For me, who has a very extensive sound system in the car, what do you guys suggest for antitheft?

 

How fancy? Options, features, etc?

How much money do you want to spend?

Are you planning on installing the system yourself?

 

At my work we install alarms for most of the car companys in my city (mazda, Ford, Holden (GM) etc....). U want a alarm that has 2 engine immobilisers (eg.. starter and ign wire cuts) a back up battery siern, so if someone cuts the battery wire the alarm will go off!. 2 stage shock sensor. if you have big wheels on ur 7, get a anti jacking sensor. I have one and they work great! i cant jack the wheel off the ground and it goes off! and i have as well is a air pressure sensor that goes off if the air pressure in the cabin changes! thats what i have in my car and it works great, its stop 4 break in so far! try that for a start!

 

I can say without an doubts that you would want to avoid an Air pressure sensor. You can not leave the windows down and other issues.

Now a field disturbance sensor I highly recommend for any car. It uses Microwave technology and once set up properly it can be used wth the windows or top (on verts) down or up and will detect any movement inside the vehicle.

For the average consumer I do not recommend any sort of Ignition or Fuel kill on the car either. If there is a problem with the kill or security system the car may die while driving. This could be potentially life threating. A properly installed starter kill is more than safe as well as more difficult for the average car theft to figure out.

 

Totally agree. I have one in my 'vert for obvious reasons and I'm happy to leave the car unattended with the roof down during the day. However if you have curious cats in your neigbourhood they're occasionally annoying... Here I disagree. Granted a car that dies in the middle of the road could be dangerous, but this sort of failure is very rare. As a security device, a starter kill is (IMO) practically useless. The car's ignition can still be hotwired and the car push- or roll-started with ease. Any thief who gets the ignition going but can't operate the starter is going to figure it out pretty quick, especially if you're dealing with a pro. Starter kills are what used to be used, but now aren't for this reason. To get around a fuel and/or ignition cut would take a lot more time, which is the enemy of any car theif.

JumpyRoo, if you're serious about keeping your car and can afford it, satellite tracking car monitoring systems are almost guaranteed to protect your ride from disappearing forever.

 

I've always used an alpine alarm with a 2 stage radar zone, come close and it warns you, violate it's interior space and it goes off. Also has ignition cut, motion, and the possible add-ons are endless. I've had this same alarm transfered between 3 cars(7 years) and the only problem I've had is with adjusting the radar scan area a few times...very reliable, works in conjuction with stock alarm.

 

"Antitheft" is a misnomer - there is no way you can PREVENT a pro from stealing the entire car.&nbsp A pro team of two people will disable almost anything you throw at them in 5 seconds.&nbsp Back-up batteries and sirens just add a second to their delay.&nbsp A tow truck does very quick work (even with a wailing siren) of any car, short of literally attaching your car to a concrete pole.

This is what I advise - keep your **** HIDDEN.&nbsp Make the car as innocent as possible.&nbsp Theft DETERRENTS (i.e. alarms) will keep the "kids" at bay.&nbsp You don't want to attract the attention of a pro thief and cross you fingers your car isn't on their "shopping list".&nbsp I just read the thread of the guy who got his car broken into because of a radar detector and a obvious head unit glaring in the center console - I hope you learn from it.&nbsp Keeping CD's out in the open will pique curious eyes.&nbsp HIDE everything, including any detachable electronics (i.e. radar detectors).&nbsp Some thieves will even go as far as look for the tall-tale signs of suction cups or radar detector mount on the windshield - remove all mounts and clean up marks from suction cups.&nbsp The world is nasty out there - some very common sense habits will minimize prying eyes...




-Ted

 

Sorry I completely disagree with that. When did you last see someone stealing a car by push starting it?

Car thieves are criminals, they are breaking the law. They know they are breaking the law. They do not want any attention what-so-ever, and pushing a car across the shopping lot or down the hill will draw attention.

If you must do a fuel or ignition kill make sure that a bypass fuse holder (and empty fuse holder wired across the kill circuit) is used. Although it won't protect you if something fails while driving, plugging in a fuse will effectivly bypass the kill in case of emergency. And thieves never think about plugging in a fuse to make a car work or bypass an alarm.


Ted's comments though are right inline. Most cars get broken into are because the owner was too lame to turn down the stereo before entering the parking lot, or left the CD's on the seat and the radio faceplate on the radio. From 17 years in the automotive electronics biz I can tell you exactly what cars got stolen and why in the US. And 99% of the time it was because the owner was not using common sense or was showing off.

Say maybe you park on the street or in a driveway. Do you think that the neighbors know you have a good stereo if you forget to turn it down when you turn into a residential area?

In the US most cars are broken into or stolen by kids (15-25 age group). Professional car thieves are a small minority. Yes they are out there, but should not be your biggest worry. That punk kid down the street in your neighborhood should be.

 

I know someone who had their starter-kill-equipped car stole. It was parked on a hill. Guess how it was started... You’re right, but really, who pays attention to someone push-starting their car? You laugh at their misfortune (must be a flat battery right?) and immediately forget about them! A car thief’s greatest ally is apathy!

But your comments and Ted’s about not attracting thieves in the first place are right on the money. Leave absolutely nothing visible in the car. Jackets on the seat are a classic mistake. People often cover things with a jacket, so a thief thinks, “what’s under the jacket they don’t want seen?” Coins are another one. Kids break into cars to steal money for things like cigarettes. Hundreds of dollars of damage are done to get a couple of dollars. Another tip: don’t ever lock your glove box. It’s the first thing a thief checks, and if it’s locked, again he thinks, “what’s in there they don’t want seen?” If he got into your car, he’ll get into your glove box, doing a lot of damage in the process.
The best think you can do to protect your car is do not underestimate these scum. They have the ability, you have to remove the opportunity.

