Van theft has become epidemic

[arctictraveller]

Originally Posted by Jeff94598

Just a thought to share. I do have the Ravelco system installed on my van, and the installation tech that came to my home to install it made a good suggestion. He suggested that I purchase a third key

That's an excellent suggestion that makes total sense, but in my case I seriously doubt that I would be able to order another key since it's likely that the unit I'm getting is counterfeit, and the seller doesn't even allow returns unlike a reputable seller. I see a few possible solutions though. First, I can hide the second key under the frame somewhere nearly invisible. Second, since I'm self installing, I'll know exactly where I spliced into the vans wiring harness and could return the wires to normal, third, I'm pretty sure the male and female plugs are simply, readily available Molex or similar connectors with the caps molded on. Once I get it and can do some measuring I'll see if I can find them. And lastly, I'll know which pins connect to what other pins and could simply push in jumper wires to complete the circuit.

[boywonder]

The Ebay units have the card included to purchase an extra cap/key, and the address is Ravelco's address.

[arctictraveller]

Originally Posted by boywonder

The Ebay units have the card included to purchase an extra cap/key, and the address is Ravelco's address.

Well, that's fascinating, and would make me think they are authentic, but why would Revelco allow them to be sold on Ebay at such a huge discount? Anyway, I got notice today that it had shipped........

[Scalf77]

Ravelco now requires you to provide proof of purchase from either them or an official installer when ordering a extra plug. I was actually very impressed with how well they matched the real Ravelco product, the packaging, window stickers and yes the extra plug order from. I didn't capture the picture of the plug on the ebay listing( the ebay listing is now gone). Hopefully they did as good as job on the product.

My first thought about the Ebay product was that it was picked up at some going out of business sale. I had almost purchased one, and when I went back searching I came up with nothing for about four weeks. I gave up and purchased the real thing. I am not advocating purchasing one or the other, just trying to be clear what you get if you were to purchase directly from Ravelco or maybe I'm trying to make myself feel better for spending the money.


-greg

[BroncoHauler]

So let's say you have a $50,000 van. Ravelco, at around $700 installed, is about 1.5% of the value of your van, and a small price to pay for the piece of mind IMO.

That, and even if the imitators are functionally equivalent, I won't support companies (countries) that rip off American ingenuity.


Herb

[boywonder]

I recall when JWA and I bought ours from Ebay the auction was shut down soon after......so they are clearly "unauthorized"....


I was surprised that Artictraveller found them again on Ebay. Whack-a-mole I suppose.


If I can remember I'll post a pic of the cap logo...perhaps Gregg can post one of his to spot differences.

[JonBertsch]

I had a Revelco installed installed on my van. It cost $650 for the unit and installation. The tech took about an hour to install it. It definitely makes me a lot more comfortable knowing that someone cannot just break in and drive off with the van - especially when I'm out hiking in a remote location.


Jon

[Scalf77]

Here is a pic of my Ravelco cap with their logo.
[IMG][/IMG]

you can also see it on their website Ravelco.com

The picture of the ebay listing had just Ravelco in a nonitalicized font and an attempt at a bogus trademark.

-greg

[boywonder]

Gregg: That cap logo is completely different than the ebay caps.......as you've mentioned the ebay caps have a generic "Ravelco" on them.



I'll post a pic later tonight.

[1der]

Ours is about 5 yrs old - Certified Ravelco installer