How To Prevent Auto Theft
Do not leave your vehicle unlocked. Also, keep your windows rolled up.
Do not leave your keys in the vehicle. This is especially true for your house keys. If your car is stolen with the house keys inside the vehicle, guess what? The criminals can drive to your home and burglarize it.
Do not keep or leave any item that looks like it might be valuable inside your car within easy view. Remove global positioning devices, laptops, ipods, purses from easily viewed areas of the vehicle when away from the car and store in space that is not easily seen.
Park in a well illuminated and well traveled area.
Look at the current list of the most stolen vehicles and decide if you should invest in a car alarm, steering wheel lock, electronic kill switch or any other device that will deter a thief. You might also consider the purchase of a car theft retrieval system such as Lojack or SkyWay.
Install locking lug nuts to thwart your custom wheels and externally mounted spare tire from being stolen.
Check your car keys to see if they are stamped with a key number. If they are, show the keys to your local locksmith and either have new keys cut (with no numbers) or have your keys with identification numbers remove the numbers. The number on the keys can some times be used to make duplicates.
Engrave the vehicle identification number or vehicle license number on your catalytic converter, doors and fenders with an electric engraver.
Either carry on your person or lock in the glove compartment your car registration and insurance card so thieves cannot produce them if stopped by police.
Block out your address on any documents in your car such as vehicle registration.
If you are going to leave your vehicle for an extended time, consider disconnecting the battery or the coil wire from the distributor cap to keep the vehicle from being driven.
Note: It might be a good idea to determine if your vehicle is one that is high on the list of being stolen and/or you live in a high crime rate area. If you see that your vehicle is either high value or easy to steal, seriously consider some theft recovery device such as Lojack and SkyWay or theft deterrent alarm or mechanical device such as a steering wheel lock bar. Contact your car insurance company to see if they offer insurance discounts for installing any of these products (might help defray the cost). Research car alarms before buying what the dealer offers you. Some stock alarms are easily disabled by thieves. Look at these alarm companies: Clifford, Python, CodeAlarm, and compare their products with the dealer’s stock units.
Disclaimer: Placentia Neighborhood Watch, in no way, endorse any manufacturers or model listed above. We have tried to present the information on this page only to inform you and motivate you to take prudent preventative action.