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If you were about to book a Ghost, read this first.
The Autowatch Ghost is a good product and we are not going to pretend otherwise. But two things send people looking for an alternative: the price, and the sequence of button presses you enter every single time you start your car. Here is the honest comparison.
Credit where it is due
The Autowatch Ghost did something valuable: it convinced a lot of British drivers that their factory immobiliser was not the end of the story. Before it, the aftermarket immobiliser was a fading category associated with 1990s alarm boxes. Ghost made "PIN to drive" a phrase ordinary owners recognise.
It is properly engineered, it blocks digitally over the CAN bus rather than by cutting wires, it is TASSA verified, and there is a trained installer within reach of nearly everyone in the country. If you buy one you are not being ripped off. You are buying a competent product at a price that reflects a strong brand.
Why people go looking for an alternative anyway
The daily sequence
Ghost's core method is a PIN entered on buttons the car already has — anywhere from four to twenty presses, depending on how you set it up. On paper this is elegant: nothing to carry, nothing to lose, nothing to charge. In practice it is the single most common thing owners raise. A delivery driver making thirty stops, a parent doing a school run with two nursery drop-offs, anyone whose day involves getting in and out of the car repeatedly — for them a start sequence stops being a minor ritual and becomes friction.
Friction has a security consequence. A system that irritates you is a system you are tempted to set to the shortest possible sequence, or to leave in service mode "just for today". The most secure configuration is the one you will still be using properly in three years.
The price
A fitted Ghost II is commonly quoted around £499 in the UK, with certain vehicles needing a higher-specification version at around £599. That is a serious sum, particularly for an owner protecting a car worth eight or ten thousand pounds, and it is the reason a lot of people who should have an immobiliser end up with a steering lock instead.
Updates mean a workshop visit
Firmware improvements typically mean going back to an installer. Not difficult, but it is a booking, a journey and a morning.
What LockCar CAN-IMMO does differently
It authorises against your phone, not your memory
The primary credential is your paired smartphone over an encrypted Bluetooth link, with an optional proximity tag for people who would rather not depend on a phone. With hands-free enabled, the daily experience is that nothing happens: you approach, the module recognises you, the block lifts, you drive. When you walk away it re-arms itself. There is no sequence and no app to open.
It still has a button sequence — as the backup
This is the part that matters. A phone-first system with no fallback would be a bad design, so the backup sequence on the car's own controls is configured with you at fitting and tested before you leave. Flat phone, lost tag, phone left at home: you still drive. You get the convenience by default and the PIN method as a safety net, rather than the sequence as your only option.
Updates arrive over the air
Firmware comes through the app over Bluetooth. No workshop booking.
It starts at £199 fitted
Roughly a third of a typical fitted Ghost price, with the final figure depending on your vehicle and whether you add the proximity tag or shock sensor. Where the difference comes from →
Extras that come as standard
Anti-hijack, a shock and tilt sensor input, valet mode, CAN, LIN or ADC compatibility, and reprogramming to a different vehicle when you change car.
What is genuinely identical
It would be dishonest to imply the protection itself is different in kind. Against the attacks that actually take cars off British driveways, both systems work for the same structural reason:
- Relay attack: both defeat it, because neither accepts the key as authorisation.
- Key cloning: both defeat it, for the same reason.
- OBD key programming: both defeat it — a new key satisfies the factory immobiliser and nothing else.
- CAN injection: both defeat it, because the disarm is not a message on the bus.
- Being towed away: neither prevents it. No immobiliser can.
- Concealment: both are small, sealed and hidden, with no LED or keypad to find.
When Ghost is the better buy — and we will tell you
There are three situations where we would point you at a Ghost installer rather than take your money.
Some policies, particularly on high-value vehicles, will only apply a discount or accept a risk if an accredited device is fitted. Ghost is TASSA verified. If your insurer names that requirement, that is a concrete reason to choose it. Phone them and ask the question in those words before you book anything with anyone.
Some people are firm about this, and it is a legitimate preference. If the idea of a phone or tag as your primary credential bothers you, a PIN-first system is a better fit for how you think, and you will be happier with it.
Coverage lists differ, and no product covers everything. We check compatibility before we quote, and if your car is not on our list we will say so rather than improvise.
If you already have a Ghost fitted
Then in most cases the sensible advice is: keep it. You have already paid, the protection is real, and swapping a working immobiliser for a different working immobiliser is not a security upgrade — it is a change of user experience. If the sequence genuinely bothers you, talk to your installer about reconfiguring it before you consider replacing anything.
The conversation worth having instead is about the layer you do not have. If you have an immobiliser and no tracker, and you own a car that gets stolen on trailers, that is the gap. Tracker versus immobiliser →
Questions we get asked
Is LockCar CAN-IMMO a copy of the Ghost?
No. They are separate products from separate manufacturers that belong to the same category — aftermarket immobilisers that block the engine over the vehicle's data network. They differ most in how you authorise a start: Ghost is PIN-first, LockCar is phone-first with a PIN-style sequence as backup.
Is the Ghost immobiliser worth £499?
If the TASSA verification earns you something concrete with your insurer, or you strongly prefer a PIN-only system, then yes, it is a fair price for a well made product. If neither applies to you, you are largely paying for brand and distribution, and there are cheaper systems in the same category.
Can a Ghost immobiliser be bypassed?
No serious immobiliser is theoretically unbypassable — given a car in a workshop, unlimited time and the right knowledge, a determined attacker can eventually defeat anything. The realistic question is whether your car takes longer, makes more noise and carries more uncertainty than the alternatives on the street, and any well fitted CAN immobiliser achieves that.
Can I have LockCar fitted alongside an existing Ghost?
Technically two systems can coexist, but we rarely recommend it. Two independent blocks means two things to disarm and two things that can produce a confusing fault. If you already have a working immobiliser, spend the money on a different layer instead.
Do you fit Ghost as well?
We fit LockCar systems. If your situation genuinely calls for a TASSA-verified device, we will tell you that plainly and you can book with an approved Autowatch installer — we would rather be useful than make an unsuitable sale.
Get both prices for your car
Tell us your make, model and year and we will quote LockCar CAN-IMMO fitted — and tell you plainly if we think Ghost is the better answer for your situation.
Get a quote for your carLockCar · 06 modules · built in the UK
The full LockCar range
Visit the shop →CAN-IMMO is one module in a wider system. LockCar also builds trackers, 4G cameras, alarms, apps and fleet monitoring — and we fit and support all of them.
Category pages open on lockcar.co.uk — the manufacturer's shop
Autowatch and Ghost are trademarks of Autowatch Ltd. IGLA is a trademark of AUTHOR Ltd. LockCar is a trademark of its manufacturer. 5StarWin is not affiliated with, endorsed by or acting on behalf of Autowatch or AUTHOR. Comparisons on this page are based on publicly published manufacturer and installer information available in August 2026 and on our own fitting experience; specifications, approvals and prices change, so please confirm current details with each supplier before you decide. Nothing here is insurance advice — always tell your insurer about any security device fitted to your vehicle.