How you protect your car?

[Patty]

I just posted this in the stolen car thread but it was suggested to post here in the Pub section to see what others do to protect their cars.

I don't have a garage to driveway parking or street parking are my only options. What do others do to protect their cars to avoid car theft or brake ins?


I live in Mitcham, VIC, and last week a group of young guys broke into about 8 cars in our street and surrounding street, including mine. I woke up in the morning and found my side window smashes and door open. I had nothing in the car worth stealing apart from a few iphone cables and a babyseat so overall it's not a big deal for me. But when the cops came, I found them a bit blasé about it all. They mentioned that they same group did the same thing in Balwyn a few nights previously.

Has this happened to anyone here? My car was in my driveway and I'm trying to think of ways that I can deter thieves from doing it again. Has anyone installed cctv cameras in their house? Worth it? Or what about sensor triggered flood lights?

[Revolver]

Carry witches hat in your car, place them in a circle when you park, and patrol around those witches hats with a shotgun.

[superyob]

Originally Posted by Revolver

Carry witches hat in your car, place them in a circle when you park, and patrol around those witches hats with a shotgun.

Can I use a Browning semi auto 12 gauge please???

[poppa smurf]

possibly one of those automated sensor lights MAY deter them......I feel for you though when our possessions are not safe from thieving dole bulging ferals.

[bangm001]

Start with an alarm/shock-window sensor??

[TUF_302]

Luckily I have off street parking, and a large dog

[GO FURTHER]

Installed the optional Ford Perimeter alarm in my FG.
Always park it first at the end in the driveway at night, with two other cars infront of it. Also have high mounted sensor flood lights, a dog and CCTV.
I also have planted metal battons in various positions around the perimeter of the home and outside hidden in bushes I can easily get to, should I be confronted in an unprepared home invasion / attack I can get to quickly.

[FairmontGS]

Originally Posted by BAXRSIX

I also have planted metal battons in various positions around the perimeter of the home and outside hidden in bushes I can easily get to, should I be confronted in an unprepared home invasion / attack I can get to quickly.

They can vandalise / have my car if there's violence involved - that's what insurance is for. I'm not going to argue with some meth-head with a knife

[LTDHO]

Patty, if you have to park on the street, you are limited on what you can do, as a "Smash and grab" thief will not care if they set of an alarm.

[GasoLane]

Seems fairly timely to post that my wife left the keys in our car (again) last night.

[Patty]

Thanks for the input guys. I've never really been robbed before so it was a bit of shock to the system. Especially considering the window closest to where the car is parked is my 15 month old Son's room.

I'm getting sensor mounted flood lights installed today. I've also bought a fake CCTV camera (short term solution until I do my research on proper CCTV systems, and will mount that on the corner of the house that overlooks the driveway (it was only $15 and looks pretty good, has a spot for a 12V battery which lights up a red light that is visible from the road so it looks legit).

I was consdering a perimeter alarm but we have so many possums around that it would be going off all night!

[LTDHO]

Originally Posted by Patty

I'm getting sensor mounted flood lights installed today. I've also bought a fake CCTV camera (short term solution until I do my research on proper CCTV systems, and will mount that on the corner of the house that overlooks the driveway (it was only $15 and looks pretty good, has a spot for a 12V battery which lights up a red light that is visible from the road so it looks legit).

Be mindful of where you point your camera, some neighbours don't like the breach of privacy. (I had a neighbour adjust one of mine when I wasn't home, caught it all on tape)

Get a 8 camera system. Whilst it's good to point them at your cars, also up and down the road, so you can record them either way.

[Patty]

Originally Posted by GasOLane

Seems fairly timely to post that my wife left the keys in our car (again) last night.

Well after my car got broken into I also checked my wife's car to see if she had any valuables in it that I should remove and she had her spare car key in the console!!!
Talk about lucky.

[superyob]

Originally Posted by GasOLane

Seems fairly timely to post that my wife left the keys in our car (again) last night.

Your address please...

