Theft from locked cars

[Klm]

Lock your valuables in your car's trunk and think that it is safe?

Here's the story. In my local paper's readers letters page a driver wrote that she locked more than $100 of groceries in her car's trunk before going into the liquor store in the same car park. She was away for less than 15 minutes when she found that her car's door lock was damaged beyond repair and her groceries in the trunk stolen.

The warning here is that it is no longer safe to lock things in the car trunk, especially items like laptop computers and your Christmas shopping.

Breaking the car lock is simple enough and my take on this is to find or make a high strength steel T bar which has a flat blade that will jam right into the door lock. One twist and the lock is wrecked. Then it is relatively simple to pop the trunk's lock from the inside trunk latch unlock lever. No one who is not next to the thief to see the act will ever notice anything amiss.

Its a sad commentary on the modern world but its a fact of life. The warning signs in many car parking lots to car owners to be observant for car thieves says everything.

[Joseph Meehan]

I'm over 50 years old and I can't remember when it was safe. People have been steeling stuff from trunks since they were first invented.

[Doug Miller]

[snip account of theft from trunk]

"No longer safe"? What makes you think it _ever_was_ ? There's nothing new here. I had stuff stolen out of my trunk in 1979.

[snip instuctions for breaking into car trunks]

Why would you post instructions to make it easier for thieves? Idiot.

-- Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

How come we choose from just two people to run for president and 50 for Miss America?

[Michael Daly]

Too bad those automotive "engineers" can't design cars whose security isn't compromised in under 30 seconds by a high school drop out.

Mike

[Edwin Pawlowski]

It is very easy to avoid damage to the door lock. Don't lock it I think locking a car is foolish. The pro will get in no matter what you do, the joy riders and pilferers will damage the care and get little from you.

Yes, my car is open. Yes, I've had it broken into twice. No, I did not lose anything because thee was nothing to steal. Glove box was rifled, but nothing taken. OTOH, cars parked along side mine had broken windows, scratched up paint, etc. Ed

[Martin]

It can happen. An elderly Floridian called 911 on her cell phone to report that her car has been broken into. Hysterically she explains her situation to the dispatcher. "They've stolen the stereo, the steering wheel, the brake pedal and even the accelerator!" she cried. The dispatcher said, "Stay calm, an officer is on the way." A few minutes later, the officer radios in, "Disregard...she got in the back-seat by mistake."

[BinaryBillTheSailor]

They can. They can do pretty much anything. The criteria is whether the customers will pay for it, and does it enhance the bottom line. Fords used to be so easy to steal that insurance companies told FoMoCo to either fix the problem, or else Ford customers would find they were paying higher insurance than Chevy owners. Ford immediately realized that was gonna hurt their reputation and sales numbers. The problem was magically fixed in the next model year.

BB

[Des Perado]

I disable the automatic trunk opening device in my cars. Get some exercise by getting out of the car and opening the trunk manually. Des

[Jeff Wisnia]

Uh, why has no one mentioned car alarms?

I realize that they are often ignored by the public, but they might just cause some thieves to decide to run for it before they get far enough in to steal your stuff.

Just my .02

Jeff (Who happily drives a 13 year old car with only 80K on it, which most thieves will pass up for a wealthier looking buggy.)

-- Jeff Wisnia (W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)

"If you can keep smiling when things go wrong, you've thought of someone to place the blame on."

[Bob]

safe?

driver

trunk

Solution. Don't lock things in the trunk and walk away from the car. Lock them in, drive to your next stop, and don't disturb the trunk until you are ready to leave that area.

The problem is people watching you lock things in the trunk. They then know which trunk to break into.

Bob

[BinaryBillTheSailor]

They are all but useless. In big cities it's not unusual to see a tow truck hauling a car down the street with the car's alarm blaring. No one cares, or is about to risk trying to intervene.

There have been cases where crooks would deliberately set off the alarm on a car they wanted. The owner would come out and reset it. Then a short while later they would set it off again. Usually by the second or third time, they would shake the car and find that the owner had shut the thing off for the night because he was tired of the "false alarms".

This is a new version of what battery thieves do. They steal the battery out of a car, knowing that if they come back in a few days, there will be a nice brand new battery in the same car, just waiting for them.

BB

[Phisherman]

I have since moved, but in the city where I lived it was illegal to leave your car unlocked. They said an unlocked car was encouraging theft, and the owner is partly responsible. Strange, but true. If a theif wants inside, they are going to get in. I had my license plates stolen one time and had to do all kinds of stupid paperwork and buy new plates (I use hex bolts now instead of slotted screws).

[Michael Daly]

They didn't. Fords are still easy to steal. There just not as popular as Hondas etc - 'least around here.

Ford in Britain has been hit by the govt, I understand. They are making the steering columns tougher as a result. Not in NA, however.

Mike

[Daniel L. Belton]

I agree.. it never has been really safe... and the person that put thier groceries and the immediately left to go into another store was just asking for it. Thieves watch for things like that. If the person would have just driven around the parking lot first, then chances are thier stuff would have still been there when they returned.

Lesson 1: never put things into your trunk in plain view of someone watching and then immediately leave...

[Des Perado]

[Des Perado]

Great one, Martin. Thanks for a good laugh! Des

[Dan Hartung]

[BinaryBillTheSailor]

Sorry. but you are incorrect. Ford DID made changes to make them as hard to steal as a Chevy. It was enough to satisfy the insurance companies. That doesn't mean they are "hard" to steal, it means they are no easier to steal than the competition.

BB

[BinaryBillTheSailor]

I've always thought a big nasty looking dog sitting in the car was the most effective deterrent. Maybe the only real deterrent...

BB

[Joseph Meehan]

My father, the locksmith, had the answer. There have always been and always well be thieves. People are thieves because they are lazy.

If your property is better protected and less inviting than your neighbor's, it is safe. No matter how good your locks are, someone can beat them. So just look next door and make yours better or make sure your property appears less attractive.

I had a neighbor with several million in art on his walls. His home had paint pealing off the sides and was the shabbiest in the neighborhood. He never had any trouble. Few people knew he had anything valuable inside.