Tracking the Car

Yes

 

When I saw tracking and Ferrari I went in a different direction.

 

The problem with AirTags is anyone with an iPhone will know it’s there somewhere… they had one in my car when they shipped it to me from wide world Ferrari and my phone kept popping up AirTag nearby and I could hear a very faint beeeping… I finally found it inside the tool/books bag under the bonnet… removed it and took out the battery. A thief could do the same


Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat

 

I've looked at three options:
1) I have a LandAirSea Overdrive. It fits perfectly in the cup holder (but then you can't put a drink in there). It's portable, so I take it out to charge it or for normal driving. You can also keep it plugged in on the center console (it fits in the F12) or the glovebox. The device lasts a long time because it only wakes up during movement. Probably lasts weeks and weeks, but I charge it regularly. The interface is ok. I mostly use it when I take the car to a shop/hotel. I just park the car, tap "Geofence" and get a notification if it leaves the area. I also have high speed alerts setup on it so if a valet decides to romp it around, I can see.
2) Just installed a BlackVue 970X LTE dashcam. It also has live view over the cell network and GPS. It includes alerts for impacts, high speed, high acceleration, etc. The challenge is that it only works while the car is on. It does have a battery that runs the dashcam for 24 hours in parking mode, but when that battery dies, it shuts off to avoid using the car battery at all. Also, annoyingly, geofence is only available on their "fleet" plan, which includes a bunch of other unneeded features.
3) I just bought a FreeMatics tracker that plugs into the ODB2 port. Again, only works while the car is turned on because it gets power from the vehicle. The nice thing about the FreeMatics is that it's open source, so I can connect it to Traccar (open source) and my home automation platform (Home Assistant). That way I can locally track every mile the car drives and set automations based on it's location, etc. Unneeded, but I'm a home automation geek.

If I had to pick one, it depends on the primary need:
1) Pure tracking: LandAirSea for it's simplicity and simple non-installation. Can be hidden anywhere in/on the car, so you'll know when it gets stolen.
2) Dashcam: get the 970X LTE and it does basically everything the LandAirSea does, but note that it doesn't stop someone from disconnecting the dashcam and stealing the car.
3) Home automation tracking: The FreeMatics.

I'll definitely keep the dashcam and freematics installed permanently, and I like having the LandAirSea for when it's in the shop/hotel, and as a bonus, I can also toss it on the boat, other cars, or in my kids backpack on short notice.

 

nothing to add, just thrilled to see another Home Assistant fan in the wild

 

It’s very easy to disable the beeping function on an Apple AirTag or the equivalent Samsung SmartTag…just refer to YouTube.

Once you do that a thief will have a hard time finding it if you hid it well.

Alan
N.J.

 

^^^^^^
So did I
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Air Tags are a terrible option for theft recovery, as the thief will get a notification that he is being tracked by an air tag less than an hour after the theft.

 

At which point the thief will abandon the stolen car rather than spend the time tearing the car apart.

 

Especially if you hide it in the block. Just drop it into one of the cylinders and they'll never find it!

 

Usually the protocol is to dump the car someplace and wait 3 days and come back for it.