Let's take a very aggressive and direct approach to get to the point of this article: a GPS anti-theft device is not a device that can prevent or stop your vehicle from being stolen. As its name suggests, its purpose is to show you its location; it is not a real physical obstacle that prevents your vehicle from being stolen. So, let's find out how to make the most of these devices by leveraging their features.
The GPS device's job is simply to show you the location of a physical asset on which you have decided to install the device itself. The applications used to monitor and manage trackers use their location to send you alerts (notifications) about what is happening within a relatively short time.
Ultimately, a GPS anti-theft device is designed to alert you if something happens and increase the chances of recovering the vehicle after it has been stolen. In fact, many devices have vibration detection alerts, trip-start notifications, and overspeed alarms. Try to imagine a theft as they show it in the movies... the thief has to force the car's lock and open and close the door (vibrations). Once the engine is started, they would have to begin driving the car away (trip start). With a little imagination, since we're talking about a thief, we can expect some speed limit to be exceeded as well. All these actions translate into alerts on your phone. In this case, the GPS anti-theft device would not have prevented the car from ending up in the wrong hands, but it would still have helped you quickly realize that something had happened, allowing you to react in time (by reporting it to the authorities). Furthermore, if the device remained inside the vehicle, it would help locate it through real-time tracking.
There are countless possible scenarios, and all of this can happen at any time of day, whether in broad daylight or in the middle of the night. A piece of advice? Avoid chasing the thief in your slippers as soon as you see the vibration alert. In any case, if the thief was able to start the vehicle, consider it already too late to take any action unless it is to alert the authorities. Remember, you're still wearing slippers.
If you really care about your car — including motorcycles, vans, and trucks — remember that there are other tools you can use together with a GPS anti-theft device to make theft even more difficult. There are disc locks, steering wheel locks, and chains. The savviest people who are willing to spend a little more install two trackers inside the vehicle (different devices with different settings) so that if one is found, the other can continue monitoring the vehicle.
Speaking of the dual-device strategy, let's look at how it is put into practice and go over a few tips.
The idea behind this practice is to use one device for continuous vehicle tracking and a second device as a backup in case the first one fails. The task of continuous tracking is often assigned to a tracker connected to the vehicle's battery, while the backup device is usually a tracker with a high-capacity battery. In short, the battery-powered GPS tracker (often equipped with magnets) is set to a highly aggressive power-saving mode to extend the battery life for as long as possible (even for months before it needs to be recharged). This way, if the first device is found, you can change the operating mode of the second device from power saving to continuous tracking. At this point, the backup tracker takes over the role of the first one, giving you a better chance of finding your vehicle after the theft.
In this regard, we recommend reading one of our related articles on how to best hide your GPS tracker:
GPS tracker for cars — where to hide it
These are the points we felt it was our duty to share with you, our readers, with the aim of guiding you toward making the most informed possible purchase of a GPS anti-theft device.
Our solution:
All our devices are configured and equipped with a global SIM card already installed, with 5 years of tracking included, allowing you to view the location in real time even without a monthly subscription: