marinablu67

I don't know what's going on with the stuff in the beginning and of my post?

BLEKVET

C6 Snowboarder

Dollies have been around for years to tow a car with locked up tranny and steering wheel... dollies go on the back tires and the front end is lifted and it is bye bye..

RichKiss

Locks are only for honest people. If someone wants something bad enough they will get it. My philosophy, if you want it bad enough then take it. Thats why its insured.

torquetube

A parking brake or pawl won't stop any tow truck. Most cars are automatics, all automatics have parking pawls, and every tow truck can drag them away with ease.

Personally I think steering locks are insane. A spring-loaded boobytrap whose function is to jam my steering? No thanks. A certain number fail every year. I've experienced worn lock mechanisms where you could feel the column starting to catch on the lock. *Shudder*.

Steering locks are the result of pressure by insurance companies on the DOT. GM had to get special permission to delete it. I'm glad they did.

GMJim

Make sure you are insured!

marinablu67

Thanks for the reply. Towing and stealing!
When I park my car I always put the car in gear, and the parking brake on! I have a convertible, and the top is mostly down when I park, unless there is a threat of rain, so it would takes very little time to take the car out of gear and the parking brake off. This is what got me thinking about a thief with a tow truck. It would only be a matter of minutes, and the car would be on its way to a chop shop!

GMJim

You'll notice that the C5 being towed away has it's front wheels straight ahead. When I park my car I always turn my steering to the left or right. Anything to make the car less easy to take away. Given enough time they'll get it if they want it.

Bruze

Can you move the shift lever without the engine running, or at least having the fob on hand?

At any rate, the odds of your car being stolen by a tow truck I think would be tiny. Getting into an accident or having a heart attack would be more probable.

marinablu67

I can shift without the engine running, but don't know about not having the fob, seeing that it's always in my pocket. I'll have to try it. The other 2 things you mention, I try not to think about.

owc6

If it's a manual tranny, no fob needed. The shifter can be moved, and the parking brake released. The trunk can be opened, too, but that will at least set off the alarm.

Bruze

Good evening, Mrs. Ow; I hope this day finds you well.

Two points:

When my car is parked in the barn, the fob is about 100' away in the house and on the other side of 3 walls -- so I assume it would not be active. Yet I pop the trunk sometimes with the dash button, and no alarm goes off. Should it? Or is that dependent on personal settings in the DIC?

What odds do you give Marina on getting his car stolen, having an accident, or having a heart attack?

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owc6

I'm doing well, here with the first snowfall of the winter. Drove the '08 in the snow today. How are you faring?

If the car is locked, the alarm should sound if the trunk/hatch is opened with either the dash button or the key in rear slot.

Having the fob near should make no difference.

Bruze

Ok here, thanks.

Untangling this: Marina said he normally parked his car with the top down, so I made the unconscious assumption that he did not bother locking the doors. My car is not locked either when in the barn (or anywhere else except in civilization) so that never even entered my mind. So . . . if one has the top off/down and locks the doors, and somebody leans in and presses the hatch button, the alarm will go off . . . ?

Also: If the car is locked the alarm will not go off if one uses the button by the license plate (at least mine doesn't) but it will if you use the hatch key?

owc6

If you don't have the fob with you, you can't open the trunk/hatch with the button in the back whether the car is locked or not. When you press the button in the rear, the car checks to see if a recognized fob is there and, if so, it will allow it to open, if not, it just ignores it.

​​​​​​ So the alarm won't go off when pressing the button no matter what.

marinablu67

When I park the car with the top down, it's usually for short periods of time. I never even tried to lock the doors and set the alarm with the top down, does that work?

I was just curious, because all of a sudden after having the car for a little over a year, became aware that the car didn't have any apparent theft deterrent.

owc6

The car has zero theft deterrent if left unlocked (in respect to the OP and towing or tampering). With it locked, it does have some, mainly due to the alarm sounding off if someone opens the trunk or door. It still can be towed w/o setting off any alarms.

There are still no proven incidents when a C6 or C7 has been driven off w/o a recognized fob.

marinablu67

Thanks Lisa!
So what your saying is you can lock the doors and set the alarm with the top and windows down?

dlcain

Does anyone pay attention to alarms going off anymore?

marinablu67

It depends on what neck of the woods you parked your car in!