Protecting your Yaris from Car Thieves ?

[bronsin]

Originally Posted by edmscan

So .. how do you protect your Yaris ?

.

The Yaris is self protecting to a certain extent because no one would WANT to steal a Yaris like they would want to steal a Honda.

I leave nothing in the car anyone would want to steal.

I leave the drivers door unlocked. This lets the potential thieves enter the car and determine nothing valuable to them is in it. Thus there is no need for them to smash a window and enter.

If they want to steal the car locking the door wont deter them. My wifes Accord was stolen in front of our house 10 years ago and it was locked. Thanks to my neighbor who heard the slap hammer removing the ignition lock the police arrived just as the thieves drove off. They declined to chase the crooks and just put the car on the stolen list. We got the $3000 blue book value of the car from the insurance company. Of course we lost a working car we kept in repair that had 150k on it.

A year or so ago thieves entered every car they could in our neighborhood including mine. I keep a credit card in the drivers side low storage area and they did not find it. They entered the passenger glove box which they strewed on the floor but found nothing. My license registration etc was in the drivers glove box which was undisturbed. I believe they never knew about the drivers glove box which is unusual so that's why I put stuff there.

[edmscan]

Originally Posted by bronsin

The Yaris is self protecting to a certain extent because no one would WANT to steal a Yaris like they would want to steal a Honda.

I leave nothing in the car anyone would want to steal.

I leave the drivers door unlocked. This lets the potential thieves enter the car and determine nothing valuable to them is in it. Thus there is no need for them to smash a window and enter.

If they want to steal the car locking the door wont deter them. My wifes Accord was stolen in front of our house 10 years ago and it was locked. Thanks to my neighbor who heard the slap hammer removing the ignition lock the police arrived just as the thieves drove off. They declined to chase the crooks and just put the car on the stolen list. We got the $3000 blue book value of the car from the insurance company. Of course we lost a working car we kept in repair that had 150k on it.

A year or so ago thieves entered every car they could in our neighborhood including mine. I keep a credit card in the drivers side low storage area and they did not find it. They entered the passenger glove box which they strewed on the floor but found nothing. My license registration etc was in the drivers glove box which was undisturbed. I believe they never knew about the drivers glove box which is unusual so that's why I put stuff there.

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".

[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

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by MadMax

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

In the back of my mind when Bronsin writes about the scant likelihood of someone wanting to steal a Yaris.

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!

Just one of the MANY reasons I love Texas .

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by bronsin

The Yaris is self protecting to a certain extent because no one would WANT to steal a Yaris like they would want to steal a Honda.

the police arrived just as the thieves drove off. They declined to chase the crooks and just put the car on the stolen list.

Nice .

[nookandcrannycar]

Edmscan, sorry to hear about your break-in .

[edmscan]

Originally Posted by nookandcrannycar

Edmscan, sorry to hear about your break-in .

I was extremely lucky .. my car only got ransacked. My neighbors car was trashed and towed away. Oh yea .. we are not allowed to throw lead here.

But tonight .. some guy was breaking into a garage here, turned into a 4 hour tactical event. It was crazy. At one point .. the thought was he was trying to hot wire the car and ram his way out. There were probably 40 police officers surrounding the place. He was not going anywhere. The only reason it happened .. cause the like "TOP COP" in the city responded and no one would dare say no to him.

But .. normally you cannot get a cop to respond to a theft from vehicle here. Very different than the US I hear.

The police officer I spoke to .. said "They are not interested in your type of car" .. and I do still believe in the Club, as it is enough of a deterrent for them to go elsewhere.

I am over all happy that the lighting is vastly improved ... I think that will help the situation. Oh .. my house alarm is on the way too.