Thread: Stolen car at Springfield NSRA?

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It was announced at the Springfield event that a car had been stolen. Does anyone know if this is true? I would like to drive my car "when finished" to a few events, and know that there is a chance that this could happen. Dealing with bad weather is bad enough, but having to deal with car thieves has to be at the top of the list. Are there things that I can do that can make it more difficult for them to do this? These guys could easily roll my car away from its parking spot and load into an enclosed trailer and be on the road, never to be seen with the car. My car will have efi, so it would be possible "I think" to remove ecm, but this won't stop them from loading the car in a trailer. What should I do here?

It seems there have been quite a few of these incidents over the past months, we keep seeing reports on various forums, and it is very scary. I know when we drive to an event where we have to leave our car sitting in the hotel parking lot at night we worry that something might happen to it.

I guess hidden disabling switches, gas shutoffs, alarms, clubs on the steering wheel, and possibly a LoJack type device is pretty much all we can do, aside from having it insured well. Hotel parking lot security is pretty much non existent from what I have observed, so we are on our own there. Police usually recommend having a combination of devices so the thief has to overcome more than one obstacle.

The real problem is that some of the guys who do these things are very good at their craft, and no matter how we try to protect our stuff, if they want to get it they usually are successful.

Don

Activate e-brake with a linear actuator and a hidden switch. If it won't roll they will go for a softer target.

I was at Springfield Saturday and Sunday and never heard any public announcement about a car being stolen, or anything missing. That is not to say it did not happen, only that I was not aware if it did. There was an announcement via PA Sunday mid-day that a rodder was looking for an open trailer to get his car back home to KC due to a mechanical problem, but that's all I ever heard.
I will say that there were several nice cars sitting unattended with keys in the ignition, which I found surprising. Sure, the chances are good that no one is going to bother things, but why tempt fate?? Bruce Lee's suggestion on the brake is a good one, and LoJack tracking is another. If they get it you at least have a chance of it being tracked via strong GPS.

i did hear about it being stolen at his hotel on friday night , it was a 32 roadster orange with cast wheels ( from what i remember the owner telling me ) .
i dont care how you protect it with kill switches , if they want it they will get it !

remeber troys built 37 ford , they looked outside the hotel window at 6.00 , walked outside the hotel at 6.10 the car ,truck ,trailer gone ! never to be seen again .

The announcement was over the PA at fairgrounds around 11am Saturday. I hope it was a false alarm. 2200 cars entered; 1 possibly stolen. Small percentage, but very disheartening for the persons who lost their vehicle if this did happen. E-brake and LoJack sounds like a good starting place. On a positive note, we did see a large number of exceptionally nice cars and pickups. Street Rodding is certainly alive and still kickin. We had a great time!!

Just read Kennyd's post. Dang!!

Once you accept the fact that anything can be jacked, to me the most prudent course of action is to attempt recovery. The LOJACK system is probably the best thing going at doing this. Although what you may recover is only the piece of the car with the transceiver in it ..................

Kitz

I would consider the LOJACK system, but in NY State, only coverage is near New York City, 175 miles away. Even the VA area we are planning to move to - nada.

Here's their current coverage areas : https://store.lojack.com/content.asp...ntCoverageArea

That surprises me as I thought there was better coverage across the US

I wonder how successful LoJack is, percentagewise. Watching some of the cop shows, like that one in NJ where the wolfpack rides around looking for stolen cars, they have had LoJack signals pop up and they ride around trying to zero in on the car and sometimes think it might be a signal skip from somewhere in NY. I think I only saw one show where they ever found the signal, and it was on a piece of construction equipment that had LoJack installed on it.

I guess they are good, but just wonder how good. Are there any systems we can install ourselves or do you have to go to one of their dealers for install?

Don

Originally Posted by Itoldyouso

I wonder how successful LoJack is, percentagewise. Watching some of the cop shows, like that one in NJ where the wolfpack rides around looking for stolen cars, they have had LoJack signals pop up and they ride around trying to zero in on the car and sometimes think it might be a signal skip from somewhere in NY. I think I only saw one show where they ever found the signal, and it was on a piece of construction equipment that had LoJack installed on it.

I guess they are good, but just wonder how good. Are there any systems we can install ourselves or do you have to go to one of their dealers for install?

Don

Their optimistic advertising which I just read says 90%. My guess, probably closer to 60-75%, real lifehttp://www.lojack.com/ Happy reading, click 'Automotive' !!

It would appear that LoJack wouldn't have done much good since the state of Missouri is not on their cover list

Originally Posted by IC2

That surprises me as I thought there was better coverage across the US

That "coverage" sucks!! I was seriously considering LoJack but had only assumed that they used the major cell systems, crossing systems to cover the whole US. I wonder if a person could hardwire a cell phone, enable the GPS tracking, and bury it in a cubbyhole? It would work as long as the battery was hooked up, and then for another period of time on the cell phone internal battery. Probably not strong enough to be seen inside a metal building, though... Bummer!!

i think the best idea is good insurance and dont get attached !

A while back, I heard an interesting, rather inventive way to monitor your ride. This guy places a baby monitor in his car so he can hear what is going on outside his motel room. Like everything else, it is not fool proof, but it is one more way to watch over a ride. I take a fatalistic view of car theft, and figure if my rod gets stolen, it is insured, and I can always build another one just like it.