As some of you know I work in the largest walled prison in the world and I come across alot of different people. Some of them are car thieves who I have gotten to know. I asked a few ( 2 of them) if they could give me a list of things they look for and do before getting OUR ride...here are some things they look for......
1- Try not to park in a spot that is hard to see your car or for other people to see.
2- Tinted windows usually means there is something to hide. (not counting on the rear windows--talking about the doors).
3- A tinted window is really bad--They can break the window and it will stay in one piece...it makes it easier to pull out the window with less noise. And also breakes quiately.
4- DO NOT have stickers showing what brand or products you have. This is a real eye catcher.
5- Cars in carports are tooo easy to get at.
6- Dont keep the same routine if you live in an appartment complex or busy parking area. Park in different places to throw thieves off.
7- Dont leave wallets, credit cards, cd or anything that might be worth $100.00 or so in the open. One inmate told me he broke into a car cause he seen a bounch of change. He got $5.00
8- If your deck has a detachable face--take it off. Put it somewhere out of sight. Now how many of us do that I know I never take it out. But at least hide it.
9- If you have an alarm use more than just shock sensors for activation. Motion sensors work great. Mercury switches also work good.
10- If you have a 2nd battery for your system, use it to power the alarm. If your front battery has the power cut your alarm will still work off the 2nd battery.
11- Dont install the siren close to the bottom front. Put it high on the firewall. The siren should be heat resistant so the engine should not harm it.
12- Put your led light high on the dash board so it can be easily seen. One inmate said " If I get out and walk up to the car and I dont see the led light till I get up on the car, hell Im already here so I will see whats in it".
13- An alarm with a pager system is good but the ones with a gps system are the best.
14- If your alarm keeps going off at night its usually because someone is trying to get you to lower the sensitivity so he can break into it easier. " This method always works, people get soo pissed off they sometimes turn off the alarm" one inmate said.
15- If you have a system, mount the box to the car. DO NOT mount your amps to the box.
16- Do not keep your locks to your wheels where they can be easily found. Most of the time if you hide the locks thieves will find it. Also--Use two different set of locks on each rim.
17- Park your car where it is most light. If you have a garage---use it.
18- If you have to leave your car in a parking lot, park it out in the open in a lighted area. The more cars around the easier to get at.
19- Have a dummy valet switch where it is easily found ( under the dash is where most people have them) and hook it up to your alarm so when the thief tries to engage it, it will trigger the alarm instead of shuting it off.
20- A thief will case the car for several weeks or months to see your routine. This gives him an idea what you do and when.

One thing I have learned is if someone wants your car bad enough they will get it. The things I have listed may not stop everyone, but why not do all we can to prevent someone from taking OUR stuff. I would like to take this time and thank the two prisoners who made this list possible----prisoner Dumitrescu #274577 (I call him by his first name--Clem) and prisoner Dark #320684.
If I get more info I will post it here and please feel free to post any other methods of keeping people away from our cars.

hmm... thank them for us and then beat them a bit with a bat for being ****s

Thanks for the info.

good thread--sticky?

Tell prisoners #274577 and #320684 thanks for me.

LOL---I will pass the info tomorrow....

useful crime prevention advice...thanks stickied for a couple of weeks so all can see!

Ok, you stated all common sense things...

But then again, this comes into play where 95% of America (and probably 80% of the rest of the world) have NO COMMON SENSE...

But still a good thread, people really need to use their heads about things.

Oh and I've had 2 cars of mine broken into (one being my tib) and close to none of the common sense items applied, because it was someone I knew that lived down the street, got drunk one night and started busting up cars... joy...

Sounds like you need to start busting up some heads---J/K----hope you turned the
pos in

Hey man, good thread!!

My aunt and two uncles work up there in Jackson @ the prison - you might know them. Mike and Marylin Ware, and Dennis McConeghy is their names.

My best advice is get an alarm. It would have saved my Chev Beretta from gettin broken into.

