Ok since pretty much everyday there is a new post on this board of someone who got their **** stolen, I want to know what you all have in your car as a theft deterent measure? Obviously something isnt working here and out hard earned money is going into the hands of some piece of ****.. so, what do we do?

Does anyone have any sort of GPS tracking device installed on their cars? There are a few companies that make it. LoJack obvioulsy being the first one, but the problem being that if you car is stolen in the middle of the night, and you dont call the cops until the next morning, chances are its probly too late. Directed Electronics also has a tracking device that you can get, but you have to pay a fee a month. Now a GPS unit like the above, combined with an alarm that will TRIGGER the locator would be extremely handy... Ill have to do more research into this.

For those who dont know me, i am/was a professional car audio installer so i know a few tricks. This is what i suggest:

1. Drive a sleeper.
Dont make your car flashy. Dont haul *** everywhere, dont race people on the street. People notice these things.. you can tell when VTEC kicks in right? So can theifs, and all they have to do is follow you to your house. I havent washed my car in months, its in bad need of a paint-job, I still have faded purple tint thats half ripped off in the rear window. Keeps it ghetto looking. No-one suspects whats under the hood.

2. Alarms
I know most of you have alarms, but how good are they? And more important, how good was the installation? 90% of the alarms Ive seen on cars are basically just noisemakers. (Honestly, when was the last time you went looking when you heard a car alarm go off?) Most installers wire it up as fast as possible and shove it under the dashboard. This is the FIRST place theifs look. If they get into the car and the alarm is going off, they obviously dont want it drawing attention to them, so they reach up and pull the **** out. Have your installer, or yourself hide the brain as well as possible. Up in the dash someplace that takes 20 minutes of takin stuff apart to get to. Hide all the wires with factory ones as well as possible. And the siren is another problem. Most of these sound the exact same. Have your installer hook it up so your headlights flash and the horn goes off when your alarm does. (Just dont make it too sensative, or your neighbors will hate you). If you do only have the one siren, hide it. Under the battery tray is a good location. The harder the get to the better. A second battery might be a good idea incase they cut the wires to the front one. A mini siren might be a good idea inside the car. 150db screaming in your ear can be a damn good deterent. Also, LED's in a good visible location.

3. Kill Switchs
All alarms should come with this, but they are usually poorly installed and easilly bypassable. Honda ignition switch wires are easilly accessable and can even just be changed out in a matter of seconds with a fresh one. A kill switch on the fuel pump is a good idea, and I had one on the headlights and tailights as well just in case someone gets away, a car driving with no lights at night is a pretty obvious one for cops to notice lol.

4. Mercury switches
From the security ive seen most of you have (removable steering wheels, pedal locks, etc) It appears that a lot of these cars could be being towed away. This is where a mercury switch helps. If you dont know what this is, its basically just a trigger switch that goes to a little glass vial filled with mercury. When the car is towed, it has to be lifted, so the mercury moves, completes the circut and trips the alarm. Now, what about if you park on hills? Simple. Most of you have an armrest right? Put it on a little metal tab attached in there, so you can bend it to the desired angle, depending on where you parked.

5. GPS Tracking
Now this seems like a great idea right? Know where your car is all the time. The problem here is most cars are stolen in the middle of the night, and stripped and left for dead by morning. Eitherway, its still a better chance than nothing at all.. Im going to do more research on some sort of trigger operated GPS system so the tracking would start automatically or something..

Theifs always outsmart us, we should work harder to outsmart them.. No-one ever thinks it will happen to them until it does..

*oh, and sorry if this is the wrong forum..

And if anyone wants to check into the tracking system, here is the link..
http://www.directed.com/security/viper/gps.asp



Modified by JDM_Ej at 8:28 AM 11/11/2004

 

I've posted a bunch of times trying to see if anyone has had good experiences with LoJack, but never got much of a reply.

So, free bump anyway, security is important, but it might be better in AV or GDD.

 

Some good tips...coming from someone who's done a cheap *** alarm install and had my ride stolen then learning more about auto security here's my $0.02:
-get a backup battery for the alarm. I've foiled one theft where they popped the hood and pulled the terminal to the battery, but the alarm kept on going since it was hooked up to a backup battery hidden away.
-another place to put the siren is in the wheel well, since with a cheap install the siren is visible and all it takes is one good yank to disconnect it.
-layered security: got one of those four prong clubs as well as the alarm. Makes it a bit more difficult to break apart the steering wheel and free it than the club.

Most obvious:
-watch where you park...my car was stolen in a shopping mall underground parking where it was parked straight in facing a wall on the front and wall on the driver's side...real easy for the theives to do their business without fear of getting too much attention. Park in the open and back into the spot to make any work under your hood more visible.

 

When you call the cops after your car got stolen, what do the cops actually do?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by B30M87A &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">When you call the cops after your car got stolen, what do the cops actually do? </TD></TR></TABLE>
Nothing they r suppose to recover the car, but most of the time they don't even show up. My si was stolen and a friend spoted it, it took the cops 6hrs to respond. I called several times and the responce they gave me for the delay was that there were more important things in the area. But there were cop cars just rolling by like every 20min...none of which stopped. The best security is a detachable steering wheel.

 

make sure that you make a lot of posts describing all the anti-theft devices, so any would be thiefs can get a better idea on how to steal your car...

stupid.

 

The average theif isn't going to come on here, read about it and then go steal someones car. Just cause they read it on here doesn't mean that the person has it done. Plus it will still take them time to undo and find the kill switches ect. You can find any of this info anywhere, and if they are a good theif alot of the preventative stuff won't even make a difference.

 

Even so, i didnt describe how these things are installed.. i already said, hide things anytime you can and the more difficult it is to find or get to, the better.

By the way, im sure that any good theif already knows about allll of these methods.

 

Does anyone use any form of GPS tracking?

 

bump..

For those that are curious, check this out:

http://www.directed.com/security/viper/gps.asp

if you combine it with an alarm system you can CALL you car to have it remote started from anywhere in the world.. you can all setup whats called a "Geofence" so if your car is moved outside of a certain area, it will call, page and or email to to let you know!

Retail is aroudn $500 just for the unit.

 

I say, get the clifford gps tracking unit...let them steal it and track it down yourself on the internet or anything. Call cops and they will bust in the house..get it before the strip it. 10 bucks a month for service..well worth it. 400-500 bucks for the unit.

 

ya, u can also pay per hit, like pay per time, u check it, it's not bad at all, it does it about 50 feet winin the spot of the car, it dosn't say like left side or right side of the street, but it gets the dam area, almost right on, not 2 bad if i don't say so myself

 

Can u get a aerial view of the area as well in realtime?

 

wherify.com

I keep adding additional security along with all the other mods I do.
hood locks
battery relocation
16 wheel locks
alarm w/motion sensor, hood pin instant trigger, multiple sirens, wires tucked into factory harness
removable steering wheel
fuel pump cut off switch
removable face plate
maintain stock looking exterior

 

Nice. 16 Wheel locks? lol.

Clifford is actually made by Directed, so its probly a similar system.

 

good **** guys... im glad im reading this. im scared of my car being jacked

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by shaundrake &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">wherify.com

I keep adding additional security along with all the other mods I do.
hood locks
battery relocation
16 wheel locks
alarm w/motion sensor, hood pin instant trigger, multiple sirens, wires tucked into factory harness
removable steering wheel
fuel pump cut off switch
removable face plate
maintain stock looking exterior</TD></TR></TABLE>

get a wheel boot y0.

http://www.mitico.com

they gota heavy duty one for like $400 but its worth it

 

That isnt a bad idea!