 

ya everything in my car is hidden except for the gauges and the deck with no flaceplate which is aways in pocket, not under seat... I always turn down music before getting anywhere. and I rarely park it anywhere at night. I don't get out much too scared to park.

also why I don't have stereo and alarm info on my site there was a story about an FD guy last year that had that info on a site. a week after he put the info up on his crazy alarm setup. the car was gone and striped for parts.. hmm. parts went to an FD owner. FD owners read sites on FDs....

 

Tell me more about this sat tracking, NZ.

sooooo tired. I'll post more later

 

What brand/model of alarms do you guys (Icemark, DJ, NZConvertible, RETed) since you seem to be rather up to par on car alarms.

 

A former customer of mine in DE had his Montego 94 base FD stolen a few years ago from in front of his house. He lived in an apartment complex in a University town. They found his car within a day or two in North Jersey, completely stripped. I remember seeing the car rolling into my shop on the recovery rollback. What a sad sight! All glass broken, all plastic cut or cracked, all leather ripped. The 17" OZ's (of course) were also history. As I recall, he had a hell of a time with his insurance carrier too. After we pieced his baby back together, he came up with a very original idea for anti-theft. The owner of the FD worked at a trainyard. He managed to get a solid section of RR track (like 12 feet long) brought to his house and had it buried vertically all but about 18" in the ground. He had a section of the sidewalk removed and after cutting a hole through the section of track, ran a piece of logging chain through the track (below the surface of the grass and under the newly poured concrete. Every time he came home, the FD was literally chained and padlocked to a 1000 lb piece of steel! (I'm guessing on the weight of the track, but believe me, I don't think that was the weak point of the setup!) There was no visible chain when the car was parked because it actually came up out of the ground about 12" from the curb of the sidewalk so the front end covered it. There was no way to remove or tamper with the chain. The best part, the person who lived right upstairs from him (and directly above the car) was the one he always referred to as "The crazy lady with the .357". I'll bet she was as good a deterrent as any!!
I HATE F***ING THIEVES!!! Try getting a job and working like the rest of normal America does. The world owes you NOTHING! With any luck, and my knowledge that all thieves are inherently butt-f**king STUPID, you will end up on the business end of the aforementioned .357 and be put out of our misery. I don't think twice about buying nice things, I think twice about how to catch someone stealing them. I am also smart about keeping my goodies out of sight. Living with a State Trooper also had its advantages!

 

get the $180 alarm at www.cmttrading.com . has its own pager to page you if the alarm sounds off. it has key less entry, remote start up, it will warm up the engine evry hour or something, and all kinds of features n ****

 

For the record, I run an Alpine SEC-8048.&nbsp I abhor impact sensor based alarms systems, and I love my two-stage radar unit.


-Ted

 

And this is exactly why DEI ask their installers NOT to use the VRS on the ingnition, ONLY on the starter.............of course this won't work on a stick vehicle.

DEI rep mention "that a thief in CA stole a vehicle, while speeding the car shut down due to the anti-car jacking, the thief couldn't stop the car so he was involved in a accident. Few days later the thief was suing the vehicle owner" I don't know if its true, or if they were pulling my leg!

 

IMHO you can't beat DEI, and Clifford for the $$$ invested.

 

It's like a really fancy car alarm, except there's no siren. Instead when the alarm is triggered by a thief, the system uses GPS (global positioing system) to indicate to a monitoring company that the car's been broken into. They can then track it's location in real time to within about 10 metres. They call you to tell you what's happened, then call the cops and give them the car's location and heading. A cop the trails the stolen car without lights or sirens until the thief stops at a red light for example, then tells the monitoring company to kill the engine, which they can do remotely, instantly. While the thief's wondering why the hell the car just died, the cop gets out of his car, walks over and knocks on the window...
They've been running systems like this in Australia for a while, and the recovery rate is close to 100%. It costs about double what a decent alarm costs to fit, plus there's a small yearly fee, so it's not bad value. If you have a vehicle you really want to keep, it's unbeatable!

 

DDDDDDDDAAAAAAAMMMMMMNNNNNNNNN, now THAT! is what the hell im talking about. damn, who makes this? thanks

 

Yeah, do you have a site we can go to for that?

 

In the states, one company is called LoJack.&nbsp It is not the end-all means for preventing theft.&nbsp The system uses a brick-sized transmitter that relays position to a satellite tracking system.&nbsp You can only place this transmitter is very limited places, and all the pros know where to look.&nbsp Amatuers usually leave the stolen vehicle for a week somewhere else as a cool down period if they suspect a LoJack system installed.&nbsp Don't let it fool you - it won't prevent a thief bashing your window and taking something laying in the front seat...



-Ted

 

That is true Ted, most car breakin's are just stereo and **** in the car bein' jacked.......

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Scott 89t2
ya everything in my car is hidden except for the gauges and the deck with no flaceplate which is aways in pocket, not under seat... I always turn down music before getting anywhere. and I rarely park it anywhere at night. I don't get out much too scared to park.


just want to let you know that my faceplate is still at my house and my stereo is not, because the detachable faceplate means nothing -- they still took my stereo anyway, and i never even had the faceplate anywhere in the car. so if they see your head unit even without a faceplate i guess they'll take it anyways.

 

That’s pretty uncommon though. Last car I had stolen lost everything except the detachable face head unit. No method’s perfect, but a detachable face is still the best way to ensure at least you head unit is still there when you come back. And it’s a whole lot better than that stupid Kenwood MASK system...

 

yea, i hate that mask system, my frend had an aiwa that dint have a detachable faceplate, instead, the stereo would "hide" it self by turning the faceplate all the way around to stay hidden, it got stolen anyways