Tracker recommendations, please

I live in rural Worcestershire and lately a couple of Defenders have been stolen from my village. One had a tracker fitted and was found a few miles away,

I understand that scumbags nick the vehicle then park it up and wait. If it's got a tracker then the owner will find and recover it. If it hasn't then the scumbags go back to the vehicle and take it away.

My 2004 90 CSW is parked out of sight of the road, behind an electric gate, and with a steering lock on it, so it's reasonably secure.

That said, I would still like to install a tracker (maybe with a remote demobiliser function).

Does anyone have any recommendations or experiences they could share please?

Many thanks

I've used "Tracker" performed as expected, plenty of functionality

A steering lock is not sufficient on its own, get a good pedal lock to supplement it.

The Thatcham rated trackers come in two flavours, S7 and S5. S5 being the more advanced.

I recently had a 'SmarTrack' S7 tracker installed, no complaints from me though I haven't, and hopefully will never have to use it in anger. You can use the app to set up geofence and ignition notifications, and it also alerts you if the car moves without the ignition (so if some scrote throws it onto the back of a flatbed without your knowledge!). You can also immobilise the engine remotely so if someone manages to nick/clone your keys/hotwire (is this a thing outside Hollywood?) your engine you can cut it remotely.

The S5 trackers are a bit more advanced and come with a driver ID tag (a little smart card or keyring fob) so even if someone clones your key and stock immobiliser fob, the car will still know it's being nicked as your tag isn't in the car, and it will alert you / the tracker monitoring company / the rozzers.

All the S5 & S7 Thatcham rated trackers do a very similar thing I think. SmarTrack and Vodafone seem to be the most popular.

There are other non-Thatcham rated ones out there too but I didn't really look into these and I wanted something more trusted/"official".

I also use scorpion, same as Tracker to be honest, both recognised by insurance companies

I would not be mentioning what security people use to any new unknowns?

I would place an AirTag and remove the sound part of it, also you may install a kill switch hidden under the seat.

re-volt said:

I would place an AirTag and remove the sound part of it, also you may install a kill switch hidden under the seat.

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AirTag is a great backup option - I’ve got one hidden in mine too - but not really a replacement for a proper tracker.

Given how cheap they are though you’d be daft not to stash one away somewhere!

Metal kills their range though so it’s a good idea to be creative about where you hide an AirTag.