how many of you have known someone or been personally affected by vandalism and theives. I'm trying to come up with good reliable solutions to keep our cars more secure, if anyone has any suggestions, please post them so that we can stop the destruction.

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candyred 91z (why do u ask officer; doesn't it sound stock?)

 

i just deal with it, or find out who did it, then drag them behinde my car





ruger stoping theives Since 1871

 

Unfortunately I have

 

IMO the main security deficency with our cars is one that physically nothing can be done about. When my crap got jacked all they did was stick something between the top of the window and the weatherstrip and pry out until they could reach in and unlock it. This honestly might be a good thing in some situations and save you a broken window, but on the otherhand if they would have broken my window I probably would have woken and got them.

An alarm is essential for anyone with a good system, or who lives in high theft areas (and a good idea for anyone with a nice ride in general). Also be mindful of where you park your rides, if its gonna be sitting for a while get it in a garage or put a locking cover on it. At night park it somewhere you can look out a window and see it, and preferably somewhere that is lit or at least has a motion light(criminals are like cockroaches). Tinted windows and hatch shades help to hide your stuff from would be theives as well, and its not a good idea to leave cd cases and whatnot out in plain view.

Also be mindful of suspicious activity, lately theres been some little pos ricebox that ive heard driving past my house late at night (like 3 times in 45mins. in a couple instances), anyways should they decide to stop and pay me a visit somenight my 12Ga anti theft sytem is locked, cocked and ready to rock....

just ideas and food for though, but you can never be totally secure.

 

I've had my CD's stolen and the car keyed and "scraped"

Lemme know if you come up with something!


Ken

 

you know...if someone wants your stuff badly enough, they will get it.

unfortunately we live in a society of jelousy. People are very jelous of the next person and want them to be on the same level so they either destroy or steal something that brings them down to their level.

i have an alarm on my car and i havent gotten hit (yet) but i am very fussy where and when i drive and park my car. the best way to keep people away is to not flash your "goodies"

iroc2nv

 

WOW, Kandied, only took someone 4 years to post, hope you whernt waiting to long for an awser

 

lol....nice one guys. i remember that sig.





nope i figured it out. two separate brains, 6 sirens all 140+db with 3 hidden cameras and one looping recorder activated by the door locks i think she's covered.

o'yeah, the air ride helps too from helping the car get towed. can't drive if you can't turn the wheels or get under her.

 

i just cover mine when ever it is going to be sitting in one spot for any length of time so people dont know what it is. and my girl and i usually take her civic to the movies and all the other crowded places cause its a civic and theres nothing really to worry about since there is nine million others like it in the parking lot. But i hate these idiots who see a nice car and key it or do something stupid to it. i was waiting for my girl to come home one day and there were these kids playing with those plastic bb guns when i pulled up to her house and when i was still in the car one of the idiot kids shot one at my car and then started to laugh i got out and he allmost sh** his pants cause my angry face is kinda scary. so i told him off and then his mom pulled up and i told her what happend and all she did was tell him to stop playing in the front yard with the guns before he hit his fathers piece of crap sable i was about to tell that b*@$h off but whatever at least the kid is scared of me now. people have no respect of other peoples things especially here in cally where the idiot spoild kids get there brand new ss camaros and silverados with 80 inch lifts the day they turn 16.

 

i have a car cover that makes my car look like a civic....





as far as the kids thing, go get one a shoot back.

:lala:

 

jw kan, you dont park your car at public places and parking lots do you?

 

did you get my e mail kandied

 

you talking to me? sure i do...no where i have to leave it for extended time. i do have a wireless link to my laptop though so when i use to go to college i had a small window on my screen which shows all 3 cameras.

however one day it didn't do much as two girls were leaving class i could see one girl swing her door into my quarter. i was on the 2nd floor and couldn't get down in time to do anything about it. too far away to get the plate too.

learned my lesson on that one, even if you can see it you can't always stop something from happening. should have seen the look on people in class though.

priceless...

teacher asked me if the car could drive on it's own too, told him one day....

 

yep i got it.

 

two girls were leaving class i could see one girl swing her door into my quarter.

thats why i will never Park mine anywhere. My dads whole vette was smashed (windows dented the body, scratches). And guess who drove it and parked it ( yes me) all the blame went to me. Sorry to hear about your story. Was the damage bad or just a dent?

 

took a chip out of the paint....that was years ago though.

 

ill never park mine at school i got lucky my work is right down the street so i just park it in my usual spot cover it and walk to class.

 

You know one thing that makes me insane? I will be at lets say.. walmart, and because I don't want a door rammed into my car, I park as far away as humanly possible from any other vehicle ( I can always use the exercise anyways), but what always happens is that some retard in an 84 escort decides to park right next to me. Never fails. i hate people.

