I was reading some stories of how members got their cars stolen or broken into. I was wondering first, how do they get in to the car. then how do they actually steal the car?

i have a 87 camaro with t-tops, auto, power locks/windows. i want to know what the most effective ways to prevent theft is. I live in wisconsin, but i never want tol take the chance with my baby. i've only had it for a month and a half, but its felt like 10 years already.

Any help would be fantastic...

 

Break T-top.
Open Door.
Happen to have VATS keys and Hotwire.
Or circumvent VATS

 

wow that easy??? damn t-tops!!! but i love em. i dont have vats, but what else could i use to prevent this. i ve heard of secret switches, but i dont want any one to get into the car in the first place!

 

The most effective way to prevent your car from being stolen is to never sleep.Watch your car 24 hours a day.That is the only way.

I live on 5 acres and still someone managed to get the gas out of my tank and steal 3 wheels,the last one had a lug lock so they left it..Stay awake all night and hide in the bushes with a shotgun.

Get a camera and spot light that come on with any movement.Hook it up to a system that records every time motion is detected.Couple this with any alarm/protection that you have on your car and you'll probably be good.Although I woke up one time with bullet holes in my truck and the motion sensitive camera didn't record anything,I guess bullets move too fast.

 

It takes me Mabey 30 seconds with a slimjim to get into this cars. If you can fab a metal or plastic cover for the lock rod to make it harder to get hold of it might slow someone down or make them give up. I only had to do it once but I knew where the rods are from replacing lock motors and cylinders and just happened to get it on the first try. I don't know if it was luck or not another thing is the Windows pull away from the body at top and I don't know of a sure fire way to prevent this.

 

well i live on a farm, and i'm just worried about all the damn city slickers nearby!!!

 

Build a garage and put motion lights/home security alarm on it . That's about the safest thing I can think of

 

If they want it, they will take it no matter what you do. With that said...

Lock your doors. We take more theft reports from people that leave the car open then forced entry burgs

Park in a well lighted area, with people around the area. And hope they report the person casing your car before the crime, not afterwards

Never leave anything of value in plain sight. GPS, cash, coins, boxes, cell phones, etc

Anything you can do to delay them is best. An alarm might help, kill switch, hidden relay, wheel locks, steering wheel lock, all slow the thief down, and help you

Lojack, costs money, but really works to recover your car faster, and with less loss

At home, I cover my car, again time issue, and most wont get out of car to see what is under cover, and then come back. Motion lights, camera system, all helps

I also block my cars in best I can, so better cars require moving cheap car in front first. Be smart, report all people that dont belong, are driving around your area slow, looking at cars, or dropping off flyers. All these are easy casing ploys to see if you home. Some will set off the alarm, to see if anyone comes out.

Tell your neighbors to report anyone by your car or house. It takes teamwork

Hope that helps

 

Duh!!.Did I not just say that?

 

I just had 3 friends get their cars stolen. One was a third gen. He had just put a new paint job on it. They totally destroyed it. Luckily they found the the car and the 2 guys that stole it had records and cops pulled finger prints. Grand theft auto right there. I know I park mine right outside my window with a steering wheel lock, now they have a new theft prevention, locking gas and brake pedal. That with wheel lock helps. If you get creative you will rig something up to prevent theft.

 

i can get into a thirdgen in about 15 seconds, with a long bent metal rod and a pair of needle nose pliars, i also lock my keys inside alot

 

Wire up a kill switch to the ignition, and hide it somewhere in the car. That way even if they break in, you don't end up without your car. That helps in most cases.

Unfortunately, if your car is outside there is no way to completely prevent theft. Some people can even just come by with a flatbed, and have your car out of there in less than a minute.

 

search DIY Immobilizer here. I just built one per the instructions using the mentioned radio shack parts (amazingly RS had them all in stock). Blinking LED a good theft derrent, minimal changes needed, can bypass it when you need to for mechanics / troubleshooting etc. Like _nick_ said they can try but probably won't be able to figure out the immobilizer and give up.

