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A surprisingly simple way to foil car thieves

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Re: A surprisingly simple way to foil car thieves

#551

Post by knodi123 »

hutzlibu wrote: post #112
knodi123 wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Only some people have the skills and tools to open them - so they are useful at keeping most people out, No, not really. A large part of the security of locks comes from most people not knowing that they have the tools and skills to open them. It's like if everyone taped their door shut, and we depended on most people not knowing that tape is easily removed. My kid accidentally locked us out of the house the other…

Erm, maybe the locks in germany(europe) are different - but what you describe I only know from very old or cheap locks, no one would use for a front door (insurance would not accept that).

haha, well in America, insurance has no idea what kind of locks you have, and the vast majority of home locks are "whatever was cheap at home depot".

My front door is a pricey digital lock with a key for backup, and I don't think I could pick it with this method. That's why my first instinct was to try on our cheapest door.

Re: A surprisingly simple way to foil car thieves

#553

Post by Johnythree »

Waterluvian wrote: post #14

I knew someone with a shitty pickup truck where he wired a light switch into the fuel pump and hid it under the steering column. The truck would be stolen something like 5 times a year and every time he would find it abandoned a km or so away when the gas in the line ran out. I drove in it once to get lunch and near the beginning the car begins sputtering and he's like, "oh right, you're thirsty" and reached under an…

My old Landrover had a tap to swap between the two tanks. Leaving it in the center position saved the day a number of times.

Re: A surprisingly simple way to foil car thieves

#554

Post by nephanth »

QuarterReptile wrote: post #465
progman32 wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In one of my old cars I reach down under the dash and partially unplug the clutch switch. Prevents any starting because the car thinks you've forgotten to press the clutch in. You'd need to know that one connector is a bit too far out, super stealth.

You had the thief at clutch , of course. But I love this idea.

Depends on where you're living. The US is the only country I've been to where automatic transmission are so ubiquitous

Re: A surprisingly simple way to foil car thieves

#555

Post by Fatnino »

mikestew wrote: post #304
pavel_lishin wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My car in high school had a similar system. The radiator fan didn't turn on automatically, so my dad wired it directly into the AC controller. (The AC also did not work. It was not a great car.) If you got in the car, and did not specifically turn the AC to the correct setting, the car would overheat about a mile down the road. Luckily for me, I never had a chance to put this into practice, because nobody stole my ca…

The radiator fan didn't turn on automatically, so my dad wired it directly into the AC controller. All that trouble, rather than run to NAPA to spend $12 on the thermo-switch that would be easier to install than hacking into the A/C controller. Yeah, I've known some dads like that.

I have a 2000 civic. The thermoswich went bad and I replaced it (bit of a bother, tried to do it fast while coolant was pouring out the opening).

Couple years later it went bad again (I probably put in a crappy one from a generic country) so instead of going through that again I just stuck a bent paper clip into the socket of the wire that plugs into the thermoswich. Now it always has the fan on when the car is on.

Could have gotten the same effect by tampering with the relay (this short that I added actually just activates the relay for the fan) but I went with the easiest option.

Re: A surprisingly simple way to foil car thieves

#556

Post by alphager »

hutzlibu wrote: post #267
velosol wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're interested they're also available on Amazon.de https://www.amazon.de/LockCowboy-Transparent-Practice-Beginn...

I wasn't planning to, but why not pick up a new hobby ;) (It is indeed cheap)

If you're serious about getting into the hobby, don't buy the cheap chinese picks. They are a pain to use. Get something like this: https://store.spooxe.com/LOCKPICKS_SETS/KICK_START_LOCKPICKI...

Re: A surprisingly simple way to foil car thieves

#557

Post by hutzlibu »

knodi123 wrote: post #551
hutzlibu wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Erm, maybe the locks in germany(europe) are different - but what you describe I only know from very old or cheap locks, no one would use for a front door (insurance would not accept that).

haha, well in America, insurance has no idea what kind of locks you have, and the vast majority of home locks are "whatever was cheap at home depot". My front door is a pricey digital lock with a key for backup, and I don't think I could pick it with this method. That's why my first instinct was to try on our cheapest door.

Well, here they also don't know, but if a break in happens, they might check the lock and refuse to pay if it does not meet a minimum standard.

Re: A surprisingly simple way to foil car thieves

#558

Post by rootsudo »

incahoots wrote: post #108
rootsudo wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree - many cars are kept in parking lots - especially in HCOL. Access is basically whenever - if someone sees it there, and not moved often and such they know they can most likely attack it. Stripping an security system is also doable, via the can-bus attacks we see of late, but more personalized can just be to replace the ECU. In many cars this can be done in less than 15 minutes. Car shopping as presented in…

Thanks for reminding me of the Miata/Civic thefts, I nearly forgot how big that was in the mid 2010s. I recall so many articles of that happening. I was living in Miami during that time, a friend had his EK hatch stolen, beautiful example too, spent a fortune on that car and it showed. Of course the aftermath was the same ole story of it being stripped, and cut to a near nonexistent state. Now thinking on this "solut…

Unfortunately it's happening more now, simply because the value of the 90's/first generation ones are through the roof (haha get it, because it's topless?). Hard tops are now worth $2500-4000 in Miata world. Used to be you couldn't sell one for $500 or so.

Running cars are worth $5000, coupled with a hard top its worth around $7000 easily - mint/very nice ones exceed $10,000. For a 20-30yr old car, it's appreciating to exceed new cost (msrp for a 1990 miata was not even $14,000!)

Over in honda land, same thing, you used to be able to pick up a basic ek no/manual/only option is AC for less than $3,000 now those are the ones in most demand and exceed $15,000-20,000!

Re: A surprisingly simple way to foil car thieves

#559

Post by tveyben »

chiph wrote: post #472
gadders wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the UK in WW2 for a period of time everyone had to disable their vehicles when unattended by removing the rotor arm https://www.britishpathe.com/asset/47622/

A local Chevy dealer once got a Silverado pickup with the 454 (7.5 liters) V8 in it. As an anti-theft measure, they disconnected four of the spark plug wires when they parked it on the lot. It got stolen anyway - it turns out that a 454 will still run on half it's cylinders.

Which just highlights that if you do something - do it 100%, don’t just do it half-hearted…!

Re: A surprisingly simple way to foil car thieves

#560

Post by postmortembees »

bagels wrote: post #481
teach wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Land Value Tax would fix this!

We already have a land value tax. It's called "Property Tax"

Property tax is not land value tax. Property tax is a tax on both the improvements and the base value of the land.

Land value taxes are only taxes on the value of the land.

A land value tax would tax a giant residential building and the parking lot adjacent to it the same, which encourages maximizing the value of the lot rather than leaving it for parking.

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