I went out to my car this afternoon and when I disarmed the alarm, it chirped all kinds to tell me that it had gone off. I checked the inside, under the hood, and in the trunk, but nothing was missing or out of place. I didn't notice any new marks on the outside either. I was up until a little after 4am last night and didn't hear anything, so I'm pretty sure it didn't go off until after then. My parking spot is well lit, and I had no one parked on either side of me last night, so it was very visible. I don't know why anyone would be dumb enough to try anything, but my friend's car got messed with a few months ago when it was parked just around the corner. My alarm currently only has 3 sensors: doors, trunk, and shock. The shock sensor won't detect rocking or tilting, and it's not very sensitive either, so a false alarm from it seems unlikely.

What signs should I look for to see if someone was attempting to get in? I've heard that there is a simple trick to unlock the doors from outside, and that there is also a way to pop the hood from outside. Does anyone know if either of those tricks leave any clues that I should check for? I just want to figure out what they were attempting to do, so I can do something to better defend against their method of operation.

I'm thinking that either it was somehow a false alarm, or that my alarm scared an amature off. Either way, nothing appears to be wrong, so I'm happy. Maybe I'm just paranoid (I was watching "Gone in 60 Seconds" last night, lol), but I want to increase my defenses before next time... I'll probably be adding several custom things to my alarm, but I'm not sure what areas I should protect the most. Suggestions?

 

I've had the same thing happen to my civic. I think it's just amateurs, doing a quick check to see if there is an alarm system installed. I didn't have any evidence of attempted entry like you, just the lot of chirps and my LED light flashing a code. I would think you should be fine. other wise add like one or two MORE alarmsystems to it... ahha to reallly fool the thieves....so if they manage to get past one there will be one or two more waiting for them. heh heh heh...

 

could have been someone playing their system next to the car (shock sensor) or exhaust (shock sensor). both of these set off my viper.

 

I'd suggest adding a switch under your hood as well... If that's not protected it's a simple matter to disable your alarm!

 

to ask others to post something to teach the newbie thieves how to steal cars =

 

everytime the trash truck drives by my alarm goes off.

 

I don't know what kind of alarm you have, but mine has a different set of codes to let me know which sensor was triggered (shock, doors, hood, etc.) Look it up in your manual.

 

be aware that if they are persistant they might come back, if you can park it in a more visible place, do it.

it is highly probably that it is just some amateurs out to try and get an easy car, but if it is not amateurs, they were checking to see if anyone responded to the alarm and they may come back later.

 

i suggest you get a motion sensor so that everytime they walk by our stand by your car it will go off....i did and it was worth it at nyt...specially when its raining when stupidfawkin thieves strikes coz everybody is deep asleep and windows are closed..the sensor is adjustable so when it rains you can lower the motion sensitivity and keep your neighbors happy

AN EX-CARJACKER ONCE TOLD ME
"take your alarm sticker off your window..it makes our job easier knowing wat kind of alarm you got and which wire to cut"
MAKE SENSE

good luck

 

you really think so? I have the stickers on my windows that came w/ my alarm, I figured it would ward off amateurs and make them go for something else that won't make noise when they mess with it.... what do you think?

 

like Bill Gates said, "only the paranoid survives" in today's society.

 

I only asked what clues to look for to see if someone actually tried something and which areas of the car I should better protect. That doesn't really require an explaination of how to actually do something. Obviously, details that a thief would benefit from should not be posted here for everyone to see. Unfortunately, those details seem to already be common knowledge for many thieves.

In any case, I have received a private message that told me what to look for, and I plan to place some sensors in certain areas commonly used by theives to detect tampering and set off the alarm. I'll also be protecting my fog lights the same way.
I'll post more info once I get it all working...