Fox T-Bird/Cougar Forums

The guy who sits next to me had some bad news this morning. Some cowardly POS stole his wife's Honda Pilot right out of their driveway. Of course, it was in the dead of night, and they didn't hear anything. It had a factory alarm and chipped key but that didn't stop the thieves...though he's speculating that a key might have been left in the car. Still, it sucks.

People who steal cars should have a hacksaw taken to them. Or electricity. Or both.

Apparently his neighborhood has been getting hit pretty hard with car thefts and break-ins (houses, not cars), and it's making me think a little harder about securing my vehicles. I have alarms, but this isn't 1987 anymore -- no one pays attention to them. I think it's time to start thinking out of the box as to how to keep the car from being taken away even if the alarm is bypassed (or disabled with a code sniffer).

Or at least something to slow the POS down while I'm getting the gun out and calling 911.

Fuel/starter cutoff switch.

That will be part of it, but I spent a lot of time thinking about it last night and I think I've devised something pretty evil. Installation will be key, of course, though to ensure it can't be easily beaten.

No offense man but no one wants an 87 bird,the only reason i put an alarm and security features on my bird is for the stuff inside of it and under the hood.
The reason they stole your neighbours car is because, (for some strange reason)it's a desirable honda.
Honda's are top on the list for thefts.
But if you do want some security idea's:
1 A good alarm system is a must not the cheap stuff.
2 Remount your hood latch under the front bumper up on the yellow support and leave a dummy one inside the car.
That way they can't dissconnect the battery power to the alarm.
3 Disable your rear trunk lock and only have the power option functional(only if you have valuable gear in the trunk).
4 Install a few small pizo(pain)sirens inside the car hooked upto the alarm output and hide them well.
5 hide the alarm brain and all applicable wires very well so's as not to be easily found.
6 Install the club on your wheel(yes i know they can be fairly eaisly dissabled but it will take the theaf that much extra time.

I have two .45 ACP, two .40 S&W, two .357 magnum, one 12 gauge, and two .22LR security systems.  Also have dogs, auto spot lights, and a motion sensor chime.  Its an expensive security system, but it works! :D

fixed.
but seriously it is getting lousy around here too with the break ins, car thefts and such.
first, your buddie definately didnt grow up in philly to be leaving his(her) keys in the car anywhere around here, i dont care if im at the whitehouse i lock my car and take my keys. my sisters husband in upstate ny thought i was ridiculous for doing that up his way.
as far as the gun suggestion, bad idea. this aint texas or something like that even if your just protecting what you own around here with all the bad press not too long ago that will only bite you in the ass. i dont like to be a hypocrite because ill blow your head off for trying to steal my $300 beater but thats why i dont have a gun, because id use it.
your only real options are an alarm(not a factory blink the lights and horn) that chimes the key donggle thingy and a killswitch wired up to whatever part of the car you feel would stop a thief from stealing it ,or, a defensive security system(the kind that hurts the thief) but i believe they are illegal in this state.
 lowjack...ha what a joke, they couldnt find my moms van when it got stolen and it was less than a mile from here home. dont waste your money on that .
whatever you have devised dont share it with anyone, even here.

I hate that people can't leave their own cars in their own driveways...

I can leave my keys in the ignition of my cars and they'll never be stolen. I keep hoping someone will steal my Cadillac.

Ill steal our Cadillac i like the Cateras.

Oh please take it, at least then I get insurance money!

I don't lock my doors. I got sick of people busting out my window to steal a tape deck and smash my dome light. I had someone take my insurance card and registration yesterday. They didn't take anything else, just shuffled through my stuff. The didn't take the printer that was in my back seat that I can't give away.

thered be a dead sob if i caught someone tryin to steal my car at my house,,ive got a sawed off laoded beside the bed ,,2 loaded 300 win mags in the closet and a loaded 270 behind the door,,(by loaded i jus mean in the magazine),,not counting the countless other guns and ammo,,,i dare someone to try,,,i dont think ive got anything to worry about tho i live about 200 yrds from the police station,and my neighbors have seen me carry guns out left and right,,i dont think someone would risk it

Chain the rear axle to a tree. :mullet:

You're right about him not being from here. He had to come here from the FL panhandle for work. Its sort of a rude awakening, and as a resident of over 30 years I feel sort of embarrassed for this area, though I make no bones about how I feel about the various miscreants here. Its why I don't watch local news anymore. A few thousand stories of shootings, beatings, etc. In west Philly is enough for a lifetime. I'd work in Ramallah before working there.

He knows not to leave a key in his vehicle, he thinks it was an oversight when his wife drove it home and left a bag in it. I explained about our attitude, which includes quite a few firearms, ammo enough to hold the house down, steel doors, security windows, deadbolts, even NVG's (no kidding), and I live in a good neighborhood where our cops are known to be ultra-strict and watchful for "bad guys". A home alarm system, intercom, and CCTV camera are probably coming soon to our house. Its just a fact of life when you have a high population density. My dad and I  are even considering surplus kevlar vests for the odd time that we have business in Philly. If I was made of money, I'd buy a 3rd gen NVG and donate it to our local police, if nothing else to make anyone up to no good REALLY want to go somewhere else.

All the talk about the guns in the closet, by the bed, etc, doesn't mean squat.

What's your reaction time if awakened in the dead of sleep by the sound of your car being driven off?

What's going to happen to you when you actually do manage to shoot someone for busting a window on your home, car, etc?

