Everyone’s heard car alarms go off. These days they seem to go off if you look cross-eyed at the vehicle.
My question is, has anyone ever heard of a car alarm actually doing what it’s supposed to; preventing a car from being stolen or from being broken into?
I’ve NEVER heard of this happening. I’ve asked my friends and they agree with me, NO ONE has ever heard of a car alarm preventing a theft/break-in. Anyone have access to police reports, etc. that might cover this?
heh heh, I’ve always figured they do more harm than good. I’m a fairly laid-back and easy-going fellow, but they have tempted me to perform “malicious distruction of property” on several occassions. The odds of your car may or may not go down slightly, but i am sure the odds of your car being “keyed” go up signifigantly!
-luckie
If your car alarm prevented a break-in or theft, how woud you know? You’ll hear your car alarm go off, you go out to take a look and there’s nobody there - did the thief run away because the alarm went off, or was it a false alarm?
I suppose you could check if the car theft rate is lower for alarm-equipped cars (would that be “alarmed cars”?), but that’s also problematic. People who pay for car alarms may behave differently (more/less careful where to park, more/less likely to have valuables visible in the car, etc.).
Grrr!:mad:
Do I hate when I’m walking in a parking lot minding my own bees wax, when some car scolds me “Step back! You are too close to the vehicle”. I’m nowhere near the car. Who is this car to tell me I’m in his personal space? I refuse to take orders from a machine! This kind of alarm is just annoying!
I would think those silent alarms that notify the owners pager would work. Better to catch a theif red handed and have him arrested than chase him away to victimize someone else, wouldn’t you say?
Car alarms must have some effectiveness or else insurance companies wouldn’t give you a discount for having one on your car.
At least my carrier does. It’s not much, but it’s there.
SCR4 wrote:
If your car alarm prevented a break-in or theft, how woud you know? You’ll hear your car alarm go off, you go out to take a look and there’s nobody there - did the thief run away because the alarm went off, or was it a false alarm?
This is part of my point. Car alarms go off so frequently, most people ignore them or consider them a nuisanace. I certainly do. When was the last time police were called check out a car alarm going off? Because most people ignore them, a thief could break the window or jimmy the lock, get into the car and de-activate the alarm and drive off, all the while most people would think it’s another false alarm. So my question is, are they really effective or are they overpriced security blankets?
BOBT wrote:
**Car alarms must have some effectiveness or else insurance companies wouldn’t give you a discount for having one on your car.
At least my carrier does. It’s not much, but it’s there.**
Interesting. Can you ask your Insurance company about statistics to show how effective they are?
Luckie & PKBites: Yeah, me too! I’ve wanted to knife the tires of some vehicle that tells me “you are too close” as I mind my own business, walking down the sidewalk.
To everybody:
The last time you heard a car alarm go off, did you immediately run out into the street screaming “Stop, thief?”
I don’t.
I don’t know anybody who does.
Depends on what kind of alarm. In south america, they have one that turns on a torch which puts out a huge flame. Pretty effective, if you ask me.
LonesomePolecat wrote:
**The last time you heard a car alarm go off, did you immediately run out into the street screaming “Stop, thief?”
I don’t.
I don’t know anybody who does.**
This is precisely my point. Everyone ignores them. By the time the alarm either times out or is disabled, the thief has made off with the vehicle or stolen what he wants out of it.
handy wrote:
Depends on what kind of alarm. In south america, they have one that turns on a torch which puts out a huge flame. Pretty effective, if you ask me.
You’re serious? They have flaming car theft deterrents? Cool. I gotta get one of those. First I need a car…
Cool. I want one of those!
LL
My car alarm went off several years ago when I lived on a quiet dead end street, and I looked outside, didn’t see anyone, but went out anyway. No sound of running footsteps.
A few days later, someone asked me when “that” happened. That turned out to be a much widened passenger door lock, that someone had worked on with a screwdriver, but not got in. I assume that was what triggered the alarm, so it savedmy car that time.
