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Thread ID: 112208 2010-08-27 22:43:00 What Use Is A Car Alarm? Roscoe (6288) PC World Chat
Post ID Timestamp Content User
1132314 2010-08-28 07:20:00 Friend of mine had a fuel cut out solenoid fitted to his daughters car which had been stolen several times. There was enough gas to get the car a few metres down the road before it ran out of gas.Next time it was stolen they found it half way across a nearby intersection, abandoned by the thieves. They didnt hang around long enought to find out why it stopped.

That was my plan if I had a car worth stealing.
tut (12033)
1132315 2010-08-28 08:29:00 Buy a tank. no one steals a tank. The Error Guy (14052)
1132316 2010-08-28 08:31:00 Buy a tank. no one steals a tank.

Wrong.

www.youtube.com
Cato (6936)
1132317 2010-08-28 09:08:00 Wolf, you put money in your car are you insured for market value or agreed value?

Market value. Any money I put into my car I don't get back if it is stolen.
--Wolf-- (128)
1132318 2010-08-28 09:29:00 Market value. Any money I put into my car I don't get back if it is stolen.

That really sucks.

Are there no insurance companies willing to give you an agreed value or are they just too expensive?
Cato (6936)
1132319 2010-08-28 09:55:00 In my situation, my car is usually parked in the back yard, blocked in by a few other cars up the drive. I still spent $30 on an alarm from trademe. If it goes off, everyone in the house knows about it, and we can all be out there in under ten seconds (albeit in our undies and whatnot). Make it 40 seconds if you want to get the shotgun.

My car is high-risk for theft, so insurance isn't cheap, and the alarm helps.

If I could, I'd have all sorts in it. Shotgun in the steering wheel, 1ft long spike that emerges from the drivers seat, you name it. But that isn't going to happen, it it? Imagine if it gave a false positive!

If any thief wants my stereo, they're welcome to it. Jap factory, with no band expander, doesn't like CD-Rs, or 90% of pressed discs. Good luck getting more than $5 for it.


He said alarms could be disabled (obviously) but the biggest deterrent (for stealing the whole car) was a steering wheel lock which no one seems to use these days.

Bwahahaha! Those things were useless! Absolutely useless! Even I can get those off in under five seconds, all you need usually is a good knife to cut a 1-inch segment out of the steering wheel. Doesn't work with aftermarket wheels, but still...
ubergeek85 (131)
1132320 2010-08-28 10:42:00 I had an old, low spec car stolen. There was no good reason to take it other than to get a free ride to the North Shore.
But to complete the insult, they parked it into a power pole and stole the battery and the stereo (or the tow truckers did).

Half the damage done was by the thieves - forcing their way in, and busting the entire mounting of the steering column. The steering lock remained engaged, but with the column snapped off from the dash they could drive by turning the wheel, and the entire column and instrument cluster with it.

Mongrels.

The other half of the damage was done by the tow truckers. The thieves onlt mangled the left front wing panel. The towies damaged the bonnet, the grill and the panel beneath the radiator.

Mongrels.

In their defense, they probably considered it a write-off, and that they're be the ones wrecking it for bits.

I fixed it up and got some more good years out of it. I included a basic immobilizer.

The next (and current) car is also low spec, but I've added an alarm and immobilizer since buying it.
I won't add any decent audio unless it's of a type that I can detach and take to work with me.

Moral of my story... no car is immune from the interest of thieves and joy-riding scumbags.

My car is worth sod all, but the inconveniece and stress if it gets stolen also has a pricetag, which by my reckoning makes it worth more than just market value to me. It's a car I know. There are no doubts about the engine / the transmission / the electrics. That knowledge also makes it more valuable to me than the unknowns that come with another replacement car of the same market value.
Paul.Cov (425)
1132321 2010-08-28 12:03:00 Two words: Tesla Coil Agent_24 (57)
1132322 2010-08-28 12:11:00 we don't use our car on a regular basis, i got it 15yrs after getting my license :D

take the wheels off and hide them :thumbs:
Nomad (952)
1132323 2010-08-28 12:16:00 Two words: Tesla Coil

I saw that project a while back, that's a time-lapse photo :( albeit it does look cool!

Nah, I'd rather attach the (distributor) coil output to the drivers-seat spike. Oh, and put a big ol' barb on it.

Edit; project site is http://tesladownunder.com/ if anyone's interested.
ubergeek85 (131)
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