In most states nowadays if you kill someone for merely breaking into your home, even though they had/have intent to steal or worse, you'll be in more trouble then they would've been. Sad but true.

I'm not making this political along those lines, not at all, just sayin'.

Guns alone won't keep your shiznit from getting jacked, trust me.
As stated before, cameras, motion lighting, and best of all, securing your vehicle inside a locked building are better methods.

I live on a farm...it's mind boggling how many times folks have wandered up while I've been gone, stole gas, a set of wheels, a lawn mower, tools, and even a cracked straight 6 chevy head.

One time, I was here, a van drove up out to the shed where my Tbird is now, a guy got out, walked right inside, and started snooping around. I hollered at him through my kitchen window "you have 5 seconds to get the f*ck out of here before I shoot first and call the cops last!" he hauled ass too.

And I live in nowhereville missouri where the only real menace is a cow in the road, lol

Come on your embarrassed and scared to live near Philly LOL. I've lived in Philly for 33 years and its not anywhere near as bad as you say it is. Plus I went to high school in west philly and still know people that live there and its not this "war zone" you say it to be, it has its good parts and bad parts just like anywhere else in the country.  I work in center city and take a bus and subway to and from work everyday and will continue to do so with a clear head. I try and hang out in center city whenever possible it has lots to offer. Give it a chance and see it for yourself you might even have some fun.

FORDTRUCKFREEK,,,Im sure anyones reaction time would be pretty  fast if someone was breakin in and had the potential to harm there family... itd have no hesitation pullin the trigger on some sorry low life  if they were breaking in my house,,i didnt say kill ,but id make  sure they wouldnt be walkin out of there

I can think of a place near Philly that's FAR worse.....

Camden, NJ.
Some people still knock the build quality of American vehicles even though that  is something more along the lines of the late 70's and early '80's (I think the fox Cougarbirds are a showing that America Was turning things around for the better).

My brother in law's 2009 Honda Fit sport -- recently found up on blocks sans rims/tires in his driveway one morning

The neighbors 2007 S2000 -- same treatment PLUS the pillagers fancied the seats, stereo, and numerous other interior tidbits enough to take those as well.

BTW rims and tires for a Honda Fit sport edition run about $3000.  Any import owner here should take note of that when they begin to question their insurance rates....

ok so i did say ded in the first thing but u kno what i mean

well... yea thats true.
some of it is a nasty place to be at 3am on your bike riding to work. im glad i dont do that anymore.
a big problem is these neighborhoods arent neighborhoods anymore, 10 years ago if a car got stolen around here someone wouldve known by who and where it wound up at after they were done, all in that day before the police wouldve shown up at your house.
now no one even sits on thier steps anymore.  gentrification :Mad: (yuppies)

His car was just found...apparently it was used in an armed robbery and "heavily damaged"...

http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200991001047

The one they caught might actually get a little time for the crack that he had.

Still doesn't take the 500 pounds of suck out of it for the poor guy who's SUV they wrecked.

this is ironic, my buddies car was stolen a few years ago and wound up in deleware when we found it. they put 2k on it in the time they used it. im all but certain it was used for running drugs up I-95.

glad it was atleast found, good luck on getting his insurance to reimburse him for the heavy damage :toilet:

My wife's friends 2004 GMC jimmy was stolen recently. The thieves used it to do break and enters and robberies . Took it 4x4ing banged it up and got caught in it about 80km away. when she went to the impound 8 days later the inside was full of crack pipes, needles, beer cans and blood from where they tried to rip out the factory stereo with no tools. also a horrible stench because the back was full of rotting meat (ripped off a grocery store). There hoping insurance will write off the truck. Good luck to your co worker.

This looks to be a similar story. It's totalled, whatever they hit they hit it HARD. The interior was trashed, with some horrible reek, even a used condom inside so I'm told.

Animals. And that's being kind.

wouldnt you know it my car was almost stolen last night as well, by 4 15 or 16 year old punks.
i come home after working mad overtime this week, been running on the 6 hours of sleep that i got sunday night and wanted to set up my security camera that i bought a month ago. got it all set up and my vcr wasnt recording so i decided ill pick another one up tomorrow.
what a shagin coincidence that around 10:30 pm i just start to fall asleep finally when for some reason i became fully awake and i got out of bed and looked out my window, never heard a sound but right there 4 kids trying to pry my hatch open, then push my car around the corner(since its parked there) while one of them is trying to open the drivers door. this all happened in like 3 seconds. the four of them were so weak they couldnt push the car to move it over a manhole sticking up from the ground thats right there.
WTF! i ran down my steps and to my door where my baseball bat is supposed to be, but isnt coincidentally so i grab an old level(a wooden one) and opened the door and booked right after them. they didnt looked shocked to be caught but more like shocked someone lived in that house. i chased them for about a block and a half before i stepped on a broken beer bottle, which felt like it ripped my foot apart(in bare feet) but not a scratch on them just wet. by then i was beat and said the hell with it if i wasnt so tired i wouldve caught atleast one of them but in a way its a good thing because i wouldve killed him. my brother who was right down stairs at the time asked what happened and then jumped on his bike to go look for them. he came back about 5 minutes later and said he couldnt find them. they never came back which most around here will do and try again. i waited all night just incase and still never got to get some sleep, which im doing tonight because i need it now.
i cant believe the series of friggin coincidences here, its like every aspect was set up. i went and got another vcr today right after work and made sure it worked and everythings set up now.
i am so glad i dont own a gun right now, because i wouldve used it.

what a night...