talkmagic.co.uk

Just a thread to see if anyone can help, really. I had my car broken into for the second time in a year last week. It' an M-reg 1995 Fiesta - nothing too pretty, not quick, not fancy, just a runaround. However, it has suffered with 'attempted theft' twice in the last telve months.

I'm in the process of looking round for car alarms, but the lack of information is astounding. It's a case of garages/suppliers know all about them, but there's no-one impartial to ask. Before I head off to some garages and have to fend off their 'sales talk,' I was wondering if anyone here has had any recent dealings with car alarms or installation and the like?

Basically, I'm looking to spend less than £100, and have a basic alarm that'll get rid of the b***** vandals once they've smashed one of the windows. Argos sell them, but I believe they're notoriously bad quality.

Zack...

I've had all sorts of 'stealable' vehicles (Carlton GSI, Cosworth, RangeRover, Renault 5 Turbo) and the quickest and cheapest deterrent you can have with any of them is quite simply to add a steering lock and remove the radio.

The steering lock is a visual theft deterrent, and a good one is also a pain in the ass to remove. An opportunist thief will think twice!

Removing your radio faceplate, and making sure nothing of appeal is on display is also a good way to make sure there's no incentive.

Steer clear from cheap alarms. Not only will you have trouble fitting one, you'll also be plagued by it going off at all hours of the night.

You could fit a simple flashing LED in the dash as another visual deterrant.

Immobilisers are cheaper than alarms, reasonably easy to self-fit, and in most cases a thief can't crack them easily.

An alarm can be foiled by many thieves by simply unscrewing your indicator sidelight bulbs, believe it or not.

MY BEST ADVICE is that you should save up and get a decent alarm fitted by a dealer. You'll get peace of mind, and a certificate which may lower your insurance premiums (My Cosworth insurance dropped dramatically after having a Thatcham approved system installed—in fact, the drop in premium paid for 3/4 of the bill of the alarm system!)

An alarm system won't necessarily stop someone breaking into the car though, eg. to steal your radio or phone. Like I said, the best deterrent here is to not leave anything on show.

But, for sure, a steering lock or alarm will certainly hinder the beggars if they break in with thoughts of stealing! A thief will skip past a car which looks harder to steal.

Fords, unfortunately, are notoriously easy to penetrate!

Also, another tip is to be mindful of where you park it, of course!

Vandals can never be stopped. They aren't THIEVING criminals, they just enjoy ruining things. No matter how many alarms or deterrents, a vandal will always get their way. Unfortunately. B**&^rds

Good advice from Seige - sounds like he doubles as a crime prevention officer

Park it under a street light or get a security light fitted if it's parked in a drive way.

Recent surveys indicated that good lighting is the biggest deterrant, more so than CCTV.

With Seige's advice, and an accidental stumble across various mechanical security devices, I've been to Halfords and bought a 'Stoplock Professional.' Nowhere near as expensive as an alarm (after all, my car's only worth about £600), and it's Thatcham approved, so some insurers will give me a discount on my premium. It's also police tested and other stuff too. A bargain at £40. Many thanks guys.

Zack wrote:With Seige's advice, and an accidental stumble across various mechanical security devices, I've been to Halfords and bought a 'Stoplock Professional.' Nowhere near as expensive as an alarm (after all, my car's only worth about £600), and it's Thatcham approved, so some insurers will give me a discount on my premium. It's also police tested and other stuff too. A bargain at £40. Many thanks guys.

Nice one. With the added bonus of the fact it can be moved easily to your next vehicle. Bonus!

You could always try one of these: http://www.stickdeath.com/frameset.htm

Heh heh, if only

EDIT: bah it won't take u directly to the page, click on the red car where it says 2005 Anti-Autotheft devices

I also had my car window smashed yesterday right outside my front room window. Just idiot teenagers probably as there was nothing to steal. I might try wiring my car up to a lampost mains socket

Why not try one of these???

Captain Fantastic wrote:Why not try one of these???

rotfpmsl

I've seen worse: Whilst on holiday in Amsterdam a few years back, a couple of guys pulled up alongside our 'log cabin' in what LOOKED like an old Metro which had been parked next to a bomb testing site (yes, it would probably have failed it's MOT in the UK—if indeed it would have actually made it to the test station).

One of them proceeded to take a huge chain from the boot of the car and wrap it several times around the steering wheel and pedals.

Now, should anyone have actually WANTED to rob his car, they couldn't have. A tad extreme, we thought. But we did roll around for a while in fits of laughter.

Anyhow—we actually learned that they had travelled from Barcelona to Amsterdam and when they started out, the car was in reasonable nick. But somewhere along the way it had been stolen and recovered and returned in the state it was now in (must have been driven through a hedge or something).

Which kind of explained the impromptu wheel lock lololol

Anyway, they had a jolly good time and didn't seem phased by the state of the car. We actually believed that they may have done the damage themselves, because he was perpetually stoned and drunk the whole time we were there—and if they'd have driven in that state disaster would have ensued.

When my Dad lived in London, he said that when he was getting petrol he was standing waiting to pay and 2 guys came along and stole hundreds of pounds worth of computer stuff out of the back of his car! (He didn't do anything, as it was the companies)

Anyway, my dad fitted one of those flashing LED's in his fiancees old car and it stopped it from happening again.

And nice pic

In South Africa, car-jacking is a big problem..

Check out this insane security system. Remember to press 'play' after the clip buffers, if you want to see it in action. Seeing it in action is highly recommended

here it is:
http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/africa/9812/11 ... rower.car/

Arthur

Holy S**T!

That was cool