Porsche Vodafone tracker renewal

[JurassicGTS]

My Boxster Vodafone subscription is due at the end of the month. It is required for my insurance.
When I go onto the Porsche Car Connect to renew I only get bundles.
Remote services+Safety services+Security services or Safety services+Security services.
Option 1 is £279
Option 2 is £247
Only individual option is Remote services, which I have no interest in.
Is it not possible just to purchase the Vodafone tracker "Security services" individually any more?

[mikef]

I’ve cancelled and deactivated the VTS service this year and tracking now consists of AirTags

[supersport]

mikef said:

I’ve cancelled and deactivated the VTS service this year and tracking now consists of AirTags

That's not likely to wash with your insurance company if they mandate a tracker.

[mikef]

supersport said:

mikef said:

I’ve cancelled and deactivated the VTS service this year and tracking now consists of AirTags

That's not likely to wash with your insurance company if they mandate a tracker.

I've just done my annual insurance renewal (AXA). Changed security device from Tracker to Manufacturer Standard and it has made zero difference to the renewal price

[Good Plan Ted]

JurassicGTS said:

My Boxster Vodafone subscription is due at the end of the month. It is required for my insurance.
When I go onto the Porsche Car Connect to renew I only get bundles.
Remote services+Safety services+Security services or Safety services+Security services.
Option 1 is £279
Option 2 is £247
Only individual option is Remote services, which I have no interest in.
Is it not possible just to purchase the Vodafone tracker "Security services" individually any more?

Yes seems as though my local dealer is suggesting binning voda for air tags.

[jackwood]

Good Plan Ted said:

JurassicGTS said:

My Boxster Vodafone subscription is due at the end of the month. It is required for my insurance.
When I go onto the Porsche Car Connect to renew I only get bundles.
Remote services+Safety services+Security services or Safety services+Security services.
Option 1 is £279
Option 2 is £247
Only individual option is Remote services, which I have no interest in.
Is it not possible just to purchase the Vodafone tracker "Security services" individually any more?

Yes seems as though my local dealer is suggesting binning voda for air tags.

If you just want to “track” your own car, that’s fine. But I can’t believe AirTags are a Cat5 approved tracking device recognised by an insurance company that mandate a Thatcham Cat5 tracker as a condition of cover…

[HoHoHo]

jackwood said:

Good Plan Ted said:

JurassicGTS said:

My Boxster Vodafone subscription is due at the end of the month. It is required for my insurance.
When I go onto the Porsche Car Connect to renew I only get bundles.
Remote services+Safety services+Security services or Safety services+Security services.
Option 1 is £279
Option 2 is £247
Only individual option is Remote services, which I have no interest in.
Is it not possible just to purchase the Vodafone tracker "Security services" individually any more?

Yes seems as though my local dealer is suggesting binning voda for air tags.

If you just want to “track” your own car, that’s fine. But I can’t believe AirTags are a Cat5 approved tracking device recognised by an insurance company that mandate a Thatcham Cat5 tracker as a condition of cover…

They’re not approved at all.

That said I have designed and manufacture AirTag holders as a second business to include magnetic and holders that use VHB and I have sold hundreds and hundreds of both those items around the world for people to stick in their cars, horse boxes, caravans and all manner of moveable objects (I’ve actually sold thousands and thousands of normal Bluetooth tag holders literally to every country around the world).

I can’t advertise here but the company link is in my bio.

[mikef]

jackwood said:

If you just want to “track” your own car, that’s fine

Well, tracker tags do in fact “track”, as you put it, very reliably

They don’t rely on someone at Vodafone eventually (after trying to contact you for half a day) contacting plod to send a non-existent police patrol car (when did you last see one of those outside the Met Police area?) fitted out with non-existent tracker receivers to prioritise your car over whatever else they are working on

As for insurance, try it - I did and was pleasantly surprised that AXA no longer care whether you have obsolescent tech in your car

[GT3ZZZ]

AirTags work by talking to nearby bluetooth devices which are connected to the interweb. So good for suitcases and airports and keys etc but parked in a field or a back alley its unlikely to be found.

I put one on one of our dogs that has a bad habit of running away across farmland to some interesting rabbit burrows and it only pops up when it gets back to the house.

[jackwood]

mikef said:

jackwood said:

If you just want to “track” your own car, that’s fine

Well, tracker tags do in fact “track”, as you put it, very reliably

They don’t rely on someone at Vodafone eventually (after trying to contact you for half a day) contacting plod to send a non-existent police patrol car (when did you last see one of those outside the Met Police area?) fitted out with non-existent tracker receivers to prioritise your car over whatever else they are working on

As for insurance, try it - I did and was pleasantly surprised that AXA no longer care whether you have obsolescent tech in your car

So you are saying that AXA, your insurance provider, that required a Tracker to be active on your car for purposes of insurance cover, were OK with you having an AirTag in the car as the tracking device?

[mikef]

jackwood said:

So you are saying that AXA, your insurance provider, that required a Tracker to be active on your car for purposes of insurance cover, were OK with you having an AirTag in the car as the tracking device?

No mention of AirTags. I changed the selection on the online renewal details from Tracker to Manufacturer Supplied and it did not make any difference to the renewal cost

That could be because of the age of the car, I don't know. But if someone wants to stop the increasing annual Voda payments, it may be worth checking whether they can do so

[Maxym]

mikef said:

No mention of AirTags. I changed the selection on the online renewal details from Tracker to Manufacturer Supplied and it did not make any difference to the renewal cost

That could be because of the age of the car, I don't know. But if someone wants to stop the increasing annual Voda payments, it may be worth checking whether they can do so

What does 'manufacturer supplied' mean?

[mikef]

It's a dropdown list for Security on the AXA renewal form - I interpret it as the standard Porsche factory alarm system. The VTS was dealer-supplied in my recollection

[Far Cough]

If my car got nicked , the last thing I'd want to be doing is arguing the toss with an insurance company about a total loss payout.

As mentioned Air tags rely on another device nearby which is doubtful sat in a container on the dock or in a very rural location. Hence why GPS tracking attracts the Cat5 category. There are plenty of cheap GPS trackers on the market that don't rely on other people's phones , WiFi or hot spots

[mikef]

I know how AirTags work...

Given a choice of continuing to pay £250 a year for the Vodafone system which I've had in vehicles for over 20 years, and which only results in regular false alarms when I've forgotten to leave a tag in the car when it does in for service, battery gets low, etc, etc and draining the car battery if I forget to put on the charger when garaged for the Winter, I'll pass on the Vodafone tracker

You may want to continue to subscribe, that's OK

[WG]

I may be totally off beam but beware - if I understand you correctly, what you have done by selecting “ factory fitted” refers to thePorsche Standard Fit alarm - this is not a tracker. The Porsche Fitted” tracker is the Vodafone offering . Apologies if I have misunderstood.

[mikef]

Yes, correct

[J Chitty]

Off topic but some airlines remove AirTags in suitcases before loading on the aircraft.
I’m Voda tracked but only because of the PCGB insurance requiring it.