 

same here i park way out in the boonies and some white trash a hole with a 20 different color land barge parks 2 inches from your door.

 

thats how it works man..

and usually..there are like a million other spots to choose but they feel that their car will be more safe beside yours..i dont get it..

iroc2nv

 

I hate parking in my college parking lots. The spots are so small. I always try and park where theres not a lot of people so people in a rush dont mess my car up. I also try to park in the first or last spot in a row, and park as far as i can away from the next spot so my car has a less chance of getting dinged.

 

Here's my take on security.

The single most effective thing you can do is to NOT draw attention to yourself in the first place. This goes even for people with a high profile car like Kandied has. Keep your car out of sight at all times, and don't do things that draw attention to it around your home neighborhood. Don't boom your system near home. Don't keep the car wide open for people to see. Typically, stereo equipment is what's most likely to draw the attention of a thief, so keeping it turned down (and keeping your mouth shut) is the best thing you can do to keep what you have. Stereo equipment is the number 1 target of theives. Having your whole car stolen is not much of a risk. Let's face it... even a car as nice as Kandied's is not in much risk of being stolen. No matter how nice it is, it's still just a camaro, and is still only valuable as a parts car, and if I was taking the risk to steal a car, it would either be something that would have a very high parts demand (this is why cars like the Camry is such a hot item for thieves), or something whose parts are worth a lot (why Escalades and Mercedes are hot items). A thirdgen just doesn't fit the mold of either. It's what's in your car that's most at risk.

It's true that if somebody wants your car bad enough, ultimately they can get it. The best you can do is work at making sure they have no desire to take it in the first place.

 

i have to agree with the keeping your stereo down around your home and work. also even if i am going to be inside my house for 1/2 hour car goes into the garage. My 40 Calibur Glock 23 helps too

 

yep....i don't know how many times i've seen people drive by in my neighborhood or local parking lots showing off their system trying to make noise. your just asking for trouble advertising. personally since i'm always by the car it isn't a concern for me but i've seen people try to remember my vin and plates.

caught one guy doing it at a local cruise night and told him to go ahead try it, the rottweilers guard it at night. he looked at me and walked away.....if i didn't have insurance though i would worry.

 

Yeah i left the maro outside an apartment parking lot for just 1 minute. Then next sec i here these subs going off, and outside the lot i see all these cars and kids surronding my car puttin there hands on the body and the all over the winshield look inside my car. man i was mad. Theres to many ppl showin off around here and hangin and blastin there music at parking lots. Maybe i should get rottweilers

 

So YOU'RE the guy! When you've got my spot, I park waaaaay out there.

But like Dave's, my Formula is always in the garage when I'm home, and it's always within site if I take it out. But if I have places to go that don't involve joy-riding, then I use my daily car. But when my Formula was still my daily driver, I always let it stay dirty... very unattractive.

 

I gotta agree with iroc2nv. When it comes to cars cool is cool and cool means everyone likes it and wants it and some people will take it. My bird was broken into a couple times and the camaro has been attempted but not sucessful. I have a good alarm dark tint. sad part is i live in a decent hood and this is where any attempts have been made are in teh driveway. In a well lit driveway. I dont have the option of parkign in a gargae right now becasue as cool as my rs is my dads rides are cooler and take priority.

When i am at work i can park inside the zamboni room which is basically a huge garage but durign the day i usually will park it out in the front lot. I aprk all the way out and usually crooked and the peopel in the frotn of the building can see it however i cant. They knwo though if there is suspicious crap goign on to call me. I figure if its out all by itself in broad daylight in view of the street the thief is going to have to be very gutsy to try. So far so good. Fri and sat nights i work ice maintance and am there till 4 or 5 am. About 11pm or so when people start leavign i pull it in the zamboni room inside where i dont have to worry about it or atleast right behind the door ot go outside so i can hear the alarm if it goes off.

The nice thing is too smart thieves who just wanna joy ride or whatever usually go for low profile. HOnda civics are perfect becasue i see 10k of them every mornign. A camaro liek mine or kandied's or a nice camaro will draw too much attention for a smart theif. People will look its too risky. I hung out with soem people back before i got some sense that were involved in activities involving stolen parts and cars and they all went for stock civics or vans or crap that they could lay low in. If it was something nice it was put away real fast and stripped within a few days.


For everyone with keyless entry watch it. When i first had mine done the actuators for the door locks were all crapped up and soemtimes the pass. door wouldnt lock. After lubign the deals it locked fine but i still make it a point to hit the door lock before i get out and then hit the keyless and alarm as a double check.

