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By Greg Bartlett

As many people are now aware, many vehicles leave the factory with GPS vehicle tracking devices installed in them. What most are not aware of is that certain types of devices may be worthless for aiding in the recovery of a stolen vehicle. All GM vehicles are now equipped with Onstar™ onboard. This is a subscription service that incorporates tracking to assist in emergency situations, such as following an accident. While the value of such a service cannot be overestimated, it may not be the right method to use for tracking a vehicle that has been stolen.

Private subscription services like Onstar™ are bound by very strict privacy policies. The number of steps they are required to take to ensure that no private information is released to anyone other than the vehicles owner or duly appointed police officers makes getting access to tracking information from these services in the event of a car theft take such a period of time as to make it too late to do any good by the time the authorities are able to locate and reach the vehicle.

It is not our purpose to dissuade people from using services like Onstar™. In fact we recommend their services because of the ability to notify emergency personnel in the event of an accident. These services do save lives. However, we also recommend the addition of another type of GPS vehicle tracking device that can be tracked from any computer by the person who owns the car so that it can be located quickly and efficiently in the event of a theft.

Several different types of tracking devices are available that can be installed in a secret location on the vehicle that car thieves are not likely to locate and disable. The owner of the device has the power to activate at will and track the signal via computer with an internet connection. This signal can be provided to police officers who are equipped to track the signal using onboard computers in their cars. The amount of time it takes to relay the necessary information to proper authorities is reduced to a minimum that increases the chance of making a safe vehicle recovery and an arrest of the car thief.

Another common service that people are familiar with is LoJack™. This service has been established for quite some time now, but many customers have no idea that LoJack™ is radio based and not GPS. When a vehicle so equipped is reported stolen, the customer must contact the police or service provider and report the vehicle stolen. The radio frequency used by LoJack™ can only be picked by very specialized equipment that is not available in all police vehicles. Of the ones that can receive this signal, many are often in the midst of more pressing calls than a stolen vehicle report, therefore, they do not respond as quickly as they might, and in some cases, not at all.

GPS tracking technology using a signal that can be tracked using an internet connected computer makes it possible for any police cruiser to locate a stolen vehicle and track its location within minutes of the theft. This can improve the odds that a police officer with the proper equipment will be available to work on the stolen vehicle immediately, increasing the chance of recovering the vehicle in a timely fashion and making an arrest. For these reasons, privately owned aftermarket GPS vehicle tracking systems are superior to some of the more highly publicized services such as Onstar™ and LoJack™ for tracking and recovering stolen vehicles.