Is the new Apple Air Tag the best theft tracking device?
- Thread starter WoodnotRust
- Start date
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Lets hear some other airtag hiding spot ideas, bought the pack of 4 on sale. Im in the city and it's cheap so might as well put one in the 60. Was thinking about taping it inside the frame somewhere. Or maybe behind one of the panels on the rear door?
So, assume using some velcro:
In headliner. Under rear wheel well covers. Back of glovebox insert. Back of speedo/gauge cluster. Under dash cap. On body behind rear cargo panels. Inside seat upholstery. Bottom of back seat. Attached to inside of door card. Inside lid of air cleaner housing. On spare tire. Under hood heat shield/liner. Inside rear cargo hatch panels. Behind firewall cowl access panels. Back of wiper motor. Under center console. Random spot under carpet. Engine bay. Frame. Inside bumpers. Back of side mirror glass. Inside an exterior light lens/housing. Inside shifter housing.
There may be some more I didn't think of.
John McVicker
SILVER Star
One thing to keep in mind…best practice on battery maintenance is to install new batteries yearly.
Inside the dash would be a good spot. A bluetooth sniffer would direct a thief to the stereo.
Amazon has Pelican AirTag case on sale for $10.49 right now (grey/orange). Also have the multi-color 4-pack on same page for $31.36:
Amazon product ASIN B09CLLB99M
Wondering if these would be better for one secured to frame/undercarriage/engine bay than just velcro without any sort of case?
Amazon product ASIN B09CLLB99M
Wondering if these would be better for one secured to frame/undercarriage/engine bay than just velcro without any sort of case?
WoodnotRust
SILVER Star
- Thread starter
- #87
So it has been almost 1 year since I first stashed my AirTag underneath the carpet in the rear cargo area. @OSS probably hasn't bothered spending the $25, but I'll bet a lot of other mudders have. I would say with good reason. My experience so far has been positive simply because I know that at any time I can look at my iPhone and verify that my car is in my garage. OK...true, I could just walk 20ft and do the same, but I've also done that on vacation and I've done it while my car was at Kelly's in Flagstaff getting a new paint job. I can tell you with confidence that Kelly didn't do a lot of joy riding...
A few months ago I got a notice that said my Airtag batteries were running low. Changing the batteries was an easy job and I can forget about the Tag for another 8-10 months.
My wife and daughter have tags in both of their vehicles. Recently when my daughter came to visit, my wife borrowed her car for a couple of hours. She panicked when later that afternoon her phone warned her that somebody else's AirTag was following her...or words to that effect. She had the option to disable it too...so it is reasonable to expect that a thief will get the same warning if they stick close to your stolen car. But that was 5-6 hours after she first borrowed the car. Remember that 80% of teens these days have iPhone's, so it won't really matter if you've placed it in a zircon encrusted case where the sun doesn't shine.
Oddly, I borrow my wife's car all of the time and have never received a "Airtag following you" notice. She registered it with her phone and her Apple ID and we don't have any family thing going with iPhone...so go figure?
I wonder what is the average time that it takes a person to discover that their car has been stolen? I'll bet about 50% of the time you'll know it within a few hours. Boom! there's your car on a map. Then, for those poor suckers that went to bed with their truck in their driveway and woke up truck-less you will still have a thief without an iPhone 20-30% of the time. And for those clever thieves that did disable the AirTag, a last known location? For the few unfortunate android thieves or those that ditch the car quickly they won't be the wiser for days and days.
Perfect? Well no, but how can this not be a good thing for a measly $25?
A few months ago I got a notice that said my Airtag batteries were running low. Changing the batteries was an easy job and I can forget about the Tag for another 8-10 months.
My wife and daughter have tags in both of their vehicles. Recently when my daughter came to visit, my wife borrowed her car for a couple of hours. She panicked when later that afternoon her phone warned her that somebody else's AirTag was following her...or words to that effect. She had the option to disable it too...so it is reasonable to expect that a thief will get the same warning if they stick close to your stolen car. But that was 5-6 hours after she first borrowed the car. Remember that 80% of teens these days have iPhone's, so it won't really matter if you've placed it in a zircon encrusted case where the sun doesn't shine.
Oddly, I borrow my wife's car all of the time and have never received a "Airtag following you" notice. She registered it with her phone and her Apple ID and we don't have any family thing going with iPhone...so go figure?
I wonder what is the average time that it takes a person to discover that their car has been stolen? I'll bet about 50% of the time you'll know it within a few hours. Boom! there's your car on a map. Then, for those poor suckers that went to bed with their truck in their driveway and woke up truck-less you will still have a thief without an iPhone 20-30% of the time. And for those clever thieves that did disable the AirTag, a last known location? For the few unfortunate android thieves or those that ditch the car quickly they won't be the wiser for days and days.
Perfect? Well no, but how can this not be a good thing for a measly $25?
WoodnotRust
SILVER Star
- Thread starter
- #88
Yesterday I heard an Airtag vehicle recovery success story. Coincidentally, I was at my local Best Buy getting an Airtag case for my dog's pet collar. The day before we were babysitting a friend's Blue Healer that wondered off for about 1 hour and it led to a natural panic.
The lady at the check-out counter told me that she really likes the Airtag because it led to the recovery of their pick-up truck in Tulsa, OK. She told me she and her husband live in an RV that they tow with their truck around the US. They had two GPS systems in the truck and a hidden Airtag. The thieves had disabled the GPS tracking devices, but had not discovered the Airtag. They showed the Tulsa PD the location of the vehicle on their iPhone and the truck was recovered.
So...there you go.
The lady at the check-out counter told me that she really likes the Airtag because it led to the recovery of their pick-up truck in Tulsa, OK. She told me she and her husband live in an RV that they tow with their truck around the US. They had two GPS systems in the truck and a hidden Airtag. The thieves had disabled the GPS tracking devices, but had not discovered the Airtag. They showed the Tulsa PD the location of the vehicle on their iPhone and the truck was recovered.
So...there you go.
