Vehicle security
GPS tracker installation, watched around the clock
A phone app showing a dot on a map is not a tracker, it is a toy. What recovers a stolen vehicle is an approved unit, hard-wired and hidden, backed by a UK monitoring centre that talks to police forces while the car is still moving.
- From
- £299+ subscription
- Fitting time
- 2-3 hours
Choose the right category
S5 Plus or S7, and why it matters
Thatcham classifies monitored trackers into two categories. Buying the wrong one is the most common and most expensive mistake we see, because an insurer that asked for S5 will not accept S7 after a claim.
- S5 Plus
Tracking with driver recognition
You carry a small encrypted tag on your keyring. If the vehicle is driven while that tag is not on board, the system treats it as a theft straight away rather than waiting for anyone to notice the car is missing. S5 is the category most insurers specify on performance, prestige and high-risk vehicles.
- Driver ID tags
- Two supplied as standard
- Theft detected
- The moment it moves
- Immobilisation
- Included as standard
- S7
Tracking and monitoring
The same hard-wired unit, the same monitoring centre and the same app, without the driver tags. Unauthorised movement, tow-away and battery tampering all still raise an alert. It suits vans, fleet vehicles, plant, caravans and any car where the insurer has asked for a monitored tracker but not for driver recognition.
- Driver ID tags
- Not included
- Theft detected
- On movement alert
- Best for
- Vans, fleet, plant, tourers
Ring your insurer before you order anything and ask which category they require. It is a thirty second phone call, and it decides which unit goes in the car. If they have not specified one, tell us what you drive and where it sits overnight, and we will tell you what we would fit to our own vehicle.
If the worst happens
What actually happens after it moves
Owners rarely ask this before buying, and it is the only part that matters. A tracker earns its money in the twenty minutes between the vehicle moving and the police reaching it.
The unit reports
Movement without your tag, a tow, a battery disconnect or a jamming attempt each raise an alert on their own. Nobody has to notice the car is gone first.
The centre calls you
A UK operator rings you within moments to rule out the obvious, that it is you, your partner or the garage. This is why genuine alerts are not lost among false ones.
Police are engaged
Once you confirm the theft, the centre notifies the force covering the vehicle’s current location and feeds them live position for as long as it keeps moving.
It is brought to a stop
On an S5 Plus the engine can be prevented from restarting once the car has come to a safe halt of its own accord, so the journey ends where the police are waiting.
Immobilisation is only ever authorised when the vehicle is already stationary. No system we fit will cut an engine at speed, and any installer telling you otherwise is describing something you do not want in your car.
The hardware
ScorpionTrack S5 Plus, fitted properly
The unit we fit most often is the ScorpionTrack S5 Plus: a covert, hard-wired S5 system with Automatic Driver Recognition and driver-controlled immobilisation, monitored from a UK control room.
It carries two encrypted driver tags, its own backup battery, and reports over 4G across GPS, GLONASS and Galileo, so one weak satellite constellation does not leave the car invisible. Alongside theft protection you get live location, journey history, geofence alerts, driver behaviour scoring, separated business and private mileage, and a garage mode you switch on before a service or MOT so a courtesy drive does not trigger a call.
We are not tied to one badge. If your insurer has named a different approved system, or you already own a unit and need it installed and certified correctly, send us the details and we will quote on that instead.
- Accreditation
- Thatcham TQA, S5 and S7
- Network
- 4G, GPS / GLONASS / Galileo
- Coverage
- UK and mainland Europe
- Monitoring
- 24/7, UK based
- Backup battery
- Reports its own disconnection
- Hardware warranty
- 2 years
The part people are not told
A tracker without a subscription is an ornament
Every monitored tracker carries an ongoing subscription, and anyone quoting a single all-in figure without mentioning it is leaving something out. That subscription is not a service charge for the box under your dashboard. It pays for the SIM inside the unit, the mobile data it sends, and a control room staffed through the night on Christmas Eve.
Let it lapse and the hardware stays exactly where it is, but nobody is watching it, and your insurer will no longer count the vehicle as protected. Plans run monthly, annually, or once for as long as you own the vehicle, and the longer terms work out considerably cheaper. We will show you what each costs over three years before you choose, because that is the number that actually decides it.
- Subscription cost quoted in writing alongside the fitting price
- Monthly, annual and own-it-for-life terms all available
- Transferable if you sell the vehicle, so nothing is wasted
- We tell you when renewal is due rather than letting it lapse quietly
On the day
What the fitting includes
Budget two to three hours. The unit is hard-wired into the loom, positioned differently on every vehicle, and tested against the monitoring centre before you leave.
