Hello-

Can anyone please recommend a good solution for theft-prevention? I've learned my insurance rates on my new C5 will be about 20% lower if I have such a system; e.g. Lo-Jack. I've been told by a policeman that the best systems are those which completely incapacitate/shot-down the car.

Please help.

Thanks. Jay

 

I would skip buying theft prevention, to save 20% on your comprehensive insurance.
I pay $162 a year for comprehensive insurance, saving 20% is only $32 a year.
If your Corvette is stolen, a professional thief will be doing the job. Theft prevention products, will be of little help when a professional thief wants your car :(

 

:yesnod: :yesnod:

 

If you have a 6-speed, it is a simple matter to wire a toggle kill-switch into the clutch safety switch circuit.
I did it for 99-cents, and 1 hour of install time.

Hand your insurance guy the keys, and tell him to try to take the car.

If you have an automatic, the same switch can be wired into the "neutral start" switch, but it would be
considerably more difficult.


:seeya

 

No personal experience, but I have seen other posts indicating that the LoJack system is often not effective- it works in the technical sense, but the police are too busy or otherwise unable to actually home in on the transmitter. In other words, it improves your chances of getting the car back but is not anything like certain. For the money, you choice.

 

QUOTE>>If your Corvette is stolen, a professional thief will be doing the job. Theft prevention products, will be of little help when a professional thief wants your car ...

And would you really want your car back after it had been stolen???...I think not.. :eek: :eek:

 

I have seen many vehicles retreived after being stolen and in many cases the suspect was after the car for the accessories or the engine and maybe the trannie.There really isn't any 100% method to prevent car theft.My suggestion is PARK your car in a well lighted area!!! An up grade alarm doesn't really help as most people ignore the alarm as it is activated so often people just get tired of hearing the alarm and don't pay attention to them.The steering wheel pole ,many drivers use, only slow down the thief.They can be removed rather quickly by the pro.A huge hungry junk yard dog is a deterrent,but even he or she can be enticed with a piece of meat.A fuel cutoof valve works real well,if you let the car idle and deplete the fuel in the fuel line, but most people are in a hurry and most are just too lazy to do it including me.The moral of the story is:if a pro wants your car ,Its his!!! :chevy :chevy :flag :chevy :chevy

 

Lojack;

the question is... would you want your car back after it was stolen? I have a feeling that those with nice cars that are retrieved after a theft.... a month later wish it had never been recovered in the first place.

 

You are correct.I have seen some cars that could not be recognized as cars after the vehicle is found.Sometimes its best to forget about finding it and just use the insurance money for another car. :chevy :chevy :flag :chevy :chevy

 

That's what I'm smokin'!!!! I sure wouldn't want it back. That dash would rattle like a coffee can full of pennies after it had gotten busted into. The best thing to do is to hide an ignition kill switch somewhere, so it will never even leave your parking spot. Ofcourse, though, there is always a wrecker!!! :cry

 

Although it is true that if a thief wants your car, he/she will probably get it, it doesn’t mean that I should make the thief’s life easier.

In addition to the factory alarm, I have Lo-Jack, I park the car in my garage at home and a garage when out.

I don’t think Lo-Jack is a waste of money. With Lo-Jack, I get and an insurance discount and Lo-Jack will refund the purchase price (of Lo-Jack) if the car is not recovered in X minutes (not sure what X is, I believe 15 minutes in my case) from the time I reported the car missing. Lo-Jack also offers other plans for additional cost (www.lojack.com for more info).

I don’t have any data to support the claim that “the police is too busy” or “not too busy” to locate my car. This is along the same lines as when I call 911, it might take 1 or 20 minutes for the police or paramedics to arrive. The fact is that some times the car is recovered immediately and unharmed (as Lo-Jack wants you to believe will be your case), some times it take time and is recovered in a bad shape and finally some times it is never recovered.

What I know is that some police cruisers have Lo-Jack scanners and based on where you live, the number might be high or low. Also, the way of tracking Lo-Jack is strait forward. In addition, if Lo-Jack is activated, the car cannot pass toll-booths (with or without EZ-PASS) at least in NY. That means the thief cannot use bridges, tunnels and major Hi-ways.

