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Why do they still make car alarms? (2015)

popularmechanics.com

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Re: Why do they still make car alarms? (2015)

#231

Post by AngryData »

rstuart4133 wrote: post #170
AlfeG wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder why author think that it hard to steal modern cars. This IS a billion bucks business. Car part prices are high as never. Why not some person to buy replacements from shady market?

Because the car engine won't run without a computer, the ECU, telling the spark plugs when to fire (among other things), the ECU won't do that without establishing that some cryptographically secure element is within sniffing range, and in my experience as a computer programmer over many decades it's hard enough to get a computer to do the correct thing when it's cooperating. If it actively trying to get in your way,…

There are manual input codes on many cars for disabling those systems. Honda was worried a few years back for a big leak exposing the codes by vin where you do a sequence of brake pedal presses and turn signal switches and such to disable it so you can just pick the lock or use a cut key.

Re: Why do they still make car alarms? (2015)

#232

Post by waynesonfire »

turtlegrids wrote: post #152
spiritplumber wrote: post #100

I have an older RV that people sometimes try to steal (it's usually meth heads wanting to live on it; I've taken to leaving a plaque on the dash saying that if they want a hot meal instead, just knock on my door). The alarm is aftermarket, and silent. All it does is make the fuel pump go in reverse. (The fuel pump is also aftermarket) It's been hilarious a couple times.

> The alarm is aftermarket, and silent. All it does is make the fuel pump go in reverse. Would you mind disclosing what brand/model this alarm is? This would be great for a couple of “issues” I’ve been having. If you aren’t comfortable saying publicly, could you send me a message with the info? And Amazon/Aliexpress/eBay link?

lol, right, sucks when they don't start.

Re: Why do they still make car alarms? (2015)

#233

Post by dtgriscom »

I had an MR-2 for seventeen years, and I hacked my own engine disable system. If you started the car without the (non-heating) cigarette lighter pushed in, then the car would run fine for 30 seconds, and then the fuel gauge would go to zero and ten seconds later the car would die.

I loved the idea, until the system became flakey and I found myself time and again frantically pumping the cigarette lighter, hoping to get it to behave. I finally removed it. (Ah, youth...)

Re: Why do they still make car alarms? (2015)

#234

Post by AngryData »

burntoutfire wrote: post #23
ryanmercer wrote: post #3

If you have your car at the mall or are in a big city parking garge, sure it doesn't do much. If you live in the rest of the United States, which is spread out and some quite rural, a car alarm can quickly notify you someone is messing with your car. My town has a population a little over 300 people, we have one resident that is... not well... that rides his bicycle around even int he dead of winter and pounds on peo…

> Several years later I had someone crawl under my truck, cut the fuel line, and after taking all the gas they could get using a piece of tape to try and hold it back in place (I actually had this in my Facebook memories yesterday), a car alarm may have alerted me to that. Holy cow, US really is a bizzare place. With your level of wages and your low prices of gas, the value of the gas stolen was an equivalent of 2-4…

I think you are way over estimating the level of prosperity of the poor throughout the US. There are people around me that live in literal garden shed shacks built with scavenged construction scraps and garbage. Go into big cities and look at how many people live on the streets.

Re: Why do they still make car alarms? (2015)

#235

Post by polack »

alkonaut wrote: post #85

Most likely thing to be stolen from my car is probably wheels, catalytic converter. Both of these require jacking up the car, shoving some bricks under it, and stripping the parts in a matter of minutes. All I need from an alarm is something that takes care of that scenario. If someone steals it the car they have - as the article says - likely done it the easiest way: they walked in my unlocked front door and took my…

I think modern car alarms would get triggered if the car got jacked up. Even on quite calm seas the alarm goes off on some cars parked on RORO ships, just from the vibrations.

Re: Why do they still make car alarms? (2015)

#236

Post by fy20 »

hoten wrote: post #133
elboru wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some people think that the honk/beep is to confirm that the car got locked and the alarm got activated. So they will press the lock button until they hear the confirmation.

But it is a confirmation. If you're far enough away (perhaps you forgot to lock right away), you won't hear the lock mechanism and wont know if you are too far away for the signal to reach. So you wait for a honk.

That sounds like a feature looking for a problem... my car flashes the hazard lights when it locks, and I've been able to lock it every time without any problems. I just make sure I lock it when I have visibility of the car.

Re: Why do they still make car alarms? (2015)

#237

Post by whyenot »

I was getting my car serviced at a local Toyota dealership today. While I was waiting for my car, there were two Priuses that came in with stolen/hacked off catalytic converters. A Prius with a really loud "straight pipe" exhaust is awful weird. In any case, auto theft isn't about stealing the whole car, sometimes it's just hacking off the valuable bits without even breaking in. It's not a new problem. Before catalytic converters, it was taking hood ornaments or wheels. Car alarms, at least the ones that alarm when the car is jolted or moved, are just about the only thing I can think of that can help deter this type of theft.

Re: Why do they still make car alarms? (2015)

#239

Post by dotancohen »

andy_ppp wrote: post #225
monkeynotes wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not just have the alarm cut the power to the ignition or something less damaging than reversing the fuel pump?

I guess because the car would appear to be non-functional rather than deliberately disabled, i.e. the engine would choke and splutter but would not take you far.

Also, in some jurisdictions the car is not considered "stolen" until it has physically moved.

If the engine can move the vehicle just a centimeter before stalling under the load, then the vehicle is stolen for legal purposes and that has effects on reporting to the police, insurance for broken windows or valuables missing, and even crime statistics if the OP is thinking long term. It also might enable the OP to file a complaint with his HOA, who may be responsible for ensuring that the parking lot is better protected.

Re: Why do they still make car alarms? (2015)

#240

Post by spiritplumber »

dkdk8283 wrote: post #196
hathawsh wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the first time I've heard of intentionally running a fuel pump backwards and I wonder whether you're right. The fuel pump in modern vehicles is normally submerged in the fuel tank. My guess is that air drawn in by the pump would just make harmless bubbles; the pump would still be fully lubricated. Does anyone know for sure?

Fuel pumps on EFI motors have a supply and return. Return is significantly smaller in diameter and will probably allow the engine to barely run at all. It would probably start and shut off giving the thief the impression the car is junk instead of being disabled.

Oh, this thing was made in 1975. The motor is a mopar 440.
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