Jim
Ringleader
I am looking to find a motorhome tracker that would be a cost-effective way of having a chance of getting a motorhome back. I have access to a very talented guy who can develop a product to my specifications.
I know there are some among you who are not sold on trackers and would prefer that if some low-life steals their van, they’d rather not see it again preferring to claim on the insurance. I’ll admit I used to think the same until I heard the account of the guy who lost his motorhome when at a shopping centre in France. They lost everything, all they had was shopping trolley full of food and nowhere to unpack it.
I can only imagine the shock that sets in when something like that happens, and you realise everything is gone; your holiday is effectively over and a nightmare of repatriation about to begin. At that moment, would you want your van back? Yep, I would. The guy in question got his van back that day and carried on with his holiday.
The thing is, people are not stealing Motorhomes to trash and joy-ride. Instead, mostly, they are taking them to ship out of the country so are likely to look after them rather than wreck them.
We know thieves are stealing them and making a dash to a port, but they don’t want to be tracked. The smart thieves know the likely places a tracker will be fitted. Even if it’s well hidden, they are likely to have tracker detectors to find and remove it. Or, more often than not, it will be so easy to find they won’t need a detector when they see it attached to the OBD port. If they can’t find a tracker, then the most common pattern is to park it up somewhere, for 24/8 hours and see what happens. If on their return it is still there then its unlikely to have a tracker on board and off they drive to a port.
Presently we can cough up for a Thatcham approved bit of kit that costs Hundreds to purchase and a similar amount to keep online. Or buy a £30 tracker from China of eBay, hoping it won’t be found if the van is stolen, but knowing it probably will.
So I’m looking for some middle ground, and my brainstorming thus far has resulted in the following.
Anything else?
I know there are some among you who are not sold on trackers and would prefer that if some low-life steals their van, they’d rather not see it again preferring to claim on the insurance. I’ll admit I used to think the same until I heard the account of the guy who lost his motorhome when at a shopping centre in France. They lost everything, all they had was shopping trolley full of food and nowhere to unpack it.
I can only imagine the shock that sets in when something like that happens, and you realise everything is gone; your holiday is effectively over and a nightmare of repatriation about to begin. At that moment, would you want your van back? Yep, I would. The guy in question got his van back that day and carried on with his holiday.
The thing is, people are not stealing Motorhomes to trash and joy-ride. Instead, mostly, they are taking them to ship out of the country so are likely to look after them rather than wreck them.
We know thieves are stealing them and making a dash to a port, but they don’t want to be tracked. The smart thieves know the likely places a tracker will be fitted. Even if it’s well hidden, they are likely to have tracker detectors to find and remove it. Or, more often than not, it will be so easy to find they won’t need a detector when they see it attached to the OBD port. If they can’t find a tracker, then the most common pattern is to park it up somewhere, for 24/8 hours and see what happens. If on their return it is still there then its unlikely to have a tracker on board and off they drive to a port.
Presently we can cough up for a Thatcham approved bit of kit that costs Hundreds to purchase and a similar amount to keep online. Or buy a £30 tracker from China of eBay, hoping it won’t be found if the van is stolen, but knowing it probably will.
So I’m looking for some middle ground, and my brainstorming thus far has resulted in the following.
- The tracker needs to be small, entirely self-sufficient, having a power supply, that lasts years rather than days.
- It needs to water-proof so we can hide it anywhere we like inside or outside of the motorhome.
- have a powerful magnet should we require to hide it on the chassis.
- That it is dead and undetectable till we turn it on. Or at least have it only switch itself on for just a few seconds a day to minimise the chance of detection. And in those few seconds, it reports it’s location that we can see on a map as well as things like the state of the power supply etc.
- That we can talk to it in any country in the world and ask its position, or in the event of a theft ask it to report in hourly or more for live-tracking.
- That is cheap and effective enough to be stupid not to fit one.
Anything else?
