I was fortunate enough to recieve an offer of a full scholarship to college- but only one college, so my parents saw a golden opportunity- send me to that college and save thousands and thousands of dollars. Being the thrifty type, they said “accept the scholarship, and we’ll get you a car.” Obviously, not everyone would consider my parents thrift if they’d buy them a car, but in the end, with the price of college skyrocketing, it saves them a ton of cash.
So, on to my point. I recently got a new Honda Civic and my mom, paranoid as always, was afraid it would get stolen. Apparently she heard form people at work that Civics get stolen easily. Being a new car, it has all sorts of anti-theft gizmos already, but you know how mom’s are. So, to guard my vehicle she bought me “The Club.” Now, other than being a decent blunt weapon for self defense, what exactly does the club do? As far as I can tell it just sits loosely attached to the wheel. At a certain point, does it stop the wheel from turning by hitting the steering wheel base?
This isn’t a question about it’s effectiveness as a crime deterrent. In my searches I already read some about that, but I couldn’t discover it’s true function. Is it useful?
I have a club. I suspect it would take a master thief an extra twenty seconds to remove. It basically hits the window post (between the front and driver side windows) if you turn the steering wheel, in theory stopping the wheel from being rotated much at all. In practice, breaking the steering wheel would render it pretty useless, but if the car is stolen with the club in place one gets money from the company which makes it (or at least mine does).
Well, yeah, it prevents someone from driving off by holding the steering wheel in place (it can still be turned somewhat, but not enough to drive the car).
The Club is not a very effective anti-theft device, since it can be removed in a matter of seconds without the need for any complicated tools. Simply cut through the steering wheel (which is designed to be easy to cut through) and slip off the Club.
I’ve recently seen advertisements for “The unBRAKEable AutoLock” (which should win an award for the most annoying pun in a product name, if nothing else). The Autolock locks onto your brake pedal. The brake pedal is difficult (and dangerous) to attempt to remove, and the position (way down there near the floorboard) makes it much more difficult to get to.
I don’t belive all the hype from the infomercial I saw, but it still looks like a much better product than The Club.
It’ll take a car thief about 7-10 seconds to cut through your steering wheel with a hacksaw and remove the thing.
On a more protective note, I do recall a news story 7-8 years ago about a mom who broke both of a carjacker’s legs when she beat him repeatedly with her Club. She was trying to keep him from stealing her car with her kid still seatbelted inside. Try doing that with a car alarm.
My steering wheel was cut with the club on. The alarm had been disabled, too. No one heard anything. The only thing that saved the car (although very damaged), was a simple hidden fuel kill switch. They could not start the car. The culprit took the Club with him/her. :rolleyes:
For me, the Club was for sitting in the street mocking me, occupying the space where my Honda Civic had been. I don’t know if it took the dirtbags an extra 7 seconds or 60 seconds, the fact is, they stole it off a busy street fast enough that no one noticed.
My current car has an electronic ignition kill, which requires that I insert a PROM into a little 1/8" audio-type plug before the ignition will work. (And it auto-arms 30 seconds after I turn the car off). Hasn’t been stolen yet, but I’m sure they’re working on it. I think it cost $200, but it’s given me great peace of mind, especially after my disappointment with the Club.
Bottom line: Do whatever you can to slow them down, but don’t get too attached to your car. And get comprehensive coverage. A club is at least better than nothing (assuming you lock it), various ignition kills (both the hidden mechanical type and the electronic ones) are better, and there’s always Lojak. IMO, the audio-only alarm systems are pretty much useless, unless you like pissing off your neighbors and making the thieves wear earplugs while they drive away in your car.
I own one of these badboys upon the recommendation of an employee at Pep Boys. In theory, this is a great device (I have a standard transmission Acura Integra), especially if you’ve got a standard because the car will not start with the clutch locked in place. It’s very easy to use and my car hasn’t been stolen yet (unless you count the two times it’s been towed, which I do count as stealing and then extortion).
One final note, however: if a car thief really wants your car, he’ll find a way to get it, no matter what you’ve got. I’m sure there’s a way to dismantle the AutoLock, as there is with people who use the Denver Boot’s; moreover, if it comes down to it, they can just tow it or flatbed it if they really want it that bad. Needless to say, if and when I buy a new car, I’m going to have a garage to put it in, which will hopefully increase security.
In contrast to the devices that immobilize the steering wheel or the brake pedal, there are also ones which fit around the gear shift for manual transmission models. Since the gear shift is wedged between the driver’s and passenger’s seats, I imagine this gives thieves fewer degrees of freedom to attack than the club, which is exposed on all sides. Trying to lever it off would probably snap the gear shift somewhere along its shaft, which could make driving the car anywhere from difficult to impossible. I’m thinking the only clean way of getting it off would be to pick the lock, which might not stop a professional thief but would probably deter kiddie joyriders.
I recall (sorry, no cite) a news story about the discovery of a car-theft ring that would bring the stolen vehicles to a chop shop. Apparently, in a back corner was a pile of Clubs - dozens and dozens of them. It was said that the car thieves love them because they’re so easy to deal with, and tend to give car owners a false sense of security.
From what I’ve heard (no cite), the Club is mainly good for parking near lots of other cars. Or for deterring amateurs. Yes, it’s easily removable by a professional, or an amateur who thought far enough ahead to bring a hacksaw. But the extra 10 seconds or so makes it not worth the hassle to steal a clubbed car when a non-clubbed one is nearby.
No idea if the theory works or not, but I use the club anyway, since the logic seems sound, and it’s not much of a hassle.
Note that The Club can also be easily defeated using cans of “cold spray”. I saw a TV news report on this, a guy sprayed the lock for just a couple seconds, banged the side of the lock with a hammer. Lock goes to pieces. An amazingly short period of time with no damage.
The manufacturer of The Club only pays $500.00 towards your deductible, providing you read the fine print when you bought The Club and adhered to all of the written requirements.
I suspect most people did not keep their original recepit, original packaging, nor even read the fine print.
Basically, The Club and similar devices won’t stop a professional or determined thief, or even slow them down much, but they will usually discourage amateur joyriders, who are not usually equipped to cut the steering wheel or otherwise bypass them. In my area, joyriding is the most common cause of auto theft, especially for car models which aren’t sought after by the pros.
If you have a car that is at high risk for theft for resale or chopping, I wouldn’t rely on The Club. If not, it may make the difference between your car being stolen or the one next to it.
