So, my 'Bird has entered project status and after crunching the numbers, I'm easily going to have several grand sunk into it. But, it'll be a blue-chip, mild but fun car when everything's said and done. Now, after watching several recent news stories and looking back on what's been going on, car thefts in my area have escalated to an almost alarming rate. I'll tell you what, nothing would trash my day more than taking the 'Bird out with a fresh drivetrain and clean body, go into Wally World to get some beer, exit to find the car gone and then find out a few hours later that it got thrashed, crashed and dumped by some ***hole that wanted a joy ride.

My car has GM's "VATS" system, which, in a nutshell, should thwart someone who were to jam a screwdriver into the ignition and try to start the engine. But, since it is a relatively simple system, my question is how effective is this against a determined car thief? Now, most of the car thefts that have occurred in my area were the result of people leaving their vehicles running while going into a C-store, so the "Gone in 60 Seconds" types seem to fortunately be rare. Unsurprisingly, car thefts seem to be particularly high in the heat of summer and the trough of winter.

So, am I okay to rely on VATS, or are there other means that I could employ to deter thieves (other than not leaving the damned keys in the car, LOL).

 

 

You can always add your own hidden kill switch in the car for added protection.

 

The short answer to your question is , , , YES , yes it is far more effective than having no antitheft system .

Now , consider this ; As time has passed and it's become common knowledge among car thieves that pretty much all cars have some kind of difficult/impossible to defeat antitheft system , what constitutes the greater majority of car thefts ? You guessed it , it's either the keys left in the car theft or the "Carjacking" theft where someone is pulled from a running car at gunpoint . Even among the "old timer" car thieves who may know something about vats , just how many are carrying around 10 resistors to try to get the engine to fire up without waiting for the vats timeout to elapse ?

If you live in such a bad area , sure , add a good aftermarket alarm/immobilizer if it gives you a greater sense of security , but remember , someone Hell bent on taking THAT car will do it even if the theft requires a tow truck ! I know it may sound simplistic and trite to say , but if your living in such a bad area that your loosing sleep over whether you car is gonna be next , a change of locale may well be your best antitheft measure before you put all the money into it , only to find it gone one morning when you wake up

 

Zackly...

At the time, it was state of the art. Nowadays not so much. But it definitely made it harder to steal, and even just a little bit harder, will make the lazy thieves (pretty much 2 words that mean the same thing) will just leave it alone and go find something easier. The early ones of these cars, before VATS, were a VERY popular theft target when they were relatively new. My little brother's 84 Z28 got hit in a parking lot at a concert once for example, would have been in around 87 or 88.

A "determined car thief" that would apply any kind of effort to steal one of THESE cars, in 2018, is some kind of oxymoron. There's no money in them which is what makes them "determined". No vast market of less-ethical buyers just waiting to line their pockets for the parts off of them. Any "determined car thief" would expend their effort on something that low-lifes, who think they're getting a deal, would snap up on street corners. Which is why Honduh is probably the most popular target today. People that haven't figured out yet that buying stolen parts just encourages other people to steal them.

But yeah, VATS will definitely keep it away from the joy-riders. I sure as hell wouldn't rig up a kill switch for that though, given that every car I've ever known that had one, EVERY SINGLE CAR, had intermittent failures related to it. Which is to say, its name is appropriate... it KILLS cars.

I remember one kind of expensive car back in the day that had VATS... and an alarm that went off if the car got bumped (to keep the roll-back drivers away). Problem was, the negative battery cable was right behind a tire; all that was needed, was a pair of dykes or bolt cutters or something to get up in there and snip it. But that was an EXPENSIVE car, and that technique was popular when those were new; knew of it happening to acoupla people at the time, but haven't heard of it since, for at least 25 years now. Those particular cars are no longer a thief magnet like they once were, either.

 

Thanks for the input, guys. I actually live out in the sticks, where we have an...assortment of anti-theft measures. I do work in town and although that particular town isn't bad, the surrounding areas are and thefts seem to be encroaching. I used to leave my truck running when I went into the gas station to buy a sandwich or something. Not anymore.

What chaps my *** is most of these thefts are teenage kids just looking for a joy ride. And then they get caught, sent to some juvenile joint for a couple weeks then BOOM, they're released right back onto the streets. Then people act surprised when they try it again. I don't know if it's bad parenting or if they simply laugh at the "punishments" for getting caught when you're a minor. Hell, a decade odd back when I was a kid, you almost never heard of such a thing. Now, it seems to be a daily occurrence. It's nuts.