How do you deter a car thief?

[ConLog]

First I'd like to say, I know nothing about the workings of cars and neither do I want to. It gets me from A to B, I put gas and oil in and that keeps me happy.

Anyway, I stay in an area which sometimes suffers from car thefts. I need to leave my car outside for a few weeks and would like to ensure that it does not get stolen. It has anti-theft and an alarm but that does not deter these pieces of scum.

(1) Is there a way to disable a car so that it goes nowhere - disconnecting the battery terminals is a bit simplistic.

(2) Remember I am car illiterate. It would have to be something that's easy enough for me to do but something that thieving scum would not think of.

[dldz]

Radio Shack sells a simple starter disable unit and comes with one remote for your keychain. I know it's simple to install because my wife installed it in her car a few years back. I just looked at the box and it is called Auto Theft deterrent system. And the Radio Shack part number is TD-1500
I hope this helps you it is a very basic system and disables your starter (like removing your battery cables) I hope this helps you Don

[ConLog]

Radio Shack? wonder if that would be Tandy over here.

I was more looking at a lift the hood, no cost idea

[glc]

Lift the hood, no cost? You already mentioned the best thing - disconnect the battery cables - and take it one step farther - remove the battery and put it in the house.

[ConLog]

Now thats good!

I doubt they carry a spare battery with them.

Sometimes the simplest solutions take the longest to figure out.

Problem solved.

Edit: ERM, not quite, just realised, I have electric locks!

Told you I know nothing about cars!

[ZANEY123]

you can always pull the ignition wire and take that inside. the locks should still open/close with the key,,

what type of car??

[ConLog]

It's a British car (Ford Escort LX) but I'm sure that most cars are much the same........well, unless they are Russian made

[ZANEY123]

it should work on that.

now over here they probally would have a battery on hand that they stole off of another car.....

[glc]

As zaney said - the locks will still operate manually with the key.

No matter what you do, if someone wants the car bad enough, they will find a way to get it, even if they have to use a tow truck. Pulling the battery will discourage most casual thieves, and if you had a steering wheel locking device (the popular one here is called The Club - http://www.winner-intl.com) you could cut the steering wheel all the way to the stops and lock it - that will make it hard to hook it up and tow it and certainly make it almost impossible to push it or drive it if they put a battery in it.

[gravity764]

Just do what I do , drive a piece of crap that no one would want to steal.

[HAL9000]

Very LOW cost... some wire and a switch. Splice into the power wire to the coil and mount a switch under your dash. Flip the switch to kill the coil.

[Trent Steel]

I like the combination of HAL9000 and gravity764 ideas. One is proactive while the other is reactive.
By proactive you can make it undesireable to steal, don't have a fancy stereo system or least don't crank up the sound around your neighbourhood (a buddy of mine had a bunch of stuff stolen from his vehicle even though he removed the faceplate, the heard his car and knew what caliber of stuff was inside), park in a high traffic high light area not in a dark corner, don't leave anything of value within eyesight (but having a mess of worthless stuff can help), any anti-theft devices also deter the club being very popular but I would suggest a device that hooks under the brake pedal and prevents the car being taken out of park (there is at least one device out there like this but I can't remember its name).
Reactive would be all the ways in which you can prevent someone from actually stealing it, the anti-theft devices also work in this manner, as for what you can do to physical prevent it from being stolen I would also suggest installing a simple switch in line with the coil as you don't want to have to open the hood everytime you want to drive. Also if a person was planning on stealing your car they may see you disconnect the battery and they would simply reconnect it, and hauling around a battery can lead to back pains and holy pants/shirts, a simple toggle switch that you can activate with no one seeing that you activated it would be very simple, cheap and effective.

[Alaron]

Not that this is a solution but I thought it was interesting.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/232777.stm

NO one is going to steal that car!

[HAL9000]

LOL... a friend of mine had his car stolen twice in a period of a few months. He complained why his car was stolen and nobody ever touched mine. Would you steal a wood panelled, rusted, full sized station wagon with BABY Z on the license plate?

[cobra]

well, with a ford, it's very easy to bypass the ignition/wiring. All you have to do is "jumper" the fuel pump solenoid, ground it with a screwdriver, your gone...
Growing up in Miami, home of car thiefs...
It's hard to be protected if they want it.
In my experience, installin and hiding (in a good place) a fuel cutoff switch before it gets to the fuel pump soleniod under the hood. Good luck

[alan]

James Bond had a pretty good solution in FOR YOUR EYES ONLY. The sticker on the window said the car was absolutely burgular proof and boy was it right!! Those bad guys didn't get the car!!

[Colonel Sanders]

Originally posted by cobra well, with a ford, it's very easy to bypass the ignition/wiring. All you have to do is "jumper" the fuel pump solenoid, ground it with a screwdriver, your gone...

I have seen that a lot around here, a solenoid near the batter and you just lay a screw driver across the two points, I believe that simply runs the starter motor. You then have to find a way to get the ignition "on" or it will just die.

I like the idea of a chip say in the key, like on some GM cars.