- Pre-install battery and parasitic drain check
- Concealed hard-wired installation, never the OBD port
- Backup battery fitted and disconnection alert verified
- Live test call with the monitoring centre before handover
- App set up on your phone, with geofences configured with you
- Driver tags paired and handed over on S5 installs
- Certificate and installation reference for your insurer
Where it goes
Not two the same, ever
Thieves working a particular model know the usual hiding places, because most installers use the same one every time. We do not fit two vehicles of the same model in the same position, and the location is never written on paperwork that lives in the car.
If the unit ever needs replacing, or a later owner needs it located, the position is held against your vehicle record here at the workshop and released once we have verified who is asking.
Honest comparison
A tracker recovers. A Ghost prevents.
These are not competing products, they cover different halves of the same problem. A Ghost immobiliser stops the vehicle being driven off your drive at all. A tracker accepts that it has gone and sets about getting it back, with evidence the police can act on.
If you can only do one, and your insurer has not insisted otherwise, fit the Ghost: a car that never leaves does not need finding. If the insurer has specified a tracker, or the vehicle is a known target, do both. Fitted together in one visit, the second job costs less than it would on its own.
- Ghost immobiliser
- Stops the engine running without your sequence. No subscription, nothing to renew, nothing to monitor.
- GPS tracker
- Locates and recovers after the fact, and satisfies insurers who require monitored tracking as a condition of cover.
Questions
Tracker questions
What owners ask before committing to hardware and a subscription. If yours is not answered here, ring the workshop and ask before you buy anything.
What is the difference between a Thatcham S5 and an S7 tracker?
Both are monitored and both are insurance approved. An S7 tracks the vehicle and alerts the monitoring centre to unauthorised movement. An S5 adds driver recognition: you carry a small encrypted tag, and if the vehicle is driven without that tag present it is treated as a theft immediately rather than waiting for you to notice. Insurers on higher value and higher risk vehicles usually specify S5. If yours has not specified a category, ring them before you buy, because fitting the wrong one is an expensive mistake.
Do I have to pay a subscription, and what happens if I stop?
Yes, and this is the part some sellers are vague about. The subscription pays for the SIM, the network connection and the monitoring centre staffed around the clock. Without it the unit is a box of electronics that cannot phone anyone. If the subscription lapses the tracker stops being monitored and your insurer will no longer regard the vehicle as protected. Plans run monthly, annually, or for the length of time you own the car, and we will show you the real cost of each before you commit.
What actually happens if my car is stolen?
The unit reports unauthorised movement and the monitoring centre calls you to check it is not simply you or a family member. Once you confirm the theft they alert the police, pass live location to the force covering that area and stay with the case until the vehicle is found. On an S5 Plus with driver immobilisation the engine can also be prevented from restarting once the vehicle has come to a safe stop, which is what usually ends the journey.
Will a tracker reduce my insurance premium?
Often, and on some performance and high theft risk vehicles an approved tracker is a condition of cover rather than a discount. We give you the certificate and installation reference the same day so you can send it straight to your insurer. What we will not do is quote you a saving, because that figure is theirs to give, not ours to promise.
Can a thief find it and pull it out, or jam the signal?
A cheap plug-in unit in the OBD port, yes, in seconds. That is not what we fit. An approved tracker is hard-wired and concealed, has its own backup battery so cutting the vehicle battery does not silence it, and reports the disconnection as an alert in its own right. Signal jamming is detected and reported too, and a jamming alert from a stationary car at three in the morning tells the monitoring centre everything it needs to know.
Should I fit a tracker or a Ghost immobiliser?
They solve different halves of the problem. A Ghost stops the vehicle being driven away in the first place. A tracker does not prevent the theft, it gets the car back and gives the police something to work with. If you can only do one, a Ghost keeps the car on your drive. If your insurer has specified a tracker, or the vehicle is a common target, having both is the honest answer and we will do them in the same visit.
Will it drain my battery if the car sits for a few weeks?
No. A correctly installed approved tracker draws a few milliamps at rest and drops into a low power mode when the vehicle is parked. If your car already has a weak battery or a parasitic drain we will find it during the pre-install check and tell you, rather than fitting a tracker and letting it take the blame.
Related work
Booked in the same visit
Ghost Immobiliser Installation
The other half of the job. Fitted in the same visit, so the trim only comes off once.
Read moreAdvanced Vehicle Diagnostics
A pre-install scan often turns up the parasitic drain or tired battery behind an unreliable car.
Read moreHID, LED & Lighting Upgrades
While the vehicle is with us, the other job most owners have been putting off.
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Protect it properly
Tell us what you drive and where it sits overnight
Send your registration, and your insurer's requirement if they have given you one. We will come back with the right category, the fitting price, the subscription cost in writing and the next slot at the workshop.