SUZY BLUE GETS A SECURITY UPGRADE

I LOVE my car.

I LOVE the freedom that my car gives me.

It’s been 6 months now since I got my set of wheels and I have had no issues or complaints.  I was lucky I was in good hands when I was in the hunt for a vehicle with Steve by my side.  After a few looks, Suzy Blue appeared and with a few scratches and kinks, she was mechanically, a sound machine and we made the purchase.  I got an older model of Vitz as the new shape was 1500USD more and I figured that it was not worth the extra money to have a newer car, driving in a crazy, traffic bound city where road rules are rarely adhered to and knowing that eventually I will be involved in a bingle or a scrap of some sort and I am less concerned about the damage in an older car.  It is an old habit to break as all my cars I have had previously in Australia have been new, near new or a company car and even the slightest scratch on your car is a major stress and a minor bingle can cost more than a thousand dollars.   

I would hazard a guess that 75% of cars in Kenya, and a 100% of foreigner owned cars, come with a car alarm.  It seems it is a stock standard feature here and one that is not taken lightly with the theft of cars a big problem in Nairobi.  There is a 2 beep noise when the cars are unlocked and a single beep when the car is locked.  I have been 100% solely reliant on the car alarm for security, which at the end of the day, does not really save your car should some undesirable decide to steal it.  All the cars have their number plate numbers etched onto all the windows, mirrors and windscreens of their cars to stop the stealing and selling of actual car parts (not sure if this is a legal requirement) and everyone also seems to have the same type of car alarm.  I had always planned to get a tracking device installed in Suzy and was waiting for Steve, as he was purchasing a new car and we would get the 2 cars done at the same time.  Well time ticked by and my hand was forced when a friend, who also owned a Vitz, had his car stolen from Nakumatt Ukay and after speaking with him, there had been a spat of Vitz’s getting stolen over the last few weeks. 

Suzy Blue was vulnerable.

 

What was more worrying for me was I only had third party insurance cover on my car.  So if she was stolen, I could literally kiss my car goodbye.  I took the third party option as I had always planned to get the tracking device and if she was stolen I would be able to find her.  Good in theory and 6 months on I was still to get the said device.  So it was time to finally take some action and with the Vitz brand of cars on the run, I got Steve to set up the car tracking guy to come and install the device as soon as he had a spare day.  It’s funny, I was happy to wait and just have the attitude of ‘it will never happen to me’ and then when I finally take the steps to get the added security, the week leading up to the install I was nervous as hell leaving my car in any public carpark.  After speaking with Steve he told me that he just had installed a cut off button in his car.  It is a secret button that is installed in your car, where you decide where it goes, and only you and the installer know where this ‘secret’ button is.  So basically you have to push the button to be able to start your car and if someone was to break in, they need to try and find the button to start your car and I am hoping that this will be a good deterrent, and make them give up and leave Suzy Blue alone.  This also sounded like an awesome option and for only 2200KSH (25USD) it sounded like it was well worth the money.  The great thing is, it is the same guy that does that install as well, so I could get both done at the same time.     

So we made an appointment for the following week and because of the nature of the installs, the guys come to your place to keep the secrecy of where the tracker and button are installed, and in a perfect world it is only the installer and the car owner that knows where both are placed in the car.  In my case Steve and also Charlie are privy to the ‘secret’ location, so should I need my car to be moved or used while I am away, I have some friends that will be able to do this.  Suzy Blue was then handed over and the 2 guys got to work.  The tracker was installed first and all I had to do before hand was to purchase a Safaricom sim card and buy some credit for it.  I had a thought on the morning of the install that I possibly needed Safaricom to remove the pin number from the sim card but I figured it could be something I could do later; not realising how and where the tracker was put and that it would have to be done to actually complete the install.  Luckily the guys knew what they were doing and the pin number could be removed by just using your phone (which I didn’t know) and using the sim settings.  I couldn’t use my Samsung phone as it uses a mini-sim, so I tried my old Blackberry and it didn’t give me the option to remove the pin, damn new phones, so we tried the installer’s phone and he couldn’t remember his own pin number, so Charlie came to the rescue with his old analogue phone and was able to remove the pin number and we could get the tracker install finished. 

Once it was completed, with a small manual in hand, I was shown how the tracker works.  Firstly a message was sent to the sim/tracker and within a few seconds it replied back with a web link that you click on and it told you where your car is and how fast it is travelling if in motion.  This was handy, so if my car is stolen, then I will be able to find it within minutes, well at least know where it is.  I was hoping that getting the cut-off switch put in the car, I would now be assuming that if I do use the tracker in this sense, it would be on a ‘hostage’ situation where I would send the link to Steve and then he could send help as he will have the code and pin number for exactly that reason.  What was an additional bonus and feature of the tracker was if the thieves got the car started and took off in it, I have a code that I again text to the tracker and it stops the car in its tracks!!!  This was demonstrated in the car park and it was like a Big Brother feature and cool and creepy all at the same time.  Then I sent another code and the car was able to start again and a text message was sent back confirming the stop and start status!!!!  Isn’t modern technology just grand in these instances!  I guess I wouldn’t use the stop the car option if I was a hostage in the car as it may just piss the hostage takers-but if she is stolen what a great feature to have!!!  There are no monthly costs involved for the tracker.  There is just a flat fee of 5KSH (0.06cents) a message, so a 500KSH credit is going to last me a long time and then I just top up with credit as required via MPesa.  Too easy.     

Next was the cut-off switch and after discussing where the switch should go with Steve, it was installed in its ‘secret’ spot.  I am sure there are stock standard places where these things go, but I am just hoping it will be enough of a deterrent that they get sick of looking and leave Suzy Blue be.  The great thing was after both devices had been installed you could not even tell where they had been put; the guys had really done a great job.  I was then shown how the switch worked and did a few practices to make sure I knew where and how to turn it on.  Even knowing where the actual button was, I still had to have a good feel around to find it, which is great as it means it will be a little harder for the undesirables to find.  There was one more thing that we did for Suzy.  After getting new tyres last week, Steve told me about these special nuts locks that go on your wheels to stop them from getting stolen.  So he purchased them for me during the week, one per wheel at a cost of 400KSH (6.30AUD total) and these were added under my wheel caps and the special lock nut ‘unbolter’ thingy was hidden in my car.  You can also attached your actual wheel caps as well, but mine are crappy ones and if they wanted to steal them they could have them and then I would just buy new ones to replace them.

With the service that Suzy got last week, the 4 new, top range tyres, a wheel alignment, the tracker, the cut-off switch and the special wheel nuts, short of getting bullet proof windows I am feeling as safe as I can be in my car.  There is one last thing that I would like to get for Suzy and I got the idea from Jax last week.  It is a car camera that you mount on your rear vision mirror.  The main thing I have always worried about driving around in Nairobi was getting pulled over by dodgy police.  The small camera that Jax had was on a swivel, so if you get pulled up, you tell the policeman that he is being video tapped and hope that it scares them enough to not try and pull a swifty.  I don’t mind getting pulled over if I have done something wrong (even though the matatu’s get away breaking all the rules) but that would be very naïve to think that will be the only reason that I do ever get pulled over for and it is a smart way on trying to stay out of the corruption cycle.  I have added this to my ‘Australian’ shopping list in October.

 

So I am now in a lean, mean Suzy Blue machine.  We are as prepared as we can be now for the thieves and undesirables that target certain models of cars and also particular to the gender and colour of your skin.  I feel 100% safer and it is a great having piece of mind now when I leave my car in public carparks. 

Suzy Blue and I are ready.  Bring it on Nairobi roads, we are ready.