I think teh biggest thing is with good insurance and not to worry so much. My problem was with teh bird is i was so worried about it that liek i'd go to a movie with my chick and every 25 minutes i'd walk outside ot check on it becasue there had been thefts in the area before. Its just kinda gets old constantly worryign about the car. I've learned to not worry so much and let it go somewhat. We have real good Ins. becasue of the other cars and the way it is set up is they will cover any physical part of the car that is stolen or vandalized. Cd's or phones arent covered but lets say someone steals my system and soem underhood stuff all i have to do is show the ins my reciepts and they will replace the parts taken. My dad had this happen on his 81Z28 they broke a ttop when he first got it and stole the radio and soem other misc parts(they knew what they needed) we gave reciepts and we had the idnetical parts the next week.

 

The RS has a viper alarm with the pager, motion sensors on the windows, and an extra horn inside. Pretty much what kandied wanted w/out the camera's. I'd say 80% of the time im within distance for the pager to work, the other time is usually at work, and i park by people i know (fellow employee's cars, or peopel taht work in the plaza that value their cars as well).. and at work i deliver, so i know i can check on it often. The Z has a lot less security, but when i take it out, it's most often not out of sight. At night, the RS blocks in the Z, and the motion sensors will go off if someone gets too close to the window, thus one car protects another. I sleep the keys next to me on the dresser, and a baseball bat next to that. ..if neone goes near my cars, they better pray the cops catch them before i do

 

LMAO

Sorry, I don't usually post *****, but that is the story of my life.

 

I am some what new into the whole car thing, and have a beautiful 89 iroc, and learning new stuff everyday (only 16). But i was reading the post and couldn't understand what some one would do with you vin number or plate number/letters? can some one fill me in on this... thanks albert III

 

haven't seen many movies have you....

pretty simple really, basically it allows them on newer vehicles to check your stock options for something called a "list".

or with cars like ours it allows someone to track down your address. just in case you decide to go out of town sometime....i wouldn't worry to much unless you have alot into your car but it happens all the time around here.

 

When I was installing my alarm, I accidentally spliced the hatch motor's line into the "start" power line (as described in the Alpine instructions). The hatch would not open unless the key was in the "start" or "run" positions. This seemed like an easy fix to the problem that had claimed my last stereo.

No thefts yet, now that hatch power has been rerouted.

 

the guy who did my alarm and keyless did the same thing william. Before with teh key off you could hit the button and the hatch would pop which i didnt like. He put teh hatch on my keyless so i can hit teh button and open my hatch and now the car has to be in hte on position to pop the hatch from inside. So now they can break the window and push the button but teh hatch wont open. The way my system is in the back the hatch has to be open to pull out hte system because of the amp rack. So even if tehy break my back window they still cant get he subs and amp out.

 

You should see the razor wire subwoofer speaker grills I made.
that way a thief gets his hands cut up nasty while his backside is peppered with bird shot.

 

wait until that theif comes back with his friends and totally messes up your car.... sound's like a bad idea to me... I would just go with the loud-*** sirens and the motion sensors...

one thing I am setting up is I am buying a tone generator of around 60hz, and i'm gonna make it so when my alarm goes off, my subs pound as loud as they can, along with my sirens... if that doesn't scare a theif away, what the hell will?

 

60 hz eh?..goin for the brown note?

 

not much you can do about this....

this was Jan 5th..












after someone tried to steal it a couple of months ago (they were disturbed before they even touched it) it now lives in a locked garage..

 

did you leave the faceplate on ?

i've had my car broken into and over a grand worth of tools stolen, paging alarm fixed all that

 

yup ever since they installed that little blinking light on my dashboard, I haven't been broken into... but I bet the biggest factor, is that people that live near me that would break into my car, notice that I have a paging alarm, and/or a really loud-*** alarm... plus I never ever leave my faceplate in overnight... its just common sense


btw I love the way your console looks, the way it's carpeted on the side... is that stock? my bird has the fake leather crap that the whole console is made out of, including the lid... I guess vinyl?

 

something I have ben wanting to create butdo not have sufficient funds.

when someone steals your car they usually break the left side of the column and bypass the tumbler destroying anything in the way.

Well I wanted to make a light metal shroud dealie that wraps over the whole column piece and looks stock, totally stopping the thief from breaking intot he column. Only way someone will get past that is with a blowtorch lol.

 

guns are bad, mmmm kay.

 

yup. thing is, the car is kept in a really quiet cul de sac street, its the first known car crime in 10 years...

 

With everything going on in the world today, I don't know how there are still people out there driving even without a basic alarm. Even without attracting attention, it is only a matter of time.

My car is not even close to being done (maybe a year or 2), but right now I am putting into it about a grand a month and a lot of time. And a lot of guys here put just as much money and love into their cars.

