Security Thread: Salind 08 4G OBD

[KraigD]

I have a highly visible driveway in the New York City area; luckily, the driveway is deep enough and lit up by cameras and lights so that may deter randos wandering in. But, when I park on the streets, I am concerned some might want to mess around with my Grenadier - climb on the ladder to take selfies on the roof, break-in and go for a joyride - so I needed a device to sense motion. I did a ton of research and bought the Salind 08 4G OBD from Amazon ($30 USD), which plugs into the OBD2 port under the steering wheel (https://www.amazon.com/SALIND-GPS-Tracker-Vehicles-Motorcycles/dp/B089SVM61B?tag=globalgrena0b-20). Using the PAJ app, you can setup a geofence, set a motion sensor, log routes, track location and speed, too. This device is probably what a Turo car would use. The Salind has a backup battery and will alert you if disengaged. I signed up for a 2-year Premium plan for around $160USD; and, they also have active monitoring, which I hope to never need. I am still playing with it, but I like what I see. The company is originally from Germany and is working its way into the US market.

Let me know if you have other devices you use, experience with the Salind or similar. I'll post photos when I get them.

 

[anand]

Thieves won't be stealing the vehicle unless they either have a key or clone the immobilizer and jump the wiring for the ignition switch. It is much harder to steal a vehicle that uses a physical key than the push-to-start vehicles, and even more so on a niche vehicle like the Grenadier that doesn't have a big following from the aftermarket key industry, readily available scan tools, and readily available wiring schematics. Of course, showing up with a tow truck solves all key related problems in the short term.

Vandalism is a different beast altogether. Personally, I don't park in sketchy areas or areas where issues are frequent (at least to the best of my knowledge and ability), beyond that, there isn't anything you can do to deter it really. Getting a push notification on your phone in the middle of the night (or even in the middle of the day if you're in a meeting or even shopping) means you're just going to arrive to the scene of a completed crime. Any sort of vandalism (including climbing on the roof to take a selfie) is going to be completed around the same time you see that notification (and that's assuming that the crime involves triggering the motion detection of the dongle).

My view on it is that I pay for insurance for a reason, if it is vandalized, it will get repaired. If it happens to be stolen, I never want to see it again.