Basic Tips To Help Prevent Vehicle Theft

‘How to prevent vehicle theft’ is at the top of many peoples’ minds, especially when that vehicle is something you have sunk a lot of time, money AND love into. Preventing stolen valuables which may be inside the vehicle is worth thinking about too, so let’s take a look at some options to help with both of these.

Prevent stolen wheels, with locking nuts

Everybody knows someone who’s walked out to their vehicle in the morning, to find it sitting on bricks with the wheels missing. If you have expensive aftermarket or racing wheels, preventing wheel theft should be at the top of your mind. One of the easiest and cheapest ways to deter thieves here is to fit a locking nut to each wheel. You’ll need the unique socket that comes with your locking nuts every time you need to remove or install the nut, making it much harder for thieves.

Valuables stolen from the car

Having valuables stolen from inside your car is far more common than the entire vehicle being stolen – so here’s a few tips to prevent the theft of valuables, and the expensive broken window that often comes with it. First, hide your valuables inside the vehicle, or better yet; remove them entirely. Anything a criminal can see, especially any kind of bag which presents as an easy smash-and-grab; is likely to end up being pinched. Limiting vision into the cab is another critical step. Install some dark window tint and make it harder to see what’s inside. Even fitting window shades while you’re away from the vehicle will help.

Reducing the risk of vehicle theft

The only thing worse than returning to a damaged car, is returning to no car at all. First of all, be picky about where you park. Choose a well-lit, high traffic area. Thieves will often go for a car in a quiet, dark corner with less chance of being caught. A modern and effective form of protection is the immobiliser. Factory fitted to all new vehicles, it’s a good idea to find out how to fit an immobiliser to your older vehicle, or pay a professional to install one for you. Finally; you can always fit a steering lock every time you leave the vehicle, making it physically impossible to turn the steering wheel – even if they do manage to get the car started.

Finally…

Putting one or more of these measures in place will greatly reduce the chance of theft and damage to your vehicle, and hopefully avoid that dreaded feeling as you realise your car is not how you left it.