Protecting your Yaris from Car Thieves ?

[MadMax]

Originally Posted by edmscan

I agree with somethings but would not be practical here at all.

After talking to the police, several things .. this is what they said.

Leave nothing of value visible in your car.

Good lighting.

They will steal a Yaris but they are not popular here, I do not see many of them on the road. He said it would not be a target, but they sure will break in to steal anything of value. He said .. they will do what they need to do, and no car is safe from that. The big thing is deterrence.

I will keep my club and doors locked. If I left a door open .. I would undoubtedly come out to a ransacked car or worse every week. I have no doubt about that. I think that you live in a better neighborhood than I do .. would not even consider doing what you are doing. A credit card .. recipe for disaster. I leave no documents of any type in my car.

In my car, they checked EVERY hiding spot .. nothing was untouched. I do not leave anything ... but a ham radio in my car. It is just in front of the driver in the little compartment. That is not valuable .. as you need to be a ham to use it, and has no value in the pawn shops or on the street. They could likely not sell it.

The police said .. "they will not touch a car with a club, they will just steal your neighbors car". I tend to agree.

My landlord improved the lighting now after my car's incident and my neighbors. The police said .. "the best thing we can do is improve the lighting".

I agree with everything except with the claim that a club will deter anyone other than an honest person. They are easily defeated and won't slow down a determined car thief one bit.

I don't worry too much about my Yaris as 1) they aren't a highly sought-after car in this part of the world and 2) this is Texas, anyone stupid enough to try and steal a car knows some lead may be flying their way for their trouble!

Plus, what gets stolen around here more than anything are pick-up trucks; and most get wrecked down along the border before the owner knows they are gone!

Heck, I also drive a Jeep Wrangler, and regularly don't have the top, windows or doors on it. Nothing gets left in it that I can't live without, and oddly in the past seven years nothing has ever been stolen from it that I knew about (some spare change may have gone missing, but that could have been from offroading!).

I always keep full insurance on all my vehicles. Living in south-central Texas, that's a smart idea. Too many uninsured drivers and no vehicle is completely theft-proof; but one thing I learned a long time ago is that worrying about something does nothing to change the situation. Do your best to make your Yaris as uninviting as possible (mainly, don't leave anything of value in it, park it in a well-lit and if possible, well traveled area and always lock your doors) and pray for the best!

Cheers! M2