[fastball]

Originally Posted by 00 Trans Ram

Honestly, I wouldn't spend more than $500 on an alarm. In fact, I won't spend anything on an additional alarm.

Why? Simple math.

My insurance deductible is $500. I live in New Orleans, which has the following statistics:

Car ownership: 6.9 out of 10 people (or, 69%)
Population: 385,000
Total cars: 265,650
Auto thefts (2016): 2,472
Probability of my car being stolen: 0.0093

So, multiplying the probability of my car being stolen by my $500 deductible means that if I pay more than $4.65 for a theft deterrent, I am (statistically) wasting my money.

For all you baseball fans, and/or if you've seen the movie "Moneyball", that right there is a prime example of sabermetrics!

[cellsafemode]

I'd think a nice Faraday cage enabled case for your fob(s) would be all you need to deter most car thefts. Just stick it in there when you're at home or work for long periods if you're really concerned.

Anyone willing to put more effort than the 30-100 dollar fob amplifiers out there will steal your car regardless of how much money you put in an alarm and regardless of your transmission. Doesn't take long to flatbed a car.

[00 Trans Ram]

Originally Posted by fastball

For all you baseball fans, and/or if you've seen the movie "Moneyball", that right there is a prime example of sabermetrics!

I've never watched it, and am not a fan of baseball (other than when my kids play). But, now I'm sitting here reading all about it!

[Oil Man]

I've got two dogs, and a variety of other anti-theft devices:

A Les Baer
A Dan Wesson
A Beretta
A Glock
A Remington


If they're in my car, they're in my garage, and it's attached to my house. There's MUCH lower hanging fruit out there. This is not the house they're looking for.

[Zepp]

California, Texas and Florida have the highest vehicle thefts in the country. Down here in Miami, if they don't steal your car, there's a good chance that they will try to steal your wheels or break into your car. An alarm with shock sensor is cheap insurance to protect your vehicle. I had one of my motorcycles stolen and my insurance rates went way up, Florida is already way too expensive for insurance, you don't want to use your insurance unless you have to here. Also, you better have GAP coverage if you have a new car, if the car is stolen or totaled, payoff might not even be close enough to pay the loan off if you purchased the car in the last two years.

[martelds]

Originally Posted by Greg_Di

Best Anti Theft System = Get the manual :p

[Lerch98]

Originally Posted by motorhead

Get a beater and drive it when you have to go to the bad part of town.

That's what I do. 2005 Silverado

[fastball]

Originally Posted by 00 Trans Ram

I've never watched it, and am not a fan of baseball (other than when my kids play). But, now I'm sitting here reading all about it!

You essentially calculated the value of an anti-theft device for your situation in a way an MLB general manager and front office calculates a player's value for their particular team's situation. Obviously ball player stats are so many and the money is in the millions but same principle.

[JeffMorse]

Thanks for the Trunk Monkey link. I've seen a few of them, but not all. Love that guy!

[00 Trans Ram]

As for wheel theft, I had my 16" chrome wheels stolen off my 2000 Firebird once. Came out in the morning (lived in apartments) and the car was on jack stands (brand new, too!!). Filed an insurance claim, and found out that the wheels were something like $700 each. Tires were valued at $150 or so. So, a total of $3400.

Interesting thing about insurance is that they pay you for the loss, but you don't have to replace with what was stolen. So, I bought some cheaper 18x9.5 Italia Riva wheels and Kumho MX tires, and still had enough left over to buy some 17x11 ZR-1 replicas and put Kumho Victoracers on them.

[fastball]

I am not a fan of wheel locks. If you make your wheels impossible to steal, when they try to steal them and find out they can't they're more likely to seriously screw with the rest of your car. Key it, break windows, smash it with a hammer, who knows?

If you just have the stock lug nuts on them they can steal the wheels, and you can simply replace them and your car doesn't need a complete body restore.

[Techn9cian805]

I am very thankful that I don't live in an area where I have to worry about wheel theft... but I do live in the part of California with literally the highest vehicle theft rate in the state lol...
I am thinking of getting some anti theft lug nuts for my '91 z28 which has some very desirable wheels, but I always keep that car closely guarded so don't know if its worth the money.
as for my 6th gen, I am not worried at all, its my daily and I park it right outside my office window and my home's livingroom window, so if anyone tries, they will be in range of my high speed lead deliverer.

[detltu]

Originally Posted by 00 Trans Ram

Honestly, I wouldn't spend more than $500 on an alarm. In fact, I won't spend anything on an additional alarm.

Why? Simple math.

My insurance deductible is $500. I live in New Orleans, which has the following statistics:

Car ownership: 6.9 out of 10 people (or, 69%)
Population: 385,000
Total cars: 265,650
Auto thefts (2016): 2,472
Probability of my car being stolen: 0.0093

So, multiplying the probability of my car being stolen by my $500 deductible means that if I pay more than $4.65 for a theft deterrent, I am (statistically) wasting my money.

Unfortunately that assumes that all cars are equally likely to be stolen. That is not the case. My 99SS was stolen twice within a 3 year period. And it had a manual transmission! The first time it was stolen was in Metairie and the second time was in Baton Rouge.

I would say my Camaro is much more likely to be stolen than my Cobalt or my wifes SUV.

[00 Trans Ram]

Originally Posted by detltu

Unfortunately that assumes that all cars are equally likely to be stolen. That is not the case. My 99SS was stolen twice within a 3 year period. And it had a manual transmission! The first time it was stolen was in Metairie and the second time was in Baton Rouge.

I would say my Camaro is much more likely to be stolen than my Cobalt or my wifes SUV.

One would think so, but actually the opposite is true. Most thiefs don't want a "cool" car. They're not keeping it. They want to sell it. But, to sell it, there has to be a market. It's tough to sell parts for a car that's only sold a few dozen thousand units.

Look at the top 10 most stolen cars from 2016:
- 94-96 Honda Accord
- 97-200 Honda Civic
- 04-06 F-150
- 03-05 Chevy Silverado
- 14 Toyota Camry
- 01-04 Dodge Ram
- 14 Toyota Corolla
- 15 Nissan Altima
- 00-03 Dodge Caravan
- 08 Chevy Imapla