Steering wheel lock

dmm82

Hi, my car was stolen on xmas eve and I'm finally buying a new car tonight. Needless to say I'm paranoid about it being robbed again and want to put a steering wheel lock on just for a bit of added security. Unsure whether to buy a lock or go for the old fashioned chain and lock. Any recommendations? Thanks

Wibbs

just my humble but the padlock and chain is too easily defeated. I'd bypass that in under a minute. Ditto for the usual locks like this.



They also help the scum break the built in steering lock.

One of these while a pain to carry around are the only ones I'd bother with myself.


Other things I'd look at would be avoiding cars with "comfort access" or whatever they call it. Keyless entry basically. Too easy to intercept and just drive off in your car. An old style button key fob is far more secure. I'd also add a third party alarm properly fitted.

biko

Does the new car have alarm and immobiliser etc?

There is a number of wheel locks on the market, I haven't used one recently nor heard they are a good deterrent.

colm_mcm

They’ll usually rob the keys, so if you’re keeping the key for the steering lock on your key ring then it’s a waste of time.

blondeonblonde

Wibbs wrote: »

just my humble but the padlock and chain is too easily defeated. I'd bypass that in under a minute. Ditto for the usual locks like this.



They also help the scum break the built in steering lock.

One of these while a pain to carry around are the only ones I'd bother with myself.


Other things I'd look at would be avoiding cars with "comfort access" or whatever they call it. Keyless entry basically. Too easy to intercept and just drive off in your car. An old style button key fob is far more secure. I'd also add a third party alarm properly fitted.

+1 on the disklok. Granted it is heavy and not cheap but I've used one on old mx5 that two scrotes tried (in vain) to steal one night and they could not get it off. It sits over the steering wheel and it's impossible to steer as long as it's attached.

Sir Galahad

blondeonblonde wrote: »

+1 on the disklok. Granted it is heavy and not cheap It sits over the steering wheel and it's impossible to steer as long as it's attached.

I sold one on Adverts recently for €60 with two keys. So not that expensive.

Atlantic Dawn

If your car has an immobiliser it would be better to put your car keys in an safe in your house.

dmm82

The car I bought does have that keyless entry fobs

I'm going to get one of those disklocks definitely.

Thanks for the advice!!

Del2005

Keeping a disc lock in the car is not a good idea, getting the disc lock out of the boot would be a pain so you'll eventually stop using it.

Secure your keys, if keyless entry just stick them in a metal box, downstairs not easily reached from the door but obvious enough for someone inside and if it's something special maybe a pole in the driveway. But if it is something that they want they will just break into your house and hopefully just take the keys.

blondeonblonde

Sir Galahad wrote: »

I sold one on Adverts recently for €60 with two keys. So not that expensive.

£120 new. Pretty expensive if you ask me!

dmm82

Yeh im kind of coming around to the fact that if they want it they'll find a way to take it regardless of what I do. I think I'm overly paranoid after just being robbed. Hopefully the paranoia wears off

Oral Surgeon

Electric gates, security cameras, sensor lights and a big dog....
Do everything you can to make them think that your car is not worth the hassle!!

dmm82

Oral Surgeon wrote: »

Electric gates, security cameras, sensor lights and a big dog....
Do everything you can to make them think that your car is not worth the hassle!!

I wish I could do all this. But unfortunately parking it on the drive is the most I can manage

colm_mcm

What car is it?

tuxy

dmm82 wrote: »

The car I bought does have that keyless entry fobs

I'm going to get one of those disklocks definitely.

Thanks for the advice!!

Couldn't you put the fob into one of those bags that block the signal at night?

dmm82

tuxy wrote: »

Couldn't you put the fob into one of those bags that block the signal at night?

What are they?

tuxy

dmm82 wrote: »

What are they?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/version-Keyless-Blocking-Protect-Against/dp/B01K9W84X8

dmm82

colm_mcm wrote: »

What car is it?

It's a Honda fit. A hybrid. Its nothing fancy but I do like it took me 6 weeks to get sorted with a car after the last one got robbed so really don't want the hassl again

Wibbs

tuxy wrote: »

Couldn't you put the fob into one of those bags that block the signal at night?

They're a good bet, though they lose effectiveness over time if carried around and the internal fibres break down. one of those metal tea caddy yokes works like a charm. It'll even stop a phone signal(which a microwave oven generally won't and too many have fried their keys forgetting...).

Car security came on in leaps and bounds around the late 90's with built in alarms and immobilisers and the scum had to directly steal the keys. Car theft went down massively and generally older non equipped cars tended to be targeted.

The problem with factory systems is that once the scum find a weakness - IE the blind spot in Beemers internal sensors that allowed access to the ODB port and ODB key readers and writers - then those cars are a repeatable target for the scum. At one stage it was mad in the UK with certain models of BMW going walkabout. Not just them other marques were vulnerable too.

