How does she know the LoJack Early Warning Recovery System is having problems? The dealerships don't have any contact with the LoJack unit past initial installation (if they have authorized installation techs in house). After the unit is installed, LoJack services them themselves. Perhaps the problems she was referring to was the installers finding difficulties in the actual installation? I remember when I got mine installed, the installer was having a problem deciding where to put it as he had to find a good location with a constant 12V power source. Some of my friends that have the early warning installed have yet to have a problem. And interestingly enough, not one of my friends have had their car stolen yet. But, there is a guy at work that has a 90's model Accord and no LoJack. He lives near downtown Phoenix. He had his car stolen two summers ago. A few days before the insurance payout, the car was recovered. He picked it up that day and parked it at his aparment when he got home. Of course, when he left to go to work the next morning, the car was stolen again... He got the car back a little quicker this time.

$699 is the retail cost for the basic unit. If you call around, you should be able to find a place to install it for a lot less. I paid just over $400 for mine. Maybe $419? At least that's what I paid for the one in my HAH. The one I got for our Escape was $500. I didn't get it for the insurance savings. Although, getting a few bucks off on my policy is always good. But living as close as I am to Mexico, I thought it would be a good idea to get it. Not to mention where Phoenix and Tucson ranks in top auto theft cities.

 

I bought my car with the requirement of 3 items at least. They are Lo-jack for $895 including installation, splash guards for $189 and wheel locks for $72.95 . So I didn't have a choice in that regard.

 

To be honest, I am really not sure. I will defiately ask and let you know if it is noteworthy.

Does it say somewhere on the car that it has lo-jack? How would a potential theif know that it is there?

Thank you,
Jessica

 

My ’94 Civic with 165,000 miles on it was stolen last September. (So much for the idea that any car is “safe” in this regard.) It was recovered six weeks later, amazingly in good condition. However, in those six weeks I spent a fortune renting a car and had already signed the contract for my 2006 Civic Hybrid. I love the HCH and it absolutely has a Lo-Jack. I leaned the hard way the price of not getting a stolen car quickly returned, and even with gap insurance, I would still likely face a long delay getting a replacement given the current demand for the car. Right now the Hybrid’s don’t seem like much of a target, but I’m gas prices keep going up, who knows? There might be a lot of desperate Hummer drivers out there.

 

Yes, please post any information you get. I'm curious to know. At the time, I didn't consider getting the early warning feature. But I just may reconsider. But if it is as you say, I'll just stick to what I got.

No, the car does not have any LoJack identifiable items on it. In fact, LoJack clearly states not to put anything to that effect on your car; like, a decal saying "this car protected by LoJack." Because if the thief doesn't know it has LoJack installed, they're not going to try to find the unit to disable it. Also, the LoJack literature says not to store your LoJack owner's manual in the glovebox for the same reason.

There's a lot more information on the www.lojack.com website.

 

I was thinking that hybrid thefts may escalate on the mere reason cars with airbags were stolen in the past. For anyone that doesn't know, some shady auto body shops would buy stolen airbags to replace the ones that were used in auto crashes. Perhaps, those same type of shops would start to buy stolen IMA, synergy, whatever... components to replace the ones that start to fail?

 

Just curious, why would you guys go through so much trouble and expense to install fancy antitheft equipment when you're already paying for insurance? I have never had a car stolen, so I suppose I'm not too paranoid about it, and haven't experienced whatever hassle it brings - so perhaps my perspective is a bit naive.

My deductible is $250. Why should I buy a security system that costs three times my deductible? I have had my car broken into a few times so I never leave anything important in it, so if someone steals it, I shell out $250 deductible and get another one. Big deal. Am I missing something?

 

What's the premium difference if you were to change your deductible to $500? Or even $1,000?

My car is covered for the full value of the loan. If the car isn't recovered for 30 days, the car is paid for. The idea of putting LoJack in my vehicles is so that hopefully, my car will be located before any serious damage can be done to my car. Sure, without LoJack, if my car is stolen and found within 30 days, I pay my (currently $500, but switching to $1,000) deductible and they make any repairs to it that was caused by the theft. But what if the joyriders decide to play bumper cars with my car? You ever get the feeling that even if a car that was crashed is rebuilt, it's just never the same?

At $419, it was cheap insurance. At least, in my eyes.

 

I got it for my Hybrid. It was worth it for the peace of mind. I work in a retail environment,and the car is parked in a lot all day. Got Ding Shield for the same reason. My old car took a beating in that lot, and the new Hybrid already has a couple dings. Not on the same panels, when it gets them I'll have them removed.

 

I wouldn't consider any other deductible amount so the difference isn't relevant. Its influence on a stolen car payoff were not a consideration for me though. With the exception of a hail-totaled truck, all of my insurance claims have been for damages under $2000. So the lower deductible makes sense for me given my experience, regardless of whether it gets stolen or not.

I just looked up a bunch of data. Combining several studies, it looks like the average recovery rate for stolen car in the US is around 80%. Lojack figures claim that around 90% of equipped vehicles that get stolen are recovered.

So, I guess you could look at as though there were a 20% chance that your stolen car won't be recovered, and if you had lojack that would be reduced by half. Though look at it the other way, there's an 80% chance it will be recovered anyway, so you're paying all that money for only a 12.5% increase in recovery chances.

Of course these figures did not take into account the speed of recovery and whether with a lojack there's a better chance of less damage to the recovered vehicle. I did not find any specific info on that issue.