Thieves disable on star. Tag they can’t. Plus tag doesn’t track your car at all. Only if it gets stolen. You make out a police report. With that report you call Tag. They then go out and locate your car and notify the police it’s location.
How to reduce your insurance costs
- Thread starter Neils
- Start date
I can only speak for the C8. It's not that easy to disable OnStar. Assuming they haven't cloned your fob because then they'd just drive off and they'd have to start your car before you do or the codes will cycle. So first they have to somehow get into your car. If the car is armed the alarm will go off immediately if they somehow get in. I don't believe a slim jim will work on a C8. Then I assume they will know how to open the frunk so they can get to the battery to disconnect it to silence the alarm. Then they have to locate the OnStar box. I don't know where it is but if in the cabin then they'd need to pull the wires. if they can get to it. Even then they'd have to drag your car onto a flatbed as the rear wheels are locked. Speed is essential when stealing a car.
It's much easier to steal a Toyota, so buy one of those so the thieves will leave your C8 alone!
I think you're exactly right. The use the key fob scenario. Once the have the car in their little warehouse. Then they disable OnStar. They know all the tricks. I know people say thats why you have insurance but as mentioned before, who wants to wait another year for an allocation.I can only speak for the C8. It's not that easy to disable OnStar. Assuming they haven't cloned your fob because then they'd just drive off and they'd have to start your car before you do or the codes will cycle. So first they have to somehow get into your car. If the car is armed the alarm will go off immediately if they somehow get in. I don't believe a slim jim will work on a C8. Then I assume they will know how to open the frunk so they can get to the battery to disconnect it to silence the alarm. Then they have to locate the OnStar box. I don't know where it is but if in the cabin then they'd need to pull the wires. if they can get to it. Even then they'd have to drag your car onto a flatbed as the rear wheels are locked. Speed is essential when stealing a car.
It's much easier to steal a Toyota, so buy one of those so the thieves will leave your C8 alone!
I spoke to my insurance broker and she is looking into what the discount is for installing Tag. I have also read that some insurance companies pay the $600 to have it installed on your car. Some say you get $200 off the premium a year. So in 3 years, Tag pays for itself. Plus Tag say," 99% recovery rate." But do you really want your car back if it gets stolen? I don't think they will take as good a care as owners do haha.
Short story on my vehicle (equipment) theft:
I had a Bobcat 850 skid-steer stolen off a job-site in Toronto, Ont., in the middle of the day.
This is a fairly big unit - rather hard to miss.
Lot's of people saw the dump truck and trailer pull in and take 15 minutes to winch it onto a trailer and tie it down, but it all seemed so 'normal', nobody paid any attention.
The insurance settled, then about 3 months later we got a call from them saying the police had found the machine, in Vancouver, in a box, ready to head overseas.
This was a $100,000.00 machine, and the insurance sold it back to us for $25,000.00.
It all worked out rather nicely.
If somebody with 1/2 a brain wants to steal your car, they are going to steal your car.
I had a Bobcat 850 skid-steer stolen off a job-site in Toronto, Ont., in the middle of the day.
This is a fairly big unit - rather hard to miss.
Lot's of people saw the dump truck and trailer pull in and take 15 minutes to winch it onto a trailer and tie it down, but it all seemed so 'normal', nobody paid any attention.
The insurance settled, then about 3 months later we got a call from them saying the police had found the machine, in Vancouver, in a box, ready to head overseas.
This was a $100,000.00 machine, and the insurance sold it back to us for $25,000.00.
It all worked out rather nicely.
If somebody with 1/2 a brain wants to steal your car, they are going to steal your car.
... most cars, not all cars. You need a lot more than 1/2 a brain to steal, at least, a C8! You need a plan and a good knowledge of the car. It must be targeted. Most car thefts steal on opportunity.
" If somebody with 1/2 a brain wants to steal your car, they are going to steal your car."
I politely disagree, in fact it is the opposite, it is the people who put in 1/2 a brain worth of time and money to not want to protect their vehicle (or equipment) will be the ones impacted by theft. I had show cars most of my youth (5 figures worth of aftermarket), and have had this conversation too many times, even on a terrasse during Grand Prix weekend, where some smart ass insisted that he could pretty much steal any car. I told him with confidence that he could never steal mine, and if he did, he got to keep the car (it was an insane system, including electronic hood lock pulling against the hood release).
So here's the basics (think like a thief) :
By today's standards, there is no window breaking or coat hanger tricks (that is so 80's). They want to copy your key FOB or it's frequency via OBD to make it easy. I always assume my FOB frequency can be copied, so I make sure it cannot get copied.
