How effective is the LoJack anti-car theft system. Their website
claims 90% recovery rate.  http://www.lojack.com/   Is there a way to
verify this statistic?

Also are there any well established and reputable competitors to LoJack?

Thank you
Patrice

Hello patrice29-ga,

That number is apparently true.  The actual number may even be higher
than 90%.  I found two sets of independent data that show a 95%
recovery rate.  In addition, there is data that shows that Lojack use
in a particular area may result in a decrease in auto theft in that
area.



Carnegie Mellon University
The Benefits of Lojack
http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/course/88-221/externalities/lojack.html
?Lojack was first introduced in Massachusetts in 1986; it was
subsequently introduced to South Florida in 1988 and to three
additional markets in 1990. As of December 1994, Lojack served 12
markets. Of course, installing Lojack does not reduce the likelihood
that YOUR car will be stolen. But a recent NBER study by Ian Ayres and
Steven Levitt finds that the presence of Lojack is associated with a
sharp fall in overall auto theft in central cities and a more modest
decline in the remainder of the state.?

---

?With Lojack, a small radio transmitter is hidden in one of many
possible locations within a car. When the car is reported stolen, the
police remotely activate the transmitter, allowing specially equipped
police cars and helicopters to track the precise location and movement
of the stolen vehicle. Of stolen vehicles equipped with Lojack, 95
percent are recovered, compared to roughly 60 percent of stolen
vehicles overall.?



I?ve provided a direct link to the National Bureau of Economic
Research (NBER) study in PDF format below.


Measuring the Positive Externalities from Unobservable Victim
Precaution: An Empirical Analysis of Lojack
National Bureau of Economic Research
http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/course/88-221/externalities/lojack.pdf



Similar data is reported by the Montgomery County Maryland Department of Police:


Montgomery County Department of Police
Ask Police Officer ? Auto Theft
http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/poltmpl.asp?url=/Content/POL/ask/autoTheft/devices.asp
?Lojack has been in the Washington area since 1994 and currently
reports a 95% recovery rate with an average three hour recovery time
in this area.?



Lojack does have a few competitors, however LoJack claims to be the
only stolen vehicle recovery company to have direct integration with
law enforcement agencies in the United States.


Yahoo Finance
LoJack Corporation Awarded Radio Frequency Rights for its Stolen
Vehicle Recovery System in China
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040706/netu003_1.html
?About LoJack Corporation

LoJack Corporation, the leading worldwide marketer of wireless
security and location products and services, is the undisputed leader
in global stolen vehicle recovery. Its stolen vehicle recovery system,
the only system of its kind delivering a 90 percent success rate, is
uniquely integrated into law enforcement agencies around the United
States that use LoJack's in-vehicle tracking equipment to recover
stolen vehicles - typically within only a few hours. The LoJack System
operates coast-to-coast in the United States in 22 states and the
District of Columbia, representing the areas with the greatest
population density, highest number of new vehicle sales and incidents
of vehicle theft. LoJack is also operated by law enforcement and
security organizations in more than 25 countries in Europe, Africa,
Asia, and the Western Hemisphere.?



Auto-Theft.info
Layered Approach to Vehicle Theft Prevention
http://www.auto-theft.info/anti-theft_devices.htm
?Layer 4 Tracking Devices

A tracking system emits a signal to police or monitoring service when
the vehicle is reported stolen.

Lojack     
OnStar     
Boomerang Tracking read info   
ResQ     
NetworkCar?



Orange County Auto Theft Task Force
Auto Theft Prevention
http://www.ocatt.org/prevention.html
Tracking Devices -- Allows the police to quickly locate stolen
vehicles, and increases the chances of apprehending the suspect(s). 
Such as:
- Boomerang Tracking 
- Intertrack 
- LoJack 
- Networkcar 
- OnStar 
- Satellite Security System 
- TeleAid (through Mercedes Benz) 
- Teletrac 
- VehicleTrak?



Yahoo Finance
UPDATE - LoJack to buy Canada's Boomerang for $48 million
http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/040817/tech_boomerang_lojack_1.html



I hope you have found this information helpful.  If you have any
questions, please request clarification prior to rating the answer.

Googlenut



Google Search Terms:

"recovery rate" lojack
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&safe=off&q=%22recovery+rate%22+lojack&btnG=Search

"stolen vehicle recovery"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=%22stolen+vehicle+recovery%22

lojack competitors
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=lojack+competitors

networkcar lojack onstar
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&safe=off&q=networkcar+lojack+onstar

"stolen vehicle recovery" rate OR percent
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&safe=off&q=%22stolen+vehicle+recovery%22+rate+OR+percent

auto theft tracking percent recovery
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&safe=off&q=auto+theft+tracking+percent+recovery&btnG=Search

I have had no experience with Lojack, but I am thoroughly disgusted
with Onstar.  It's a waste of your time and money!!  There are several
very simple ways for a car thief to disable Onstar from tracking your
vehicle.  They can take the antenna off the car, disconnect the
battery, store the car inside a garage/building so the signal does not
reach the car/satellite.  And they stop sending a signal after 48
hours unless you call back and request to continue.  If a car thief
knows this, and it's that simple to get around their GPS system, why
pay for nothing?

Ravelco's Web site notes that nobody ever was able to steal a car with
their device - and that goes for pros who steal the particular model
that a chop shop needs to fill an order from a body shop.  Ravelco and
PowerLok prevent theft (other than towing) so you don't need tracking
and loss of privacy as with OnStar where they can eavesdrop on your
small talk or reply to your sweetheart's lawyers' deposition about
where you went and when.  The Ravelco and other sites also teach how
to frustrate hack towers and very few tow truck operators every risk
losing their license and livelihood to steal cars.  "Recovery" is not
satisfactory, I know from experience in Boston. Statistics show that
adolescent crime has declined where planned parentings have risen.
Advocates pick and chose what statistics to recognize. When
Massachusetts politicians were planning to bestow a mandatory
insurance discount on Bill Regan's LoJack, insurers fought back with
real-world  evidence --  their actuarial experience proving what the
pols in that Commonwealth simply would not hear, namely that insurance
loses among the LoJack-owning population were higher, not lower than
for the general Massachusetts population. Figures can lie and liars
can figure. The bottom line is, however, that insurers just plain
can't have bad experience with systems that prevent vehicle theft in
the first place.