C6ULATR

Installation of a Lojack system for my C6 is scheduled for today. Wanted some piece of mind as well as the insurance break. They should be at my house any minute. They gave me a window between 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM. Of course, it is getting close to 1:00 PM. Does anyone know what the Pros and Cons are between OnStar and LoJack?

Thanks!

HARVEY T.GLUCK

Good Question-----my C6 is in the Dealers Showroom for a while and I just asked him Yesterday about installation of Lo Jack----I had it in my others and he said he was going to check with Lo Jack because its a new Model--and the fact that it has the Satelite System....Please let us know what they say to you and How the Installation goes.
Harvey T.Gluck...HTG39@AOL.COM

Wedtwuk

I had Lojack installed in the C5 I just sold. I have a C6 on order with the Onstar system. I'm not sure what the benefits of one system over the other are, but I will not have Lojack installed on the C6 as Onstar provides similar benefits plus additional capabilities not provided by Lojack. I spoke with my insurance company and either qualify for the theft discount. Good luck!

jimman

Are you really going to want it back if it's stolen. Also, short of flat bedding the car with the coded key system and now the new keyless entry, no way.

jabez

Is LoJack a one time fee? And Onstar not?
Lojack can locate your car while Onstar can also unlock your car. Is that right?
Lojack contacts you when it believes someone is moving your car without permission by phone and /or email. Does Onstar do that?
My insurance won't accept either one, those bastards.
Will Lojack interfer with XM?

ny10522

Onstar is useless as a theft prevention device. The thief will immediately know the car is Onstar equipped (from buttons on mirror) and will either break off the windshield antenna or disconnect it from the computer module.

BadBeagle

LoJack is a one time fee. I believe Onstar is a subscription. I think LoJack will only contct you when you tell them to you are away, otherwise it's up to you to know where your car is. Example: Say you're on vacation. You can tell LoJack that and if your car moves then they notify the police. Once you get home, you call and say so and things go back to normal. Under normal circumstanses, the LoJack isn't activated until you call the police and report it stolen.

jabez

Just ask my neighbor about Lojack in his car. It is a one time fee(around 1200.00)
It is activated all the time. He use to get phone calls from Lojack automated system everytime car door is not fully closed or door is slammed and car shakes too much. He said that got annoying so he switched it to email only.
If Lojack suspect car is being moved without your authority it will call/email you to notify you to check on car. If indeed it is stolen (not there when you look) you call police in city where car is suppose to stationed and tell them it's missing and tell them you have a Lojack installed. There they will turn on a tracking device.

BadBeagle

He must have more coverage than I do. When I had it installed at the dealership when I bought my 99, it only cost $500. I've never gotten an email from them nor do I want any from them on a regular basis. My car sits in the garage when I'm not using it. If it's not there when I wake up, then I'll call the police and have them track it.

Wolfbane

What he said.

jabez

Sounds like he has more coverage. i think he said he had "early warning" coverage.
Probably thats the reason he got phone calls and emails.

nx-01

Hey Guys,

I wanted to add additional information.

When you vechile is stolen and you have LoJack, you call the police to tell them that the car is stolen & that you have LoJack in your vechile. So from the story listed below, it looks like there is a system that transmits a signal to activate your LoJack unit. Certain police cars have four antenna's mounted on the trunk or roof of their vechile, which is used as part of a directional finding system which uses LoJack signal to track the vechile.

I am curious how the police know's what area/county the vechile is located, so as to search for it, unless a state wide or nationwide APB is sent out to police vechiles that have the directional finding system.

Here is a story (one of many) from www.lojack.com:

The owner of a 2000 Honda Civic was stopped, robbed, and car-jacked by two armed subjects. She immediately contacted the Fort Lauderdale (Florida) Police Department. The hidden LoJack unit in the Honda was activated and Fort Lauderdale detectives began tracking the Honda. As the police were tailing the Honda, they created a moving net to capture the two suspects. The suspects eventually drove down a dead-end street and bailed out of the Honda. Fort Lauderdale Police Departments K-9 units were able to track the suspects down and they were taken into custody.

Onstar is a little more fancy. You call Onstar, indicate that your vechile is stolen. Onstar must have a nationwide system in place (using cell towers/cell frequencies?) to send a signal out, which your car receives (I wonder if the vechile's OnStar system has battery backup separate from the main vechile battery incase the main battery has failed?), the OnStar unit knows where the vechile is from the internal GPS unit, so it send's that info back to OnStar Inc. (again via cell ?) so then OnStar contacts police to get the vechile back.

On the part of ripping out the OnStar unit. Sure the person(s) that stole the vechile, could rip the system out. But they would have to a) know where is it located in the vechile b) do it quickly but do they have enough time and knowledge to do this? If OnStar does use cell phone frequencies then you can purchase a cell phone jammer (which is illegal) so as to block the connection from the vechile to OnStar. Also, if one knew the frequencies of the LoJack System, you can block that system if you had a transmitter for that frequency, and more power (add white noise to the system) to blanket out the system.

On LoJack's site you can get upgrades that add up to $1044.00 (LoJack Early Warning+Extended Recovery Warranty (XRW)+Guarantee Plus 5000 (GP 5000)+LoJack Alarm Systems).

Got Vette?

......... i know someone who had a car stolen with onstar... they thieves just cutt the wires and could not be tracked. i guess if someone wants your car bad enough they will get.

ny10522

Damn Onstar antenna is right in front of the thieve's eyes! Onstar is a totally useless system unless you need a concierge to give you directions.

DigitalGriffin

OnStar has the side benefit of contacting the OnStar center if an airbag is deployed.

murphman72

I have LoJack on my 2004 coupe. As previously stated, it's a one time fee (I paid $350 with a "dealer discount") I would add to the other posts that you're given a keyring keyfob (yet another key fob) as part of the system. If your car is started without the key fob in proximity, the system is activated and you'll get a call. I tried this with my own test and got a call within about 10 minutes.

I had a major problem with installation (again my 2004). They customarily mount the unit behind the passenger seat, under the carpet. This tech used screws that were too long and they ended up puncturing my gas tank and made me smell fumes for like 2 weeks before I realized what was going on. It cost them $2,500 to repair the tanks and install a new system (lojack paid for everything, including the cadillac they gave me as a rental car).

Since the c6 is so new, I would encourage all of you getting LoJack installed to pester your installer to make sure they know that this is a brand new car and to be very, very careful installing the transponder unit. I would guess they'll be putting in the same place they always have.

TulsaVette

OnStar will only send a signal if your car is running. If it is stolen and put in a chop shop and turned off, OnStar can't help you. Will LoJack locate a car that is not running?

murphman72

It will work but you have to call LoJack and have them activate the locator. LoJack will only work automatically if the car is started without the keyfob in proximity.