Car Security After Neighbor's Car Got Driven Off His Drive
Discussion
At around 5am, my neighbor's car - a 2019 MB GLE - was driven off his drive. He shouted from his window but by then, the perps were on the road and engaging drive. It's got me thinking about taking extra security measures. Is a steering lock the ultimate deterrent?
My thinking is if you can show them the car will not move (telescopic bollard is another deterrent) the relay amplifiers (even key signal cloning) become pointless. Ghost alarms (or similar) seem like a great idea but I don't know just how good they are, but in my own opinion, I'd rather not be at the mercy of a push button sequence, or even rely on my own memory of it.
Trackers: I've seen stolen recovered cars. Within minutes of hoisting the car, the interior gets ripped apart looking for the transmitter. Even the headlining gets pulled down - ripped - in their search for it. I've been involved in repairing these cars (removing/refitting/replacing windscreens and glass) and I would not want the car back after that much intrusion.
So, steering lock? Bollards when at home? Is a visual deterrent the best in car security?
My thinking is if you can show them the car will not move (telescopic bollard is another deterrent) the relay amplifiers (even key signal cloning) become pointless. Ghost alarms (or similar) seem like a great idea but I don't know just how good they are, but in my own opinion, I'd rather not be at the mercy of a push button sequence, or even rely on my own memory of it.
Trackers: I've seen stolen recovered cars. Within minutes of hoisting the car, the interior gets ripped apart looking for the transmitter. Even the headlining gets pulled down - ripped - in their search for it. I've been involved in repairing these cars (removing/refitting/replacing windscreens and glass) and I would not want the car back after that much intrusion.
So, steering lock? Bollards when at home? Is a visual deterrent the best in car security?
I've gone with bollards and a discklok.
My thinking is that it's just about making it harder than the next guys to nick, they'll just move on.
Yes you can argue that bollard locks are pickable, and discloks are cuttable...but it's effort they don't need to do on the car down the road.
There are a few expensive transporters in my street with no visible security on...mine always has a disclok on.
My thinking is that it's just about making it harder than the next guys to nick, they'll just move on.
Yes you can argue that bollard locks are pickable, and discloks are cuttable...but it's effort they don't need to do on the car down the road.
There are a few expensive transporters in my street with no visible security on...mine always has a disclok on.
Seen this debated many times on the BMW owners groups on Facebook.
My thinking is a Disklok is a great deterrent as it's a big visual chunky item which stands out straight away and pound for pound to me is good value for money. Of course they can be defeated if a thief wants to bring power tools into play but in a world of signal boosting and driving away what thief wants to spend minutes cutting off a security lock in the middle of the night?
I use one on my own car but I also have other measures which without going into it all in detail I use a Faraday bag to block the key signal and I also block my car in with the wife's car which is not desirable to thieves in itself.
For me it's all about making my car too awkward to bother with so they move on to another.
My thinking is a Disklok is a great deterrent as it's a big visual chunky item which stands out straight away and pound for pound to me is good value for money. Of course they can be defeated if a thief wants to bring power tools into play but in a world of signal boosting and driving away what thief wants to spend minutes cutting off a security lock in the middle of the night?
I use one on my own car but I also have other measures which without going into it all in detail I use a Faraday bag to block the key signal and I also block my car in with the wife's car which is not desirable to thieves in itself.
For me it's all about making my car too awkward to bother with so they move on to another.
If someone wants your car badly enough, they will take it whatever you do. Visible deterrents can be successful in delaying a thief and keeping your car, but it depends on just how determined the thief is. All you can ever do is make your car less desirable than someone else’s.
My brother had a huge, Thatcham approved steering lock on his car. One night, before bed, he looked out of the window and saw some scroat in his driver’s seat with part of a scaffolding pole, trying to break the steering lock. The thieving swine, saw my brother and legged it before my brother could catch him. In the few minutes he was in the car, he caused £350 of damage. The next day an alarm and tracker were fitted to the car.
Maybe something else to think about is do you want to run the risk of some scumbag breaking into your house to get the keys to your car and/or your security devices?
My brother had a huge, Thatcham approved steering lock on his car. One night, before bed, he looked out of the window and saw some scroat in his driver’s seat with part of a scaffolding pole, trying to break the steering lock. The thieving swine, saw my brother and legged it before my brother could catch him. In the few minutes he was in the car, he caused £350 of damage. The next day an alarm and tracker were fitted to the car.
Maybe something else to think about is do you want to run the risk of some scumbag breaking into your house to get the keys to your car and/or your security devices?
These threads pop up all and time and best security you can have is a decent insurance policy with gap insurance.
Visible deterrents won't stop the most determined scrote, it slows them down.