 

It wasnt luck. These cars are easy to slim jim into. I can do it with a thin metallic ruler. Some sort of tab installed in the door would work if you can get one installed in there somehow.

A kill switch is a good idea. Cut ignition/fuel/starter. Or take the chip out of the ecm.

 

I would start with a basic car alarm like mine. Its a Python 460 and it ran around $100.00 for them to install that includes the alarm system as well. If you buy a system for your car it will come with some stickers .I put one on the rear hatch and one on the console just below the shifter. I also mounted the red flasher in the same spot. When I remove the face of the head unit there is a red flasher also. Then I by passed the vats system and relocated it with a hidden switch.( changing the VATS colored wires to black.)Thats two alarm/security systems to defeat while one of the loudest sirens I have ever heard is screaming at them when they touch the door with there jimmy stick. I would start with a basic car alarm. If you don't want that you could bypass the VATS system changing the colored wires for black put a switch in line and stuff the hole thing up under the dash. The mane problem with not having a alarm is no siren. With a car alarm you can at least hear the thing go off while your sleeping,etc.

 

Hang a corpse in the front of your house with a sign: "last unsucessful car theif"

 

works for me

 

How bout a removable steering wheel or one of those wheel boots the parking authority throws on your car after you get so many tickets? I see them on cars in Philly all the time
http://www.tirelock.com/product_p/ub-2%20pf-02.htm

 

if they want your car,they WILL get it.

keep full insurance on it and let them have it.

just make sure your insured for what your car is REALLY worth.

 

A garage and Locks that work, open exhaust, my dog, and if it comes down to it my Benelli m4.

If not at home I am rarely within 50 feet of my vehicle.

 

I'm about to relocate the battery to the boot.

When I do I'll put an isolation switch on the positive battery terminal. It means no alarm, but the car won't be going anywhere. The lives off the street as well.

 

Thats a problem because my car is priceless to me but insurance dont care about that. Its only worth few thousand if that if you go by model, mileage, and options on kelly blue book or similar and I believe that is what they do. I got over 25K into this car not counting labor hours, but I doubt I could insure it for that much.

 

That's why you should use a quality collector car insurance. Insure the car for the value you decide. KBB says cars only worth 3500, but you have 25k into the vehicle. As long as you can somewhat justify you have that much into the vehicle they will have no problem insuring it for 28,500.

Now obviously you don't get your precious time in labor back, but at least you get reimbursed truly for the material value you lost.

I use Hagerty. I bought my car for 1200, Put 6500 in it withing the 2 years I have had it. (This does not include labor or maintenance) So I insured it for 8K. I included the modifications section higher dollar items I put into the car like gauges, hood, seats, wheels that could be easily stolen.

 

12cjsuko, Sorry,I thought you had VATS to use with a hidden switch. There are allot of other places to cut into. Theirs one just in front of the shifter assembly that tells the car if its in Park .I cant think of the name of it right now.

 

I know a guy that has a 9sec 4thgen and had to store it out side do to other projects... He had concreted huge chains into this driveway wraps them around the axle, k-member and around each wheel then locks everything up... i always thought this was funny

 

How bout every time you leave, disconect the battery? Most likey the theif will think the car is broken unless he really wants it, pops the hood, and trys to see what the problem is. Also like everyone says, there are just basic thing to do and not do. No valuables in plane sight, lock the door, etc... But I think disconnecting the battery will at least be a deturent. If I were a theif I wouldn't want to mess with a car that didn't start right away. I'd want to do the job quick before the owner or a cop shows up.

 

Sounds like you have experience in jacking cars my friend.I'll be locking mine up when I see 'ol SKELITOR rolling through

 

Might want to take the tires with you when you go inside too.

