Ways to Prevent Theft

[JAMIEPACURN]

I was reading all the horror stories of people having their grandnationals stolen and was wondering what are the best ways to prevent this from happening. Seems a lot of thieves are just literally towing these vehicles but was trying to find out how more thieves are ripping these off. Are any of these cars being hot wired?????

Any ways to detur a thief I welcome all feedback on this issue. I would like ideas to possibly invest in to protect my own Buick. What are the best anti theft mechanisms to use on this car??? When I see cars being stolen from Bowling Green, Ohio and Lousiville, Kentucky it really hits close to home since I'm located in Muncie, Indiana.


Jamie C.

[Keller]

I have done a lot of work researching this. Few things will prevent some of the best tow trucks from taking a car. Even from a parallel space. However, that is not how most car are stolen.

These cars are easy to steal because (1) the side windows are able to be pulled out enough to get a small arm or a tool inside to open the lock button (2) the doors are easy to "jimmy" open (3) a screwdriver or other tool can always be punched through the door to open the lock (4) the steering column is trivial to break, and once the collar is broken, these cars are trivial to steal.

I have found a device that locks around the collar, and also has a part that goes through the steering wheel to prevent theft. Once a thief on the street sees this, they know it won't be a 30 second (literally) job to steal the car with a few hand tools. It would take a lot longer, and require power tools at minimum. The cost is reasonable.

I will have it posted shortly.

[LIVE4RDO]

I would suggest a good tracking device. LoJack is one of the more popular ones, but I have my concerns with it.

Apple sells a device for about $180, plus you pay monthly fee for tracking service, I think it's like $6 a month. If that device is the same quality as the rest of their products, I'd say it's money well spent.

[JAMIEPACURN]

That is an excellant idea as far as having a tracking device. That would give the owner peace of mind knowing if their ride was stolen that they could tell the police exactly where it was located. I will have to check around for one.

[Keller]

LoJack can be good. Sometimes good to find the pile left behind after they get what they want off the car.

I think not getting it stolen in the first place is better. Soo, I did a lot of work to find devices pictured. One is semi permanent (black - part stays on the car, and part removes for driving), and the other is removable (red - whole thing is removed each time).

Same price. $89.95 + $15 FedEx shipping in the continental US. This is below retail. Many other sellers are asking OVER retail. And I have them in stock. Unit is US made, lock is made in Mexico...by American Lock.

There are different models for different brands and models of cars. Vast majority fit GM/Ford/Chrysler vehicles, roughly 1970-2001. The model pictured fits a lot of Saginaw column cars.

What do you think?

[Keller]

And no, it isn't easy to cut the lock off or saw through. (Not my picture.)

[Shawn N]

Originally Posted by LIVE4RDO

I would suggest a good tracking device. LoJack is one of the more popular ones, but I have my concerns with it.

Apple sells a device for about $180, plus you pay monthly fee for tracking service, I think it's like $6 a month. If that device is the same quality as the rest of their products, I'd say it's money well spent.

I have to disagree with a tracking device. I don't want the police lighting up my car if it's stolen because whoever stole is going to run. Think about it high performance engine, I can out run the cops. 9 times out of 10 it's going to be wrecked or pitted by the cops. How are you going to feel if that person kills someone running from the police in your car! I would rather have a 3 layer security blanket like a alarm, column collar, and fuel pump kill switch. No thief is going spend that amount of time in your car trying to defeat those items. Even if they cause damage to the interior it's going to way cheaper than a wrecked car.

[Theman85GN]

Scott,
How can I go about getting one of these column locks ?

[Keller]

Contact me at the email address posted in the earlier part of the thread.