Granted, the sooner you discover that your car is missing, the better chances to recover it. I got the car so that I can enjoy it. As I said above, I do my best to protect it when I am out. If it gets stolen, scratched or dented, so be it. Nothing more that I can do. I’m not going to lock it in the garage, or park it in the living room. Based on where you live, you must make the call if Lo-Jack offers you an advantage. The way I see it is that there is a possibility that the thief will get caught and pay (1 night in jail :mad :mad) for it (this is a different subject all together).

About whether or not I want it back after it gets stolen, it all depends on the condition of the car. I’ll cross that bridge when I get there. One way or another, it’s going to be a major hassle with the insurance company with all the mods and work I put into the car.

(I got a motorcycle stolen in 1985 and it was recovered in bad shape. The insurance wanted to fix it, I wanted money to get a new one. After a lot of back and forth, I got some cash and got my self a new one.)

It all boils down to the fact that by spending some $600 for Lo-Jack and $25 for parking, I get peace of mind.

 

Don't waste your money. The only way anyone is going to steal you vette is either with the key or a tow truck. Unless the PCM gets the correct signal from the VATS system via the BCM, the starting circuit and the fuel injectors are disabled. :cheers:

John

 

Yes, after it is "reported" stolen.... not after it "is" stolen.

 

Mike

You are confusing the issue. Lo-Jack is not advertised as a device to prevent car theft. That is the reason that there are no “stickers” on the car stating that this car is equipped with Lo-Jack.

Lo-Jack is perfect for car jacking! If I am unharmed, and that is all that matters, a call to 911 and I am almost certain that the thief is going to get caught.

I agree with you that if a thief wants your car, he/she will get it. I also agree that the sooner you discover the car missing, the better are your chances of getting it back. If it is not recovered in X minutes (I believe 15) after it is reported stolen, I get the money that I spend on Lo-Jack. The car is gone one way or another, so I have nothing to loose.

Think of it as a VIN number stamped on your car’s parts or the police program that etches the VIN on all your “glasses”. It is not a guarantee that your car is not going to be sold for parts. It is just another way to make bad peoples life more difficult. It is also another way to lower your insurance cost.

There are a lot of other devices that combined with Lo-Jack can make your car “almost” impossible to steal. These include, ignition kill switches, fuel disconnect switches, transmitter type devices that page you if the car alarm is on, or if the car starts to move. Depending on the amount of money you want to spend you can even have GPS type devices that can report your cars location in almost real time.

 

As an officer in So. Calif. I can confirm that LoJack or better yet a GPS system is indeed something you want. It's very true that an "experienced" car thief will have little trouble getting past a device or alarm. "If" it's stolen, the quicker the police recover it the better. The problem is that most insurance policys will not pay until it is gone for at least 30 days. Then it will pay retail Blue Book. Not for mod's, unless you added them to your policy.

Kinda of a "loose/ loose" situation. If they do recover it on the 29th day,(which I've seen) you get your baby back, wether you want it back or not. Sure, insurance will pay for any damage, but do you really want it back at that point? Or, insurance pays off and you loose a little, to a lot of money.

The best thing to happen then would be to recover it as soon as possible after it has been stolen. That's where LoJack or GPS comes into play. At least in San Diego, we use LoJack very effectively.

But in the end, not to worry.(if you live in San Diego County) During the past year, only 11 Corvettes were stolen in the County and only 2 of them were C5's....... :cheers:

 

If there are 2 Corvettes in the parking lot. One has no aftermarket alarm. The other has an LED flashing and gives of a warning bark when the thief stands close.

Which car do you think will be stolen?

 

Thanks for all the advice; it would sure be easier if there were a clear concensus. I need to figure out how to do a poll; it would be very interesting to see the distribution of who's using what type of theft-prevention, etc...

 

I bet that less than 1% of C5 owners have an aftermarket alarm.

Using the current total production number for C5's of 130,000 - that's less than 1300 owners. That's probably even generous.

Why? Because the factory system is good enough for drive-away protection that most people don't see the need to upgrade, and the rest don't want it back if it's stolen.

Run the poll. Let's see how good of a guesser I am :)

 

If mine is stolen, I am getting a new one.

 

Since when is the majority always right? Everybody's circumstances are different and everybody has different issues and concerns. The bottom line is every precausion you take adds protection. You have to decide if it's worth it to you to add any.

My secondary alarm serves two purposes. Besides the obvious one of making a drive-away theft more difficult, it keeps the looky-loos hands off my car and kick up a fuss if someone reaches in the car when it's sitting with the top down. That's all I ask of it. If you don't have those issues don't waste your money.