Best deterrent

wanderlust23

Hi all, I'm after some advice. Bought a car a matter of days ago (Fiat 500 nothing spectacular), I live in a really crappy area and noticed one of the neighbours who lives in the youth hostel across the road lurking around my car so decided to keep a closer eye. After a while he started to look into my car but I tried not to think much of it, thinking perhaps he was just being nosey because the interior is quite nice however a little while after I noticed him pulling at my door handles so quickly went out to ask what he was doing and he just mumbled and went back inside. Just wondering what he would have done had the door been open...so my question is what is the best car theft deterrent? I'm worried he's going to do something to my car just out of spite now.

P.S I leave absolutely nothing in my car as this is quite a well known area for car theft

BeenThroughItAll

Rottweiler in the passenger seat should do the trick.

Ebe_Scrooge

wanderlust23 wrote: »

Just wondering what he would have done had the door been open Make sure you lock it every time you leave it ...so my question is what is the best car theft deterrent? A 7lb sledge hammer directed towards the kneecap often works well. I'm worried he's going to do something to my car just out of spite now.

P.S I leave absolutely nothing in my car as this is quite a well known area for car theft

There's little you can do to stop a determined thief, but something as simple as a wheel clamp or steering wheel lock will deter the opportunist. That said, cars these days are a lot harder to steal than they used to be, at least to an amateur.


The more worrying thing is vandalism. There's not really much you can do about that, but if you can get a CCTV camera set up, and recording, you would at least have some evidence to take to the police if the worst should happen.

wanderlust23

Ebe_Scrooge wrote: »

There's little you can do to stop a determined thief, but something as simple as a wheel clamp or steering wheel lock will deter the opportunist. That said, cars these days are a lot harder to steal than they used to be, at least to an amateur.


The more worrying thing is vandalism. There's not really much you can do about that, but if you can get a CCTV camera set up, and recording, you would at least have some evidence to take to the police if the worst should happen.

I was thinking of a steering wheel lock, a few other people on my street have them and they seem to be doing the trick. I live in a student house at the moment so unfortunately no CCTV. I was thinking of buying some stickers to say the car has a tracking device but not sure if they'd fall for it...

Aylesbury_Duck

wanderlust23 wrote: »

I was thinking of a steering wheel lock, a few other people on my street have them and they seem to be doing the trick. I live in a student house at the moment so unfortunately no CCTV. I was thinking of buying some stickers to say the car has a tracking device but not sure if they'd fall for it...

I would do both of those things. You might consider a fake webcam in the car - they can be bought for a fiver - which might create the impression that it's constantly monitoring. There is a risk that it might look like something worth breaking in and stealing though...

david39

I have a Krooklok for clamping the steering wheel.
It won't stop vandalism but it does make my car the least attractive to a thief if he is looking for one to steal in a line of cars in a street.
It is prominently visible to even a casual passer by and so a thief is deterred before he even starts to force entry.

PasturesNew

With the fake CCTV cam, a small notice "Smile, you're streaming live ..."

wanderlust23

Aylesbury_Duck wrote: »

I would do both of those things. You might consider a fake webcam in the car - they can be bought for a fiver - which might create the impression that it's constantly monitoring. There is a risk that it might look like something worth breaking in and stealing though...

That's also my worry. The facts its drawn attention so soon after buying it isn't very reassuring! In broad daylight aswell so it was pretty brazen of him.

david39 wrote: »

I have a Krooklok for clamping the steering wheel.
It won't stop vandalism but it does make my car the least attractive to a thief if he is looking for one to steal in a line of cars in a street.
It is prominently visible to even a casual passer by and so a thief is deterred before he even starts to force entry.

Thank you I will look into it!

wanderlust23

PasturesNew wrote: »

With the fake CCTV cam, a small notice "Smile, you're streaming live ..."

Haha I like that! I'm hoping me going out and confronting him as he was nosing through the cars window is enough to deter him from trying anything again. As a 5'4 slightly built female though I'm not sure I was all that intimidating :rotfl:

Herzlos

Just make sure there's nothing in it / visible, he's more likely to be trying to see if you've left coins in the tray and unlocked or something.

System

wanderlust23 wrote: »

In broad daylight aswell so it was pretty brazen of him.

Scumbag junkie most likely. They don't seem to mind doing stuff like that in broad daylight.