1) Hide the VIN number with some paper, thief cannot take a picture the night before, head home, and use it to look up your frequency
2) Lock the OBD port, yes the lock is expensive ($500+) but once the port is locked, no way for them to connect their computer to copy the frequency
3) Steering wheel lock, I am not sure why people stopped using this, does not look pretty, but who cares, mine matches the color of my upcoming car
Those 3 things alone, if in place, will make most thieves walk right past your car, even if they managed to open the door to access the OBD port.
Now let's say for whatever reason they drag the damn thing on a flatbed.
This is where tracking comes in, and if you are paranoid like me, you will have no less than 2 systems.
4) The TAG system is great, insurance discounts pays the system/service within 2 years (for a 5-year service contract), and their recovery rate is very high.
On top of relying on a service to recover my vehicle (they do not share the GPS co-ordinates with you while they recover), I like to know where the car is at all times,
5) so I have a live GPS unit as well (Tracki) , hidden away.
So then the next smart person will tell me, yeah but they will disconnect the car battery. No problemo. Both units mentioned above actually work on their own standalone battery. TAG has something like 5 or 6 units each hidden in a different location, running off of a 5 year battery source. So even if the thief finds 1 or 2 units, several more, which are in difficult locations to reach, will continue to be accessible. As for the GPS unit, it has it's own battery too which gets charged from the 12v car battery, disconnect that source, and the unit will continue to function with live updates off of it's own battery, for the next 10-12 days, plenty of time to find the car.
Like I said, you get out of it what you put into it. Some don't care, and will just rely on their cushy insurance policy, and as I said before, good luck waiting for a replacement. To each their own.
Forgot the last one
6) Faraday pouches for your keys inside the house. Yes some FOBs are dormant when not moving, but I do not take a chance and block the signal from the front door (where thieves use wire antennas to capture the signal outside your home to copy it on the spot).
Before anyone asks me for links or brands or pricing, please see my tracking security post in the main section, all details are there.
I politely disagree, in fact it is the opposite, it is the people who put in 1/2 a brain worth of time and money to not want to protect their vehicle (or equipment) will be the ones impacted by theft. I had show cars most of my youth (5 figures worth of aftermarket), and have had this conversation too many times, even on a terrasse during Grand Prix weekend, where some smart ass insisted that he could pretty much steal any car. I told him with confidence that he could never steal mine, and if he did, he got to keep the car (it was an insane system, including electronic hood lock pulling against the hood release).
So here's the basics (think like a thief) :
By today's standards, there is no window breaking or coat hanger tricks (that is so 80's). They want to copy your key FOB or it's frequency via OBD to make it easy. I always assume my FOB frequency can be copied, so I make sure it cannot get copied.
1) Hide the VIN number with some paper, thief cannot take a picture the night before, head home, and use it to look up your frequency
2) Lock the OBD port, yes the lock is expensive ($500+) but once the port is locked, no way for them to connect their computer to copy the frequency
3) Steering wheel lock, I am not sure why people stopped using this, does not look pretty, but who cares, mine matches the color of my upcoming car
Those 3 things alone, if in place, will make most thieves walk right past your car, even if they managed to open the door to access the OBD port.
Now let's say for whatever reason they drag the damn thing on a flatbed.
This is where tracking comes in, and if you are paranoid like me, you will have no less than 2 systems.
4) The TAG system is great, insurance discounts pays the system/service within 2 years (for a 5-year service contract), and their recovery rate is very high.
On top of relying on a service to recover my vehicle (they do not share the GPS co-ordinates with you while they recover), I like to know where the car is at all times,
5) so I have a live GPS unit as well (Tracki) , hidden away.
So then the next smart person will tell me, yeah but they will disconnect the car battery. No problemo. Both units mentioned above actually work on their own standalone battery. TAG has something like 5 or 6 units each hidden in a different location, running off of a 5 year battery source. So even if the thief finds 1 or 2 units, several more, which are in difficult locations to reach, will continue to be accessible. As for the GPS unit, it has it's own battery too which gets charged from the 12v car battery, disconnect that source, and the unit will continue to function with live updates off of it's own battery, for the next 10-12 days, plenty of time to find the car.
Like I said, you get out of it what you put into it. Some don't care, and will just rely on their cushy insurance policy, and as I said before, good luck waiting for a replacement. To each their own.
Forgot the last one
6) Faraday pouches for your keys inside the house. Yes some FOBs are dormant when not moving, but I do not take a chance and block the signal from the front door (where thieves use wire antennas to capture the signal outside your home to copy it on the spot).
Before anyone asks me for links or brands or pricing, please see my tracking security post in the main section, all details are there.
