Porsche Vodafone tracker

[Scoo555]

Hi,

Thinking of changing insurer to LV (already have another car with them), but they require the Porsche Vodafone tracker enabled on my GTS 4.0. I know there were issues with it around the time I picked up my car in January. Are folk still having issues with it, or have they been resolved now?

Thanks for any feedback.

[Rojibo]

It’s a lot better now and they’ve even updated the app to bring it out of 2004. Might be worth checking if it needs a software update, give Vodafone a call they can check and push it over the air if the unit is responding.

If Vodafone can’t see it then it’s a trip to the dealer to get them to reset it.

[mattybrown]

I had to activate mine last year due to current insurer demanding it. Went to get alternative quote to find out they all wanted one now. Almost a year on and so far so good. Car is two and a half years old.

[swanseaboydan]

I can’t stand trackers - always had a problem with them going off - forgetting the tracker etc etc. The only insurer that I could get insurance from without one was admiral- they were great to deal with and I think this must be because they self insure rather than go through underwriters. They said it was up to me whether I had a tracker or not

[fistenburger]

I have used the PVTS Vodafone tracker in my previous 911 and my current one.
No issues really apart from the fob needing a new battery every 6 months. It's quite a painless experience.

[Scoo555]

Thanks for the info, it's much appreciated.

The only thing that worries me, is that the car has a weak Vodafone mobile signal while it's in my garage. I did ring them and they said 'it should be fine and that I might fail the occasional 'health checks'. Anyone been in a similar situation with regards to mobile signal?

[WG]

Yes I have a weak signal where I live and actually had a notification last month (and again today) that my tracker had failed a health check. I am not using the car much at the moment so rang the call centre and moved the car into the driveway - they "pinged it" and all was OK. No bother really - good to know that they are checking on it.

[swanseaboydan]

I reckon trackers are in their way out anyway - hide an apple air tag thingy in the car if you want to know where it ends up !

[mattybrown]

swanseaboydan said:

I reckon trackers are in their way out anyway - hide an apple air tag thingy in the car if you want to know where it ends up !

I also have one of those hidden, unfortunately the insurers/underwriters don't recognise it, same as things such as ring alarms. They need to catch up.

[julian987R]

swanseaboydan said:

I reckon trackers are in their way out anyway - hide an apple air tag thingy in the car if you want to know where it ends up !

those are not a robust tracking solution more of a placebo.

[bigmowley]

Great timing OP. Just today I have been told today by my insurers, NFU, that both my GT4 and my Spyder now need to have trackers fitted otherwise they are not covered for theft in the UK. Great.

This always used to be a massive PITA for me as I live in the Isle of Man. The Vodafone network doesn’t work here obvs. so all the time it’s here it’s roaming or trying to find a signal. In the good old days of my 997GT3 it used to have a massive hissy fit once I got back to the UK and I had loads of problems with it “coming back” into the network after a few weeks away. I had no end of phone calls from Vodaphone threatening to report me stolen. In addition every time you get back on the boat to come home it looses signal and if I didn’t remember to warn them it all went bonkers again. It was totally useless and very unreliable. No overair updates either.

Not sure what to do now. Change insurer is the obvious choice, however I do a lot of business with the NFU both private and commercial and I really rate their service and products.

Anybody out there got a more up to date view on the system as it applies to us Manxies? Does it work any better than it did?

I assume that there is a cost attached to all this millarky? My take on it is that rather than pay a few hundred quid every year to Vodafone for something that doesn’t work for me I would be better paying a few more quid for the insurance?

How much does the tracker cost?

Interesting that my R8 doesn’t need a tracker at the moment as they “don’t get stolen”

[Comfortably_Numb]

I'm looking at this for my car, as it doesn't need that enormous fob (that ends up living in the glove box, so defeats the purpose of it):

https://smartrack.uk.net/smartrack-5-thatcham-s5-3...

[swanseaboydan]

Seriously guys - try admiral - they let me insure without a tracker

[Busa mav]

swanseaboydan said:

Seriously guys - try admiral - they let me insure without a tracker

Same for me 👍
Never even mentioned a tracker.

[Roaringopenfire]

Same here ref Admiral. I am on a multicar policy and none require a tracker.

[BarrySt]

I'm with Axa, also no tracker requirement

[mattybrown]

bigmowley said:

Great timing OP. Just today I have been told today by my insurers, NFU, that both my GT4 and my Spyder now need to have trackers fitted otherwise they are not covered for theft in the UK. Great.

This always used to be a massive PITA for me as I live in the Isle of Man. The Vodafone network doesn’t work here obvs. so all the time it’s here it’s roaming or trying to find a signal. In the good old days of my 997GT3 it used to have a massive hissy fit once I got back to the UK and I had loads of problems with it “coming back” into the network after a few weeks away. I had no end of phone calls from Vodaphone threatening to report me stolen. In addition every time you get back on the boat to come home it looses signal and if I didn’t remember to warn them it all went bonkers again. It was totally useless and very unreliable. No overair updates either.

Not sure what to do now. Change insurer is the obvious choice, however I do a lot of business with the NFU both private and commercial and I really rate their service and products.

Anybody out there got a more up to date view on the system as it applies to us Manxies? Does it work any better than it did?

I assume that there is a cost attached to all this millarky? My take on it is that rather than pay a few hundred quid every year to Vodafone for something that doesn’t work for me I would be better paying a few more quid for the insurance?

How much does the tracker cost?

Interesting that my R8 doesn’t need a tracker at the moment as they “don’t get stolen”

Also with NFU pay way above cheapest insurance. However no point in having the cheapest with a poor record of paying out. So I got a tracker and stayed with the NFU.

[_speedyellow_]

I've just got a Macan and Admiral asked if it had a tracker, I said do I need it? They said no. Strangely I got a refund as the new Macan was cheaper to insure than the Outgoing X2! Can't figure that but hey ho..

I've thrown an AirTag in the car as well, but AirTags tell anyone with an iOS device they are being tracked which kind of messes this use case up a bit..

[swanseaboydan]

Direct line wanted a Vodafone tracker on my old base model macan whereas admiral said it was fine without one on a more desirable (to thieves …) macan gts

[neilf]

The recent (well, 12 mths ago) Porsche/Vodafone tracker problems were due to software changes. Vodafone moved from 4G to 5G and some Porsche Trackers couldn’t handle the change. It took several attempts with different software updates for Porsche to fix the issue. Haven’t heard of anyone with issues for a while.

I was one of the ones who had loads of initial problems, with almost no tracker cover for the first 8 mths, and multiple visits to my OPC. Was a pain in the ar*e at the time, but Porsche refunded my tracker fee and paid some compensation for my hassle so all was good in the end.