Tracking the truth about stolen vehicle recovery systems

A recent report confuses the market on reliability of some vehicle tracking systems - so which system should you trust?

Losing your car to a thief is frustrating, costly and time consuming. This is why an increasing number of motorists are opting to fit a stolen vehicle tracking system, which not only reduces the risk of not seeing your vehicle again, but in many cases also reduces your insurance premium. However which system should you trust to recover your car?

There are two principle types of vehicle tracking technology; one uses GPS and the other uses RF (Radio Frequency) signals to locate a vehicle. Both categories are proven technology and have been equally adopted by major car manufacturers and approved by the insurance industry’s security assessor, Thatcham. However claims have been made that GPS systems should not be solely relied on because of an increase in criminals using devices to jam the GPS signal.

Trafficmaster’s Trackstar, the UK’s market leading stolen vehicle recovery system, uses GPS technology to recover vehicles. The company states that it is not aware of any of its customer’s vehicles that have not been recovered due to a jamming device blocking the GPS signal. It has also found no evidence to prove that ‘jamming’ is leading to a rise in unrecovered stolen vehicles.

Trafficmaster’s Director of In-Vehicle Products, Pat Gallagher comments: “Trackstar has a 90% recovery rate, which we believe is the highest recovery rate in the industry. We have seen no evidence of an increased use of jamming devices and in fact both Thatcham and the Police assure us that they do not see jamming devices as a concern.”

Trackstar uses GPS signals to locate a vehicle, as this provides greater accuracy of the vehicle’s position and unlike an RF system, even provides details of every turn and manoeuvre the vehicle takes.

At Trafficmaster’s control centre a 24 hour Trackstar team liaises direct with the relevant police force so that they know where the vehicle is and where it stops at all times. The vehicle’s journey is also recorded and is often used as evidence to help prosecute the thief. Trackstar is also able to locate a vehicle through GSM positioning in the unlikely case that the GPS signal is not being received.

In most circumstances GPS systems are more reliable than RF systems. An RF signal is only picked up if a specially equipped Police vehicle is within a 5 to 10 mile radius of the stolen vehicle. Trackstar’s GPS technology also eliminates the need for dangerous high speed chases, where a Police car has to follow a stolen vehicle. In both cases GPS and RF signals can be jammed or intercepted by devices that are illegal in the UK.

Trackstar is BMW and Mini’s official vehicle security tracking partner and it also provides stolen vehicle tracking to Mitsubishi, Nissan, Mazda, Isuzu, Subaru and Renault. It recently won Mobile Electronic News’ Security Product of the Year 2008 as voted by independent car accessory retailers in the UK.