Kandied, that sounds crazy, but how much did your CCTV system cost you? I may consider doing something similar considering I am working for a company that makes digital video recorders.

- I say alarm is a MUST. I want to find one that is loud as hell and will stay on until the battery is dead. Most alarms will shot themselves off after 5 minutes. Nothing keeps people from waiting 5 minutes and then coming back to finish the job.

- Most theves will not disassemble your car in your driveway. Usually they drive it to a quite location and then have their way. If starter/engine are disabled, chances are most of your things are still going to be in there when you find a broken window.

I was thinking that in a year or 2, someone would have an aftermarket system similar to C6's. Car starts with a button, no key cylinder to smash open. I would be the first to purchase one of those

- You guys are right about parts. I think they are shooting for stereo equipment, rims, fiberglass hoods/spoilers. Can't do much about the things visible from outside.

Also I saw a special on car theft in Toronto ~ a week ago and they said Civics are very popular among theives because kids like to **** them up and such. So I don't think anyone is safe.

And what kills me is that people who do this (mostly kids) get caught, get sent to jail and when they get out they just brake into another car within a week. I agree guns are bad, but sometimes it seems population control is not such a bad option.

 

There was a company in the late 80's early 90's that had that very product it was called a steering column collar. I don't remember the company name or if they are even still aroud.

 

1. Don't blast your system in parking lots and bad areas of town.

2. Remove and pocket your faceplate when your not in your car.

3. Have a good alarm- not a $20 Bulldog.

4. Install a kill switch and conceal it well.

5. Have very dark tint.

6. Don't brag about your car or its features to strangers.

7. Lower your ride.

8. Have wheel locks

9. Garage your car and use a car cover when you can.

10. Use four different types of screws on your speakers etc.

11. On an automatic remove the shift ****, pocket the small white plastic pin, put the shift **** back on.

12. Try not to enrage other motorists.

13. If all the above fails install some cameras, practice intensely in the batting cages, and sleep beside your ride.

 

I've been trying to figure out the law around here...

I live on about 5 acres of land, and my car is parked well over 200ft into the property, so if they are gonna try and steal my stuff, they are gonna have to drive their getaway car up to the house to try anything...

so what happens if I go outside and find these *******s breaking into my car? I will obviously have my double barrel in-hand, cocked, and ready for some action... but the question arises--- what is legal?

Here in Texas, you can defend yourself with all means necessary to protect you or your property... WHILE YOU ARE ON YOUR PROPERTY, so what happens when you are chasing them down the road trying to nail the *******s? heh jk...

but the reality of the situation, if I (or anyone else) goes outside to scare off someone breaking into a car... you pretty much have to kill them, otherwise you are probably dead, sooner or later.... that's why you never bring a weapon unless you intend on using it... and I already researched it... in Texas, you can't shoot someone in the back, or you go to prison, even if you know they will come back and kill you later that night.

consider that you threaten two guys with a shotgun, and they get in their car and leave like two deer running from a tiger... now consider the fact that they obviously know where you live, and I bet they know people that would kill or rob or destroy for no better reason than you threatening them... hell they might wanna steal your guns...

so either bring it on full-force, or just call the cops...

I just hope I never actually find someone breaking into my car, because I'd prolly just go nuts and beat them lifeless... just trying to get them back for all the times my car, along with many others have been broken into all these years.

 

hey camaroguy... don't you mean DONT lower your ride? I can't think of a time I didn't at least wonder over to a lowered car, airbags or not... they just look so *** damned cool! anyways, I'd go with a designated sniper or train on the weapon myself..

 

I'm not gonna have fancy cameras or alarm systems for my car. All I need is a fuel pump shutoff switch. Only way I know for sure the car isn't going anywhere. It's a good idea. Even if they do get it started, how long do they have till the fuel runs out? Exactly. By that time, the perps will already have a baseball bat caving in the side of their skull, or whatever else I grab to whack them with. I'm just waiting for the day someone tries to take my car....just waiting.

 

Quote:

hey camaroguy... don't you mean DONT lower your ride? I can't think of a time I didn't at least wonder over to a lowered car, airbags or not... they just look so *** damned cool!

This is true, but its better to have it lowered anyways. Keeps skinney people from crawling under the front nose and cutting wires to your alarm or yanking ones off the positive terminal. Also, it would probably at least delay someone trying to tow your ride.

Another thing that you can do in real bad area of town is take the time to pull any critical fuses.

 

I'm wiring my halon system into the alarm; if the thief somehow manages to get it started, he STILL has to figure out how to stay in the car and breathe at the same time! Halon will effectively remove all the oxygen. Whoops...guess he hit the wrong switch!