Interesting idea about all these stolen cars
11-10-2007, 09:19 AM
#23
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Summer, I think that's what happened also. Apparently, someone is getting keys cut using VIN numbers. I have a few contacts who are doing some research into this to see if it is possible without being reported to GM.
The insurance co. paid, but they really weren't interested in solving the crime. I thought with as many investigators they would try, but I was the one who was investigated. Apparently they get scammed a lot. But after they did a a background check on me and my wife they paid right away. However, I am about $2500 in the hole. I did not have gap ins. so all my mods were lost, not to mention my wife's .38
The insurance co. paid, but they really weren't interested in solving the crime. I thought with as many investigators they would try, but I was the one who was investigated. Apparently they get scammed a lot. But after they did a a background check on me and my wife they paid right away. However, I am about $2500 in the hole. I did not have gap ins. so all my mods were lost, not to mention my wife's .38
11-10-2007, 10:14 PM
#24
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loud pipes are my cheap insurance, my car is parked in my driveway and my shotgun sits 5 feet away.... so if i heard it start up i'd be out there in 2 seconds to AT LEAST give chase
11-11-2007, 03:22 PM
#25
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Ha Ha - that works for when you are home, but it's kinda hard to do that when you are at the mall.
11-11-2007, 03:32 PM
#26
How hard would it be to put a boot on the car so it cant even be towed? or if there was someway to make the linelock stick so it couldnt be towed, IDK I agree with alot of you guys, if someone wants to steal your car bad enough they will get it, best thing to do is have insurance
11-11-2007, 05:19 PM
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Or you could go the least expensive route - a GPS phone with a battery capable of a couple day charge (if a new battery is charged and not used at all it could last upwards of a week). So voila. Not only do you have to worry about if the cops have the Lo jack capablity but they can also work with cell phone receveiers anywhere to trianglate or find exact postion of that phone. When i used to drive for one of my employers (company van) we used a cell phone to track our postions.
11-11-2007, 05:25 PM
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pager alarm, kill switch, gps, any and all are great ideas, use one or a combination preferably, also, i keep a steering wheel club in the rear floorboard for when i go to a mall or somewhere where there is a bunch of cars, another thing.....cover all amps, speakers, etc. pull your faceplate, dont leave anything of value in plain site. make them see that you are expecting someone to mess with the car, a club on the wheel, a warning chirp from the alarm, a cd player faceplate removed will all show the thief you arent an everyday fool.
11-11-2007, 08:52 PM
#29
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You know what the say about career criminals - If you leave something that is "to good to be true" in plain sight, they will take it. Such as leaving the keys in the inigition and not expecting anyone to drive off with it. Basically its like setting a trap for a career criminal kinda like setting candy bits in a trail to a certian object or a large stash in the middle of the room and expect a kid not to eat it.
11-12-2007, 03:32 PM
#31
Schultz, I thought the same thing about the factory alarm until mine was stolen in the middle of the afternoon in broad daylight in a crowded hospital parking lot in a good part of town. No room for a flatbed to maneuver, plus the parking lot camera would have shown that. If they get your VIN number and want your car it's as good as gone unless you take some aftermarket precautions. I'm getting lo-jack on my next one. BTW I am in the south too, seems to be a huge ring in the New Orleans/Baton Rouge area. Andy
BTW I saw some of you talkin about the factory alarm, I don't know whats wrong with yours but if you open my door without the keypad or punch pretty much any part of my car my horn goes off like crazy. And unless you disable it with the chip or know how to go around it, the fuel pump and ignition are disabled.
11-12-2007, 03:47 PM
#32
I didn't read the whole thread, so this might have already been stated, but all of our cars are equipped with the "fuel pump kill switch" if you have the little computer chip looking thing in the ignition key. The fuel pump will not kick on without YOUR KEY in the ignition. However, who said they want to steal the car to drive it? 9 times out of 10, it will be gutted within 24 hours after being stolen. I've seen it many times being in the Fayetteville, NC area. All they do is back a flat bed up to it, and wench it on. You're left with 2 skid marks that just disappear.
11-12-2007, 04:35 PM
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i'll tell you what the best 100$ security you can spend is a removable steering wheel with a cover that you can't pop off. you can't even drive the car+ a car alarm on top of that. Who caries a steering wheel with them, and each one is specially fit each application so no one has your fitting, and theres a lock cover on top of that!
11-13-2007, 03:18 AM
#34
covering the VIN# will do very little to prevent someone from being able to make keys based off of the VIN#. anytime you run a Carfax report, your VIN# is right there in the report....and anyone who is serious about stalking a car and targeting a specific car will already know this, and will almost certainly have a Carfax report with the registration address on it.
all it takes to run a carfax report is your license plate #.
so i guess you could cover the VIN# and remove the plates whenever you are not driving the car, but that would get pretty tedious after a while....especially for the people in states that are required to have both front & rear license plates.
your best bet is to keep your mouth shut on the internet about what you have (like performance parts and stereo equipment), keep nothing of value within visual range of anyone peeking in the window, and invest in at least one (but preferably more than one) aftermarket theft prevention device, especially one like a paging alarm (and ALWAYS keep your pager remote within earshot).
use a "Club" steering wheel lock, aftermarket paging alarm with an ignition and/or fuel pump kill switch, a stand-alone fuel pump kill switch that is extremely well hidden, all in conjunction with one another. and use lo-jack in case they are still able to steal it to help in recovery of the car.
they even have car-jacking prevention devices that you keep on your person at all times (NOT on your keyring), and if you get carjacked while you're driving, once the car is outside of a certain range of the device on your person, it will wait until the car slows down to a slow speed or a stop, then kill the fuel pump, leaving them stranded with very little choice except to abandon the car.
