3 ms·
Speaking of security through obscurity, my car is a 96 Nissan and it's had a few attempts on it. It's easy enough to steal, but it's getting hard enough for me
by ehnto 5y ago
Speaking of security through obscurity, my car is a 96 Nissan and it's had a few attempts on it. It's easy enough to steal, but it's getting hard enough for me to find replacement parts that I'd be surprised if thieves have everything, so I take some bits of the car with me if it's sitting for a while.
I have a quick release wheel to deter the average opportunist from breaking my glass and ignition barrel, and with some wiring trickery and the bits I remove it's never going to start. It's aftermarket enough that stock parts won't help the thief, so unless they have a laptop, an aftermarket ECU, and a tuner handy, they probably won't get far.
Sucks to have to bother with all that, but alarms have never helped me, and you just can't fix woeful 90s physical security.
One attempt on my car was only foiled because when I park up at my girlfriends house, I remove some 90s era fuses you can't get anymore and take the box covers with me. A paperclip would work, but you've got to figure out that the specific fuses are missing first.
It's not about being perfect when it comes to car security, it's about being too much of a pain in the ass, so they'll give up and move on. Just like bicycle security.
- Breza 5y agoModern cars have gotten so hard to steal that we're seeing more car jackings.
- protomyth 5y agoIt's not about being perfect when it comes to car security, it's about being too much of a pain in the ass, so they'll give up and move on. Yeah, my Dad had a Ford F-100 that had a gear shift that would come out. He drove it to work and took the gear shift inside and left it in his locker. Not the best location (a town in Oregon in the 70's), but he never had any trouble with someone stealing his ride out of the parking lot. I still remember the sound of the gas sloshing in the tank behind the seat.
- city41 5y agoNowadays it seems just having a manual transmission is enough to deter most thieves. I once took my car to get the oil changed and I had to drive it into and out of the bay as no employee knew how.
- berkes 5y agoMy 83 VW T3 was attempted to be stolen once. But, like the author, my bus leaks some power. So I too installed a switch that just disconnects the battery. It isn't hidden or super secret. Just adds extra work and time for someone probably being stressed out already. A friends' T3 was left in the middle of the road, because her gearbox was broken-ish and finding the reverse a learned skill. Halfway through turning her bus, thieves just gave up. She found her car perpendicular to the road in the morning.
- dclowd9901 5y agoContrarily I’ve made mine incredibly easy to steal but fit it with a hidden gps so I can get it back before it’s stripped to nothing.