land mine

 

This started off as a joke, and ended up saving my shops car. We rigged 6 small LED strobe lights around the drivers FOV. The idea was if the security was bypassed, the LEDs were triggered. The only way to turn them off was to

1) pull them out one by one, or cut every wire
2) smash all 6 LED lights
3) flip the switch mounted in the center console to turn the LEDs off

We were working late night, and heard the civic start up, and drive away. We ran outside and saw the car get down the street, then roll to a stop. The guy jumped out of the car and tried running, but he was so overloaded from the LEDs flashing in his face, he really didnt know what to do, or where to go. Luckily a deputy was driving 2 blocks down and saw the LEDs flashing.

I was in a mad scientist mood that day, it paid off.

 

that is an excellent idea!

From someone who lived in orlando, I have gone through the paranoia of car theft and the ways to defend against it.

If you wanted to be double sure your car would be ok, you need to have 2 methods of defense against a theif. I like to think of it as 'daytime/nightime' mode.

During the day when you're running errands, etc, it is a good idea to have a solid, simple alarm installed in your car. The two must have options are:

1. battery backup
2. air horns

The trick is, you MUST make sure this alarm does not false unless its a real attempt at a break in. The positive side is, when the alarm does go off, its loud enough to attract attention from anyone who can hear it (people will come out of their house), and loud enough to scare a theif off. Also having a battery backup on the alarm gives it another few seconds of time to scare the thief off. INSTALLATION IS KEY. The harder things are to cut, reach, etc, including the air horns, the safer you are.

During the night, or times when you will be away from the car for a while, I would HIGHLY recommend installing a hidden fuel cut on the car. I would only entrust this to a reputable shop, but in the right hands it should be a relatively quick and painless install. One nice option I would recommend would be a 'headlight warning buzzer' attached to the switch. When the vehicle has the fuel cut engaged + ignition turned on, it will sound a buzzer to let you know the fuel cut is still active. When you disengage the fuel cut, the buzzer goes away. I was able to buy these items from an auto parts store and do them myself. Worked perfect.


The difference between having your car, and not, is to do something NOW. I have been procrastinating on doing this for a while, but I will learn from this recent loss and fix the problem this weekend.

 

I think vehicle tracking is the next wave. Think LoJack, but more usefull and friendly.

www.autoguardgsm.com

You get features like internet tracking and vehicle history...so you can go to where the thief is, and kick the crap out of him...I mean, call the police.

Geofencing...you can set a perimter where, if your car is driven outside of it, it won't start again.

Basic OnStar type functionality. If hooked to your door locks, you can 'call' your car, and have it unlock. In case you leave your keys in it, for example.

I think of security as two seperate issues as well, but more like, honest people, and real thieves. A well installed standard car alarm will keep honest and slightly dishonest people honest. This takes care of your 'smash and grab' types, that want to get in and out without a hassle...often a flashing LED is all it takes....this guy wants to hit as many cars in a parking lot / neighborhood as he can before he has to split. A screaming alarm usually means he's done in that are for a while.

Add a good 'kill switch' (I do a pretty cool one, by the way...one wire microchip technology), and you take the 'joy rider' type, and even some more serious thieves out of the equation.

But that's only 80% the battle. The other 20% is the real professional. These guys are really good at bypassing most security systems, or will just tow your car away, even if the alarm is screaming. If you saw a car, hooked to a tow truck, or on a flat bed, with the alarm going off, would you call the cops? Personally, I'd figure it was either being repo'd, or the alarm malfunctioned so it had to be towed, or something. Also realize, that without some sort of tilt sensor, your car could most likely be towed away without setting off your alarm.

There really is no defense against this guy. All you can hope for is to recover your car ASAP, before it is chopped and shipped off. Enter, vehicle tracking.

I'm putting one of the autoguard pieces in my 240sx.