Car Theft

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
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Tue 8 Apr 2003 05:38
Car Theft - AndyT
Well, my wife has had her new Ka for a week now and is well pleased.

My question regards how secure this car would be to drive away theft by the likes of a typical kill-joyrider. Does the fact that the key has an embedded chip mean that they will not get the engine to start, or that it would simply take too long to hot-wire, and therefore not bother? Or can they do it quite quickly?

We currently use a Stoplock Pro as a (hopefully) visual deterrent, and were wondering about up-grading to one of the type that fully encloses the steering wheel, but regarding the above do we need to?
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Tue 8 Apr 2003 14:00
Car Theft - glowplug
A good visual deterrent such as a Disklok must be a good start. My brother had his Astra TD broken into 2 days running, he bought a Disklok and has had no trouble since. Saves the airbag as well!

Steve.
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Wed 9 Apr 2003 01:46
Car Theft - Blue {P}
Disklok is definately best. The Ka probably isn;t high risk, but you'll be able to sleep soundly knowing that *no-one* will bother nicking it with a Disklok round the wheel. It has the longest attack time out of the wheel locks IIRC.
Blue
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Wed 9 Apr 2003 09:02
Car Theft - Oz
I agree regarding Disklok and it telescopes into a reasonably compact package when not in use. You just have to get the hang of not trapping your fingers when opening and closing it.
:-)
Oz (as was)
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Wed 9 Apr 2003 11:05
Car Theft - KB.
Agree with the above........and in Costco it costs £39.99+VAT.
KB.
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Wed 9 Apr 2003 11:07
Car Theft - Rob the Bus
I haven't got a Disklok myself (no point on a 17 year old Granada :-)), but they are a local company so I'll give 'em a plug!

I've heard a few cases where the Disklok has been replaced due to faults more than a year after purchase and without proof of purchase being produced. It seems that they offer good, old-fashioned customer service and that can't be an bad thing these days.
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Wed 9 Apr 2003 13:04
Car Theft - Dynamic Dave
Disklok is definately best.


The only trouble is the disklok is a pain to fit and remove, and eventually most people just end up leaving it in the boot / on the back seat as they can't be bothered fitting it.
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Wed 9 Apr 2003 13:43
Car Theft - Rob C
Can't deny the visual deterrant of these items, I myself use a stick (club?) type device.
What does worry me is having these heavy steel things on the back seat, just before you pile into the back or side of another car.
Put it in the boot, you say, but that doesn't work with hatchbacks.
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Wed 9 Apr 2003 14:21
Car Theft - Altea Ego
I would save your money and the hastle of bunging things round your pedals or on the wheel. The ka is highly unlikely to get nicked. It has sufficient security to prevent driving away in a short space of time, and does not warrant the attention of the more skilled thief who is after more lucrative upmarket models, or the boy racer who is after something quick.

At the web site www.secureyourmotor.gov.uk it has a green, low risk, rating

Of course it suffers the same high risk of smash and grab ie broken window or forced doors/locks, stuff or stereo nicked, as any car. Big yellow wheel locks wont stop that.

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Wed 9 Apr 2003 14:24
Car Theft - Gen
In fact the steering wheel lock may make it more likely to get smash and grab as will assume is all the security it has (ie no alarm). Save your money and just spend a pound or two on a flashing LED for it.
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Wed 9 Apr 2003 19:49
Car Theft - AndyT
Thanks for that Renault Family, the sort of thing I was wanting to hear and which I had already half-supposed. It's also the reason why I don't bother with any extra security on my Clio dci as I reckoned that it would have a more sophisticated ecu than the Ford, and certainly can not be hot-wired like older diesels could be. I was just slightly worried that a Ford like the Ka may be easier to steal as it is quite a basic, older designed car.

Gen, good idea, but it comes with two already fitted.
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