Perhaps one of the most sickening feelings a car owner can endure, is coming back to their cars after being at the shops or a football match to find that some numbskull has broken into their prized possession.
What a world we live in. People work hard to save up the kind of money it costs to buy and run a car, only for some jealous nobody to come along and put you in an unwanted situation. If you’re one of the lucky few who have never had to go through this, read on to find out some super helpful security tips to prevent it from ever happening.
Image credit: rick
Seizing the opportunity
You won’t be able to keep a constant eye on your car 24 hours a day – 7 days a week – that’s what the built-in alarm is used for. Sometimes, the problem occurs when one buys a used car, only to find out after it’s been broken into that the car alarm doesn’t work, or the windows are faulty. In that case, you would’ve benefitted from buying the used car at a garage, like Hilton Garage, that checks every aspect of the car thoroughly before selling, and even allows you a test drive.
One thing to understand is that most car thieves are opportunistic – which basically means that they go for a car just by chance, it’s usually not a preemptive strike. Most car thieves are like this – they see an opportunity and go for it. Targeted thefts are relatively low in comparison.
Don’t advertise your belongings
If your car is sitting in a quiet car park or on a vacant roadside with the sat-nav sitting on the dashboard, or your mp3 and phone on the passenger seat – an opportunist will see this as car boot sale and have no second thoughts when ramming an elbow through the door window.
Keep your belongings, especially electricals, out of sight. You may think the glove box is the best place to ‘hide’ these items, when actually that’s the first place a thief will check. It’s best to just not keep so many gadgets and valuables with you in the car. Leave them at home, and keep what you take in your pockets at all times. It isn’t worth it.
It’s simple – but a lot of people who are in a rush will forget to do that, only to come back and be left heartbroken.
Deterrents
Some thieves will actually steal the whole car if they can work their way around starting it up without keys – it is possible. But this can be avoided simply by fitting in a wheel lock and or an alarm system with a constantly flashing LED light. It’s basically a visual deterrent to make a thief think ‘oh it would take way too long to break through all that’ which is exactly what you want.
Overview
There are some simple yet effective ways to make your car a no-go vehicle when thieves are operating in the area. Most ways to prevent your car from being stolen are often overlooked such as: not parking in an unsafe area, locking your doors, maintaining your car, keep it in your garage overnight – and so on.
Car thieves are getting better at what they do, so it’s down to you to protect your car to the best you can. LED lights, stickers, hiding valuables, parking in a safe area and keeping your vehicle out of sight at night are some the best things to remember.
Autos Cruze