Securing Your Car/Truck

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JohnBM01

JohnBM01

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JMarine25
GTPlanet, let's talk security systems. As anyone knows, having ANYTHING stolen from you would tick you off like hell. If you had a bike and it was stolen, you would get it back even if you had to kick ass all over town. But on to something much more expensive than a bike. Even if your car is a lemon, you want to protect it so that no one can access your car and get away with it. So, who or what do you trust to safeguard your car or truck? I think people will want to look at this topic in case they are concerned that their car could be in danger of being stolen.

Oh, and in case someone wants to rip on me, this is NOT a special topic. Getting on me like I'm CobraGT or something. Speaking of which, remember this topic?
 
I dont have any security system on my car. They annoy me and just get in the way of the engine bay which I like to keep clean and have as little stuff in it as possible.
 
We don't use em...I think my dad's Probe GT has one but he doesn't use it or it doesn't work or something.

My security system is me...I park the 323 in an easy-to-see spot everywhere I go. I also lock the doors, ofcourse.
Key is, I don't keep a damn thing in my car that anyone would want to steal. All I have inside is a windshield sun blocker and an ice scraper(and pens and paperwork in the glove box/lower cubby). I guess someone could steal my stock 10 or was it 15 watt Mazda radio. :)

One of my friends(the one with the riced out '90 Civic) has an alarm. It irritates me. He sets it off when he walks out to his car then starts playing around with it making it beep differently and crap.
 
I have remote entry, alarm (whole bunch of different sensors), imobiliser, steeringlock.
 
I had an alarm on my old Civic, but it still got broken into and a ton of crap got stolen. So ya alarms are pointless.
 
I have a Thatcham Category 1 (top rated, in other words) Clifford Concept 300 alarm, with an engine immobiliser - I was thinking of upgrading to the remote start as well (just to be smug and flashy). I also keep absolutely nothing on display inside my car.
 
It is my understanding that a conspicuous deterrent such as a steering wheel lock is the most effective vehicle security device.
I have one of these:
clubcar.jpg
And my car has never been stolen so it must be working, right? I don't leave valuables inside at all.
 
Had a "system" twice and got stolen both times. Second time I did have an alarm and it didn't do jack squat. Bottom line even if it isn't the dealers that stole it, if they want whatever it is you have bad enough nothing is going to stop them unless you do something like put a dent in the side of your own car and let the paint fade all over so it look like you don't care about the car anymore then they will not be interested anymore.

edit

Originally posted by milefile
It is my understanding that a conspicuous deterrent such as a steering wheel lock is the most effective vehicle security device.
I have one of these:
clubcar.jpg
And my car has never been stolen so it must be working, right? I don't leave valuables inside at all.
Click to expand...

Hell I had one of those and it even had it's own alarm on that too so if you moved it the alarm would go off. Pretty worthless...
 
I've got two security devices, one is the club, the other is owning a sub $3000 car with nothing in it worth stealing.

My old Civic got broken into once, broken into meaning I left the door unlocked and somebody opened it up. They couldn't even find anything to steal, all they took was the CD player which didn't work anyway.
 
A former friend of mine put his thousand dollar bike in my back seat a long time ago. We went into the bar and when we came out we were drunk... but also his bike was gone, my CD player was gone, and so were all of my school books, notes, etc. I guess that was pretty stupid. I never put a radio back in that thing. Thieves don't even check to see what kind of radio a VW has before smashing the window.
 
Oh yes, I forgot the bright yellow "club" (steering wheel lock) I attach. The stereo fascia revolves to present a blank face and the CD player fascia detaches too.
 
The Subaru came with an upgraded security system. When I heard it, I thought it was some crappy alarm that would just be annoying others when someone would accidently set it off. But its decent. When it's activated, the alarm will go off if something hits my car (or I close the hood too hard) but thats just normal things. If the car is open, even with the key, the alarm goes off. Little better. They pop the key in the ignition, turn... Nothing. Until the alarm is turned off, or you know the fail safe... thing, the car is immobilized. I think its pretty decent for a factory security system.
 
Sounds similar to mine.

Once you disarm the alarm/immobiliser you have 30 seconds to start the car. If you don't, the immobiliser will re-arm... Once started, the doors will automatically lock (although you can unlock them) to prevent car-jacking. There are sensors on the boot, bonnet (hood) and both doors and an infrared net inside.

