I bought a used 2003 MCS and I received 1 key(dammit), 1 break in key, and a lo jack box. How does the lo jack work? Does it make a sound if someone breaks in my car or does it only track my car after it's stolen? I'm really not sure if it's operational because it has a red light on it but it never comes on(good thing eh). Also does any one know how much a new key costs? Thanx for any imput.

 

Lojack is an RF tracking unit. It allows the cops to find your car if its stolen, and the advantage over a GPS unit, which can easily have it's signal blocked, it uses a radio frquency.

 

If you have lojack, you need to call them to activitate it. If your call were stolen and you called them, they would NOT turn it on without ... paying Your also not supposed to know its there. hmm.

 

You were handed a lo-jack box? Wow. That's really odd.

Lo-jack is a vehicle recovery (not anti-theft) system. If you car is stolen, you call lo-jack and report it. Lo-jack activates your system, much like paging a pager, and the system broadcasts where it is using RF. Many police departments have lojack scanners in their cars, and the cops can track down the vehicle since it is now acting like a beacon screaming "HERE I AM, HERE I AM!", but only the police get the signal.

If you've got an expensive car and are worried about theft and not getting it back, then lo-jack is a good idea. Usually about $400-800 bucks installed, and as previously mentioned, no one is supposed to know where the box is installed. Not even the owner, because if the owner tells someone where it is or if someone finds it, getting rid of the box pretty much defeats the system/protection.

I've got it on my 2001 F150 Lariat Supercrew, and fortunately have never had to use it.

 

There is one downside to Lojack... It's only good if the vehicle is located inside the jurisdiction of a police department that has lojack trackers in their vehicles... Most metropolitan areas are covered, however many rural communities are not...

 

You might also want to check and see if your local police have LoJack receivers. One way to tell is to look for four(4), approx. foot-long antennas in a fairly tight box layout on their cars, usually on the roof or trunk.

 

I don't think you even have to report the car stolen to Lo-Jack... just the police. I remember reading a Lo-Jack testimonial that they scan the police databases for stolen car reports and look for subscriber car info. Someone once bought a used car and didn't know that lo-jack was installed. When the car was stolen, they told the police, lo-jack picked up on the report and turned on the tracking device. The cops found the car and the second-hand owner was amazed to find out that he got Lo-Jack for free on his 'new' car.

 

$400? Where??? Usually $795 (except for CARMAX, $695 if you bought your car there).

See http://www.lojack.com/where/lojack-coverage-areas.cfm

Major states like CA fully covered. Metro in some areas. Rural is iffy.

True.

 

Hmm, I was under the impression you didn't have to call anyone, at least with the newer systems. Something about if your car moves more than 50 feet from where you last left it, without the transmitter (keychain) in it, and it will automatically trigger an alert.

They were trying to pitch this to me when I picked up Clara but I was only half listening because I wasn't interested from the get-go - if someone steals my car, they'd better get over the border with it, and fast, cuz I'm not sure I want it back!

 

there is a system where if your car moves 50 feet unauthorized lojack will call you, but i have a friend who recieves this call about 3 times a day. annoying!

 

Same system, different option, more money. You STILL have to call the cops because obviously it could be someone else in your family who moved the car without the Lojack passkey. Otherwise they would have way too many false alarms. All that system does is notify you (via Email, pager, cell, phone, etc.) that someone moved the car without the passkey.

 

On systems with the Early Warning keyfob option, it is recommended to change the coin cell battery in the fob about every 6 months. Chances are that the battery on your friends fob has run down and is no longer being detected by the Lojack unit. When the battery gets low, there is a red LED on the fob that will blink periodically to let you know the battery is on its way out. I waited about a year before it ultimately died on mine, then like your friend started getting multiple calls on my cell. Once I replaced the fob battery, the false calls ceased and I was good to go.