Multiple anti-theft deterrents?

[ganchan]

I've been reading about some of the basic anti-theft devices used to discourage amateur thieves from trying to steal your vehicle. The Club has its enthusiasts and detractors, as do those wheel-locking boots. The real goal, of course, is just to make the process of theft sufficiently slow, labor intensive and obvious to passersby that the thief will keep looking for an easier prize. With that in mind, I starting thinking: Why not lay down a "gauntlet" of (different types of) such devices? Say, two wheel boots plus a Club -- whatever combination might turn that impulsive attempt into a project?

Bike owners typically use two different locking devices, such as a U-lock plus a chain. The idea is that a thief might have the necessary tool to crack one device but not the other....

 

[LeeRevell]

I have simply wired in a toggle switch to the ignition circuit. Hide the switch, and the perp is going nowhere in your vehicle.
My old 1968 AMC AMX car had an antitheft lockout in the shifter. I had to go through a particular sequence with the auto tranny shifter, before it would allow starting. That system was not in AMC's Group Thirteen options catalog, so may have been aftermarket.
A common thing on older pre-electronic ignition cars was to simply remove the rotor from the distributor. The vehicle was dead until you popped it back in. A five minute job.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

Better yet, two switches, one on the ignition circuit, and one on the electric fuel pump.

Want to hide switches in plain sight?  Use one or two stereo plugs near the radio, so they look like they're for plugging headphones in.  Set a couple of male plugs up with a short wire that will complete the circuit when plugged in.

 

[TrainChaser]

I wouldn't bother trying to get into a van that looks like this: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4057/4277395794_d8e1ec330e.jpg

 

[Every Road Leads Home]

95% of the time I leave my keys in the ignition so I'd say my anti theft deterrent system could use some work. The other 4% of the time I feel I need extra security I put them under the floor mat. And 1% of the time I take them with me, usually when in a major city for one reason or another.