GPS

Greetings,

I am the very proud owner of a 1993 Mazda Miata! :-)

I have gone to great lengths to protect all my cars from being stolen. You would think after living in such places as Camden (NJ), Philadelphia, NYC, Newark (NJ), Baltimore and Phoenix that I would have been a victim at some point. Up until now I have used security films, car alarms, fuel/starter kills (hidden switches), paging systems, electrical system cutoff switches, steering wheel locks, hood bolts, wheel locks, etc.. etc.. (various methods for various cars) and so far I have protected my investments

The results?

1) Thief smashed a window in my truck, broke the steering wheel lock but couldn't get past the fuel cutoff switch. THE LOSS: A bag of potato chips I left on the front seat

2) Thief smashed a window on my car (dead battery ? alarm didn't sound) but couldn't get the hood open because I disconnected the cable. THE LOSS: Stole the amp, damaged dash

3) Thief tries to jump on my bike at a gas station but couldn't get it started because of a starter kill switch mounted on the rear of the bike. THE LOSS: he attacked me, threw a punch

Now.. I have a 1993 Mazda Miata that I adore and I'm scared for her! I don't want this baby stolen. I have most of the usual stuff. I have bolted down the hood using standard hood locks, disabled the trunk release from inside the car, removed the lock preventing access to the trunk using a key, installed a paging security system, fuel cutoff switch, starter cutoff via the alarm system (Viper Responder) and brake lock to stop the wheels from turning without depressing the brake first. All this security doesn't stop someone from just backing up a tow truck and taking off with the car. The brake lock might make it difficult but not impossible.

I have been considering installation of a GPS tracking system. Does anyone here have any experience with a anti-theft, active-GPS tracking system? Please do not confuse GPS tracking with LoJack (which does not use GPS tracking from what I can tell) or data logging systems.

I have been considering:

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or:

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I would like to hear from anyone who has some knowledge of an active-tracking GPS system installed AND their car was stolen. I just wanna know if this is worth the investment (about $500). If this system would result in significantly faster recovery of my vehicle while increasing the chance someone is caught in the act then it would be more than worth it. Any thoughts?

Thanks!

Reply to
Dave
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On Mon, 19 Apr 2004 02:07:05 GMT, snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com (Dave) wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com:

The Miata is not a big theft target. It is not incredibly valuable (except to us! :) and it only holds two people so is useless for taking the buddies for a joy-ride. If it is a manual transmission the odds go down even further.

However, I think some efforts are required if not just for peace of mind. But you've done more than I would suggest.

I use two custom protection devices and a club for bad neighbourhoods, just to discourage the browsers. Total cost, about $10 + the club that was in my last car when it was stolen and recovered. Oh, and the garage it is locked inside. :)

If you feel you need to spend more for your own happiness, that's your call.

Reply to
Dave Null Sr.

I don't know where you are living now but as Dave said, this car is not high on the thieves list. Assuming you're using a soft top, I'd say the best advice I've gotten is to leave the car unlocked. Just don't leave anything of real 'value' in it. They're more likely to do damage if they think you're protecting something inside that you're afraid to lose. I even leave my top down in parking lots sometimes (Houston area suburbs). I even leave my Passport 8500 under a hand towel that I keep in the floor board. I am fortunate enough to have a garage that I've been able to keep my 92 in for two of the three years I've owned it.

Good luck, Chris

92BB&T
Reply to
Chris D'Agnolo

Having just lost my baby to thieves, I'm bound to warn other Miata owners that the statistics for Miata theft are changing. Apparently, more owners are cracking their babies up on various stationary and moving objects, and the value of the parts represented by a parked Miata is rising to the point that thieves are now heisting and parting Miatas.

That's probably what happened to the Rollerskate, and it's what was in the process of happening to our MSV, the Forester. Within one month, both cars were stolen here in Montreal, from separate locations. Both were pre-2001 key security models, which are now more likely targets than the post-2001 group. The Forester was recovered thanks to the Canadian Lo-Jack equivalent, which uses the cell-phone system to call home and start tracking automatically if the vehicle's position moves, regardless of the engine being started or not.

The next Miata will be a 2001+ model even if I have to go back to paying a car loan, and both cars will have the Lo-Jack equivalent installed.

BTW, the Lo-Jack recovery of the Forester resulted in the apprehension of 5 car thieves in the process of demolishing the Forester in the garage of a private house. Unfortunately the Canadian "justice" system will probably release them with a slap on the wrist, and they'll be back at work within a month, I suspect.

Just my $0.02 worth, Canadian.

Reply to
Nora

You never know how desparate the perp. A friend had the passenger window on his Benz shattered, the thief took the change in the coin holder. I do like the tale of your buddy in DC. I have owned soft tops for most of my driving life and have never locked them. I lost a carton of cigarettes once. That's in 40 years.

Chas Hurst

Reply to
Chas Hurst

Sometimes when you put too much protection on a car, the thieves think there must be something more to it. Miata's aren't that popular to thieves as they have little resale value except as parts and since not much breaks on them, people aren't constantly in the market for stuff. The worst thing you can do is lock your doors which is probably how you arm the system. Nothing like slicing a $800 top to steal a $100 radio. I leave everything unlocked, nothing of value in the car, $20.00 in the center console so that they get something. The $20.00 has been taken exactly once. Other than that, it has been unmolested . I didn't disable the trunk release because then they'll assume that's where the "good stuff" is and take a pry bar to it to again, find nothing. The ignition disabling is a good idea but think of the amount of damage they're going to do before they figure out it's disabled. I had a buddy who worked in downtown DC nights and bought a Denver boot to install on it so there would be a nice visible message that it wasn't going to be moved. He too left it unlocked with $20.00 in the console and the only time he ever had a problem was when some jokester added another $20.00 to it! (true story).

Tom

92 Red
Reply to
Tom Howlin

Check.

Check.

Actually, I don't leave anything of *any* value in the car. The glove box is empty, the console is empty, the pockets on the door are empty, and the trunk is empty.

I do that often enough.

Whoa! Back up a minute--I thought you said not to leave anything of value in the car. What's that 8500 worth? $2-300!

Chris, do yourself a favor and at least wad the detector somewhere in the trunk where one wouldn't find it by moving a *towel on the floor*! That's just asking for trouble.

Reply to
tooloud

ME TOOOOO! w00oot zooo o o o m m

My car (it is white) has such a beautiful air of purity and innocence that it protects itself against molestation by an invisibvle force field of magical sanctity. Thanks to this I never worry about car theft at all.

Not to imply that a stolen Miata cannot defend itself. I've heard of one stolen Miata so outraged by the effrontery of a certain low greasy-palmed thief that within six blocks of where he hotwired it it spontaneously flipped over, scraping his head and upper torso entirely off the rest of his body against the asphalt.

Yours WDK - snipped-for-privacy@ij.net

Reply to
johnny phenothiazine

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