[poppa smurf]

funny I mentioned this to our "down the road" neighbour, he parks his car in his driveway so I asked him about thieves, he said..... "walk toward it" .....then he threw a power switch on the wall, as I walked toward the vehicle a floodlight went on and a horn sounded.

he has the horn set up on some sort of short action relay so it only gives a quick blast.

"that scares the bejesus out of them" he reckons.......worked on me, I won't be going near his car.

very clever i thought.

[CyberWasp]

The problem is that crime such as vandalism should pay.
Pay as in when caught, they are put on a chain gang breaking rocks @$10.00 an hour until all damage is paid off.
Maybe then there will be more respect for peoples property and the hard work that goes into earning it.

[Junkyard-Dog]

Originally Posted by CyberWasp

Pay as in when caught, they are put on a chain gang breaking rocks @$10.00 an hour until all damage is paid off.

I think $10 an hour is a bit generous, more like 10 cents an hour.

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

Lighting helps, noise helps, locking car helps, alarm helps, flashing light on dash helps, being vigilant helps, but nothing is 100% for sure.

These guys don't miss anything, anyone starts creeping around in our driveway, or near the garage or house, they know about it, if they know about it, I know about it, if I know about it someone is in trouble.

Good luck trying to outrun these guys, I have timed them at 40km/hr average speed over 3km's, and they can crunch arm bones like tooth picks

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by CyberWasp

The problem is that crime such as vandalism should pay.
Pay as in when caught, they are put on a chain gang breaking rocks @$10.00 an hour until all damage is paid off.
Maybe then there will be more respect for peoples property and the hard work that goes into earning it.

Send them my way and I'll put them to work.

[Jack91]

I refuse to pay premiums for theft cover on my Ute which are half the value of the car each year. I pull the fuel pump relay out and put it into the empty slot next to it. I'll hear it cranking if someone has the balls, and i sleep naked so I'll run outside and scare them off. Unfortunately you can get into huge trouble creating man traps, although that would be ideal.

[Qwerty321]

My car is parked on the side of the road in West Auckland.

Protection? I have First Party/Full Comprehensive Insurance. If they want to do anything to my car they're more than welcome as long as they do more than 2k worth of damage, cause that's my excess

In all seriousness though, they're two kinds of car thieves. People out to steal the car, and opportunistic smash and grab thieves. The former will always go for cars without immobilisers as they are easy targets, so our cars are for most part safe. The second kind can easily be discouraged by simply locking your car with the windows up, and making sure you don't leave any valuables in clear sight. The best example I can think is make sure you take your GPS down from the windshield when you park.

Aside from that the only way you can be absolutely 100% safe is if you have it in a locked garage. Assuming your house doesn't get broken into...

[BradEL]

Originally Posted by Qwerty321

Aside from that the only way you can be absolutely 100% safe is if you have it in a locked garage. Assuming your house doesn't get broken into...

Did you hear about the Cobra that was stolen from takanini last week, the owners had it in a locked garage at their home, had 2 steel bollards blocking the garage as an extra measure, and also had security cameras. Unfortunately this was not enough to stop then stealing the Cobra, they made off with the car and came back within the hour to ransack the owners house too.

[Qwerty321]

Originally Posted by BradEL

Did you hear about the Cobra that was stolen from takanini last week, the owners had it in a locked garage at their home, had 2 steel bollards blocking the garage as an extra measure, and also had security cameras. Unfortunately this was not enough to stop then stealing the Cobra, they made off with the car and came back within the hour to ransack the owners house too.

I guess if someone really really wants to steal your car there's nothing you can do to prevent it. Regardless of how much protection you have, there will always be a way to steal the car regardless and all your doing is making the job harder for them in the hope that they'll decide the job ain't worth the effort.

Safest thing I can think off would be one of those council wheel locks. Everyone on the road will think your an idiot who got clamped, but I don't think anyone will be making off with the car with that on. Combine that with ballistic glass and an 24/7/armed guard roster and you'll completely deter opportunistic thieves too

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

Originally Posted by BradEL

Did you hear about the Cobra that was stolen from takanini last week, the owners had it in a locked garage at their home, had 2 steel bollards blocking the garage as an extra measure, and also had security cameras. Unfortunately this was not enough to stop then stealing the Cobra, they made off with the car and came back within the hour to ransack the owners house too.

