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Vehicle Security
- Thread starter VenomJockey
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Help Support Homesteading & Country Living Forum:
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For the routine thief, super kill switch: https://www.ravelco.com/
All the gadgets in the world won't prevent your car from being winched up onto a flatbed tow truck. At that point, your best bet is GPS tracking and motion activated notifications.
All the gadgets in the world won't prevent your car from being winched up onto a flatbed tow truck. At that point, your best bet is GPS tracking and motion activated notifications.
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Hi Hippo first time I saw you here.
What if we just leave our cell phones in the vehicle?
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Well, hopefully that's not your only phone, you have a way of tracking it remotely, it's well hidden, and it's tied into a charging system so it always has a full battery.Hi Hippo first time I saw you here.
If it's a smartphone, the GPS will provide the most accurate location but also use the most power. Cellular triangulation will get you to the general area, but a GPS fix can get you within 10ft. That could be the difference between finding it hidden in a building within hours, or finding it next week stripped and burned out in the bad part of town.
There are certain apps you can use to text a phone to remotely activate the GPS.
If that is legitimate concern for you, I would opt for a dedicated device though. I'm not personally concerned about flat-bed theft so I haven't put any effort into researching such devices.
My father had a car set up like that. It was a 3 position switch and had a pattern that you had to toggle the switch in as well. If I remember right it was an Eagle Talon.
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There is a simple device that helps prevent theft, The Club. Police departments still hand them out in some areas. They are anywhere from a little more than $20 and upward. There are variations on them. I had one for a period of time, but gave it to someone who was divorcing her husband whom she was concerned about him taking her van. Quite a story there.
My truck came with GPS tracking. The dealer offered a $5000 theft policy for $299. If my truck wasn't recovered in 30 days they gave me $5000. With GPS tracking there is almost no way it wouldn't be found in 30 days unless it was loaded into a cargo container and shipped overseas which is a fairly common thing.
I said no deal.
I said no deal.
As an FYI, clubs are useless to any car thief that knows what they are doing. a hacksaw or battery sawzall or grinder nad they cut thru the steering wheel in about 20 seconds and slip it off. Clubs are one of those feel good things; like when a store or mall puts up gun free zone signs so people think it is suddenly and magically a safe space.
Oh and those special keyed lugnuts with the weird groove that needs the special adapter or socket to get off, best they are is a pain to you or the garage when working on your wheels. A thief will go buy cheap oversized sockets that they hammer over the lugnut in question and then wrench it off.
Oh and those special keyed lugnuts with the weird groove that needs the special adapter or socket to get off, best they are is a pain to you or the garage when working on your wheels. A thief will go buy cheap oversized sockets that they hammer over the lugnut in question and then wrench it off.
Poor guy lost his shoes.
So are the crooks sophisticated enough to quickly steal a car with a chipped key? It seems the chipped key is why there are so many carjackings. Our teenager lost his keys and it was quite an ordeal to get a new one programed etc $$$$$$.
There are some fairly good apps to track phones, we used one on the teenagers phone when he was younger. If you have a old phone on a cheap plan it could be hidden in the car with a charger.
There are some fairly good apps to track phones, we used one on the teenagers phone when he was younger. If you have a old phone on a cheap plan it could be hidden in the car with a charger.
Yes. Everything since 2015 is theft-proof without a key or fob left in them.
Once you subtract car-jackings, everything stolen is left running or 'keyed-up' outside of a convenience store
.Anything else was towed away. These are typically disassembled by "chop-shops", sold as parts, and never driven again.
The problem is, people veer 'vehicle security' into "how do I keep someone from breaking into my car?"
Answer = Don't live in Chicago
.
The chipped keys go back a ways. the last car i had to replace the key on was a 2005 mazda with a chipped key.
We are driving a 2014 honda pilot that has a rebuilt title....somebody stole it and took the catalytic converters off it.....multiple thousands to replace them.
I follow the facebook classifieds sometimes around my state and there seems to be a lot of window breaks to get into cars.....then the person laments they stole their laptop or some other high value item. If you leave a car parked with desirable stuff in it????
We are driving a 2014 honda pilot that has a rebuilt title....somebody stole it and took the catalytic converters off it.....multiple thousands to replace them.
I follow the facebook classifieds sometimes around my state and there seems to be a lot of window breaks to get into cars.....then the person laments they stole their laptop or some other high value item. If you leave a car parked with desirable stuff in it????
^ We've got a 'chip' in our 2004 Sprinter, but.. If I've gotta leave it anywhere 'sketchy' for a spell, I just Pull the Engine Module / ECM-relays / fuses and replace with Known-Dead ones / bring the 'good 'uns With me.. 
'Visually', all looks "fine", but.. Unless a Thief is Carrying Spares for Those Exact ones (and is 'smart enough' to even Think: 'Well, lemme Ohm-out All the fuses, here') and/or unless he's got a Flatbed and Balls bigger than Atlas's, well.. He ain't gettin far..
.02
jd
'Visually', all looks "fine", but.. Unless a Thief is Carrying Spares for Those Exact ones (and is 'smart enough' to even Think: 'Well, lemme Ohm-out All the fuses, here') and/or unless he's got a Flatbed and Balls bigger than Atlas's, well.. He ain't gettin far..
.02
jd
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Around here I never lock my vehicles and always leave the keys in the ignition. Sometimes if I'm parked in town and the UPS guy has a package for me he'll leave it in the vehicle. I guess we live in a pretty safe area. The few times we travel out of the area to a large town I'll take the keys out and usually lock the doors.
We rented cars in Hawaii and they always told us to not leave anything in the car and do not lock the doors.
That way the crooks knew there was nothing in the car and wouldn't break the window to get in.
Car alarms are worthless in my opinion. Everyone just ignores them.
That way the crooks knew there was nothing in the car and wouldn't break the window to get in.
Car alarms are worthless in my opinion. Everyone just ignores them.
My car really isn’t worth stealing, 24 1/2 year old CRV. That being said I hid an Apple AirTag inside as I was curious as to how well it would work as a tracking device.
If you don’t know, they ping other iPhones when close enough and update their location through them without any action by the phones user. With the number of iPhones in use as long as it is in a populated area I’ve been very pleased how well they work. Had my car in the shop over the summer for transmission work and I could tell whether it was in the lot or inside the shop. I saw when they test-drove it, the owner called and asked permission to do it and he drove it home after work and back the next morning. It showed in his driveway and the app gave me the address.
Again, it needs to ping an iPhone but for $30 it gives me peace of mind if something were to happen.
If you don’t know, they ping other iPhones when close enough and update their location through them without any action by the phones user. With the number of iPhones in use as long as it is in a populated area I’ve been very pleased how well they work. Had my car in the shop over the summer for transmission work and I could tell whether it was in the lot or inside the shop. I saw when they test-drove it, the owner called and asked permission to do it and he drove it home after work and back the next morning. It showed in his driveway and the app gave me the address.
Again, it needs to ping an iPhone but for $30 it gives me peace of mind if something were to happen.
