Last decision before finishing a MY09 Clubman buy.
Has anyone actually had a Mini Cooper stolen in a manner that the Lojak was, or could have been, used to recover the Mini? Has anyone wished they had installed it on their Mini? Is the Mini ignition system, in it's base form difficult enough to prevent casual thieft?

 

i have not even taken delivery of my Mini but i figured it was worth the extra peace of mind just to have it installed and then not have to think about it anymore.

just my .02

-Hutch-

 

In the couple years of being on this site, I have not read of anyone's modern Mini being stolen.

 

it would also be a good idea to go to lojacks website and just make sure there is coverage in your area... where i live and where i am hopefully going to live lo jack doesnt cover...or rather they dont have deals with the PD's. oh, and the two places are Vermont and New Mexico.

 

Well, I completely REGRET getting my LoJack. I always have issues with it.
it goes off whenever it feels like, even when I'm driving it.
I've had people come down to fix it and they didn't do anything.
I'll never know if my car has actually been stolen since I'm so used to
it going off for no reason. Their customer service is HORRIBLE.
If I could do it all over again, I would go with a different security system.

 

My Insurance agent said its not worth it, that police have very few cars that have the dectector and the one's that do shut it off because of all the false alarms.

 

I have... A GP was stolen and burned to the ground...forgot who it was. But even I was heart broken for days.

 

The MINI has one of the lowest percentage of theft rates in the US (well over 100 cars have a greater chance of being stolen). Save your money and put it towards having lower insurance deductibles. That way you are better protected from accidents and having somebody break into your car to steal something.

Edit:
Here are the stats for 2005. MINI ranked 189 with only 30 2005 models stolen throughout the whole US:
http://www.nhtsa.gov/portal/nhtsa_st...tRates2005.pdf

 

Lo jack also needs yearly service (at owner cost) to change the batteries in the unit, or the car cannot be recovered. The only guy I know who had it on a custom modded Impala SS never got a blip when his car was stolen. I wouldn't bother with it on a car of this cost and vintage.
It is a proximity locator, so unless cops drive by the car when their sensor is on, it will never be found.

 

I'd be real curious to know how the thieves got around the computer.

For my MGB, I installed a small switch in the fuel pump circuit. Unless you knew where to look, good luck getting any fuel to the carbs.

 

Lojack is a waste of money.. Normally it does not take very long for someone to get out of Lojack coverage, or to move the car into an building that does not get lojack coverage.
I live in a a good area with a low crime rate no need for Lojack.

 

I included it in my build because I'd rather have it and hope for recovery.

Maybe it's a waste of money. But I heard that the factory alarm is, too, so I didn't get that. Maybe I've got my wires crossed--which is very possible--but I'm going to try to remain optimistic that, if some low-life, scumbag, MINI thieving mother-bleeper steals my car, the popo will lock the excuse for a human in the nearest cell and alerting me that my baby is in safe hands and ready to be reclaimed.

But that's just me.

 

after reading through some of the replies here i gave my insurance agent a call she told me it wasn't worth it either so i called my MA and had her take it out of the car. thanks for the help! lets hope i didn't shoot myself in the foot !

-Hutch-

 

LoJack was put in my car and the way I view it is, it's a good investment

It's a peace of mind, I'm not 100% sure on this but doesn't LoJack refund your money if your vehicle isn't recovered if it's stolen, so I guess it's not a bad deal since if it doesn't get recovered you'll still get your money back, but at least you had a chance of getting the vehicle back.

 

I had my Mini stolen. It totally changed my view of an automobile. I've learned that a car is replaceable. I still enjoy my cars, but I have learned that they will not be here forever.
That's why I pay insurance, gap insurance especially. If you don't know what gap insurance is, research it. If you ever finance a car without a huge down payment, it's a good idea. I learned the hard way on a Mustang that got totalled 6 months after I bought it for my wife. We had to pay $4600 just to get rid of the car due to the insurance company value on the car and what we owed.

I try not to leave anything in my car worth of value, but most thieves steal them to fill a need. Parts, something inside that takes more than 2 minutes to steal, or the whole car for a buyer.
Cops never found it, or at least I never heard anything. Maybe that's why I miss my Mini so much. It was taken from me, I didn't willingly get rid of it.

 

I dont know. I know that we love our minis but if my mini got stolen i dont think i would want it back *gasp*. How people drive stolen cars is one issue but when my friend car was broken into she could hardly drive it anymore, because the car felt violated. So who know it deffinitely is personal choice, but i wouldnt. I would put the money towards something else like others have said.

 

The guys broke into his apartment and they found his spare key.

 

Yup..took the GP out for a joy ride and then decided to set it on fire...bunch of sadistic bastards.

 

Wow, I just got Lojack installed on my 5 day old Mini, and reading this thread really made me question my decision. Guess I should have read up on the product a bit more before I signed my life away.

My MA told me at pickup that it's very hard to steal a Mini, which I knew from reading these boards. No pod, no go, pretty much. But what if someone carjacks you, or comes on over and lifts your Mini on a flatbed and drives away? Crap happens.

There was a woman here in Portland who was car-jacked right in her own drive-way, and apparently the only reason it was recorvered was because of the LoJack installed. She had it back in the 24 hour time frame quoted.

As the economy goes down and crime goes up, I guess in the end, I feel a bit more piece of mind having it installed in Dr. Horrible. But the fact that #1 My dealer didn't tell me I have to have the batteries changed once a year, on my dime and #2 that the alarm goes off at random doesn't exactly make me thrilled about my purchase and install.

 

I just got my MINI about a week ago, and opted for Lojack yesterday, It cost me $870. I know that the number of MINIs getting stolen is fairly low, however, I do live in LA and I don't park my car inside a covered garage. I now feel safer even though I probably would never have to use the device ever.
I was going to get the tire and wheel insurance, but after reading all the posts about it. I'd rather save my 600 bucks for replacing all my tires eventually. I've never had a flat tire in my life. So hopefully, I'll have the same luck.

Sorry for going out of topic.

 

How about the LoJack with the call feature that calls your cell phone to notify you that your car is being stolen?
I had a similar system in another vehicle that paged me, but made no noise in the vehicle. Pretty slick since I could get a peek of what was messing with my car!
I have had 1 attempted theft (I caught the guy in the act) another car stolen twice! And a third car stolen, all before I got alarm systems.

S,

 

A long-late update...it ends up that I *didn't* get LoJack installed on my build. Apparently I (or my MA) forgot to check that box. So that means I just get to hope that none of the previously mentioned mother-bleepers chooses to steal my car.

 

Lojack needs a GPS signal to tell where it is located. Some thieves use a low power device that interferes with the GPS signal so the location cannot be determined. Of course, many cars are stolen by people out for joyrides, etc, and they probably wouldn't have such a blocking device.

 

If you have Lojack, how can you verify that it is functioning?

 

Unless lojack has changed their system recently...it is just a hidden reciever, a beaper, that listens for a signal to turn on a radio transmitter, and a battery...police just home in on the signal with a directional antenaa.

For me, lojack made $$ sense, it paid for ir self in about 2 years ,with savings everyyear after that from my INS company...that and piece of mind.
that, and if you are getting charged $870 by the dealer wow!! They must have gone to a more intergrated system that interfaces with thr car alarm, etc...
Earlier lojacks were pretty cheap....