I don't think any of the "Gone in 60 seconds" tricks will do you any good....

Logan

[dldz]

Here check it out if you want this I have one in my garage, I'll just ship it to you but you pay shipping & give me $5.00 for a six pack ok ?
Don

[dldz]

Baby Z on the plate HAL ??
OMFG !
I haven't ever seen a Citeron with a plate like that ( L L)
D

[Mr N8]

Originally posted by glc Lift the hood, no cost? You already mentioned the best thing - disconnect the battery cables - and take it one step farther - remove the battery and put it in the house.

Just get an Olds Aurora! The battery is under the back seat, so while the thief is searching in the already too cramped engine space for the battery terminal, he won't find it! Just have to pop the front of the back seat up, and there lies the battery. Push it down, and it looks like your standard back seat.

[HAL9000]

Originally posted by dldz Baby Z on the plate HAL ?? OMFG ! I haven't ever seen a Citeron with a plate like that ( L L) D

LOL,.... it's a nickname that I got around grade 7... it really caught on in grade 9. I'm the youngest in my family and my last name begins with Z.

[cobra]

Originally posted by Colonel Sanders I have seen that a lot around here, a solenoid near the batter and you just lay a screw driver across the two points, I believe that simply runs the starter motor. You then have to find a way to get the ignition "on" or it will just die. I like the idea of a chip say in the key, like on some GM cars. I don't think any of the "Gone in 60 seconds" tricks will do you any good.... Logan

the screwdriver will ground it out to start. running a small 1 foot jumper wire from the battery to the fuel pump solenoid under the hood, provides the fuel. (IE not the fuel pump itself)
If you know fords, then this is the easiest way.
vrooom, gone...
As for the chips on the key, they are good, unless a "pro" has bought a complete set of keys w/ chips off the internet (easy to do) AFAIK, only 7 years ago there were "only" 15 different chips, not hard to accomplish the task with 15 "blank" keys/ w/ chips and a cracked steering column.

[HAL9000]

Somebody that's gonna go through that much trouble of having the blanks (which are not cheap by a longshot... $40 to $65CDN a key where I live) is going to steal your car one way or another if he/she really wants to no matter what kind of security.

[lil Jimmie]

Originally posted by cobra In my experience, installin and hiding (in a good place) a fuel cutoff switch before it gets to the fuel pump soleniod under the hood. Good luck

This is my preferred method to detour theft.

[RayH]

Two types of cars are really prone to being stolen: the highly desireable (usually expensive) and really, old cheap cars. Why the old cars? Because the parts inside them are worth more than the car. And a lof of car thieves run around in junkers that need spare parts!

Nothing will really stop a car thief ABSOLUTELY determined to steal the car. That's why there is so much carjacking.

First, get an external steering wheel lock like a Club. These things can be defeated by breaking the steering wheel. But that takes time. You don't need to get a genuine Club. Any immitation will do. Just something to slow them down. But the main thing, is that such is visable.

Put a swtich on the FUEL pump and don't tell anyone! Most cars now have electric fuel pumps. With the swtich off, the car will probably idle. But will die when moved! The car will be abandoned in the middle of the street.

Keep a dog in the car! Mean dog.

[HAL9000]

I have yet to believe in the use of a club. Kids these days are carring a small pair of bolt cutters for a dual purpose, it breaks the window, puts one cut in steering wheel, and they're still outta there in seconds.

[Doobie]

Take the car tires off and leave it just on the rims.... people will think it has already been broken into and they wont bother with it.... of coarse the rims might be a little bent after you put the tires back on... but to buy rims compared to a new car you save some money ....


Oh yeah... i wouldnt get the club... I saw on the news one time that crooks can saw it in about 10 secs....

[Justin26k]

the screwdriver will ground it out to start. running a small 1 foot jumper wire from the battery to the fuel pump solenoid under the hood, provides the fuel. (IE not the fuel pump itself) If you know fords, then this is the easiest way. vrooom, gone... As for the chips on the key, they are good, unless a "pro" has bought a complete set of keys w/ chips off the internet (easy to do) AFAIK, only 7 years ago there were "only" 15 different chips, not hard to accomplish the task with 15 "blank" keys/ w/ chips and a cracked steering column

Actually Cobra there is a all in 1 key type thing out now where you just turn the lil dial until it starts very easy not that I have ever stolen a car or anything

[Justin26k]

ohh forgot my dad had a simple but effective way of having a lil toggle switch under the dash that cut the power to the starter it was really effective they never stole out of about the 5 times they tried they did get the tools and speakers though

[Bookworm]

I got this from a european website:

The company today manufactures two types of "Car Controllers" - ones which use MPS (Mobile Positioning System) and ones which use GPS (Global Positioning System). Controllers allow a car to communicate with the owner by, for example, sending him an SMS message in case of a breakin. The owner can use the system to control various functions - switching on the heat, for instance, or blocking the fuel pump in order to prevent theft of the car.

http://216.239.33.100/search?q=cache...hl=en&ie=UTF-8