Is Quality Car Security A Waste Of Money?

Unfortunately in society today the chance of vehicles being broken into and vandalized or even being stolen is a sorry reality, although the numbers a coming down, the threat is always there. But we as car owners are still way behind the curve when it comes to the importance of protecting your car or its contents. Even though certain vehicles are more susceptible to being targeted by these criminals we all need to be aware of the threat of car theft.

Every time we park our cars we assume the risk of our vehicle being vandalized or stolen. According to statistics over two million vehicles are stolen annually which works out to a staggering one vehicle every 12 seconds. Car theft has evolved into a multi billion dollar industry mostly controlled by organized crime rings that work together to steal cars and fulfill underground orders for specific cars or car parts. In this day and age a stolen car can be stripped down and have all the parts separated and sold individually to bring in even more money than the actual value of the car itself!

One huge public misconception is that these car thieves are targeting high end exotic sports cars like those depicted in the film, "Gone in 60 Seconds"? If this is you, think again. If you look at the top ten most popular stolen car models, the Toyota Camry and the Honda Accord accounted for the first eight of those spots and Chevy and Ford trucks took the last two spots. Now many will say it's because these are the most often bought vehicles so the odds work out, but regardless of the reasons why they take the top spots, the key is to realize there is a higher demand for the most popular vehicle parts, period.

This is basically how the whole car theft process works; the auto theft ring gets an order for parts for a particular vehicle or vehicles which they dispatch out to their network of car thieves. Now once the order is taken the majority of car thieves have their sources and know exactly where to go to find a car like the wanted vehicle or parts. In most cases these car theft rings operate in particular areas for a length of time until it becomes too hot or risky for them and then they move their operation elsewhere. Some will work in random areas to ensure their "areas" don't ever get too hot minimizing their time to pick, strip and get payment.

Now there are several cheaper auto theft and deterrent products on the market that might seem to be useful due to their popularity, like the bars that go on your steering wheel as advertised on TV, but this is pretty much a waste of time and money. Even a hopeless car thief with a cheap hacksaw can be through that in less than 30 seconds and have your car hotwired and on the move.

Many car companies are now adding auto theft or deterrent packages to their cars but generally speaking almost all of the factory systems installed on vehicles are useless. They are usually a small blinking light on the dashboard or just noise makers that are triggered by a stiff breeze and can be overcome or bypassed easily. How many times have you passed a car that was honking its alarm in a parking lot and you just chalked it up to someone bumping into it? The alarms that make noise when a thief gets close are just ignored.

Also, car thieves are getting smarter about it and will purposely set off the alarm two or three times just so the owner thinks it's the wind causing the alarm, so they shut it off. That's when the car thief leaves with your car without any resistance at all. Other car thieves I've heard of would take a cat and throw it on the car so the owner would come out and see the footprints and think it was just a cat. After a time or two of being awakened they just disabled the alarm. Car thieves are very well informed of how to cut the wires and bypass these basic systems as well, so no matter what system they use your car will be trashed or gone in a heart beat.

Car theft is a big money industry and it is quite possibly just a matter of time before you see it happening to you or to someone you know. Only you can decide if it's important to pay the extra money to protect your investment and privacy. Obviously, we recommend getting a quality proven after market auto security system which combines several of the aspects above and maybe a glass break for additional coverage.

Also, if you ever do have the unfortunate situation of your car being stolen a system like Lojak.com can help police get it back within hours of it being reported. This setup will save you some cash on insurance up front and possibly a big headache and serious inconvenience down the road.