 

I'll take that advice.LOL

 

Can someone please tell me the name of the large pink wire found in front of the shifter assemble.Thanks


OK, I found out the name of the unit connected to the shifter assembly is called a"gear selector switch"and the wire connected to that is actually purple in color.

 

Heres why I wanted the name of that switch. I wanted to tell you about a kill switch I considered making .I declined to install it because two forms of anti. theft already existed. Please keep in mind that allot of this is a little new to me ,but I'm learning. Any way heres it is .Disconnect the battery while your working. Start off by removing the shifter plate/cover to get to the wire in front of the shifter assembly. Its a large purple wire that runs directly from the “gear selector switch”to the starter solenoid and that allows the starter to kick over when in the proper gear. It has to be in either “park” or “neutral”to start. Thats were we want to install the switch. You must splice in to the purple wire as far back as you can so if they remove the cover they will not see the splice. This is how it works .When the system/switch is in the kill,security setting you will find that when you try to start it you get nothing. Every thing else seems to work fine but when you go to turn it over you get nothing,its totally dead, not even a click. No security light or engine light comes on. When a bad guy gets in all he will see is that the shifter is in park. When the switch is in the security/on setting the car will think its in the wrong gear and will not start ,disabling the solenoid. I'm curious as to weather the starter can be jump started or dose it completely shut it down other than that I cant think of any other ways to get around the new kill switch.( I'm talking about actually starting the car and driving away.) Next time your going to start your car you can give it a try. Just turn the key far enough to unlock the shifter. With the car still off ,slide the shifter into drive. Now try to start the car. Thats it.
PS.
You probably already know this but this system dose use a relay and in line fuses.
PSS. Get a car alarm it "is" one of the best things you can do to protect your car and one of the things I really like about them (other than piece of mind) is its really nice not having to use your key to get in your car or lock it when you get out,just a click from you and its done .You can walk away from your ride knowing that if its messed with ,there going to know its there fast. Then add kill switches to that.Other wise any one can mess with your car as much as they want .A "screaming" siren will at least let you know there out there.If you do get a system be sure to tell them you want a "ear" splitting siren.Other wise you could get stuck with a car horn sounding off.

 

wrt the switch on that purple wire with autos, you should be able to do the same thing with the clutch switch in a manual trans car.

Another thought if you want to **** the thief off, is to hook into the horn wire under the dash as it comes out of the convenience centre and route your wire up to the dash somewhere apparent and label the switch with something related to ignition or some sort of main kill switch with the hope that he flips it and gets those horns going. :P You could setup a timer on it too so that once it gets flipped it does not turn off immediately. Your neighbours will love you after that happens a couple times.
The down side is that if he is an *** or just in a bad mood he might do something to the car to, in his mind, get even with you be it as he leaves or if he drops by later.

These do not have to be switches on the dash either. if you have a custom dash and surrounding pieces you could get some cable and fab up another vent slider thing and stick it under the steering column with the ones there already. The advantage being that your real switch is buried deep in the dash somewhere, or if you are ambitious, under the hood. It also gives you the option of of connecting to higher amperage switches without the need for a relay - such as if you wanted to cut off the battery completely or something.

 

iv always worried about my car getting jacked too. i just have the basic viper alarm system, siren under hood. but i took it a step further and installed one behind my dash by the ecm so it would be toooo loud inside the car for them to want to try and steal it or steal the radio. but,,,it wasnt as loud as i wanted it. i couldnt get the siren to fit behind the hvac vent in the middle. but grant make a "no wheel, no steal" gadget. that would just make a theif not even waste time on trying to get in. my dad leaves his unlocked because thiefs kept scratching his paint from pry bars and breaking windows. but he would be screwed if they were gonna pop a hole in the column and take the whole car.

 

oh yeah and you could buy this "sleeve" thing that wraps around your steering column so it cannot be punctured. but i think someone already mentioned something similar

 

Hey once they found out I had a V6, they might just drop it at the next corner..hahah
I still love my car alot of money and sweat in it...