My alarm is now old and the wiring sometimes shorts the indicators, so 6 months ago, we disconnected the wiring from the battery (which means that the little scanner light nolonger even flashes - it is obviously no longer working). Since then, it has been broken into twice. I have lived in the same area for 5 years, at the same address, so I assume that since the only factor that has changed is the lack of alarm, it is the key reason why mine was broken into & the thieves were undisturbed. Broken window & stuff dumped all over inside of the car - they decided even the radio wasn’t worth nicking, but took my two tribbles. I was very pissed off about that! I’ve only been able to replace one of them (they were different colours).
The second time, they hacked out the passenger side lock & moved the seat back & damaged the steering column whilst trying to break the steering lock so they could drive it away.
handy said:
South Africa, not South America. Supposedly, they have a huge problem with carjacking there, and this sort of thing is perfectly legal. If you’re interested, here’s a link.
I wouldn’t ask my carrier how effective alarms are. They might do another study and find out that they aren’t. Then I won’t get $25 a year taken off of my insurance.
I have only a ‘Club’ protecting my car and can’t say whether or not it does anything to prevent break-ins. I can say, however, that Allstate does not count this as a separate alarm/ deterrent in giving you a car insurance discount.
I am curious how well the ‘Club’ really is in preventing auto theft. I have heard that between sawing a chunk of the steering wheel off to physically remove it, or spraying freon in the lock (not sure how this is supposed to do anything) will disable them fairly easily.
Regarding the silent alarm idea, while I agree this is certainly better in that it doesn’t annoy the crap out of everyone, I think it would drive my ass crazy. As we all know, 99% of the time it would be a false alarm, but you just know your paranoia would make you run out in the middle of your dinner/ movie/ date to check on it. Or maybe you’d just sit there and not have a good time as a result. Alternatively, maybe you’ll get lucky, get out to your car in time, and catch a car thief in the act. Big Whoop! Now what the hell are you going to do? I would think that if I was the kind of guy in the habit of stealing cars, I’d bring along a gun/ knife to deal with the occasional owner that shows up at an inopportune time. I mean, when you get right down to it, weren’t all the car-jackings you kept hearing about a few years ago really just car thieves who were too stupid to learn how to use all the fancy break in tools?
Incidentally, how come I don’t hear about that in the news anymore? Are there still lots of car-jackings and they just are making in to the headlines anymore?
These car alarms you hear going off for no reason are the result of poor work on the part of the person who installed the alarm. I used to install them for a living, and took the time to do the job right. Usually, people want better protection, and more sensitive is “better”. More sensitive is not necessarily better as most of theses posts demonstrate. Part of my job, as I saw it, was educating my customers on the benefits of setting the sensitivity a little lower (happier neighbors, less frustration, etc.) so that most of the false alarms are eliminated.
I still happily have a nice alarm system on my current vehicle, but I never hear it unless my truck has been tampered with. Sadly, since car alarms are so ignored by others, I have a much louder siren than most so that if mine goes off it is not as likely to be ignored.
Spraying freon in the lock freezes the metal in the lock and makes it very brittle. You then jam a screwdriver in it and smack it with a hammer. The internals shatter, and you pull it off.
–Tim
:eek: Now, Homer, how would you know that?!?!?! 
I think car alarms should be banned as a public nuisance. If you want an alarm, get a silent one. You do not have the right to blast the neighborhood with noise at 2:00 in the morning because an opposum walked to close to your car. The cops should find the owner, drag him out of bed, and haul him down to the station for questioning. God DAMN I hate you car alarm users.
Having some South African friends, I mentally translated “torch” as “flashlight”, and then I misunderstood “puts out” as “extinguish”. So you’ll understand why I couldn’t figure out what the heck he was talking about.
But that link explains it all. Pretty graphic. And cool. WAY cool!