on top of the obvious benefit of having all those layers of theft prevention, you should get a larger break on your insurance as you add more theft prevention devices. such as:
1 - 2 devices = $5.00 off your monthly premium
3 - 4 devices = $10.00 off
5 - 6 devices = $15.00 - $25.00 off
etc., etc.....those numbers and price breaks will vary from one insurance company to another, though, so don't take those as accurate quotes.
that's fine for at home, but does very little when you're away from home. after all, just like you said, who carries a steering wheel with them? i know i wouldn't want to carry my steering wheel in every time i go to the mall, or go watch a movie, or whatever.
plus, you lose your airbag when you go with a removable steering wheel (at least for one that only costs $100)....my physical safety in a wreck is more important to me than a removable steering wheel for theft prevention.
all it takes to run a carfax report is your license plate #.
so i guess you could cover the VIN# and remove the plates whenever you are not driving the car, but that would get pretty tedious after a while....especially for the people in states that are required to have both front & rear license plates.
your best bet is to keep your mouth shut on the internet about what you have (like performance parts and stereo equipment), keep nothing of value within visual range of anyone peeking in the window, and invest in at least one (but preferably more than one) aftermarket theft prevention device, especially one like a paging alarm (and ALWAYS keep your pager remote within earshot).
use a "Club" steering wheel lock, aftermarket paging alarm with an ignition and/or fuel pump kill switch, a stand-alone fuel pump kill switch that is extremely well hidden, all in conjunction with one another. and use lo-jack in case they are still able to steal it to help in recovery of the car.
they even have car-jacking prevention devices that you keep on your person at all times (NOT on your keyring), and if you get carjacked while you're driving, once the car is outside of a certain range of the device on your person, it will wait until the car slows down to a slow speed or a stop, then kill the fuel pump, leaving them stranded with very little choice except to abandon the car.
on top of the obvious benefit of having all those layers of theft prevention, you should get a larger break on your insurance as you add more theft prevention devices. such as:
1 - 2 devices = $5.00 off your monthly premium
3 - 4 devices = $10.00 off
5 - 6 devices = $15.00 - $25.00 off
etc., etc.....those numbers and price breaks will vary from one insurance company to another, though, so don't take those as accurate quotes.
i'll tell you what the best 100$ security you can spend is a removable steering wheel with a cover that you can't pop off. you can't even drive the car+ a car alarm on top of that. Who caries a steering wheel with them, and each one is specially fit each application so no one has your fitting, and theres a lock cover on top of that!
plus, you lose your airbag when you go with a removable steering wheel (at least for one that only costs $100)....my physical safety in a wreck is more important to me than a removable steering wheel for theft prevention.
11-13-2007, 12:36 PM
#35
Get one of these installed, they are impossible to defeat. The only way the car will get stolen is if it gets towed away.
www.Ravelco.com
I have them in all of my daily drivers.
www.Ravelco.com
I have them in all of my daily drivers.
11-14-2007, 04:50 PM
#36
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most aftermarket alarms, i install galaxys all the time, include carjacking features. what that means is, you can able or disable certain features that will stop a carjacker. one feature that i know of right off hand is that if any door is opened while the car is running then the alarm starts a countdown to 2 mins. and then disables the ignition, unless you press the valet switch a certain number of times, a number that you decide.
11-14-2007, 05:05 PM
#38
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If they want your car that bad and know it's loaded with alarms, bells and whistles.........they'll just car jack you when you will never suspect it.
I've thought of getting electric cut outs with a hidden switch that toggles it open and shut. Park the car and open the cut outs. They start the car, drive a block down the road and will want to probably abandon it knowing that it's probably attracting every officer within passing distance to turn on them. Of course, this wont help if it gets towed off. That's my worse fear, your 3a.m rogue tow truck driver. Sorry tomozey, no offense to you, I've already met you and your a good egg in my book.
I've thought of getting electric cut outs with a hidden switch that toggles it open and shut. Park the car and open the cut outs. They start the car, drive a block down the road and will want to probably abandon it knowing that it's probably attracting every officer within passing distance to turn on them. Of course, this wont help if it gets towed off. That's my worse fear, your 3a.m rogue tow truck driver. Sorry tomozey, no offense to you, I've already met you and your a good egg in my book.
11-14-2007, 10:01 PM
#39
If they want your car that bad and know it's loaded with alarms, bells and whistles.........they'll just car jack you when you will never suspect it.
I've thought of getting electric cut outs with a hidden switch that toggles it open and shut. Park the car and open the cut outs. They start the car, drive a block down the road and will want to probably abandon it knowing that it's probably attracting every officer within passing distance to turn on them. Of course, this wont help if it gets towed off. That's my worse fear, your 3a.m rogue tow truck driver. Sorry tomozey, no offense to you, I've already met you and your a good egg in my book.
I've thought of getting electric cut outs with a hidden switch that toggles it open and shut. Park the car and open the cut outs. They start the car, drive a block down the road and will want to probably abandon it knowing that it's probably attracting every officer within passing distance to turn on them. Of course, this wont help if it gets towed off. That's my worse fear, your 3a.m rogue tow truck driver. Sorry tomozey, no offense to you, I've already met you and your a good egg in my book.
but yes, the single worst threat to a car being stolen is indeed a flatbed tow truck....
11-15-2007, 06:32 PM
#40
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Get one of these installed, they are impossible to defeat. The only way the car will get stolen is if it gets towed away.
www.Ravelco.com
I have them in all of my daily drivers.
www.Ravelco.com
I have them in all of my daily drivers.