There is always a story about a guy who had a (insert your poison for us it's usually a Cobra or Phase 3 for the Holden guys it's something else) stolen out a bank vault surrounded by a pack of killer trained Doberman with armed guards, while surrounded my a moat with ravenous piranhas and crocodiles, while the owner and his whole family were sleeping in it, yet it still disappeared into thin air while a crowd of armed and trained FBI agents stood guard but no one saw anything

Generally the moral the story teller is trying to convey is that there is no point locking your $500 EF Falcon as it will befall the same fate

On the flip side I don't think I have locked my shed or house for the last three years and not even a screw driver has gone missing.

[SSVPom]

Originally Posted by Patty

I just posted this in the stolen car thread but it was suggested to post here in the Pub section to see what others do to protect their cars.

I don't have a garage to driveway parking or street parking are my only options. What do others do to protect their cars to avoid car theft or brake ins?


I live in Mitcham, VIC, and last week a group of young guys broke into about 8 cars in our street and surrounding street, including mine. I woke up in the morning and found my side window smashes and door open. I had nothing in the car worth stealing apart from a few iphone cables and a babyseat so overall it's not a big deal for me. But when the cops came, I found them a bit blasé about it all. They mentioned that they same group did the same thing in Balwyn a few nights previously.

Has this happened to anyone here? My car was in my driveway and I'm trying to think of ways that I can deter thieves from doing it again. Has anyone installed cctv cameras in their house? Worth it? Or what about sensor triggered flood lights?

Mitcham is a good area and I live near there too, shame to hear about these break ins. Definitely sounds opportunist.

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

Originally Posted by SSVPom

Mitcham is a good area and I live near there too, shame to hear about these break ins. Definitely sounds opportunist.

I am guessing you don't really understand the meaning of opportunist.

It would have been opportunist if they walked past while out for their daily run and happened to see an iPad on the front seat and the window was down, and they grabbed it.

Purposefully walking through a neighbourhood and smashing car windows hoping to find something of value is not opportunistic, it's random crime.

[SSVPom]

Originally Posted by XB GS 351 Coupe

I am guessing you don't really understand the meaning of opportunist.

It would have been opportunist if they walked past while out for their daily run and happened to see an iPad on the front seat and the window was down, and they grabbed it.

Purposefully walking through a neighbourhood and smashing car windows hoping to find something of value is not opportunistic, it's random crime.

Do you have to contradict or correct nearly everything everyone posts on this forum ? I take your comments on board, but I was merely trying to say Mitcham is not the Bronx, and not where gangs of youths consistently go on crime sprees along the quiet leafy suburban streets.

[Itsme]

Originally Posted by XB GS 351 Coupe

I am guessing you don't really understand the meaning of opportunist.

It would have been opportunist if they walked past while out for their daily run and happened to see an iPad on the front seat and the window was down, and they grabbed it.

Purposefully walking through a neighbourhood and smashing car windows hoping to find something of value is not opportunistic, it's random crime.

Opportunists are people who see a chance to gain some advantage from a situation, often at the expense of ethics or morals.

At a guess I think some opportunists would break a window to gain access to steal what they see.

[Patty]

Originally Posted by SSVPom

Mitcham is a good area and I live near there too, shame to hear about these break ins. Definitely sounds opportunist.

Yeh Mitcham is a good area. I've lived here or around Mitcham most of my life. The funny thing is I've never had an issue my whole life, but in the last 2 years we've had both our cars broken into. A Vietnamese gang moved in next door and created a drug lab (cops busted them and caught them all), and just 2 months ago around the corner someone was shot. Hopefully that's it for the next few years ;p

I guess I'm just annoyed. The theives didn't get anything from my car as there was nothing worth stealing. It did cost me to replace the side window and it happened at a chaotic time in my life so it just threw me a bit.

Honestly though, lets say I hid a baseball bat in my front yard and I heard someone breaking into my car again. If I ran out and clocked one of them over the head and did some serious damage, would I also be charged with assault?

[paule11]

When I had bad neighbours used to put a plastic snake behind car in carport