If someone wants your car badly nothing will stop them even it means putting you in a hospital bed or a coffin. If someone breaks into your house demanding your car keys just hand them over, they are willing to take more risks than you. We all think that we will turn into Arnie if we are in that situation and defend our possessions but that won't work if the scrotes start threating your family.
As much as we are all petrol heads here, cars can be replaced - you or your family can't be replaced.
Visible deterrents won't stop the most determined scrote, it slows them down.
If someone wants your car badly nothing will stop them even it means putting you in a hospital bed or a coffin. If someone breaks into your house demanding your car keys just hand them over, they are willing to take more risks than you. We all think that we will turn into Arnie if we are in that situation and defend our possessions but that won't work if the scrotes start threating your family.
As much as we are all petrol heads here, cars can be replaced - you or your family can't be replaced.
DiscoSINGH said:
Visible deterrents won't stop the most determined scrote, it slows them down.
This is true, but in many cases they aren't that determined, so visible steering locks etc. are worthwhile. As someone has already said, many will just move onto an easier target.The most vulnerable for those with modern cars are still people who don't put their keys in a faraday pouch.
Also, people who forget to lock their cars. Very common for people to do the rounds of driveways checking doors.
TonyRPH said:
Glassman said:
They'd have to find the keys before the dog gets them.
When I lived in SA, dogs were considered a deterrent up until such time that burglars discovered a nice juicy piece of meat laced with rat poison quickly solved any issues...
) they won't know there's dog in the house. Besides if someone was that desperate to go that far, I have no issues swinging the knuckle side of a commercial breaker bar at them to protect myself. Glassman said:
Besides if someone was that desperate to go that far, I have no issues swinging the knuckle side of a commercial breaker bar at them to protect myself.
It's always interesting when people say this. We'd mostly like to think we'd hand an Intruder's ass to them on the way out, but the reality is probably a bit different, given the situation. If you're in bed naked at 4am and four young, fit, armed blokes come into your bedroom and wake you up demanding keys, I suspect you'd quickly hand over a set of keys before said breaker bar becomes part of your face.
That said, home entry is thankfully rare. If you secure your house and car to the best of your ability and make the car a PITA to steal, the odds are they'll just go elsewhere.
Baldchap said:
Glassman said:
Besides if someone was that desperate to go that far, I have no issues swinging the knuckle side of a commercial breaker bar at them to protect myself.
It's always interesting when people say this. We'd mostly like to think we'd hand an Intruder's ass to them on the way out, but the reality is probably a bit different, given the situation. If you're in bed naked at 4am and four young, fit, armed blokes come into your bedroom and wake you up demanding keys, I suspect you'd quickly hand over a set of keys before said breaker bar becomes part of your face.
Baldchap said:
That said, home entry is thankfully rare. If you secure your house and car to the best of your ability and make the car a PITA to steal, the odds are they'll just go elsewhere.
This is the reality, whilst home invasions do happen it is very rare and the vast majority don't want to enter your house at all now, they will stand outside with a laptop and appropriate hardware scanning for a key signal to simply amplify and open the car, even easier if you have a new Range Rover. Additional steering locks etc are a good deterrent because there are enough people who have the thought process of "They can have the car, I have GAP insurance" which is fine but it will kill your chances of getting any sort of reasonable insurance quote when you come to insure the replacement.
It used to be snapping door locks was the common approach (It happened to me five years ago) and they then sneak in and take keys but many people got wide to that and started fitting upgraded locks and door jammers.
On top of all this if by chance they do get caught the sentence from the court for stealing a car will be significantly less than actually committing a burglary by breaking into someone's home.
DiscoSINGH said:
If someone wants your car badly nothing will stop them even it means putting you in a hospital bed or a coffin. If someone breaks into your house demanding your car keys just hand them over, they are willing to take more risks than you. We all think that we will turn into Arnie if we are in that situation and defend our possessions but that won't work if the scrotes start threating your family.
As much as we are all petrol heads here, cars can be replaced - you or your family can't be replaced.
This massively escalates the risk for the criminal. Not only might the victim violently defend himself. But it guarantees a prison sentence for the criminal when they might have got away with stealing from someone’s driveway. As much as we are all petrol heads here, cars can be replaced - you or your family can't be replaced.
Glassman said:
Speak for yourself.
What are you going to do exactly? Unless you're Jon Jones you aren't going to bang out four blokes, presumably with at least a crowbar if they're inside the gaff. Even if you did manage to bash their s
t in, what next? Two years in and out of court because you went rambo on a bunch of lads in your house, plus whatever injuries you picked up or getting new carpets and repairing the drywall?I can't think of any situation where that's worth it over just taking the L with the car keys and getting your money back off insurance.
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