Smart Alert

[mphy98]

Just when you thought it was safe to go outside! Ford dealers have a new anti theft and tracking product to sell. It is a 2 way gps device and software that can 1. locate your stolen car. 2. Tell you if your teenager is speeding. 3. Tlell you if your teenager is not where he or she is supposed to be. 4. Can track where they have been. 5. Can track your mileage for the Irs and print it out for business needs. 6. Can send you an email if they go out of a preset zone.7 Can unlock car. This is great for those of us who have or will have kids driving soon. Sure glad this wasn't around when I was younger!

By the way I believe it is about $600.00 installed. One year subscription free, then $180 per year after that! ouch! But peace of mind for kids. I will probably buy it next year when mine starts driving.

 

[DaNinja]

Re: Smart Alert

I had a conversation with the wife about this just a couple of days ago.
She was travelling up to Iowa by herself and I thought it would be helpful if I could monitor her travel and location in relationship to the winter storms.

It would also make it easier to track down her Iowa boyfriends.

I can see the potential for misuse of this technology, but I'll save that for my TinFoilHat Forum.

::dons hat::

 

[ziggy]

Re: Smart Alert

1. locate your stolen car. that's a respectable idea, though i'm not sure i could live with the idea due to possible abuse by who knows who.2. Tell you if your teenager is speeding. do your really think they don't? 3. Tlell you if your teenager is not where he or she is supposed to be. again, do you really think they don't fudge on where they've been? 4. Can track where they have been. i expected mine to tell me where he'd been. and be truthfull about it. if he lied and i caught him, he didn't drive for a while after that. when he'd been places other than where he'd said, i told him respecably that as your dad, i need to know, even if i disagree. if there was no lie, he didn't get in 'much' trouble. 5. Can track your mileage for the Irs and print it out for business needs. do they really need that much power? 6. Can send you an email if they go out of a preset zone. do you really want someone else watching over your kids. 7 Can unlock car. that takes away revenue from local business, (locksmiths)

it's all to much info imho... i don't need ford, gm or anyone else looking out for me, nor do i want them to be looking out for me. i'm capable of taking care of myself and my child.....

i don't like the idea and think it has many possibilities of being abused... i don't want to be tracked by anyone.. makes me wanna buy an old car, toss the cell phone and move into the back woods somewhere time forgot about..

oh, i wouln't pay anything to have that feature and am suspicious that it's active whether i pay or not..

 

[BoatBuoy]

Re: Smart Alert

I think that's been on lots of fleet trucks for some time now, but it may not have been as feature rich.

 

[DaNinja]

Re: Smart Alert

it's all to much info imho... i don't need ford, gm or anyone else looking out for me, nor do i want them to be looking out for me. i'm capable of taking care of myself and my child.....

i don't like the idea and think it has many possibilities of being abused... i don't want to be tracked by anyone.. makes me wanna buy an old car, toss the cell phone and move into the back woods somewhere time forgot about..

oh, i wouln't pay anything to have that feature and am suspicious that it's active whether i pay or not..

You want to borrow one of my hats? I made extra.

 

[thefairlaneman]

Re: Smart Alert

Some trucking companys have used this for some time.As far as checking on a teen driver I dont think its worth the money. Speed control and recording devices have also been around for many years and you can install one on the kids car if you need to. We used them on school buses 30 years ago. If a person is really concerned about his kids driving safety he will MAKE 100% SURE the kid doesnt have and use a cell phone while driving. Just check the phones data when he returns and if the logical driving time and phone use match up you have the evidence. Unless an insurance company is going to give a nice discount to those who have locating devices I would just pay my insurance and let them worry about paying for stolen cars. With the newer cars having the encripted chip keys its very hard to crank up and drive away with a car anyway.

 

[windsors03cobra]

Re: Smart Alert

Sounds like OnStar with some more features.

 

[rjlipscomb]

Re: Smart Alert

EDIT

Sounds similar to what Nextel has been offering (no vehicle info available) for years. We used them. Can track your (phone) everywhere it goes on the net. Ford is making it feature rich and available online, unlike Onstar.

 

[Dave Barnett]

Re: Smart Alert

DaNinja I'll take a hat please in size 6-7/8 Only one I need watching over Me and mine is God above and he's been doing that for all of us through the eternities and there's no charge.