newark and that is the deal.