I thought I'd post this since I've impounded/repossessed thousands of cars.

Most of you rely on alarm systems and clubs which are easily compromised.

Obviously, the best defense is parking the car inside a garage...but even then thieves can get inside.

Every Type R has a manual transmission. They are also fairly easy to break into with the right tools. Besides the steering lock (again easily broken)it takes little effort to get the car moving.


First, if you can afford it purchase a boot. There are many different options available.

This is just one of several models which will work effectively.

link: http://www.awdirect.com/rhino-tire-b...acility-items/

Now, with just a boot the car can still be winched away by a flatbed/trailer w/ winch/ or dollied. Consider this.

With a car dolly behind the rear wheels and traditional dollies under the front wheels a Boot can remain in place and it will not impede the thieves. They might pop a tire but they'll get the car.

This is why I also recommend chaining the car to a tree or permanently fixed object. Its easy and inexpensive and just a bit time consuming but is worth doing if you're really concerned about losing the car.

Get high quality chain and attach it to a place under the car in such a manner where it would require cutting to detach.

I can answer other questions as well...as I've been confronted with nearly every situation imaginable when it comes to taking someone's vehicle against their will.

 

Some people are gonna wonder why there's a chain running across your lawn and into your garage lol.

 

I cracked up on this lol.

I think it would be better to chain your car to your house so when someone tries to steal that car, you'll hear when a piece of your house is flying off and come running outside with a shotgun in your hand haha.

 

I thought about getting a Club, or Master Lock steering wheel lock as an extra layer. Are they THAT easy to get off?

 

I chain mine to my concrete floor in my garage. We sank a U in the floor when we built it.

 

I think it would be easier to cut a chain then to take a car with a boot on it

 

It depends on the club...many are not difficult at all to remove.

Remember, it comes down to physically moving the car from where its parked to another location.

With a car dolly and traditional dollies all thats required is about 5 minutes and 3 or 4 motivated thieves to jack the car up, slide the dollies under the tires furthest from the road, jack up the rear of the car, slide the car dolly under, strap it down...and tow it away.

 

The right chain can be EXTREMELY DIFFICULT to cut.

Believe me, I've tried.

This doesn't mean a chain can't be cut, but it requires a torch or a circular saw and both take time and make noise.

I know Type R's are different from another random type of commonly stolen vehicle...where they're taken as much for the convenience factor as anything...but taking these steps will really make it that much harder to actually steal.

 

Great headsup from an insider

The weak link in the system is the steering wheel itself. Can easily cut it to remove the Club. Same goes for clutch/brake/throttle pedal locks.

 

The mindset to have here are layers. No one single piece of security is full-proof. As the OP has mentioned time and effort are your allies when protecting your caR.

 

Its all about adding Layers of Security. No single layer is going to protect the car on its own. But by adding multiple layers that make it inconvenient or a greater risk to the thief is going to protect your car longer.

 

I've always wondered how you guys track the cars down. Like, what if someone moves or is at no fixed address?

 

Sometimes the car is never found.

There are ways to track vehicles down though...usually if a good phone number exists its possible to find the car. In some cases though, the debt is written off by the lender and they stop looking for it...which doesn't mean the debtor is free and clear...it just means they can continue driving the car. (their credit is ruined, judgement made be placed against them...etc)

In some cases, the bank will use the court system to obtain a replevin which makes the debtor's behavior criminal if they do not willingly return the vehicle.

It's described on wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Replevin

 

that's why I'm glad I got a tilt sensor stealthly hidden in my R. As well as a backup battery, glass microphone, and kill switches. I also use my autolock and will try to get a detachable steering wheel soon, just to add more layers of security to my car since I cant garage it at my apartments

 

this is good advice, i dont own a type r but an em1 and those cars get stolen on a regular basis.
another thing though is having noisy neighbors that would recognize suspicious people in your area. i live in an apartment building and my elderly ex gangster neighbors dont really sleep at night or are light sleepers. theyre always outside smoking or just hanging out. theyre good people and always tell me if something up. plus they block my car in for me every night with theres.

 

Good rule of thumb

Have a garage.

I think there is only one reported story of one getting stole from a garage, so the odds are slim to none. If you don't have a garage then don't get an R, easy as that. Nothing makes me puke than reading a stolen thread from some dude that lives in an apartment.

 

Id love to see someone try and cut through my chain. I got it from an army/navy store, it was used for pulling MBT's out of mud lol. If they do cut it, its gonna take some real dedication/niose lol

 

true, but masterlock makes one that has 4 hooks instead of 2 like the club

 

locking the steering wheel doesn't really do too much.

i would imagine most R thieves know there is some type of alarm which disables the ignition.

thus, they probably just want to get the car out of the area so they can later tear it down.

i'd take a boot and chain any day over a club...and believe me i've taken my fair share of vehicles with a "club" in place. they really don't do that much.

 

In the past year there have been quite a few garage thefts...several in the Chicago area..

 

it does help buddy.
some one broke into my car and bent the **** out of my masterlock but no break hahahaha but i have to get a new one cus this one look like a bow now it was like 90$$

but i wanna b hardcore n chain ma sht


disclaimer:i dont have a R (gtfo) and maybe they just didnt try hard enough

 

I'd like to see the percentage of R's that are stolen via towing vs driving.

It seems like just about everyone has an alarm on their R making it difficult to get the car started.

From what I've seen, most figure their car was towed away which seems to make more sense.

If thats the case, locking the steering wheel isn't going to deter thieves.

Am I wrong on this?

 

those gojacks on that site are bad ***!!!

 

Doubt we could ever even ballpark a percentage. Problem is, most alarm installs are garbage. Most can easily be bypassed and the caR started. I do believe a lot of cars are pushed out of driveways/down streets by hand or another vehicle before they attempt to hotwire it...just so you don't hear the car starting.
I scour insurance auction websites for ITR shells quite regularly and the steering column is always busted up and the key cylinder is dangling on these theft recoveries.

Three pieces of security needed.
-Kill switch to the one system that cannot be hotwired or bypassed.
-2-way pager alarm stealth installed to let you know someone is tampering.
-enhanced GPS tracking device (Lojack rarely works, regular GPS is easily block)

Chaining the caR down would be great. No doubt.

Also, many people fail to test their security every now and then. Backup batteries do die, sooner than you may think....especially if you got one of those cheapos off eghey.

When was the last time you (anyone) pulled your main battery wires and see if the alarm continues to work?

 

What do you mean when you say enhanced gps?