Aside: it's why I could never understand in the old days people putting stickers in their window advertising the exact type of alarm on board. EG show me a Dublin car with a Clifford alarm and I will tell you with a fair chance of success where the alarm "brain" is and where the immobiliser cuts are and where the siren is.

Keyless entry has been a major retrograde step for security and applies to damn near every marque and model on the road today with the "feature". To the point that a 1970's VW Beetle with a well fitted third party alarm and a steering wheel lock would be much harder to nick without the keys than a brand new Golf. Again in the UK car thefts have gone up by a considerable amount in the last few years and one report I read of the London metropolitan police said that over 70% of cars stolen in that area in the last year were stolen without the keys. And the age profile of the car had shifted in a big way. Many more new cars in the mix.

/end rant.

dmm82

So am I right in saying the car thieves can tap into my fob with a device even my fob is in the house? Or do they have some sort of a master fob that can open all cars that have the keyless feature?
I think what ill do is just get a sturdy chain for the wheel and look into getting a different alarm installed.
Then just hope for the best

Del2005

Wibbs wrote: »

Keyless entry has been a major retrograde step for security and applies to damn near every marque and model on the road today with the "feature". To the point that a 1970's VW Beetle with a well fitted third party alarm and a steering wheel lock would be much harder to nick without the keys than a brand new Golf. Again in the UK car thefts have gone up by a considerable amount in the last few years and one report I read of the London metropolitan police said that over 70% of cars stolen in that area in the last year were stolen without the keys. And the age profile of the car had shifted in a big way. Many more new cars in the mix.

/end rant.

I'd a JDM car with a decent alarm and immobiliser fitted. Didn't stop the scumbag breaking in and damaging the steering wheel shroud, the door and ripping wires out. They see a car with no factory fitted immobiliser as an easy target and just rip it apart trying to start it. Went to my keyless entry car one day and noticed damage to the paint around the top of the door, but they didn't get in.

They just try any car they fancy and if they don't get it they'll try next door till they get one.

tuxy

If they can get close enough to get the signal from the fob they can use a radio repeater to take the car. That's why I was recommending you buy something that blocks the signal.
As Wibbs said there are also containers you may already have in the house that would do the job. Lots of youtube videos on the topic so worth checking a few of them out.

dmm82

I'll check them out. Thanks everyone

Wibbs

Del2005 wrote: »

I'd a JDM car with a decent alarm and immobiliser fitted. Didn't stop the scumbag breaking in and damaging the steering wheel shroud, the door and ripping wires out. They see a car with no factory fitted immobiliser as an easy target and just rip it apart trying to start it.

True enough D. Floodlights on your gaff help here as do one of those old stylee proximity detectors plugged into the alarm, that fire out warning blips if the scum approach too closely and sets off the alarm if they ignore that warning. Tells them there's something a little more trick going on and maybe not worth the pain in the arse and life is too short. Not when as Del notes they can try next door for something more vulnerable.

Those proximity sensors are a whoer to dial in mind you. Takes a good few tries and varies by season/temperature(field gets wider in the lower air pressure)

They just try any car they fancy and if they don't get it they'll try next door till they get one.

I've seen that with a couple of mates of mine that live on quiet roads and cul de sacs, where the scum have come along and tried and stolen from near every car on the road. That tends to be more a certain group, joyriders or selective "pros" tend to be much more focused on a particular car they want and have targeted.

tuxy wrote: »

As Wibbs said there are also containers you may already have in the house that would do the job. Lots of youtube videos on the topic so worth checking a few of them out.

+1 T. Anything all metal, preferably ferrous metal, container. Tea caddy, biscuit tin, some put the fob in the fridge, basically anything that is a half decent faraday cage.

dmm82 wrote: »

I'll check them out. Thanks everyone

You're very welcome D. Yay! We helped!

bonkers67

Would a tracking device put them off?

Wibbs

bonkers67 wrote: »

Would a tracking device put them off?

Not really B. A tracker is there to help recover your car after it's been stolen.

Now you can put a sticker on the window advertising it, but that tells the scum it's on board and there are only a few places they can be hidden to get a decent signal so if they're forewarned they can find and remove it. That's the more professional type scum stealing to order as it were, the "joyrider" won't care as chances are the car will be a burning hulk within a few hours after they had their "fun". Now some trackers can shut the car down with a signal from you or the security company, but in Ireland and th EU it's illegal for any device to do that when the car is being driven, so they have to stop. Personally I'd run one where you could shut it off, hopefully when they're going too fast into a corner and they go into a ditch. Small incendiary device going off a bonus...

It's defo a great extra bit of security and some insurance companies insist on one fitted to certain higher value cars, but I'd not see it as a deterrent myself.