5 lifehacks; car theft prevention edition

Since my car got my car stolen in front of my house about a year ago and my roommate’s car got stolen at almost the same spot recently, I took some time thinking about practical ways to bring down the odds of stuff like that happening. So I thought I’d share some of my knowledge with you;

1.       Cheap steering wheel lock. Although it is really easy to remove a cheap steering wheel lock, a thief will see this obstacle and leave your car alone and steal another car without a steering wheel lock. Therefore, even a 5 dollar lock will protect your car in a urban environment.
2.       Bad neighborhood trick. If you are forced to park your car in a really bad hood for a short amount of time, remove a small but vital part of your car. Examples are; fuse of the start motor or engine management, main battery fuse, main spark distribution cap. Epic tier is definitely to take your steering wheel with you; this annoys the thief even more!
3.       Don’t make enemies where you park. I’ve lived in quite a bad neighborhood for about 2 years, but the youngster/oldsters hanging on the street corner till early morning knew I lived there and what car was mine.  No junkie car thief will steal a car in a hood like that because he knows he can get into trouble with the group of people standing on the corner ‘protecting’ ‘their’ hood. My car never got vandalized in that part of town, it’s my new ‘good’ neighborhood where my car got stolen and molested one too many times.
4.       If you have a car that’s worth it, invest in a car alarm. This one is obvious, my cars never were worth the money to install a good alarm system, but if you car is…protect it. There are even GPS trackers on the market which let you track your car on google maps for less than ~$200 !
5.       Crank down your sound when you get home. This sounds a little weird but it’s actually quite practical, a professional thief will know a good sound system when he hears it. Also thieves tend to be outside for most of the time. Therefore, turn down your sound when you are about turn in the street where you are going to park. The villain won’t know what you’re sound system is worth, so it is less likely you will find your car with the window smashed and your audio ripped out.

These were my tips, reading them back I see they are mostly useful in urban environments. Oh well, thanks for reading! 

25 comments:

  1. Quite useful, my friend! +1

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  2. Ha, this isn't too bad actually. Mind you I just got a triple immobiliser system so I should be alright :P

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  3. ahah, I guess I'll start to take off the steering wheel to feel safer from now on. :P

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  4. These are some awesome tips. Thanks for sharing!

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  5. Very handy at times, thanks for the tips.

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  6. wow nice man now my car wont get stolen. thats the best thing which can ever happen to you °!

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  7. Another way to stop thieves would be to turn UP your system if it is particularly loud. The moment the car starts a massive bassline fills the surrounding buildings with a rattle can get someone out of your rig in a hurry too. otherwise, nice tips, and good of you to share some brainstorming like this.

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  8. My friend had a removable steering wheel in his car, but the night he decided to leave it in his car got stolen out of his driveway lol

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  9. I live in one of the suburban zones of Paris where some useless people burnt cars and assaulted police forces some years ago, so I know what a bad neighborhood is, and I agree with your tips

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  10. Great tips, I like the one about removing something vital, never thought about that one before.

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  11. I'll remember this the day I actually get my license! Taking away the steering wheel tho... I laughed :D

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  12. lol.. good tips ill be sure to remember them if i go into a suspect neighborhood

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  13. The car alarm is essential.

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  14. All pretty common sense ideas, but powerful when put into use. Never really liked car alarms though.

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  15. if only I knew what a main battery fuse was. Oh well, good advice all the same

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  16. You can get a customized flamethrower installed underneath the driver's side door to shoot flames up at the burglar when forceable entry is detected. Only legal in South Africa though.

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  17. This would be very useful, if I actually had money to buy a car :/

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  18. I use the fuse pull trick ALL the time. Sucks when you work near the ghetto! !

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  19. Great tips, but I'll try to avoid parking in the hood myself.

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  20. Tell me, I got my radio stolen twice...

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