PS: Good thread for sure.

no, he got his *** kicked by 4 big black guys in my apartment... not like I did anything, I just sat in my room while they kicked his *** in the living room... lol... I told one of my friends that I wanted to kick his ***, but he was 16... soo... and my friend was 17 (I was 19 at the time) and he got some of his ghetto friends from around the block... we chilled for a bit, I invited the other guy over... lol, locked the door (key lock from the inside) and went in my room... lol

Lots of good info, thansk !
but about the detachable face of your deck, I'd recommend to take it off with you each time, don't hide it.
Someone broke into my car, they didn't stole anything, and I'm sure they were looking for the face of my deck. I just have to pay the damages but not buy a new deck.
An other proof to not let the detachable face in the car ? One of my friend used to hide it in his car, and a thief broke into and found the face, and so he stole the deck.... just in front of his house. now he always take it with him.

No--I work at JMF, they must be at SMI

OK after reading the above, i just got v. paranoid. LOL. Na, most of the stuff just common sense really. I take my HU's face with me and use the steering lock as well. My dad's old car got broken in to (via rear quarter window), and got nothing because there was nothing to steal!
Lesson here: don't keep anything valuable unnessessary in your car.

About the siren? Why high up on the firewall and not just anywhere in the engine bay?

i sleep in my car to ensure no one breaks into it.... small quarters to sleep in but great piece of mind...

very good info to have. i'll definatly take this into consideration

although bolting the box to the bottom of hte trunk could be a hassle esp cause i might need quick removal for college crap, as well as if i get a flat tire...

does remote start make it any easier to steal a car? i'm considering getting this...but...this thread made me think. lol

Because the thieves will get underneath and pull the siren wires off so the thing that people notice are the flashing lights--if you have them hooked to your alarm. They will pull out ALL your horn wires so no one hears them working. This came right out the horses mouth.

NO--I have been installing remote starts for years and as long as the car stays locked it cannot be stolen. As soon as someone hits the break the car will shut off. Dont worry about that....your car will (should) be safe.

okey doke yea i knew the whole hittin the pedals turns it off thing...i was thinkin more like...someone once said that RS is like hot wiring your car almost or somethin which makes sense sorta but now i'm confusing myself so if someone makes sense of what i just said then please tell me something. lol

You know what else I heard...If the thief isn't looking to steal the car but rather what's inside, they will break the window with the ceramic stuff from a spark plug. Then they will use your hood release and cut the wires to your battery, the alarm will sound but only for a short period of time. The engineers also made the tib with a certain sense of security since we do not have a lock/unlock button, you have to physically lock the car unless it's with your fob(the potential thieve cannot just push a button to unlock the doors). I think someone else mentioned this, but it's probably a good idea to cover your VIN number on the drivers side dash. Another disturbing fact is that if you call the police to come and slim jim your car, a lot of the times they don't ask for an ID or your registration. So any potential car thief could just call the police and say he/she locked their keys in your car. For your sub boxes and and audio amps, mount them to a solid metal structure and use security screws/bolts. If you live in a detached house always pull into your drive way. Your siren/horn is facing the direction that you will be occupying, you will have a better chance of hearing your alarm if it is triggered. This may or may not help, but turn your steering wheels all the way in one direction then lock your steering when you get out. This will make 10x more difficult if they decide to just tow your car.

http://www.securityscrews.com/

Bogie---you have made some good points. The thieves I talked to said if it looked like it was going to be tooo hard to get your car audio equipment they would just tow it. I like the idea of turning your wheels. Please lets keep this alive so we can all enjoy our tibs.

I would recommend getting Gorilla Locks, they're made to look like regular lug nuts...but actually function as wheel locks.... get two for each wheel....this way it'll be hard to find your car one day sitting on cinder blocks..!!

well bottom line is if they want it bad enough they will get it one way or another. All we can do is make it a little more difficult for them or dealy them...

for one, i'v had a friend get his white integra towed on a flatbed coz he got over 10g's worth of stereo equipment in it in NYC in the afternoon! he just moved here too from cali.

wheellocks, i like to play it safe. i have 5 different sets for my mag wheels and 2 sets for my winter wheels.

another reason my car isn't tinted and the interior is always clear of everything(other than dust). i have Low Jack and 2 sets of the pedal clubs(AutoLock) one for clutch and one for break pedals. and in case someone decides to tow my car...well, driveway has an 1 1/2 diam. bolt secured about 1ft. deep with a chain locked to the tow hitch/loop on the front of the car.

i live in jersey city...where car theift rated like in the top 3 in the nation. neighbor got his car stolen twice in less than a year.