One thing I’ve seen a lot of in recent years is the “turn your wheels all the way over to one side” tip. Apparently one increasingly popular method of theft is to simply hook it up to a tow truck and haul it off to a safe location to be dismantled at a later time.
About three years ago at the motorcycle stand on M Street, I noticed a parking meter had been pulled out of the concrete and partially into the street. It looked a lot like someone had simply dragged the motorcycle of their choice until the meter pole fell over so the bike lock could slide off of it. That’s only five blocks away from the White House.
Well, W. probably needed that car for something important – like running the list of weapons of mass destruction over to the Pentagon, maybe.
Besides, he could always get the Supreme Court to justify his ‘borrowing’ of the vehicle.
Actually the one I’m thinking of doesn’t touch the steering wheel at all. You have to press down on a pedal-like thing on the device to immobilize the brake or whatever. It locks the metal thing between two claw-shaped halves. Though this is moot if that part of the car is as easy to cut as jongri says. Is it?
That brake immobilzer does sound like a logical alternative to the club, though a kill switch sounds more effective since it would be more convenient and therefore more likely to be used. But I like the SDMB for the cites, not spekalashin, does anyone have some statistics from some crime prevention or insurance organization?
I use a tracking system. No alarm, kill switch, or anything like that because I drive a Hyundai (love it) and those systems are more trouble than they’re worth, IMO. Plus comprehensive insurance will cover me if it does get swiped. It seems the best thing to do…
-k
(It’s amazing that on this site, a Bushbash can somehow be worked into even THIS thread…yawn)
Thanx to all for this valuable information on the Club. I almost bought one. On TV a few weeks back they had a show on car theft with guests who were former thieves, and they all said they DEFINITELY recommended the Club because they hated it, etc. Must have been paid by the company or something.
The posters who said if a determined, well prepared and experienced pro car thief wants your vehicle very badly, it’s time to kiss it goodbye are correct. (Just another reason to abhor and revile SUVs, the choice of thieves nationwide.) However, my dad has a device on his car that is for all intents and purposes foolproof and approaches 100% effectiveness. Nothing defeats a tow truck, of course.
It’s called a fuel-line lock. It isn’t cheap or easy to install, but its keyhole in his car is inside the trunk out of sight. If the car is started with the fuel line locked, it will run for about 10 or 20 seconds tops. Then it simply dies. Glee turns intantly to alarmed puzzlement as the victim, whom society has forced into a life of crime, has zero idea what the hell just happened. He is captured by the element of surprise, and he’s usually out in the middle of the street by then. He just abandons the car and runs off, muttering curses and scratching himself, presumably looking for a car with the Club.
I have proven the device’s effectiveness by forgetting to unlock it and attempting to go somewhere. Quite embarrassing.
Combine that with a Club, a brake pedal lock, an alarm and a weight-sensitive bomb under the driver’s seat, and you may get to keep your car as long as you wish.
Then there’s always the vengeance oriented anti-theft devices:
Always keep a small bottle of good scotch whiskey in the glove compartment, mixed with a lethal dose of cyanide.
-FK
My dad’s old VW bug once broke. The keys were stuck in the ignition and would not come out. The solution? He installed a button under the seat. To start the car, you’d have to turn the keys on, hold the clutch down, then fumble around under the seat and press this button, otherwise it would not start. He’d leave the windows down, not lock the doors, and claim he’d love to watch someone try and steal it.
I bought a similar device, but it does not fit over my airbag/steering wheel.