Actually, two corrections. Depending on insurance company, the cost of your TAG setup (including 5-year service) should pay itself off after 2 years, if your insurance company gives you the same rebate as mine ($325/year). Second, no problem to get your car back after it was stolen, it will be in mint condition, and here is why. Every thief knows that there is a chance that there is a tracking service and unit on the car. So unlike the movies, where you see them tearing off under highways and speeding into some airplane hanger or shipping port with containers all lined up waiting for the car to be driven inside, reality is very different. They actually drive the car to a different city, and leave it parked there for 24-48 hours, and wait to see if a tracking service will find it. If the car remains there untouched, then no tracking service, and they are home free (or so they think) to bring the car to the next location, which is often to prep it for shipping.
If you have a service like TAG on the car, law enforcement usually works with them to create a sting operation. Meaning instead of allowing the owner to take back the car right away, the police will monitor the car for someone to come back pick it back up, and once they do, bam caught the thief. I would co-operate and offer the cops to catch the guys, why not. Worst case, can follow the car again with GPS.
I've always had good luck with banks for some types of insurance, out of province medical for one. However since I switched everything (except oop medical) to one company, I'm paying less for it all than individual policies. Multi-vehicle discounts have been around forever, btw. And definitely NO to a vehicle tracking device. I'll pay more for the privacy privilege. Until the government starts tracking us physically and sharing the info with our insurers.
The insurance is definitely cheaper if you group them together. I pay somewhere around $4000 for 2 cars (truck & sedan) in Alberta (never a speeding ticket or a claim). This is by far the cheapest quote I received after having called 10 insurance companies. My house is also part of the policy (extra)
When I called to get a quote for C8, I was told $3000. I hadn’t updated my marital status with the insurance company and when I did, the quote dropped to $2500 for the C8. That’s a saving of $500. For reference, I’m in my late 20s so the risk factor is higher for me.
Pro tip: Get married to save insurance cost on your new corvette.
When I called to get a quote for C8, I was told $3000. I hadn’t updated my marital status with the insurance company and when I did, the quote dropped to $2500 for the C8. That’s a saving of $500. For reference, I’m in my late 20s so the risk factor is higher for me.
Pro tip: Get married to save insurance cost on your new corvette.
Pro Tip 2: Stay happily married for over 20 years, and that insurance discount increases, deeper discount if it's "happily".
Blows my mind how much money some of you are paying for insurance in other provinces. I think $458 was my extra to add on the C8 to the policy here in Quebec, and the insurance company has been stellar for any previous claims. And as mentioned, $75 of that is because I took the depreciation coverage, else would be in the $3xx. You would think I was driving a Honda Civic for that cost. Of course my driving record is pretty clean and I am probably in the age that suggests I am responsible too, who knows.
Cannot imagine having to pay $3k-$4k for insurance, I think the wife would really challenge the purchase if that was the case, driving up the whole policy by a lot. Would have to really want a summer toy to make it worth the coin.
Blows my mind how much money some of you are paying for insurance in other provinces. I think $458 was my extra to add on the C8 to the policy here in Quebec, and the insurance company has been stellar for any previous claims. And as mentioned, $75 of that is because I took the depreciation coverage, else would be in the $3xx. You would think I was driving a Honda Civic for that cost. Of course my driving record is pretty clean and I am probably in the age that suggests I am responsible too, who knows.
Cannot imagine having to pay $3k-$4k for insurance, I think the wife would really challenge the purchase if that was the case, driving up the whole policy by a lot. Would have to really want a summer toy to make it worth the coin.
Weird what some people pay compared to others. My Vette, my Lincoln, my diesel truck, my Toyota daily, my 14 foot utility trailer, my 12 foot enclosed trailer, and my Can-Am ATV, all with low deductibles cost me $2700 yearly and I get $400 of that back when I park the Vette in the winter. Good driving record and been with the same provider for 40 years.
Wawanesa. Have had superb service anytime I've had to use them. My house and farm policy is also with them.
Like I said before, location and actuaries!
High density areas with high accident rates pay more.
Low density areas with relatively low accident rates pay a lot less because it costs the insurers less in those areas.
I would consider Montreal a high density area and high accident rate, so not sure how that theory applies here when some of us have extremely low rates. Guessing driving record and tracking decide play a major role for the lower price
Unless you meant an individual’s accident rate in which case yeah drives the price up for sure.
No, I mean what I said. They go by actuaries. That includes a lot of things like married status, closeness to fire hydrants etc. etc. It also depends on volume. A high volume insurer can afford to charge less. etc. etc. All included in their actuaries. Your education plays a large role with many insurers. All included in their actuaries.
Insurers are in it for PROFIT! LOL
One of the biggest factors is your postal code. I once moved three blocks, into a different postal code, and insurance on two cars dropped $800.
Car insurance in Quebec has always been much lower than in other provinces, especially Ontario and BC.
www.surex.com
Car Insurance: Quebec vs Ontario | Surex
The cost of getting car insurance in Canada greatly varies from province to province. Read our article about car insurance in Quebec vs Ontario to learn more.
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