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Re: [Autox] On-Star makes car theft impossible?

To: "'Greg'" <samandgreg@netins.net>, <autox@autox.team.net>
Subject: Re: [Autox] On-Star makes car theft impossible?
From: "Kenneth Allan Mitchell" <nokones@kenmitchell.com>
Date: Sun, 13 Jun 2010 07:26:36 -0700
I just reread my previous posting on this subject.  I'm not seeing where I
said it would "NEVER" be stolen.  On-Star can't prevent but it can deter.
But I did say if it was stolen it'll be immediately located and if the
suspect is with the vehicle he'll/she will immediately be in-custody.

LoJack is another system that works Ok but not as well as On-Star.  LoJack
requires a equipped Police Car be in the immediate area of the stolen
vehicle with a LoJack transponder and then home in on the emitting signal
after it is activated by the Stolen Vehicle System (SVS).

I know of two successful recent incidents where On-Star immediately cause
the apprehension of criminals in the act.

The first one was kinda amazing/exciting.  This guy buys a car equipped with
On-Star from a private party.  This guy did not activate the On-Star service
and I do not know if the previous owner activated the service or not,
however, the current owner owned the vehicle for approx. a year.  This guy
runs into some financial problems and decides to take the car to his
friend's automotive shop, which has been suspected of being a chop shop, and
starts to dismantle the vehicle to sell the parts.  This guy reports the car
stolen.  The VIN is entered into the SVS and within a couple of minutes
Police Dispatch, in the same City, after entering the vehicle into SVS gets
a call from an On-Star operator reporting the activation and the location of
the stolen car.

Units respond, locate the car, shop dudes, and the owner of the car that was
reported stolen, were all that the shop.  After realizing the vehicle owner
was also at the shop, everyone went to jail.  It was an Insurance Fraud
case.

The second incident, a car owner with an On-Star equipped vehicle reports
his vehicle stolen to his local Police.  His local Police takes the report
and enters the vehicle into the SVS.  SVS automatically activates the
On-Star and On-Star locates the vehicle near a City 26 miles north from the
City where the vehicle was originally stolen, and the stolen vehicle is in
motion.

On-Star calls the City where the vehicle is near and the Police locates the
vehicle leaving their City.  The pursuit is on.  The pursuit is terminated
and two suspects taken into custody and to jail.  More outstanding police
work and an excellent example how well On-Star works.

Another excellent example is the Airbag deployment activation feature, where
an On=Star equipped vehicle crashed in a rural area with very low traffic.
Vehicle runs off the road and over the side.  Vehicle has a frontal
collision with a fixed object to cause the airbag deployment.  On-Star is
notified and On-Star notifies the Police, and two lives saved.

Another neat On-Star feature is when you are the race track (Thunder Hill)
and you leave your keys in the glove box and your sweetheart has her purse
in the car, and she goes into your truck to get something, and locks the
doors so her purse doesn't get stolen.  Of course your cell phone is in the
locked vehicle so you go to the pay phone in the club house and call
On-Star, walla your doors are remotely unlocked.  Kinda cool.

Of course, you can only get this on a GM vehicle and that was my point if
SCCA bought a C3500 instead a F350 they could have had the On-Star system
thus have their truck back by now.  Yes, a C3500 is a GM vehicle and not a
Ford product.  

Also, I believe the GM vehicles have a factory anti-theft system and the
keys are coded keys thus, the vehicle cannot start unless you have the coded
key in the ignition.  I'm not sure if the Ford trucks have any electronic or
anti-theft technology for their vehicles like the GM vehicles.  

I'm not a Ford person so I'll leave that question to a Ford person.

Kenneth Allan Mitchell
nokones@kenmitchell.com

-----Original Message-----
From: autox-bounces@autox.team.net [mailto:autox-bounces@autox.team.net] On
Behalf Of Greg
Sent: Saturday, June 12, 2010 17:53
To: nokones@kenmitchell.com; autox@autox.team.net
Subject: [Autox] On-Star makes car theft impossible?

So nobody would ever be able to successfully steal my 08 
Chevrolet?  Seems difficult to believe.

Greg S.
Yellow 08 (with On-Star deactivated because I didn't pay for it.)

At 06:14 PM 6/12/2010, Kenneth Allan Mitchell wrote:
>If the F350 was a C3500 and had On-Star they (On-Star & The Police) would
>know where exactly the vehicle is once the stolen information is entered
>into the Stolen Vehicle System.  It would automatically activate/alert
>On-Star and they would be able to pinpoint the exact location of the
>vehicle.
>
>Kenneth Allan Mitchell
>nokones@kenmitchell.com
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