Car Security

[SpenToy]

So as you may know. I have bought a Rav4 PHEV GR Sport and awaiting delivery.

Just received a Toyota email offering me Scorpion Track S5, manufactured to Thatcham S5-VTS for a cost of £604

Is this something worth getting?

[forkingabout]

Does that price include a subscription to the tracking / monitoring service?

Does your insurance company offer any discount or even have a requirement for a S5 tracker to be fitted?

 

[flash22]

should be £450-500 fitted maybe £525, they will use a 3rd party to fit it anyway so are making their cut on the deal, B2B  cost (dealers price to them) fitted maybe £350-375

£600 on a £39k+ purchase is not a lot for peace of mind

[ernieb]

For some reason I can not paste the link but I search for 

scorpiontrack.com and it goes to a Uk site. Shows cost of monitoring and installation costs. 
 

 

[robo1]

1 hour ago, SpenToy said:

Just received a Toyota email offering me Scorpion Track S5, manufactured to Thatcham S5-VTS for a cost of £604

Is this the new security enhancement Toyota has been talking about ?!

[SpenToy]

1 hour ago, forkingabout said:

Does that price include a subscription to the tracking / monitoring service?

Does your insurance company offer any discount or even have a requirement for a S5 tracker to be fitted?

 

The cost includes the first year of subscription.

Thanks for pointing out the insurance company point. I'll check with them.

[nlee]

22 minutes ago, robo1 said:

Is this the new security enhancement Toyota has been talking about ?!

Very much doubt it. In any case the OPs is being offered it on a new GR PHEV which supposedly doesn't have the same vulnerability on the Canbus so it's a different thing on top of a more secure Can network.

Either way, it wouldn't stop a car with a vulnerable network being stolen, you would probably just get a phone call from the monitoring centre to tell you to check if it had been stolen, then be able to track where it was. Some have had success with the inbuilt tracker to do the same thing but it's probably better at doing it than the My Toyota app.

[robo1]

Ah. Reply was tongue in cheek. Didn’t twig it was only a tracker. 

[philip42h]

1 hour ago, SpenToy said:

So as you may know. I have bought a Rav4 PHEV GR Sport and awaiting delivery.

Just received a Toyota email offering me Scorpion Track S5, manufactured to Thatcham S5-VTS for a cost of £604

Is this something worth getting?

Link: https://scorpiontrack.com/product/scorpion-s5-vts-tracker/

Does this email come from the dealer or Toyota UK?

It does seem very odd since your car isn't vulnerable to the fabled CANbus attack. So unless it makes a significant difference in terms of insurance, I'm not sure that I would bother ...

[SpenToy]

28 minutes ago, philip42h said:

Link: https://scorpiontrack.com/product/scorpion-s5-vts-tracker/

Does this email come from the dealer or Toyota UK?

It does seem very odd since your car isn't vulnerable to the fabled CANbus attack. So unless it makes a significant difference in terms of insurance, I'm not sure that I would bother ...

Ahhh, it comes from the dealer. I didn't clock that when I first posted. Thought it was a Toyota UK thing. 

I had just finished registering for the free Toyota plug in charger at the time

[SpenToy]

1 hour ago, philip42h said:

Link: https://scorpiontrack.com/product/scorpion-s5-vts-tracker/

Does this email come from the dealer or Toyota UK?

It does seem very odd since your car isn't vulnerable to the fabled CANbus attack. So unless it makes a significant difference in terms of insurance, I'm not sure that I would bother ...

Just spoke to the insurance. The tracker would not make any difference to the premium. 

 

Is it actually any better than the MyToyota app. Can track the car using it

[forkingabout]

Just now, SpenToy said:

Is it actually any better than the MyToyota app. Can track the car using it

The My Toyota app isn't an insurance approved tracking device & is easily disabled by car thieves. 

[philip42h]

57 minutes ago, forkingabout said:

59 minutes ago, SpenToy said:

Is it actually any better than the MyToyota app. Can track the car using it

The My Toyota app isn't an insurance approved tracking device & is easily disabled by car thieves. 

... but your car won't be vulnerable to the sort of attack that is most commonplace right now. So, it might get damaged as ignorant thieves fail to steal it, but you shouldn't need to track it because it shouldn't get driven away ...

[Cyker]

1 hour ago, SpenToy said:

Just spoke to the insurance. The tracker would not make any difference to the premium. 

 

Is it actually any better than the MyToyota app. Can track the car using it

That's interesting - Usually third-party trackers, if recognized and approved by the insurer, can be added as a modification and should reduce the premium at least a little.

It may be the car isn't considered valuable enough or high risk enough for it to be worth it in their eyes.

 

[DAN@ADRIAN FLUX]

Hi.

If it's of any help we recommend these for security. Maybe they can offer you some advice.

https://www.gapsecurity.co.uk/

Regards,

Dan.

[Nick72]

Best solution for me has been the hardened steel steering lock recommended by @ernieb.

Clear visible deterrent.

Sure it's a faff to have to take it on and off all the time but we'll be faffing anyway switching over the speed alert system to visual only from the annoying beeps. 😅

If the current and the next R4P weren't a company car with everything taken care of including blanket corporate insurance, maintenance, consumables etc by my company (lucky I know) I'd probably seriously consider further security measures. Main thing I worry about in terms of theft is the paperwork faff, inconvenience, and delay in getting a replacement R4P. Oh and all my hiking and survival gear, not that I use that much in recent times. So the steering lock just gives me that extra peace of mind. 

When I look back over 35 years of driving I've had ...

1 car set on fire (arson)

2 cars stolen (a very old 200 quid cortina with vinyl retractable roof and a Cavalier SRI 130 with heavy mods but they forgot the fake heated seat switch which immobilised the ignition so only got it 100 yards down the road)

1 written off by some fool reversing into it at speed. That car, a Corsa, was actually written off twice by fool drivers. Long story.

1 car robbed by transponder key fob attack (AMG Merc). They made off with about 3 quid in change hidden in the centre console. Blew their noses all over the back of the front seats. Drug heads I expect. 

I'd personally like an electrocution system. Or something like that. 

[SpenToy]

41 minutes ago, Nick72 said:

Best solution for me has been the hardened steel steering lock recommended by @ernieb.

Thanks, I'll look into that.

[SpenToy]

42 minutes ago, Nick72 said:

 

When I look back over 35 years of driving I've had ...

Fire, stolen, written off, robbed..... Sounds like a Limerick could be made from that.

[Rambler56]

33 minutes ago, SpenToy said:

Fire, stolen, written off, robbed..... Sounds like a Limerick could be made from that.

More like a petrol head version of Snog, Marry, Avoid.  Might be a reality programme in there somewhere🙃

[P_J]

I use a couple smart tags in mine - bought a 4 pack during a black Friday event dead cheap. 
https://www.samsung.com/uk/mobile-accessories/galaxy-smarttag2-black-ei-t5600bbegeu/

Won't be as good as a monitored tracker I know, but a simple, cheap method of tracking, which is independent of car power.
Obviously relies on a Samsung device being nearby at some point, but seems to be effective enough. 
At least I'll know which part of Africa each half of the car eventually ends up in.