Marc80

A good related question is, "How much".


Thanks in advance for your advise, Marc

Rick68

Personally I think alarms are a wast of money. My sister had a top of the line system on her truck totally loaded with all sorts of theft prevention items Not only did it kill the power from the battery but it also stopped the flow of gas and a whole list of other things. Then one morning she got up to go to work and no truck. Her bed room window overlooked the truck and she didn't hear a thing. On 60 min or 20/20 can't remember which they did an experiment of the usefulness of alarms. They had a professional car thief try to steel a number of cars with different alarm systems in them. He was able to take them all in under 1min each. Then they parked a car on a busy street with heavy foot traffic and had a guy break in to it setting off the alarm. Not one person of the 15 or more people that walked by did a thing. Most didn't even look over at the guy. You hear alarms going off so often nobody cares any more unless its disturbing your sleep then your cursing the guy who owns the car. Like they said in the report if they want it bad enough they will get it no matter what you do. :mad

reidry

Only theft preventative that I can think makes any sense is Lojack and only if you have major $$ tied up in the vehicle. Otherwise get good insurance, pay on time and file promptly in case of theft or accident.

Ryan

LiveandLetDrive

The best theft prevention? Primer...and rust...lots of it :jester

stinky

"The best theft prevention? Primer...and rust...lots of it " Ain't that the truth... :lolg:

standup

The best theft protection is a Dog......you can hire BUBBA'S dog to look after your car:



Alarms are BS.....everytime I drive through a parking lot in my Vette, I set off alarms.......nobody even looks......people are immune to the sound......you got insurance???? Use it for all it's worth...........

1Asterisk

You can always hide a kill switch in there.....

73jst4fun

A heavy duty disconnect knife switch at the battery terminal woks just fine for me, along with using good common sense about leaving it in a safe place :thumbs:

Marc80

I appreciate the input.

I can't leave my dogs in the car in public. It is Florida. They would wilt.
Home is fenced with 3 dogs (boxers) so that is pretty safe.

I agree about alarms. Even if they are going off, who wants to confront a guy who will probably just say that he locked his keys in. There are insurance discounts for audio alarms so a cheapest version might fill the bill.

I am not going to be putting rust on.

I will probably look into Lojack type system and install a kill switch. If you have installed a system like this let me know.

Thanks again

bhmyers

Here in Texas we have a different approach. When Im gone for a couple of days. I place a 6ft diamond back in the floor board. He usually gets under the drivers seat. This is only a back up to my alarm system.

KWIL

Marc,
I agree with most of the above statements- if a thief wants your car, an alarm will not stop him. However, from my experience, many thieves do not want a whole car- they want something in the car- stereo for instance. In this case, they may skip over your car if it has an alarm, to go to the next car- without an alarm.

At my house, I cover the my 80 and leave it parked in the driveway- with another car directly behind it. If someone wants it, he must first move my other car. (Both have alarms.)

Also, if you have power locks, an alarm with keyless entry is very handy.
:cheers:

Ganey

Even in 1977 an alarm did not get much if any attention. Unless it summons the owner w/ pistols :cool:
about all it does is discourage most. Also good for those w/ PL.
A kill switch is very good.
For those w/ 82 or C4, see: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=2434272554

A paging alarm is good.

:cool:

Boofers

If you do get an alarm, one thing that is often overlooked is the keyfob. I wasted money on a fancy keyfob that has a real purdy LCD screen. After only two weeks of rattling around in my pocket with keys the LCD screen was cracked, busted up and ruined.

Marc80

I found LoJack can be installed for around $550. It is allot but not compared to the hundreds of hours I have into this car ...not to mention the parts!. I need to find out if cops in this area are part of that program.

OkeeGuy

my opinion is that alarms are a waste of money...
if they want it...they will take it, regardless...
also...nobody ever does anything when they hear an alarm go off except to say "somebody's alarm is going off"
if you want the cool chirp when you press the key fob while walking away from your car, do what i did...install a keyless entry system...
its cheaper and very convinient to have too! :yesnod:

dath

I'm in agreement here because I my old truck was passed up one night when I worked nights. They broke into the car next to mine for a pile of crap radio when my radio was quite a lot nicer (and I had 2 12" woofers in the bed (under a canopy) that were visible)... Guy next to me literally had a Spark-O-Matic... I say that it stops casual or kid kinds of theft, because in my case it did. They did at least $1K damage to a truck a little ways away because they used a crow bar on the door instead of breaking the window... They weren't what I'd call pros, if they were, I'm sure they wouldn't have used a crow bar in the way they did, but as such, they did a lot more damage than a pro, so the alarm did a lot more good in my case...

I plan to install an alarm in my car when I'm driving it again. Sure, it may not stop someone, but if I'm nearby and hear it, you better bet I'll be out there seeing what's going on. I'll probably make sure to leave my backup holster on the dashboard as well...

I know some of those shows say that a pro can still break in, bypassing the alarm, but with some of the modern alarms, I'd really like to see them do it. Tilt sensors, current sensors, vibration sensors, radar... Maybe the shows aren't using the top end alarms with all of the features, or maybe I'd never make a good thief.

MotorHead

I was lucky enough to get one of the Sear Security batteries when they sold them, I love it you can shut it off and the car cannot be hotwired, bump started or boost started, they have to bring thier own battery and while it can still get get stolen how many honest thieves carry thier own battery.

On a side note I always wanted one of those stupid Walmart $50 alarms that has the voice that says "You are too close to the car" or something like that, just for snickers. :D

Quinn_Seipp

Get a Clifford or Viper alarm if you do. They are the best around right now imo. I have a clifford alarm on my vette and its very handy as a keyless entry device and its just cool to have your car beep when you walk away from it.

dath

Honestly, my guess would be that most cars aren't stolen by hotwiring these days... They probably just tow them away and strip 'em. I don't see how else new cars are stolen with the computerized key systems that literally communicate with the key when it's inserted...

MotorHead

" What are their methods?

Most thieves look for cars left unattended with keys in the ignition. In a very small number of cases the thief may tow the vehicle away. If keys are not present the thief opens the vehicle by using a 'Slim Jim' down the window glass of the driver's door, drills out the lock, or breaks a window. Once inside, the ignition lock is punched out and the wires crossed to "hot wire" or activate the ignition. Depending on the method used and the skill of the thief, the process generally takes from 30 seconds to three minutes. "

by Intelligarde International Inc.







[Modified by MotorHead, 3:49 PM 9/26/2003]