I find this forum intuitive and helpfull in many ways, However, one category I don't see is security issues/ideas.

I lost my brand new F250 King Ranch on the 7th of October at a mall. I have to tell you, the empty feeling in my stomach when I approached the spot in the parking lot where I Left my truck, and it wasn't there! I felt beyond violated!

To my surprise I learned alot about insurance companies in the past ten days, and to those of you that have increased the value of your vehicle by adding aftermarket accessories, if you want a dime of it back after your vehicle is stolen, you need to go back to your insurance jockey and make sure you get an addendum to your policy. I lost 24k because I was mis-represented by my insurance agent.

I would love to see a category added to this forum on different ideas of protecting your investment as well as advise, and even different rates from around the forum of what insurance companies are charging to add to your policy this extra equiptment.

It would also be awesome to share thoughts and ideas of how to and what works the best to protect/shut-down/and self track your vehicle to insure recovery in a timely fashion, rather than waiting by chance for it to turn up. There are many name brands out there, and some guidance or opinions of what works the best should be shared.

On a lighter note, I did recieve a call last night, and my truck was found with the entire interior stripped out. The engine, tranny, and wheels are still there, I don't know if it was abused, I'll find out. But my investment as far as everything in it is gone. If they make it back to the condition it was before it was stolen, I will not only be able to track it, I want to shut it down via phone/satelite.

If anyone has suggestions ideas, or had something like this happen to you, let's try and make this topic a helpful one. :idea:

Hello Wellknown-n-da-biz,
I read your story and was angered at what happened to you, as I am a Ford Truck fan, and know how much you had invested, and what a top notch truck you had. I am about to factory order my first new vehicle ever, and it happens to be a fully loaded 2007 Ford F150 with all the options possible, and plan to spend over $40K, with over half of that as a down payment. And since I'm within a month of doing so, I too am very interested in how I protect my mid-life large investment. Do I consider Lo-Jack, advanced alarm systems, etc? I have no clue. And I intend to install a Z1 soon after my truck arrives. So if you can help me with any idea's on how I can best protect my investment, I would appreciate it. (I did hear what you said about an "add-on" rider to my insurance plan). I will ask about that when it comes time to insure my new F-150.
Thanks,
JSB

While a lojack is a great add on alarm accessory, you are dependant on the Police and the training they might have recieved on how to use the product, which by the way alot of police departments are not interested in purchasing the equipment to make the whole process complete as far as tracking once your vehicle is stolen and you've contacted Lo-Jack to activate your unit. Not all police departments participate in Lo-Jack so check the local Law enforcement agencies in your area about how many units on any one shift are out there.

Researching this subject of tracking on my own, I find rather than rely on the law enforcemnet agencies as my only one chance of recovery, there are self tracking accessories out there that will tell you by calling your cell phone right away in the event of
1) Your alarm was triggered (Went off while armed)
2) Your battery is getting low
3) Your vehicle is going faster than the speed limit you've allowed when programmmed
4) You vehicle just entered an area you set up on a geographical area that you don't want it in
5) Your vehicle has moved since it was armed
6) And most important....If you have been notified by your cell phone that any of the above is happening, you can go on the internet and track it yourself. I find the most important thing to consider when you've been violated is time. The faster you know about the violation, the less chance of them damaging your investment.

The other add-ons would be the ability to shut down your ignition and/or your fuel pump via satelite technology (Which liabillity is dangerous here) via your cell phone with an add on piece from Audiovox called a CL100. It only works or plugs in directly with their alarms, but it's a cool feature and after the initial cost, you can access it as many times as you want without a monthly, yearly fee.

As I learn more about this, I will post more, and answer any and all questions. I hope this never happens to you, but set your priorities, do the security options to your vehicle before you put in that Z1. The more you invest in security, the longer it will take to steal it, and possibly force the thief to the next vehicle instead of yours.

One thing I don't like about the F250-350. There is no chip in the key like the F150. The thiefs know this and it makes the 250-350 targets. My door lock was punched with a screwdriver and they were in like 5 seconds. Ford needs to come up with a better idea.

I have a Ford Ranger and have a factory alarm and will soon install a new to me Eclipse unit but I want to upgrade to an after market alarm that will page me if my vehicle is tamper with.I just read your post and have a few questions. I notice you didn't state if you:

 

1.Had an alarm ?

2.If so what kind of alarm ?

3.What insurance co. do you have ?

4.What type of equipment was taken ?

5.Did the insurance replace it ?

6.Did it cost you extra to insure your equipment ?