Porsche Trackers
Discussion
I have a GT4 arriving Sept and contemplating the same, my current 911 insurer will not accept anything less than a cat5 system and the local OPC is saying only theirs will not invalidate the warranty.
Having spent some time working at Vodafone post acquisition I know only too well how they can screw up anything and usually do, so dont fancy that option and paying through the nose for it.
I am considering using a basic tracker retrieve or similar option which seems to tick the box for many insurance companies, it uses GPS and VHF so cant be jammed and there are battery option units that don't effect the warranty. bad news is you need to activate once you know the car has gone, but i would prefer that to providing my telemetry for continuous scrutiny.
I ran some comparisons with /without a "tracker" fitted (no specification) and some policies were 600% more for the same car! it is definitely worth fitting something.
interested to hear others thoughts
Having spent some time working at Vodafone post acquisition I know only too well how they can screw up anything and usually do, so dont fancy that option and paying through the nose for it.
I am considering using a basic tracker retrieve or similar option which seems to tick the box for many insurance companies, it uses GPS and VHF so cant be jammed and there are battery option units that don't effect the warranty. bad news is you need to activate once you know the car has gone, but i would prefer that to providing my telemetry for continuous scrutiny.
I ran some comparisons with /without a "tracker" fitted (no specification) and some policies were 600% more for the same car! it is definitely worth fitting something.
interested to hear others thoughts
ArcticGT said:
M Track is also battery powered and Thatcham cat 7 approved, it also has a remote fob to activate a movement sensor and geo fencing can also be set up.
When I asked PGB about the used warranty on my 6RS, they said that the Mtrack would invalidate it. Yes I know, I had the argument with them that you are now thinking. How on earth can a box which is essentially the same as a mobile phone in function invalidate the warranty? I used the Mtrack and didn't bother to renew the warranty.Bert
bigmowley said:
May not be an issue with the GT4. I have a September build car and my dealer says that it doesn't come with a tracker, (unlike the 911). To which I say hooray, I hate giving the toss pots at Cobra a few hundred quid every year for a substandard product and poor service. Free to fit whatever you want IMHO.
Cobra trackers are widely regarded as a scam (also charging the £200+ annual fee to each owner if say a car changes ownership multiple times in a 1 yr period)........their effectiveness is highly questionable........ and with 'modern' technology can be easily deactivated in seconds......just ask anyone in the know involved in car crime and recovery on traffic police. Unfortunately they are a requirement for MOST, not all insurers.This is getting more interesting. Since a GT4 is not fitted with a tracker as standard it's an extremely dubious legal position that Porsche are adopting if they refuse to honour a warranty claim on another part if an aftermarket tracker has been fitted. They would need to be able to demonstrate that the tracker had actually contributed to failure of that part.
Effectively they are imposing a useage restriction and a trading restriction onto the car. Mind you most Porsche dealers would not be able to find a well fitted tracker unless they did a full car strip down and it curled up in their toolboxes and went to sleep.
Any well qualified legal eagles out there to advise?
Effectively they are imposing a useage restriction and a trading restriction onto the car. Mind you most Porsche dealers would not be able to find a well fitted tracker unless they did a full car strip down and it curled up in their toolboxes and went to sleep.
Any well qualified legal eagles out there to advise?
majordad said:
The problem is not with the Porsche Warranty, it's the Extended ( Insurance Policy ) Warranty after two years. They are in their right to insist you comply with their terms , or else !
Ahh right so if I read this right we are ok for the first two years "manufactures warranty" and after that the dodgy extended warranty kicks in and it's all no good! Lovely.When I bought a car with Cobratrak installed a few years ago I found that the car is still being tracked even if a subscription hasn't been taken out. I don't bother paying them anymore as when I was shopping around for insurance I got a cheap quote without it, and my existing insurer who'd previously insisted on the tracker subscription suddenly changed their minds and matched the cheaper quote and said I didn't need a tracker anymore, funny that.
Frankly if I knew where the tracker was I'd disconnect it, I'm sure it's draining my battery more than anything else. Waste of time in the modern world with modern thieves.
Frankly if I knew where the tracker was I'd disconnect it, I'm sure it's draining my battery more than anything else. Waste of time in the modern world with modern thieves.
Interesting confirmation as I had heard that trackers can be overcome by thieves but have you had to deal with vodaphone?
991 GT3 tracker battery ran out after only 9 months [ownership] so attack the case and finally with some strength got it apart and renew battery. Unfortunately case is too damaged to go back together so 4 phone calls leaving number, one email and one recorded delivery later still not even a reply. Second one went about same time even though I hadn't used it so chaos at SOCentre. They are not willing to contact Vodaphone as they are 'a different operation'.
Any suggestions how to attack the case gently?
991 GT3 tracker battery ran out after only 9 months [ownership] so attack the case and finally with some strength got it apart and renew battery. Unfortunately case is too damaged to go back together so 4 phone calls leaving number, one email and one recorded delivery later still not even a reply. Second one went about same time even though I hadn't used it so chaos at SOCentre. They are not willing to contact Vodaphone as they are 'a different operation'.
Any suggestions how to attack the case gently?
Those fobs are a real pain. I broke one getting the battery out and it's also pretty easy to forget to take them with you, resulting in all kinds of drama if you drive off and they can't get hold of you. They then call the missus who can't get hold of you either and then you have to call them back to let them know where you were born, the name of your dog and that, yes it really was you driving your own car. I've got a tracker on a 993 with those fobs and eventually got so fed up with them that I called cobra to get them disabled. The subscription is cheaper, the tracker still works, you just have to call them if your car gets nicked, rather than them calling you, which 99 times out of 100 is a false alarm anyway. Insurance company not bothered if fobs were in use or not, as long as the tracker was active. Still this is an older car but with a brand new cobra tracker but not branded or named in any was as the Porsche VTS system. Might be that the fobs are mandatory for that.
