CATI recommends the best ways to protect your vehicle from theft!
The best way to protect your car from auto theft or break-in is to
DO SOMETHING!
Here are things you can do and how much it costs?
* Equip your vehicle with an "immobilizer" type system. $400 - $1000
* Equip your vehicle with a tracking system. $400 - $600
* Install an alarm system. $100 - $500
¨ Use a steering wheel locking device. $30 - $60
* Install a starter "kill-switch". If you put it in - $5, if a locksmith does it – about $50
* Participate in the Colorado Watch Your Car program. FREE
* VIN-etch your auto glass. FREE through certain WYC agencies.
¨ Don’t leave your keys in your vehicle. FREE
¨ Lock your doors. FREE
* Many insurance companies will reduce your premium if you do one or more of the things listed above.
If you do nothing and you have theft insurance: your cost is the amount of your insurance deductible, all of the contents of your vehicle, your lost time and wages, and your peace of mind.
If you do nothing and you do not have theft insurance: your cost is 100% of your vehicle (plus you’ve got to get a new vehicle or start taking the bus), all of the contents of your vehicle, your lost time and wages and your peace of mind.
The bottom line is, DO SOMETHING!
Don’t do these things!
· Leave your keys in your car while warming it up on cold mornings, or at the gas station or convenience store, or while dropping off the kids at day-care, etc. Thieves will steal anything that is easy pickings.
· Leave personal possessions (purse, laptop computer, packages from stores, cellular telephone, etc.) in your vehicle where they can be observed.
· Hide a key in or on your vehicle. Thieves break into cars searching for keys.
· Hide a firearm in your vehicle. Thieves break into cars to go shopping for anything.
If you must park your car outside overnight:
· An alarm can be your best defense. This is because nighttime car prowlers look for the small light that indicates an "active" alarm and they avoid those cars. In a daytime parking lot, however, alarms are much less effective, as people tend to ignore them.
· Participation in the Watch Your Car Program is advisable for any vehicle you typically don’t drive during the early morning hours. Thieves avoid these cars as officers can stop them whenever they are being operated between the hours of 1am and 5am.
· An ignition "kill-switch" is a very inexpensive and a very, very reliable method to prevent the theft of your car.