What's Lojack? Would u get one?
 

I went to test drive last week, the sales manager trid to sell me a RX8 and talked about the Lojack. I'm not sure if I want it, they sell it for 598 and told me can lower my insurance, is it true. Do you have a Lojack? What do you think?
BTW, they trid to sell me a 05 Glay RX8 w/sport package for 21500, what do you think? Is it a good price? But I only want to pay 21k....

Lojack is a satellite tracking thing for stolen cars. Improves the chances of recovering it. It works only if the local police are into it and either have tracking gear or care enough to work with Lojack - not sure exactly how that part of it works, but the police do have to be into it.

As far as insurance savings goes, it would just lower your comprehensive, which is the part that covers theft. Comprehensive on my 8 is somewhere between $100 and $150 a year. Any credible discount on that won't put a dent in a $598 Lojack package.

Ken

Well yours is 150, but he might be younger and thus, much more expencive. Like mine ;( sigh.

Search.

I put the Lojack system in my car when I bought it. I also bought the early warning system.

After one year of use I can tell you that I would rethink that decision.

1. RX-8's are rarely stolen. They are nowhere even near the top 10 most stolen vehicle. If it never gets stolen, there is nothing to recover.

2. The early warning system is kind of useless where I live (San Diego). They tell you (after its been installed) that it only works if the car is driven for more than 30 minutes without the transponder in the car. In San Diego, the car could be in Mexico (and unrecoverable) in less than 30 minutes. Also, I've had nothing but problems with the early warning system. I've tested it twice to make sure it really works. Both times it failed to send me the notice that my car was being driven without the transponder. The first time, after about 8 phone calls, someone from Lojack finally came out and "fixed" it. I waited two months and then tested it again, it still doesn't work. I don't have enough spare time to make 8 more phone calls trying to get it to work.

Yeah, I checked what my insurance gonna be today, the comprehensive gonna be around 500, the dealer told me it can lower about 35%, that come up 175 saving per year and take about 3 years to break even. What do you think

Lojack says up to 35%. Check with your insurance company to see if that's what you'll really get.

Then it's kind of a tough choice - how long will you have the car, and how long before you qualify for lower premiums. If that rate is based on age, when you cross 25 your premium will drop considerably.

Ken

I bought an RX-8 with LoJack and it didn't change the insurance much. As the second owner, LoJack requires a $99 fee to transfer. Give me a break. A couple changes in a database.

If it's stolen, I'll call them and then pay the $99. RX-8s dont seem to be a high theft target unlike some Toyotas and Hondas.

DONT TRUST YOUR DEALER!! Period on this issue. Talk to your insurance agent about what it would actually take off. Plus, our 8's already come with a factory Alarm atleast my base 04 rx-8 did. The dealer is looking to make a quick buck off of you.

Oh also I'll toss this in. Personaly I was considering lo-jack till I talked to my insurance rep. She told me it would only take off 10% off my comprehensive which would of been squat and for the lo-jack to pay itself off would of taken over 7 years. Then the rep said this to me and it made sence "Where do you drive?". She went on to explain that say if I drove into the City alot or area's where crime is a issue she'd suggest getting it for peice of mind, but if I stayed usualy in my town (a quiet suburb where the major crime is teens drinking) I might not need it.

GET LOJACK!!!!!!!. IT is less than $500 to get it! I have seen it work SO many times.
GET IT
GET IT
GET IT

^^shut up

Dont get loJack, its a waste of money.

Cars are pretty hard to steal these days, espeically with immoblizer system. but they thing is, If they really want your car, they will get it, no matter what. Lojack ? That crap is easy as hell to break, I've seen *lojack detector* device for sale.

My friend's motorcycle got stolen from his Garage, yep, they broke into the house just to take his bike while everybody in the house was sleeping, Yeah I know bikes dont have the antitheif thing we have in our cars, but you get the idea.

and for more advance theifs, they have *hacked* version of ECU, they just cut your alarm speaker wire, take your ECU out, swap it with a *hacked* version, drive your car away happy. (thats what they're doing in Hong Kong, Mini, Benz, BMWs, you name it)

Its your car you should be the one to take the responsbility. Park it on big streets, put a whatever lock you can find. Usually theifs would rather cut wires than cutting sterring wheels and pedal locks (Wheels are easy to cut, but usually it takes about 30 minutes to cut a *good* pedal lock)

So, screw your dealer about LoJack.

The only way to prevent your car from being stolen is to park it upside down.

I bought LoJack Early Warning when I bought my 8. If your car is moved without the LoJack fob inside, a warning message is phoned/messaged/emailed to you (or all 3 at once, depending on your preferences). You verify that the car has actually been moved without your permission, and you call LoJack. They activate the transponder, which is picked up by LoJack-equipped police cruisers. Obviously, it must be in an area with LoJack covereage (see their Web site).

Cars equipped with LoJack Early Warning now average being recovered within 30 minutes of the initial call. If you live in an area where car theft is a concern, it's well worth the money.

(The last time it activated on me was when I was at the dealer, and I gave them the 8's key without the fob attached. Oops! At least I know it works.)

Well worth the price if you live in a high crime (car theft area).

Well one big thing that made me realize NOT to buy Lojack (I was looking into it myself when I bought my 8 about 15 months ago).

Lojack assists in the 'recovery' of the vehicle...

So .. let me ask you this.. when was the last time you saw a vehicle stolen and then found in any form you'd want to see?

Most cars here in South Florida that are stolen, either end up on a boat heading overseas (non-recoverable), in the Everglades (recoverable but never in a shape you'd want to drive it), or in a chop-shop somewhere.

I know several friends who've had thier cars stolen, and in every case the car was stripped or totaled before they ever got it back (Granted, non had lojack either).

The point is this.. if the cars never found = full insurance amount.
If the car IS found , insurance may opt to repair it instead of totaling it, which might cause you more headaches in the long run. (I don't trust most repair shops down here).

In the end, I realized I would rather have my 8 stolen and never recovered, then to see it returned in a some god-aweful state and have to deal with repairs.

As stated previously ,if the cops don't have the system they wont find your car. And from what I have heard not all cops have this capability installed in there cars. From what I see here it is not a commonly stolen car. It would be difficult to steal with the alarm system in it.
The key is coded for the alarm system.
I think the dealer is just looking for an increase in his/her commission.
I personally would not buy Lo-Jack. If I had to, I would buy this system,,,LONGVIEW ,we use this system at work on our equipment. Can watch it move on the computer. Tracks it to a fifty foot area unlike Lo-Jack ,which I understand can only locate to about a 1/4 square mile area. I could be wrong on LJ tracking though.
Unless you are tottaly parinoid don't bother with it.

LoJack is available primarily in areas with a high level of auto theft (which includes the DC area where I live). See http://www.lojack.com/where/lojack-coverage-areas.cfm When a LoJack report comes in, the police in this area actually make a game out of who can find the car first (although the helicopter-mounted units have an unfair advantage).

Only amateurs care about your alarm system. Professionals drive up in a tow truck, hook it up and go.

That cars equipped with LoJack average being recovered in 30 minutes pretty much speaks for itself. With over 90,000 vehicles recovered in the US, it has a pretty good track record.