So this is where I have netted out having spoken to insurance and Porsche.
Insurance: we won't insure you if you don't have a tracker but you can have any Thatcham 5 or 6 system.
Porsche: you can only install a Porsche VTS tracker otherwise you invalidate the warranty. You have no choice in the model of tracker and the service is supplied through Vodafone (formerly CobraTrak).
Despite the tracker, I still fell about laughing at the ridiculous insurance quote.
Insurance: we won't insure you if you don't have a tracker but you can have any Thatcham 5 or 6 system.
Porsche: you can only install a Porsche VTS tracker otherwise you invalidate the warranty. You have no choice in the model of tracker and the service is supplied through Vodafone (formerly CobraTrak).
Despite the tracker, I still fell about laughing at the ridiculous insurance quote.
Balls to the Porsche VTS on my GT4 they can do one!! I don't mind paying for a quality product but s
t they are st
I will be getting a battery powered tracker just for insurance purposes as TBH if the car were to be stolen I wouldn't really want it back anyway.
Then if the OPC find it in the warranty period to reject a watranty claim they would have to reasonably demonstrate the 'mod' caused the issue which they will find impossible. I would get an independant engineer to support that view. Would do just as much damaged as my iPhone in the car!
If they try otherwise I would argue and if it came to it simple pay the bill and recover the money through the courts. Had similar before with another manufacturer and in the end the ended up settling out of court and paying my costs, plus an amount as a sorry we shouldn't have let it get that far!
Don't let them bully you as despite what they may say the law and any reasonable judge would laugh at them in the end.
t they are st I will be getting a battery powered tracker just for insurance purposes as TBH if the car were to be stolen I wouldn't really want it back anyway.
Then if the OPC find it in the warranty period to reject a watranty claim they would have to reasonably demonstrate the 'mod' caused the issue which they will find impossible. I would get an independant engineer to support that view. Would do just as much damaged as my iPhone in the car!
If they try otherwise I would argue and if it came to it simple pay the bill and recover the money through the courts. Had similar before with another manufacturer and in the end the ended up settling out of court and paying my costs, plus an amount as a sorry we shouldn't have let it get that far!
Don't let them bully you as despite what they may say the law and any reasonable judge would laugh at them in the end.
I guess this is one of the reasons most of us would rather it wasn't recovered. It's extremely likely to have been over-revved and abused.
To answer your question though, I'd push my insurance company to pay out ASAP (hopefully before it was recovered). If it was recovered, they can put a Cat D on it and sell it accordingly.
To answer your question though, I'd push my insurance company to pay out ASAP (hopefully before it was recovered). If it was recovered, they can put a Cat D on it and sell it accordingly.
majordad said:
A little off topic perhaps, what would be the situation if your Porsche was stolen and recovered and showing over revs ?
If there is damage to the car as a result of the theft then you can claim from your insurance. If there are over-revs, Porsche know what to do and can put a cost to it (ish).Is it going to work claiming for engine damage? It should. When I destroyed an engine (not in a Porsche) by ingesting a load of cement from a bag in the road I ran over, my insurance paid the £7.5k rebuild bill (minus my excess of course).
Bert
Well I called cobra to try and activate my tracker. Was told they would need 72 hours to check the system and confirm etc. didn't hear back so phoned them again. 72 passed again and no call. That was a week ago.
Shocking service. They aren't getting my money.
No warranty so getting a better more advanced tracker fitted.
Shocking service. They aren't getting my money.
No warranty so getting a better more advanced tracker fitted.
I also am having problems with the VTS on my brand new (1 week) Panamera 4 E-Hybrid. From the day I got the car, it kept telling Vodafone the car was being stolen/moved without the driver card, when all the time it was parked in my drive. I was getting up to 8 phone calls and messages a day from Vodafone. The car is now saying it has a problem with the SOS GPS system but I don't know if this is because I got Vodafone to disable the VTS system until it was fixed but I think that just ignores message flashes at their end. It is probably having a new aerial module fitted as I write this. It is interesting but not necessarily comforting to know I am not alone in this problem. Technically I suppose if the VTS is not operational, that invalidates at least the theft coverage on my insurance. Just crossed fingers that the new aerial module cures the problem. I should get it back tomorrow but at least a director of my local Porsche dealer has lent me his V8 diesel Panamera, which is far from shabby.
Wilson
Wilson
WilsonLaidlaw said:
I also am having problems with the VTS on my brand new (1 week) Panamera 4 E-Hybrid. From the day I got the car, it kept telling Vodafone the car was being stolen/moved without the driver card, when all the time it was parked in my drive. I was getting up to 8 phone calls and messages a day from Vodafone. The car is now saying it has a problem with the SOS GPS system but I don't know if this is because I got Vodafone to disable the VTS system until it was fixed but I think that just ignores message flashes at their end. It is probably having a new aerial module fitted as I write this. It is interesting but not necessarily comforting to know I am not alone in this problem. Technically I suppose if the VTS is not operational, that invalidates at least the theft coverage on my insurance. Just crossed fingers that the new aerial module cures the problem. I should get it back tomorrow but at least a director of my local Porsche dealer has lent me his V8 diesel Panamera, which is far from shabby.
Wilson
It took two weeks of fiddling then a complete replacement and recommissioning of the VTS on my new car. I just called the insurance broker and confirmed by email that the tracker was not operating properly and they wrote back confirming insurance cover would continue and asked me to advise when fixed.Wilson
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