My brother's new Scooby comes with a Tracker fitted as standard - meaning that if the car is stolen he can contact his insurance company who'll alert Tracker, who'll alert the police. They have Tracker receivers in their car telling them when - and in which direction - a car with an active Tracker comes within the 4-mile range of the police car... Scary!

Top Gear claimed that on a magazine road test, Tracker phoned THEM up and told them their car was moving without the engine being on (it was on a ferry). More amazingly, when Top Gear mentioned that they were doing a group test with the car (a Clio V6 230), Tracker said "Ah - with a Lancer Evo, Impreza and Nissan 250Z?" - all four cars had Trackers...!
 
Where's LoJack when you need it? :)
 
lojack sucks...lojack = in the same spot on most cars unless otherwise specefied...THEN it costs extra $$
 
I know that was just a joke, but I thing a people would have to pass for a security system is to look after it every now and then.

I think security been a concern when I was watching then, The National Network, for a show called "Horsepower TV." The co-hosts Joe Elmore and Chuck Hanson had some Mustang project cars. But in a future episode, a report was made that one of the Mustangs was stolen and sabotaged. I want to say it was a 1996 Mustang that was broken into and destroyed. But even if your ride isn't an American bad ass, a car is an investment. So if you have a car, you'll want to hold on to it and take care of it until you decide to sell it. Until then, what system or methods would you recommend to make sure your machine will still be there and untouched by the time you get back into it?
 
I used to think that having a fancy alarm system was a must. Now I know that they are worthless and wont spend any money on them. Althought I've considered a remote start kit for those cold winter days.

If someone wants to steal something, they are going to get it. I used to have a Honda Accord that had some stereo stuff in there and the car had an alarm. But that didn't stop the theives from stealing all the stereo equipment. They did it right out in front of my house, and I was even still awake at the time. :irked:
Did I hear the alarm? Nope. Not even a chirp. The theifs had forced the hood open and then cut the battery wires. Well, that killed the power to the alarm right there. Now they had free reign in my car.

I also had a CD player in the car. The kind that have the detachable face plate. They tried to get it out of the dash, but the thing wouldn't budge, so they hammered a screwdriver through it so I couldn't have it either.
I found out later from the police that the guys who did it, worked at the local express lube place where I usually got my oil changed at. They had hit many, many cars in the area, mostly people that went to that oil change place.
I thought about that for a bit.
You couldn't see ANY stereo stuff from the outside of my car, so whoever stole it, KNEW what was in there. Plus, the guys had my address from my paperwork at their shop. All it takes is someone to get directions off the internet and you can get a detailed map printed out to the exact place the car sits.

Anyway, after that, I'll never invest in another car alarm. My current car came equipped with one and I have no plans on changing it even with the $5000+ of stereo equipment that's in her.
 
I don't bother with a security system on my car. My stereo is a fairly cheap Sony CD player. I don't have anything else in the car of value except my CDs, but 50% of them are copied and I have the originals at home. I haven't gotten around to copying the others yet, but I plan to. I also don't particularly love my car. It's basic transportation. If somebody stole it, I'd be upset, but I'd easily get over it when the insurance check came.

My dad has the upgraded security system on his WRX. I guess it's alright. The car hasn't been stolen, so I guess that's a good sign. I don't really know anything about securty systems though.



-Mark
 
Originally posted by boombexus
Nope. Not even a chirp. The theifs had forced the hood open and then cut the battery wires. Well, that killed the power to the alarm right there. Now they had free reign in my car.
Click to expand...

My alarm has a bonnet (hood) sensor and the siren has its own internal backup battery.
 
As does mine. And any other good alarm...
 
The only car I really gave a hoot about was the 'Bird.
ANYtime I had to park it where I couldn't see it, I took the coil-wire with me when I parked it.

The only time I ever had anything stolen from a car, I had my mother's Galaxie 500. It had Lincoln hubcaps. Someone lifted those while I was working in the local ice-skating rink.
I had parked it in full view of the door, and under a light.
now, in retrospect, I think I know who nabbed them.
'Course that was about 20 years ago, and I just figured it out...:lol:

I'm betting it was the same dude that used to steal batteries for his hydraulics.
 
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/232777.stm

That's one way to get rid of car jackers!

When I leave my car at home I take the leads or something out so they can't start it (distributor cap etc). It has a standard AM radio that is intergrated into the dash (that doesn't work) so there is no point even breaking in.
 
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