Surely this has been addressed here before, but there are new gadgets and new dopers. I pose this because I have a car that was the victim of attempted theft recently. The criminal bypassed the alarm, cut the steering wheel to remove the Club, opened the steering column, and was finally deterred by a hidden fuel kill switch. But they tried to remove wires under the hood. Lots of damage. I found some sites with info. about devices, below. What type, if any, do you use?
you must have a “stealable” car… the would-be thief certainly spent a fair amount of time trying.
I drive a 1994 Jeep Wrangler which, during the summer, has no doors, no top no alarm or kill switches and no club on the steering wheel. In 8 years, I’ve never had a problem (now watch, tomorrow, it’ll get stolen…)
Personally, I don’t believe in car alarms and such - as your case shows, if someone wants your car, they’re going to get it. But, I do like the idea of hidden fuel cutoffs, battery disconnects and the like.
My motorcycle has an anti theft alarm/immobilization system - but unless it’s locked to telephone pole or the like, all the thieves would have to do with it is load the sucker into the back of a pickup.
I guess I just fall in to that “if they’re gonna get it they’re gonna get it” camp.
I also use the my-car-is-so-uncool-no-one-would-steal-it method.
When I still had the 13 year old slightly rumpled Festiva I could leave that sucker unlocked in Chicago all night and all I’d have to do is shoo the homeless out of it in the morning. Once it got past 9 years old, didn’t have to do even that - they stopped snoozing in it. Now that’s an uncool car, when even the homeless don’t want to be seen in it.
My car has something that was in vogue for a while in the mid to late 90’s, but it seams to have died out: a PIN code. Turn the ignition on, and type in your PIN. Damn thing won’t start without it. Supposedly, it was a very safe system, but it was abandoned because people didn’t like the hassle. I’ve been using it for 4 years, and it’s complete second nature. No problem at all.
I’m also in the “no one wants my car enough to steal it” camp. A 1994 Suzuki Swift manual transmission with 106,000 miles on it…at least I hope no one would steal it - it’s not worth that much and it’s got some pickiness about starting it that would make it tough for anyone to drive off in it.
I have a fairly “in demand” vehicle for theft, a Jeep Cherokee.
I have a club, but only use it when I visit out of town… and even then I forget at times. :wally
At night, I park it in my locked garage.
If someone wants it bad enough, they’re gonna get it regardless.
Besides, I think I’d rather have someone steal it than be unsuccessful at taking it but trash the interior and wiring trying to disable the alarm and kill switch. In that case, I’d just prefer a new car, please.
Violet I feel your pain. I bought a Porche 911 Carrera RS, this was my retirement toy. I had all the options for anti-theft including: Etched Windows, Low-Jack, Viper Anti-Theft (you now the one where you walk next to the car and it says, ‘Please back away, this car is protected by viper.’) that is a laser based system with vibration alarm, and fuel and battery lock.
Well a certain ass-munch decied because the car was parked at Wal-Mart they could try and break in. So I found a similar situation as you did. I had a smashed, driver side window, broken steering column, and all wires ripped from under the dash. All in broad daylight. The crook did not get the car, but it cost my insurance 5 grand to fix and my premium to rise by a grand a year. And the extra added bonus is now, Mrs.Coda won’t go anywhere in it because she thinks it’s going to get ripped off or we are going to be car jacked.
So I am forced to take our wrangler everywhere, and only get to enjoy the occasional sunday leisure cruise around town.
I used to drive an early 90s eary Dodge – anything Dodge from that era was favourite for thieves because once you cracked open the steering column, you could start the car with a screwdriver or nail file (the second time it was stolen, my mechanic used that very method to start the car and drive it off the recovery lot.) They’re stolen moslty for joyrides and the vans are favourites for robberies.
The club isn’t very helpful because so many steering wheels are made of condensed foam rubber – if, you don’t have a rigid element inside your steering wheel, then you just need to cut the steering wheel with a pocket knife and the club comes right off (one of the three Dodges next to mine in the recovery lot had a club on the wheel at the time it was stolen.)
Clubs are pretty hefty steel bars though, so they could be useful if your chosen security measure is to hide in the bushes next to your car and then jump out and beat the thief to death.
I had a kill switch in my car, tucked away so that it was pretty hard to find and you had to have my fine fingers to click it (an adult male wouldn’t be able to get at it.)
Sometimes when I travel, (occasionally I have photoshoots in areas populated with “unsavory characters”) I also unplug the starter under the hood.
Violet I’m amazed that your attempted thief was so amibtious – few thieves are brazen enough to troubleshoot when a car won’t start. It’s much easier to move on to the next vehicle than play mechanic (takes longer, increases the risk of discovery).
I drive a relatively new Honda Accord. It has a few features, but my best anti - theft method is a nice little “Smith-Wesson” Sticker on the left back window.
I have an orange hippo, a blue mouse, and a green squishy-faced guy on the dashboard. And the locks that came with the door. Between the trio of plush animals, and the trusty old Toyota door, if anyone really wants it…well, they can have it, though please take the toyota parked next to mine instead. Or the next one over, or the pretty blue one over there…yeah, its kind of a popular model, so I count on other ones looking more attractive
I’m in the “never on the list of stolen cars” club. I drive a 1994 Ford Escort STATION WAGON!!
I DO have a CD player, but I always remove the faceplate whenever I park. I also use the cargo cover (essentially a glorified window shade) over the rear cargo area.
In addition to the Totally-uncool-car-method, I have for years used the So-much-crap-and-trash-in-the-back-seat-method and it has been 100% effective. Until this car, which wants to stay clean…so it’ll probably be snatched in a week or two.
