From: jimf@centerline.com (Jim Frost)
Subject: Re: LOJACK
Organization: CenterLine Software, Inc.
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1992 10:59:00 GMT

beuf@wpi.WPI.EDU (Richard J Fuller) writes:
>does anyone out there have A LOJACK system????

Yes.

>is it worth the $$$ (how much does it cost anyway????)
>any info would be great!

There are three units with increasing functionality:

Model		Features				Cost
-----		--------				----
LoJack I:	Recovery				$599
LoJack II:	Recovery + ignition kill		$699
LoJack III:	Recovery, ignition kill + audible alarm	$799

The idea behind the units and their functionality is simple: the
LoJack unit is a transponder and police cars are equipped with locator
units; the transponder is triggered when you call in and say you're
car's missing (you need to give your car's VIN, which is conveniently
written on the wallet card they give you) and the police home in on
it.  This recovery system has proven highly effective in practice even
though only MA and NJ police are equipped for recovery in the
northeast -- usually the police find the car within a half-hour of
notification, and often they get the thief with the car.  The recovery
system is effective against all but a professional who can disassemble
the car and remove the transponder before the police can find the unit
(more on that later).  The ignition kill is an effective way of
stopping your average amateur, and the audible alarm is an additional
deterent against amateurs who are after car contents rather than the
car (I realize that this is a dubious deterrent but that's beside the
point).

I have the LoJack III (although I actually ordered the LoJack II -- I
didn't complain :-).

If you're in MA LoJack II or III will save you 35% on your
comprehensive (I think LoJack I saves 25%).  For me this was a hefty
amount (my insurance is unusually high due to residence location and
the fact that I waited eight years longer than normal to get my
license) so a LoJack II will pay for itself over three years and save
money over four.  Your mileage will probably vary, and savings in
other states are probably significantly lower.

In operation the LoJack is actually rather intuitive; it turns itself
on after about 30 seconds of inactivity (engine off, doors closed) or
immediately if you push the keychain button.  If you have the audible
alarm there's a single chirp as the alarm engages.  You push the
keychain button (they give you two, additional units are $35) before
entering the car and the alarm turns off.  If you have the audible
alarm you get two chirps confirming the disable and possibly a third
chirp indicating the alarm has gone off.  Since it turns itself on
there's little chance of forgetting to enable the alarm (increasing
its value enormously :-), and it's pretty easy to remember to turn the
alarm off when you go to unlock the door.

The kill switch is effective and if you have the audible alarm the
alarm goes off on an attempt to start the car even if no entry was
detected.  I expected a quiet kill and was pleasantly surprised to
find otherwise.

There's a valet switch which can be used to enable or disable the
alarm and kill switch; if the car is running you flip the switch.  The
valet switch doubles as an emergency shutoff; enter the car (the alarm
sounds) turn on the car (which does nothing because of the kill
switch) and toggle the switch -- the alarm will shut up and the car
will be able to start.

Since the system has no motion detection false alarms aren't a problem
unless you forget to disable the alarm.  I like this since
false-alarms in the middle of the night can cause spontaneous neighbor
insanity that leads to scratched paint jobs, dents, or even broken
windows.

So much for the good stuff.  What's annoying about the alarm?

Two things bother me about the LoJack automatic-arm system.  First,
you have to be careful to leave your key in the "on" position when the
engine is off and you're sitting in the car (for instance at a
full-serve gas station).  If the ignition is totally off or in the ACC
position the alarm will activate itself.  Although turning on the
overhead light or opening my hatchback (with the hatchback light on)
will activate the alarm, these conditions do not keep the alarm from
automatically arming.  This means that the alarm will turn itself on
while you're loading or unloading the hatchback.  This is most
annoying when you're loading because you're going to have to turn the
alarm off again before entering the car.

I found that the alarm will not automatically arm if the emergency
flashers are on, and that if you arm it manually the flashers trigger
the alarm (which, if you haven't guessed, is electrically triggered).
Both of these things surprised me but aren't terribly bothersome.

My operational annoyance is that the chirping done when the alarm is
enabled or disabled is at the same volume as the alarm itself, which
is damned loud at odd hours of the night or morning and can be painful
in a parking garage.  I would have been happier if the chirp had been
at half or one-quarter volume.

The most obvious failing of the system is that you have to call LoJack
when you discover your car is missing in order to get the transponder
triggered.  If you don't notice that your car is missing for several
hours or more the thief has that much more time to do disable the
system or otherwise get away.

The documentation that came with the alarm was, well, sparse.  I got
proof-of-installation for the insurance company, a Xeroxed page that
explained how to operate the alarm and valet switch (it was complete
but not particularly thorough) and a small owner's manual that was
mostly warranty information but that had a small portion dedicated to
how the recovery system worked.  I would have liked more detailed
information about actual alarm operation -- what kinds of activities
trigger the alarm?  What are common mistakes?  Does the audible alarm
turn itself off after some amount of time?  I discovered most of these
things with experimentation but I suspect that your average user would
never figure out some of the quirks.

The price of the system is a bit steep, although not in comparison to
some of their competitors' systems (one system the dealer tried to
sell me was $1500 and worked in conjunction with a car phone and the
geopos satellites -- nifty, but that's a system for a Mercedes owner).
If they cut the cost by a hundred or two it'd be a good value,
particularly with the insurance savings.

Do I like the system?

None of LoJack's features have saved my car or prevented any theft
that I know of, but when parking in some bad areas overnight I've had
considerable peace-of-mind which I wouldn't have had otherwise.
That's worth something over and above the immediate insurance savings
which spurred my purchase.  I like the automatic-arm feature a lot and
feel there's a lot of added-value with the recovery system in a
high-theft area like Boston.  I think if I bought a new car I would
buy the unit again despite the cost.

jim frost