 

 

It's funny that you all worry about your cars getting stolen. Mine is outside right now with the windows down lol. But isn't that what insurance is for?

 

Pull the coil wire if the car is out of sight

 

my bird sits on our farm bout 4 miles from were i am living. its rites in the middle of our split driveway and the farm is in the village. i leave her unlocked with the keys in the ignition. they way i see it is if someone steels her its most likely a punk kid wanting to go for a joy ride and the cops will pick it up in a few miles usually. and i would rather risk it bein just that and let them get into the car without breaking anything. than having it alll locked up so they have to break the window to get in. well thats if they can figure out how to drive her i dont leave her completely insecure. one thing i have always done since i bought the car is i removed the c clip on the shifter and whenever i stop somewhere i pull the plastic rod out of the shifter handle and hide it in the center console under all my paperwork. by doing this the button on the shifter dont work and they can not get her out of park. and i the key switch on the column is just a dummy switch it works the steering wheel lock and shifter lock but i have a secondary ignition switch mounted under my center console and a kill switch under the dash. i have no fear of someone stealing her. only fear i would have is someone stealing the stuff in her so the only valuable item i keep in her is the stereo but i leave a broken 50 cent yard sale stereo in the stereo hole and put the reel stereo cd changer hidden up in under the dash.

 

I was gonna yell at this dude for being so careless with locking up his bird, but kept reading and I think he's the most overprotective one here!

 

yeah way over protective.lol sad thing is its just a base model v6 firebird rite now with rattle can black.i got alot if stuff i plan to do to make her a nice car but just haven't done it yet. but no matter how beet a car looks people still try to steal them. i caught an ******* trying to pick the dummy ignition in walmart parking lot one night and another ******* stole one of my fake junk stereos same walmart.lol i now park as close to the store as possible. and just laugh at these idiots. all these things i have done are simple but effective. i borrowed my friends truck one night and left him my car it took almost 20 minutes of me explaining everything over the phone for him to get the car started and he still couldnt go anywhere cuz of the shifter thing idk what its called. but yeah simplest safety devices are best.

 

well aren't you just a simple mans james bond

 

GUYS!!! STOP TELLING YOUR SECRETS!!!!! THEY COULD BE ON HERE TAKING NOTES!!!!!

 

go really crazy like to do over in africa to prevent car jackings....flame thrower on the out side of the door....cant steal the car if theyre crispy....

 

Flame throwers used to be leagal in cars in Australia. Too many "innocent" people were getting tourched though so they outlawed them. : (

 

As said, if they want in, they will get in. If they can't get the car, they'll smash the console & rip the radio out, some times not even cutting wires--get in get out fast.
Alarm & disabling are best deterents.

 

ive only had someone "break" into my car once and it was my own fault. i left the tops off over night (which i lived in a gated community at the time had had left them off many times before without issue). it started raining during the night and one of my neighbors being "nice" pulled the tops out of the back of the car and put them on. couldnt roll up the electric wondows though. i dunno if it was them or someone before or after that, but someone attempted to steal my stereo using the screw driver i had in the car for carb adjustments i was doing earlier that day. they couldnt get the actual radio out (by sheer luck). so instead they just stole my ipod out of the center console, the screw driver, and the radios face plate and remote.

 

Its rare my girls sit outside overnight but if they have to I pull the coil wire and ecm fuse under the hood. I like the shifter rod removal idea also.
free alarms are the best. there is more I do also..
Its also a great idea to have your car professionally appraised and insure your car with a "stated value" kind of plan.
ESP if you have waaaaaay more in it than KBB says and can prove it. Also put storage ins on it when your working on it for long periods or its away 4 the winter.

 

put a grant theft prevention system in it they cant steal a car with no steering wheel and sleep in your car with a shotgun

 

they can if they have a flat bed truck or a pair of vice grips.